Overview
Ivern is one of the premier support style junglers in the game, as much of his kit revolves around being able to enable his teammates. And true to his identity as a creature of the forest, he’s able to create bushes all over the map to further create opportunities for your team to unleash abilities from the dark. Ivern is a champion with a unique jungle style and will be a good pick for anyone who’s confident in the abilities of their laners. Click here for the latest data on his best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Ivern
Ivern is first and foremost a support champion when it comes to his role in fights -- this means he's greatly lacking in damage. You should not pick this champion expecting to 1v5 enemies. You need to enable your team!
You can instantly smite away enemy camps thanks to your passive, so you should look for aggressive invades whenever there's a safe opportunity. Don't randomly invade without knowing the enemy jungler's position because you'll struggle in 1 on 1 fights.
Strengths
Between his items and Triggerseed [E], Ivern is going to be a great utility player for your team. It’s a lot of shielding to go alongside Daisy [R], which means he’s going to provide a ton of unexpected HP that enemies must burst through. This combined with Brushmaker [W] makes him a deceptively strong tank, and with Rootcaller [Q] and Daisy’s knockup, he also provides CC. It’s a kit that is built largely to support allies, and that makes him a great pick when you’re paired up with strong carries. Finally, his jungle style is unique thanks to Friend of the Forest [P], which means you can take some interesting pathing routes involving the enemy jungle if your smite is up.
Weaknesses
He has very little damage, so even if you are good and do everything you can to get your team ahead, if they’ve got crayons for brains and keep getting caught, then you’re out of luck. Ivern isn’t going to solo win you a fight. He’s not a hyper carry. Both of these things perhaps frustratingly so at times. But more often than not, your teammates are in the same elo as you for a reason, and as long as you are able to get them ahead, you will (of course not always) find yourself in winnable positions. He’s also bad in duels early, so there are junglers who can try to force the issue against him right away.
Game Plan
Early Game: He’s a good early ganker thanks to Rootcaller [Q] and should look to do so -- especially if he’s waiting for his passive to proc. You set it up, gank, and then go back to collect.
Mid Game: Continue to look for fights and skirmishes with your team. You should have solid objective control as a champion with good team fighting capacity -- make sure to peel for carries and keep them alive or you’ll quickly run out of damage.
Late Game: Same deal as mid game -- you have good pick potential with Rootcaller [Q] and should be looking for it as often as possible before peeling back for your team.
