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Riot recently released patch 8.10, which brought tons of changes to the jungle. One of those changes completely re-balanced the Scuttle Crab, giving it so much XP per kill that non-junglers are now taking smite to get an advantage.
The Scuttle Crab is an easily accessible camp to both junglers and mid laners. Because of this, mid laners have been taking smite in order to get a level over their opponent. If laners end up taking Hunter’s Talisman, they can also move into the river to quickly regenerate a ton of mana as well, further incentivising Smite.
Needless to say, junglers are pretty unhappy about all these changes to their role. Even a brief look at the League of Legends subreddit will net you a ton of different posts about how bad the new jungle is. A lot of players have voiced their frustration, including some notable pros.
I run smite every game in every position.
— scarra (@scarra) May 17, 2018
I am a scuttle fighting champion
Do not step on the rift unless you're prepared to step into my ring.
Tried to stay up to see last msi game. Wake up to not only TL losing but riot killing jungle. What a nice day.
— saintvicious (@LolStvicious) May 15, 2018
All jungle mains welcome to take relic and support me top, together we can become the new botlane
— OLOF (@flaxxish) May 16, 2018
me go smite mid me take all your jungle
— Danny Le (@Shiphtur) May 16, 2018
On the plus side, mid laners seem to be having a blast. Finally, the role with the most fun champs and the most gameplay variety gets a win. We’ll have to wait and see if Riot ends up making significant changes to the jungle over the next few patches. For now though, it’s crab hunting season.