Okay, so I’ve been messing around with Viego in the jungle lately, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. I wanted to figure out who gives this guy a hard time, so I could dodge those matchups like the plague. Started off by just jumping into a bunch of games, you know, the usual grind.
First few matches, I was feeling pretty good. Viego’s got a decent clear speed, and his ganks? Pretty slick if you land that W. But then, boom, I ran into a J4. This guy was all over me. Every time I tried to take a camp, he’d be there, waiting to slap me around. I tried to duel him a couple of times, big mistake. He just tanked my damage and beat me down. I did this a few times, and it was always the same. It felt like he always got the better of me.
Next up was a Vi. Similar story, honestly. She’d just jump on me, and there was no getting away. Her burst damage was insane, and once she locked me down with her ult, it was game over. I tried to avoid her as much as possible, but she was just too darn fast.
After a few more games, I started noticing a pattern. Champs that could invade me early and either burst me down or out-sustain me were the real problem. I tried playing against a Wukong, same thing. He gets a good amount of aoe and that ult is a good way to catch me off guard.
So, I did what any sensible person would do – I went to look it up. Turns out, I wasn’t alone in my suffering. Seems like a lot of folks have trouble with champs like Karthus, Talon, Rammus, Sejuani, and Taliyah when playing Viego jungle. Made sense. Karthus can just ult you from across the map, Talon can one-shot you before you can even react, Rammus is, well, Rammus, Sejuani is an unkillable tank, and Taliyah can kite you forever.
What’s really interesting is that Viego is only winning about half of his games, which is not as high as you might think for such a popular pick, and yeah, he’s picked a lot. I even saw that he’s considered S tier. And guess what? I’m not the only one who’s been running into these tough matchups, because I’m seeing him get picked in almost 20% of the games I play.
On the flip side, it looks like Viego does pretty well against Gragas and Graves. I haven’t played against them too much, but I can see how Viego’s kit could give them a hard time. Like, Gragas is all about those big, telegraphed abilities, and Viego can possess him to use them and dodge with his E. Graves wants to kite and burst, but Viego can stick to him with his W and Q.
- If you’re playing Viego jungle, watch out for champs that can invade you early and have strong dueling power.
- Don’t try to fight J4, Vi, or Wukong unless you’re sure you can win. You probably can’t.
- Consider banning champs like Karthus, Talon, Rammus, Sejuani, or Taliyah.
- If you see the enemy team pick Gragas or Graves, Viego might be a good choice.
Here’s what I learned from all of this
It might seem obvious that the ones who are good at taking Viego out are the ones who can get in close and beat him up, but that is the truth of it. I’d say that based on what I learned and what I saw, the ones to watch out for are definitely Karthus, Talon, Rammus, Sejuani, and Taliyah. It’s been a learning experience, to say the least. Hopefully, this helps some of you out there avoid the same headaches I went through!
