How to win the jungle race as Kindred against Xin Zhao · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Kindred's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Xin Zhao.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Respect Xin Zhao | Three Talon Strike's knock-up plus passive healing wins the first buff-pit duel, and Kindred has no clean answer to it at the first buff — the W challenge into Three Talon Strike knock-up chains you down before you can answer. Respect the river bushes and disengage before the third Q hit lands, and give up your opening camps rather than the kill. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Respect Xin Zhao | The window on the second camp belongs to Xin Zhao: Wind Becomes Lightning (W) challenge poke starts trades they finish for free. Your own line is real — Wolf's Frenzy plus Q resets let you skirmish from untouchable range — but it arrives second here. Respect the river bushes and disengage before the third Q hit lands, then refuse the level-2 skirmish. |
| Level 3 Route | Respect Xin Zhao | At level 3 this window belongs to Xin Zhao: the full knock-up combo with W slow is among the top three level-3 duels, and the W challenge into Three Talon Strike knock-up chains you down before you can answer. Respect the river bushes and disengage before the third Q hit lands. Give up the level-3 river fight and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Respect Xin Zhao — Path Opposite | You lose the 4-5 duel. He dives lanes through 4-5, since Audacious Charge into the knock-up needs no setup at all — so let them have that half of the map and cash the other half faster. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Respect Xin's R | Xin Zhao wins the breakpoint outright — Crescent Guard makes the 1v1 literal, and Crescent Guard isolates you from your team and wins the resulting 1v1. Fight him with numbers before the R cast or poke the duel down from range, then trade objectives cross-map until your items land. |
| First Item Spike | Kraken Slayer / Terminus | Kraken Slayer's on-hit true damage proc and the Terminus on-hit shred both pair well with Kindred's attack-reset-heavy kit, speeding up clears and dueling. Use this priority window to force aggressive counter-jungle invades or capture remaining marks. Xin Zhao's first item is a sharp jump — the knock-up combo goes from a strong trade to a kill on most junglers. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Kindred Favoured — Wins Late | The late game is yours. Remember what Xin Zhao still is at full build — he isolates one target with Crescent Guard and wins the 1v1 he just created — and take the fights that do not let it matter. |
Start your clearing path at the Blue Buff camp to secure optimal ability haste looping across your starting single-target nodes before clearing down into the scuttle crab side. Xin Zhao clears fast and heals off Determination, so he reaches three healthy and looking for the first fight.
Ranked by the race windows in Kindred's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Kindred vs Xin Zhao report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Xin Zhao pressures 5 of the 7 windows in this race — survive the early game and scale into your windows.
Not exactly — Xin Zhao pressures 5 of the 7 windows, so Kindred is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Kindred takes Press the Attack on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace, and Domination secondary (Sudden Impact and Treasure Hunter) vs Xin Zhao.
Start Gustwalker Hatchling + Health Potion and back for Noonquiver / Recurve Bow — path toward the next mark on the back. Build Kraken Slayer first, then Blade of the Ruined King / Runaan's Hurricane, with Berserker's Greaves.
Playing the other side? Xin Zhao vs Kindred guide →
All Kindred jungle matchups →
More Kindred jungle matchups: vs Volibear · vs Warwick · vs Wukong · vs Zac · vs Zyra · vs Amumu