When a new champion is added to League of Legends, there is usually a period of adjustment as the player base adjusts to the new addition to the roster. Most of the time, the new addition struggles to put up respectable results, which is generally due to a mix of newcomers trying out the champion and Riot Games making balancing tweaks.
Naafiri was released just recently, nonetheless, the champion is performing pretty decent, decent enough that Riot even had to implement a nerf just after 1 day of her debut. However, when it comes to her secondary role, things are quite the opposite.
Naafiri Jungle is the worst pick in the game right now
According to League statistical site LoLalytics, Naafiri jungle is the worst pick in the game right now in high-level solo queue little over three days into the champion’s release.
Currently at the time of writing, Naafiri Jungle has a 44.82% win rate in Emerald+ and she is even ranked at the lowest position in the jungle leaderboard.
Funny enough, while she was still in the pre-release stage on the PBE servers, players even dubbed her as the best jungler in the game. Other players even said that it was strange that the devs labelled Naafiri as a mid laner. She appeared to have the appropriate kit to clear camps and gank lanes, with an easy gap closer, high-damage, and low-cooldown abilities.
“This champion is the most fun Jungler I’ve ever played,”
“This champion is amazing in the jungle.”
Although Naafiri can be played as both a jungler and a mid laner, the champion has just a few more games at mid lane on the current patch, thus it’s still arguable what her “main” position is. While it is heading towards the mid lane, Naafiri jungle still has a large enough game.
It’s possible that players may neglect Naafiri jungle and prioritise her as a mid laner; few new champions, after all, retain relevance in more than one position long after their introduction. It’s possible that her jungling powers may need a buff or two. On July 21, she did get nerfed in a patch that harmed several of her key kit.