Ok, the new Twisted Treeline has been out for a long time now. I enjoy it, in fact I play TT far more often than SR.
The close quarters of the map grants an atmosphere of teamwork, where your allies are literally only 10 seconds walk away to help you in a gank situation. I feel that Riot did an amazing job with the redesign, from the old bruiser dictated map it once was, to a place where mages, AD carries and even supports are free to do their thing (in fact I believe that the list of viable people on TT is much larger than it is on SR.. I mean.. Melee carries are strong picks on TT, also Karma and Syndra too.)
However there is something which I feel is needed to win a game of TT outright, and that is a jungler. However I've been met with animosity when I've said that I wished to jungle, people claiming that junglers are not needed, underpowered, or even that it's not possible to jungle on TT. These are entirely false statements and I have jungled on TT non stop over the past month to prove that it's an awesome tactic to use.
First things first:
Why is it important to have a jungler?[]
The importance of having a jungler on TT is the exact same reason it's important to have one on SR. Firstly it means you will now have 2 solo lanes, and solo exp is a beautiful thing to have. By the time the enemy has one level 6 and 2 level 4-5s, you will have 3 level 6s. Similar principle to gold income, more gold being shared between less people.
The second point regards map control. When you have a jungler there is almost no way in hell your lanes will ever get ganked by the enemy laners. In order for ether top or bot to gank the other lane they will need to go through the enemy jungle.
And also being able to capture your alter the very second it is available is also very useful.
Ganking is very strong on TT. It is very hard to push and try to take a tower when there's the constant threat of being ganked, especially top lane which is very long.
Who can jungle on TT?[]
Generally anyone who can jungle on SR can jungle on TT. I have jungled as many different champions with extreme success, from assassin junglers like Nocturne, Diana and KhaZix to tanky junglers like Mundo, ChoGath and Sejuani.
How do you jungle?[]
Whether to take Smite is something to consider on a champion basis. If you don't need Smite then by all means take a different summoner spell, all teams should have an Exhaust and if your teammates have both gone for ignite then it may be best to take Exhaust yourself, it will help with ganks. If you do however go for Smite then save it for the golem camp in the early game and save it for Vilemaw later on.
I like to open with a Doran's shield on most junglers and ether boots, a flask or cloth armor and a health pot. However it is flexible based on your champion, Trundle for example can go back to his pre season 3 roots and start with a vamp scepter.
Jungle creeps spawn at 1:40 as per usual. Start with the wraith camp then choose ether the wolf camp if you have a lot of AoE, or the golem camp if you're more single target. Finish your clear and depending on your jungle speed wraith camp will almost be back up, or you can go and gank. You should hit level 2 after killing the first minion in your second camp and level 3 just after your first clear of the jungle, you will be level 2 and probably level 3 before the enemy laners for certain.
A notable item to get is Grez's Spectral Lanern. This works almost exactly like Wriggles does, it gives lifesteal, AD, Armor, and a passive which will randomly deal a large chunk of bonus damage to minions or monsters on hit, and free map vision and bush checking. It is also the ultimate cockblock to stealth characters, that Akali or Wukong isn't hiding anywhere when someone has a Grez's, come and fight like a man Teemo! Speaking of Teemo it also builds into The Lightbringer, an item designed purely to counter that high pitched poison ferret as it passively detects his shrooms if they're nearby.
If the enemy doesn't have a jungler you can go and take their minions too for the extra gold and exp, or even take their alter if you think you can get away with it. That entire mid portion of the map belongs to you.
If the enemy also has a jungler then you have to be a little bit more cautious. Check his movements and go and pinch his wolf camp when he backs, try and control the health relic in the centre as it gives a large boost to sustain and also gives a hefty speedboost which you can use to gank bot lane with if they're out of position. The health relic spawns at 1:55 and respawns every 1:30 after being picked up.
Jungling on TT is overall stronger than it is on SR. The enemy will think twice before going for kills when there's backup literally only a few feet away at all times. Junglers can easily match the laner's gold and levels and can snowball both themselves and their laners to an easy win.