Overview
Rek’Sai is a very unique jungler thanks to her ability to burrow into the ground, which limits her own vision to gain new abilities. It can be a little uncomfortable to play at first, but once you master it, she becomes a champion that offers a ton of creative options for you to play around. She has great gank pressure thanks to having early access to CC, and her damage output is nothing to sneeze at. Click here for the latest data on her best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Rek’Sai
Enemies can actually bait out Rek'Sai while she's burrowed if they just stand still -- she needs to be aware of this especially late game when being caught out could end the game.
She has excellent gank potential early and should make use of her Tunnel [E] to set up quick pathing through her jungle or to take creative angles to get behind common enemy ward positions.
Strengths
Rek’Sai has access to very powerful ganks early thanks to having multiple abilities more than enemies because of her burrow form. Unburrowing [W] after using Tunnel [E] also provides her with great engage distance on ganks, which makes it very dangerous for enemies to overstep in lane -- if she happens to be nearby and they extend even a step too far, it’s lights out. The tunnels also mean she can approach from unique angles (over dragon pit or Baron pit for example) to circumvent wards. Being able to re-enter those tunnels also means she has good escape paths -- this will be helpful on dives and on aggressive plays that start to backfire.
Weaknesses
Once she burrows in and pops out from the ground, her follow-up options are quite limited. It can feel like a one-way trip at times even if she can technically get out again with burrows. This is compounded by her ultimate, Void Rush [R], launching her directly at enemies -- this is great when it contributes to kills, but late game, it will typically not be enough damage and may instead place her in a dire position to be countered on. And while the burrowing mechanic gives her a lot of power, it’s still ultimately a bit clunky-feeling to play and may be an aesthetic turnoff for many players.
Game Plan
Early Game: Play aggressively and look to gank as much as possible -- her power is immediately potent even as early as level 3, and once her ultimate is online, her ganks become extremely powerful.
Mid Game: She’s typically still very strong at this point in the game thanks to her early prowess. Enemies will have difficulty bursting through her defenses at this point and her damage will still feel good.
Late Game: She falls off in the late game being a champion that doesn’t excel in either defense or attack -- it’ll be best to play a more supportive role, though she can still change fights with a good unburrow onto multiple enemies.