Dr. Mundo Build Guide by Bowserkins

Mundoism -

Mundo very sure your puny little brains not capable of understanding very complex guide, but he show you how it done anyway. In sophisticated guide, Mundo teach you how to cleaver foes in face, and when to set self on fire to burn cannon fodder. Remember to follow simple orders, or you die and Mundo laugh at corpse while retreating back to turret. Think that funny? It not, because Mundo hate retreating! Now, to better explain guide, Mundo will need human. Mundo's good friend, Bowserkins, explain in stupid human broken english how Mundo best champion ever.

Starting Thoughts -

Dr. Mundo has been around for quite some time, and ever since his creation I have been a huge fan of his tool set. In a game where the champions only have 4 abilities, it's hard to feel like you're doing several things with your character. Dr. Mundo doesn't really follow that mold. Based on how you build him, he can fit any need for your team. Whether he does it well is another matter, but if you build him correctly he is sooooo much fun to play. Here is my guide on how to fly around the map imposing your dominant prowess on all things unfriendly.

Mastery Selection:

Dr. Mundo is a very straight forward champion when it comes to mastery selection. In my humble opinion, 9/21/0 is the only way to go. The defensive mastery tree offers you a substantial amount of end-game cooldown reduction with Enlightenment . Along with that are great damage reduction options like Tough Skin , Hardiness , and Resistance . There are other choices in that realm, but your points are better spent in other areas like Durability and Veteran's Scars for extra health. To round it out, Juggernaut adds to your health while also granting you disable reduction. For the secondary tree, go for max points in Mental Force , Sorcery , and Arcane Knowledge over in the offense mastery tree. Overall, the objective is to increase health and durability while reducing cooldown times.

Rune Selection:

This is where the options become limitless. Like most Champions, the rune selection for them should be based solely off how you play them. Personally, I like to harass with Dr. Mundo early to stack up gold and make sure the person or persons I'm laning against are choked out. So with that in mind, here are some great rune options to choose from.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration This one is the best option in my opinion. Magic Penetration is key for your Burning Agony.
Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration is another great great choice, adding armor penetration into the mix as well.
Greater Mark Of Vitality isn't optimal considering the pay out is low for a tier 3 rune. However, adding health is never a bad thing.
Greater Seal Of Vitality is the best Seal for Dr. Mundo. He builds up very well with HP, and it matters most end-game.
Greater Seal of Armor works also. It provides a lot of armor right off the bat. You may want to favor this Seal if you are new to the game. Early game durability is always helpful if you are inexperienced.
Greater Seal Of Endurance looks great, but it's a trap! You would have to build up over 4500 hp in order to make this Rune better than Vitality. Don't fall for it!
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist is the way to go. Given that you start out with a Doran's Shield with this build, you want to balance yourself by adding some early Magic Resist.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction represents the next best option. Getting off more cleavers is always a bonus. Go with this if you are confident you can deal with the incoming physical damage early on. Either of these are great.
Greater Quintessence Of Vigor is hands down the best option. Early game, you are impossible to harass if you have great regeneration. This helps tremendously with that goal.
Greater Quintessence of Health can get your HP way up there early on. Overall, it's just as valuable as Vigor.
Greater Quintessence Of Vitality Go with this if you want extra health at level 18. I personally enjoy having extra health at the beginning of the game because that is when you are most vulnerable.

Spell Selection:

Just like your rune selection, your spell selection is based on how you play your champion. Here is an explanation of the viable spells to choose from.

Teleport is a GREAT spell for Dr. Mundo. It increases his ability to roam around the map and can ease the pain of having to go back to base for item purchasing. It's impact late game can't be expressed with words. The ability to mount a push up mid, return to base for healing, then teleport back into the push is unmatched.

Ghost is purely a preference I have personally. You already have quite a bit of mobility with Sadism, but I prefer having even more mobility because of my aggressive play style. (That's me admitting I'm out of position sometimes!) :P

Exhaust is a great option for any tank. The ability to exhaust the enemy carry is a great asset for your team. This is a better choice if you don't value the additional mobility that Ghost offers.

Ignite isn't as viable as the other options, but it'll work if your team doesn't have enough of these to cover the healing of your enemy.

Abilities:

Possibly the most crucial part of playing Dr. Mundo is mastering the art of using his abilities correctly. Here is a run down.

Adrenaline Rush I love this passive. It gives you a steady health gain, and it's based off your max health pool. Stack that HP to help it out!

Infected Cleaver is your most important ability. It should be used as soon as it is ready in a perfect world. It does have the downside of being easily neutralized, but a skilled player learns how to sneak the cleaver through small gaps to negate the strategy of blocking them with minions. Max this ability by level 9.

Burning Agony is so great for gold farming. It won't kill quick, but that doesn't diminish it's value by much. The disable reduction it offers can't be overlooked either. Max this ability during the mid-game phase and remember to have it on during key points. Just don't forget to turn it off when you're at very low health. I killed myself a few times with it back in the noob days! :P

Masochism dominates late game when you possess the defensive capability to stand in the fight for a while. Max it last at level 18 and keep it up as often as possible in a fight.

Sadism is the shizz! Not only is it awesome during a team fight at making you even harder to kill, but it acts as a great way to escape ganks or heal yourself during 1v1 lane play early on. The timing for this ultimate is something only practice can bring, but after a while you will be able to judge when it should be activated. Take a point in it at level 6, 11, and 16.

Item Selection:

Balancing this guy is not as tough of a task as one would think. Normally, it's challenging to make your tank difficult to kill while also making it obvious to the opposing team that you can't be completely ignored when the team fight initiates. However, with Dr. Mundo, you have an incredible advantage over other tanking champions. You posses 3 abilities that offer you the chance to become a high damage machine even with all tank items. Here are some items you want to consider.

The magic resist is awesome, but the tenacity is what makes these boots insanely good. Build your boots first! Speed is everything early on when gank-dodging is important.

This is core Dr. Mundo. It increases his health by an enormous amount, while also increasing health regeneration. Build this immediately after your boots.

Another item that is mandatory for him is this bad mofo. It increases your healing and regeneration. I'm stating the obvious when I say this makes your ultimate an even stronger one. Build it immediately after your Warmog's Armor unless the physical damage of your enemy is stacking too fast for comfort.

This is where you can start to make tweaks based on how the enemy composition is looking. Build this item after spirit visage if the attack damage on the enemy team is steadily climbing. It'll increase your armor and punish their melee champions with a continuous burn over time.

This is awesome for shutting down an AD carry. Build this one before your sunfire or visage if your team is falling behind and their AD carry is dominating. You can combine this with a well timed exhaust and Sadism to shut down even the most fed AD carry during the team fight. I don't recommend this item if their AD carry is struggling and your team is winning. A Sunfire Cape makes more sense in that situation.

If you want to take the battle to their AP prowess, this is the perfect tool to do so. It further increases Dr. Mundo's regeneration (increased even further from your Spirit Visage) and offers you a decent amount of bonus movement. The best part of it is obviously the huge magic resist buff it brings. So don't be shy to break this out before your Sunfire Cape or Randuin's Omen if the magic damage is pretty high against you.

This item may favor you as you begin your Dr. Mundo adventure. It's a good item if you are new to the game because you won't end up chasing as far. It gives you a pretty good chunk of health, and the slow it provides is an occasional game changer. For seasoned players, the previous items are a better choice.

I am not a fan of this doozy at all. Yes, the armor/resistance is great; not to mention the cool revival passive it has. However, it offers no health at all. Remember, your passive and your ultimate scale off your max health total. I know it's tempting, but there are better options listed above. Build this item only if it's a very close end-game. It could sway the battle if you can heal up to full after the revival.

Positioning:

Dr. Mundo seems like he was designed to be a top champion. Everything he does well screams the solo act. Try to play the top lane as much as possible when using him.

He is also very valuable as a Jungler. I have a soft spot for any jungler who doesn't use mana as a resource. That frees up your mid for Golem buff as soon as it comes up. I won't go into a detailed explanation of Jungle Dr. Mundo, but there are guides out there to show you how it's done.

Bottom lane is pretty fun as well, but it's slightly more difficult. My biggest issue with going bot is that Dr. Mundo isn't that great in a lane chase. Put just one minion in between him and his target and you just lost your slow. It's far better to have somebody with better lane dive capabilities going bot. Again, it is my strong opinion that he belongs in the top lane by himself. If you're good, you'll rarely need your jungler to assist, which frees him/her up to gank mid and bot consistently while you put a strangle hold on the opposing top champion.

Summary -

Overall, Dr. Mundo is a complete blast to play. His lane harassment is up there with Vladimir or even Garen. Just remember to play with confidence and listen to any and all criticism about how you play. Most players are trolls, but every once in a while you come across somebody who is sincerely trying to improve your skills. Playing Dr. Mundo is not for everybody. As a tank, your job is to put yourself in harm's way for the betterment of your team. It's not a role for the timid or the cowardly. I recommend trying him out for free before purchasing him. If you are a seasoned tank looking for a fresh renewal of the passion, he is certainly one of the more fun options within the role. Now get out there and practice!

Mundoism Finish:

Mundo confident human expressed thoughts perfectly. Mundo not like that human suggest Mundo can be killed, but nobody perfect if they human. Run for life, enemy; inferior human brain now educated on how to kill effectively. Now Mundo not have to worry that controller is noob. Overall, Mundo now happy. If silly humans have question, submit to Bowserkins and he maybe include it in Q&A section.

Q&A:

Question: Why do you not have Force of Nature earlier into your build?

Answer: It offers no boost to your max hp, which in turn devalues your ultimate. Yes, the magic resist and movement speed are nice, but spending that much gold for only half the item isn't cost effective. You already have plenty of HP regen, so pick it up end-game if the match is dragging on. I don't recommend it before that point unless they are AP heavy.

Question: Is Dr. Mundo viable as a support?

Answer: Not in a high competition setting. He has a lot of versatility, but none of his abilities provide a decent amount of support. Even his slow is unreliable. Stay with the tank/off-tank role.