JungleCrank Guide: The GankCrank

This is my first ever blog entry on this Wiki, so please bear with me as I try to improve.
January 2nd, 2013: Edit - 5, 10, 14, & added 6
January 3rd, 2013: Edit - 7, 9, & added 2, 15

Introduction[]

Blitzcrank is an extremely fun champion to play. Yet at the same time, it can be very frustrating for you having him as an enemy. While Blitzcrank is in the Top 3 ban list, there are many debates on whether he is truly OP or not. I personally think that this champion has the potential to be part of the Shen tier, but misuse of his abilities will drop him down to the Karma tier (these tiers don't officially exist lol) Anyway, regardless of his tier, this guide will give you an opportunity to use Blitzcrank elsewhere than bot lane. I don't advise you to play JungleCrank in ranked games because your teammates won't approve of this idea and they may result in cursing, trolling or feeding intentionally and will cause you to lose Elo. I hope you have fun playing this champion in normal, good luck, and Happy New Year!

Pros and Cons[]

Pros

Great ganks: Has 2 non-ult hard CC. Nobody has more non-ult hard CC than this robot.
Great initiator: Many junglers are forced to take on that role.
Quite tanky: Singed's passive gives 25% of his mana as health, but Blitzcrank's passive gives 50% (although I am aware of the differences in how they work)

Cons

Slow jungle speed: can be easily counterjungled.
Risky ganks: Remember, Rocket Grab is a skillshot.
No significant gapclosers outside of Q: If a Rocket Grab fails, Blitzcrank has no choice but to run with Overdrive for a minimum of 10 seconds (cooldown on Q) and during this time, proper usage of soft CC on Blitzcrank will result in an easy kiting game.

Runes[]

Greater Mark of Attack Speed
- Alternatives: Greater Mark of Attack Damage / Armor
Greater Seal of Armor
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist
- Alternatives: Greater Glyph of Magic Resist / Cooldown Reduction
Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed
- Alternatives: Greater Quintessence of Armor / Attack Speed / Attack Damage / Gold

If anyone has jungled before, you would find it obvious to see AS marks as the priority. The only champions I can think of that can make better usage of other marks are Trundle, Olaf, Amumu. Seals are pretty much self-explanatory: cheap and efficient. The chosen Glyph is a common rune for bruisers and tanks lategame. SupportCrank does have the power to wreck early game lane phase, but JungleCrank's slow and unstable jungle speed makes him not as powerful early game (his ganks are still very deadly) As for the quintessence, you could go with whatever you feel like, and it may depend on your available Influence Points.

Masteries[]

Offense (9)
- Fury (4)
- Deadliness (4)
- Weapon Expertise (1)
Defense (21)
- Summoner's Resolve (1)
- Durability (4)
- Tough Skin (2)
- Hardiness (3)
- Resistance (1)
- Bladed Armor (1)
- Veteran's Scars (1)
- Tenacious (3)
- Defender (1)
- Legendary Armor (3)
- Honor Guard (1)

You can go with 0/21/9 and get Summoner's Insight, Meditation, Expanded Mind, Improved Recall, and Runic Affinity.

Ability Order[]

AD Blitzcrank works better with the AS and MS boosts than the Q cooldown.

General Item Build (no specific order)[]

Starting Items: Hunter's Machete + 5 Health Potion
Early Game Core: Tear of the Goddess (later into Manamune) Philosopher's Stone (later into Shurelya's Reverie) and Madred's Razors (later sold for 490) Boots of Speed (later into Mercury's Treads / Ninja Tabi)
- Consider an early Boots of Mobility if you got some kills and would like to focus on ganking more.
Mid Game Core: Tier 2 boots (depends on enemy team's damage / CC distribution) Iceborn Gauntlet (synergy with Power Fist) Shurelya's Reverie (CDR and MS boost)
Late Game Core: Banshee's Veil (for magic resistance) Manamune ( Muramana is OP) Runic Bulwark (great aura!) tier 3 boots ( Furor / Homeguard / Alacrity / Captain: depends on your needs, varies from game to game)
Alternative Offensive Items: Trinity Force (if your team severely lacks damage) Zephyr (get Ninja Tabi with this) Abyssal Scepter (if your team has 2+ AP) Last Whisper (never a bad late game damage item)
Alternative Defensive Items: Frozen Heart (against 2+ basic attackers) Randuin's Omen (against heavy AD) Guardian Angel (late game life) Warmog's Armor (if lots of true damage) Thornmail (against 5 AD) Maw of Malmortius (if you need both damage and resistances against magic damage)

This build is focused on being a bruiser. Some items may not be necessary for every game; it all depends on the enemy's main damage sources. But you do want to generally build 150+ armor at the very least since you will be mostly taking physical damage from the enemy AD Carry. If your early game didn't go well, or you need more support for your AD Carry, try the Alternative Support Build.

Alternative Support Build (no specific order)[]

Starting Items: Hunter's Machete + 5 Health Potion
Early Game Core: Philosopher's Stone, Madred's Razors, Boots of Speed, Sightstone (you are a support now!)
Mid Game Core: Mercury's Treads (get out of CC quicker, use CC on others quicker) Shurelya's Reverie (helps you initiate and/or run from initiates) Aegis of the Legion (later into Runic Bulwark) Ruby Sightstone (you should no longer have ward problems: there should be at least 6 wards on the map just from you and your official bot lane support every 3 minutes)
Late Game Core: Iceborn Gauntlet (for more CC and CDR if necessary) Manamune, Randuin's Omen or Frozen Heart (shut down the enemy bruiser(s) running at your carry!)
Alternative Items: Zeke's Herald (get this if your AD Carry doesn't have enough life steal) Locket of the Iron Solari (get this rather than Aegis if the opposition's magic damage is insignificant) Twin Shadows (this is up to you; can be a very good choice depending on how the game flows. Use this for Baron checks, Baron steal checks, etc., to avoid facechecking into a loss) Mikael's Crucible (lots of threatening CC on enemy side)

This build is focused on purely protecting a target on your team and supporting your team overall. With 40% CDR and Iceborn Gauntlet, you can knock up a single target and slow them at the same time every 3 seconds. It is like having a Rupture that hits one target on a 3 second cooldown. Before using this support build, think of the usual support build that you would use on champions such as Sona, Janna, Taric, etc. Build accordingly.

Summoner Spells[]

Smite: Obvious choice for junglers.
Flash or Ghost: Whatever fits you more. I like Flash more on Blitzcrank thanks to his built-in MS steroid.

Jungle Routes[]

Blue Team

Try to get a nice leash (Smiteless if possible) on red buff.
Smiteless Route: Wraiths - Red (Smiteless) - Blue (Smite) - Gank Top / Mid
Smite Route: Wraiths - Red (Smite) - Wolves - Wraiths - Blue (Smite) - Gank or Golems

Purple Team

Try to get a nice leash (Smiteless if possible) on blue buff.
Smiteless Route: Wolves - Blue (Smiteless) - Red (Smite) - Gank top/mid
Smite Route: Wolves - Blue (Smite) - Wraiths - Wolves - Red (Smite) - Gank or Golems
If the enemy jungler is a strong counterjungler, try being more flexible with your route and ask your support for an early ward on your 2nd buff monster camp.

Ability Combos[]

Standard ranged combo: Rocket Grab - Power Fist - Static Field - Autoattack with Overdrive on
Ganking top/bot combo: Run with Overdrive - Autoattack into immediate Power Fist - Rocket Grab during chase - Static Field - Autotattack to death
Lane surprise grab combo: Autoattack minions once each - Static Field into immediate Rocket Grab (enemy laner should be defenseless) - Power Fist - Overdrive autotattacks
Flash combo: Flash and Power Fist - Autoattack with Overdrive - Rocket Grab - Static Field - Autoattack to death

Early Game[]

During the first 10 or so minutes of the game, jungling for farm and ganking needy lanes is your priority. Try to help lanes that have been counterpicked or is being pushed towards allied towers. Don't neglect pushed lanes as well if your laner has decent lockdowns, as a random grab from the bush can really catch opponents out of position. Be sure to ask your laner(s) for any wards in nearby brushes before ganking. As a jungler, you should be focusing on mid lane and top lane first, as these solo lanes will be most affected by the jungle influence. Then focus near mid and bot lanes for Dragon control. If you have made multiple successful ganks, your job as a jungler can be said to be successful.

Mid Game[]

Few turrets will start falling. Dragon(s) will be acquired by teams. At this stage, start building toward an Iceborn Gauntlet. Keep jungling and ganking and follow your team or lead your team around objectives. Nothing new yet, but try to control as many objectives as much as possible.

Late Game[]

Game changing moments, game changing team fights, game changing decisions. Depending on your success and your carries' status, you may have to either peel for your squishies or chase after their carries. The key thing with lategame as a jungler is to have 1~2 wards handy with you in case for a Baron steal, or just simply vision. You may want to carry an Oracle's Elixir with you if your support doesn't have one. Baron control is the top priority at this stage. Don't neglect farming, but don't go clean up bottom lane unless he/she is a Shen, Twisted Fate, Pantheon, etc., or has Teleport available. Try to use long range ults with short cooldown ( Trueshot Barrage, Final Spark) After winning some teamfights, you can go for Baron or multiple turrets thanks to the long death timers.

Team Fights[]

Blitzcrank is an amazing initiator. Similar to Skarner, he can pick one person out of the pack, prefferably the AD or AP Carry. A good grab can win you the game, but on the other hand, grabbing a champion like Alistar or Amumu whom you can't burst down quickly and has AOE CC can cost you the game. Grabbing bruisers sometimes may be the better idea if he/she is a big threat to your team, but can be bursted down. Now that the team fight has began, you must choose from offense or defense. If you are fed on the team, you may want to go for enemy carries. Without proper support and escape tools, they will be easily locked down by Q-W-E-R-Spellblade. If your team needs some peel for your carries, Blitzcrank with an Iceborn Gauntlet excels at this job by having a low cooldown Power Fist and an AOE slow every two seconds. If the team fight has been won, Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab will allow your team for an easy chase. Shurelya's Reverie, if acquired, will help out as well. If the team fight has been lost, you might want to sacrifice yourself for the good of your carries. If the enemy team is attempting baron, try a smitesteal at baron. Sometimes it may not be worth attempting it, but it's better than nothing.

Synergizing Champions[]

Blitzcrank relies on his Rocket Grab as his main ability. To get a relatively high accuracy on his grab, he needs a lockdown, even if it has a short duration. Also, Blitzcrank synergizes extremely well with burst champions. Since Rocket Grab is such a crucial spell, with its usage comes a delay of 10~20 seconds (depending on skill level and 0~40% CDR) and killing a target in the duration of Q-E-R is very important in Blitzcrank's success. Therefore, the following champions work well with Blitzcrank.

Pantheon, Twisted Fate, Ryze, etc: Great burst, and a simple single-target lockdown stun.
Graves, Corki, Ezreal, Miss Fortune, etc: Great burst, and Blitzcrank's lockdowns will make skillshots and AoE abilities much easier to land.
Alistar, Leona, Singed, Nautilus, etc: These combos are more for dragging the enemy into turret hell. All of these champions have 2+ CC that can either set up or follow up a Blitcrank's Rocket Grab.

Closing Comments[]

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for reading this guide. As I said before, do not go off with playing him in ranked unless you are completely confident in yourself or you have a trustable duo mid partner. I hope I can see more JungleCranks in the future in my normal games. Once you lay your hands on this champion, you will be soon finding yourself spending 3150.

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