How to play Morgana Jungle in League of Legends S11

Morgana has long been relegated to a support or supportive mid-lane pick. However, with buffs received earlier in Season 11, Morgana Jungle has become a very viable option. The buff enabled Morgana to clear jungle camps faster, allowing her to farm up and gank more often.

Morgana’s utility has always been a great supportive tool, being able to hard crowd control enemy targets for what feels like years! This makes Morgana jungle especially strong due to her ganks, locking down enemies and allowing her laners to snowball.

Jungle Morgana

“Only those you love can break your heart.” – Morgana before binding you for 7 seconds

Tips & tricks

Morgana is an easier champion to play as support with two targets to hit Dark Binding (Q), combined with strong zoning potential and a Black Shield to bail the lane out of many situations. However, Morgana jungle requires a more difficult and aggressive playstyle to have a high impact and be rewarded. Along with our Darius LoL guide, our tips & tricks will offer key insight into Morgana jungle to help you climb your way to the top!

Morgana jungle requires her to play aggressive and to gank heavily due to her poor scaling into the late game.

  • Hold your Dark Binding (Q) – Avoid instantly throwing Q at max range during ganks. Holding Q when ganking applies huge pressure to the enemy. Enemies tend to pre-move side steps when Morgana Q is up, allowing you to close to gap. Ultimately, this will make Q’s easier to hit.
  • Max Tormented Shadow (W) first – Morgana’s buffs had primarily been centered on her W, reducing its cooldown in the jungle. Maxing the soil first will dramatically increase jungle clear speed in the early to mid-game. This enables you to out-time the enemy jungler for ganks and farm up better.
  • Cast Black Shield (E) reactively – While the Black Shield may last 5 seconds, it should be cast reactively to effectively block crowd control. Black Shield only grants immunity to crowd control when the magic shield is present. This means once enemies deals sufficient magic damage, they can still crowd control yourself or your ally within the 5 seconds. Thus, if you or your allies are not in immediate danger, hold your black shield until enemies use their non CC magic abilities. Better yet, If you have the mechanics, cast it in reaction to an enemy CC ability.
    Wait for Veigar to use his Q or W, before black shielding yourself to walk out of his cage
  • Use Soul Shackles (R) first to guarantee Dark Binding (Q) – Ganking post six in the mid game is easy with Morgana using this combo. Using Soul Shackles first will slow the target and grant Morgana bonus movement speed. After 3 seconds, Soul Shackles will also stun the enemy, making your Dark Binding undodgeable. Additionally, as enemies feel the pressure of this combo, they be forced to flash, giving you a second chance to catch them with Dark Binding.

Jungle Morgana Item Build Order

There are a few different ways to build Morgana Jungle, depending on champion select and how you approach your role. Your specific damage and kill threat comes second to your ability to enable fights and protect carries.

Early game

  • Hailblade – All jungles must start a jungle item like Hailblade or Emberknife as it not only increases clear speed, but quickens the road to an upgraded smite. Hailblade is preferred for Morgan jungle as the slow with Chilling Smite makes it easier for her to hit Dark Binding.
  • Lost Chapter – An essential item for Morgana’s mythical items. Grants both ability power and mana, crucial stats to aid in Morgana’s ability to clear camps in the jungle.

Mid game

  • Sorcerer’s Shoes – No matter if you are going full AP or slightly tanky, Sorcerer’s Shoes should always be the boots of choice as Tormented Shadow is a damage over time ability. Magic penetration make Sorc’s highly damage efficient, while the movement can make up for Morgana’s lack of mobility.
  • Stop watch – Allows Morgana to make risky / aggressive plays like turret dives early on. Getting it early is best as she will need Zhonya’s Hourglass later anyway.

Late game

  • Zhonya’s Hourglass – An essential item that allows Morgana to aggressively position in fights without dying, allowing her to gain maximum value from Soul Shackles.
  • Liandry’s Anguish – The best mythical item for Morgana Jungle as it gives magic penetration and has a damage over time passive that can constantly be applied / reset with Tormented Shadow.
  • Demonic embrace – A good value item stat wise that gives Morgana ability power and health for slightly increased survivability. More importantly, it’s passive is a damage overtime like Liandry’s Anguish.
Morgana Jungle Skill Order Items

Morgana Item Build & Skill Order

Morgana Counters

Rengar – Morgana is highly susceptible to AD assassins due to her poor mobility and Black Shield only blocking magic damage. For this, Morgana should rush Zhonya’s Hourglass and build some tanky items like Randiun’s Omen.

Kindred – Kindred can easily invade and duel Morgana in her jungle, while also simultaneously out scaling her. As Morgana is unable to contest her own jungle for Kindred’s stacks, Kindred can freely scale.

Master Yi – Can dodge Morgana Q with Alpha Strike and easily duel Morgana at all points in the game.

Morgana Favourable matchups

Amumu – Able to protect one of her key carries with Black Shield, making them immune to Amumu’s primary function to hard CC enemies.

Vi – Vi can be easily binded, preventing her engage. Both of Vi’s knockback and knock-up can also be blocked by Black Shield as Vi has no magic damage.

Taliyah – Black Shield blocks a large portion of Taliyah’s burst and can stop her knockback. Due to Taliyah’s lack of mobility, Morgana can catch Taliyah out easily in fights even if she stays back.

Conclusions

Morgana Jungle is a great choice for anyone seeking to carry and assist their teammates in a single match. You can make the fight starting engages and control the map top to bottom as you plow along and bind everything in your path. If you go down the Liandry path, your Morgana should never fall off as the % damage will handle binded tanks with great ease.

If you play and position correctly, Morgana can be a joy to play and quite easy to master.