Hi everyone, thanks for reading my guide! I reach plat pretty consistently but have never been able to achieve Diamond. I just achieved Plat on my alt account playing Amumu through the top half of Gold, and I reached Plat 4 with a 70% win rate on Amumu in 20 games. Last season I played Amumu on a smurf and had an 80%+ win rate through bronze and silver.

Why should you play Amumu?
-You have an ultimate with excellent playmaking potential.
-Your q is a very fun spell which is extremely satisfying to land.
-Your ganks are very strong and have a very high kill potential when you land your stun.
-He can be built tanky or AP.
-He is not an extremely high-skill champ; Amumu doesn't require crazy mechanics.

I have gotten to Plat playing Amumu not because I have great mechanics, but smart decision making and a good understanding of League Macro.

I basically always start red buff. Do red, then chickens/krugs (order depends), and then you're level 3. At level 3 I immediately look to gank.

Which camp you do after red depends on what side of the map you are on and who you want to gank. Most likely, you want to prioritize your gank based on which ally can best follow up your gank to secure the kill, while also considering if you want to particularly snowball a certain ally of yours.

For example, you have a Yone mid and are on the blue side of the map. Yone has high carry potential. Say in chat at the start of the game you are going red, krugs, chickens, gank mid. That way your Yone knows to not overpush and be ready for your gank.

Another thing to consider is how likely the enemy jungler is to counter jungle you. This is a higher concern in higher elos. If you are on blue side and go red -> chickens -> krugs -> gank bot, the enemy jungler should realize your blue buff is wide open for them to take. If they are a particularly good dueler, they may steal your blue buff and then wait to ambush you in your own jungle. For this reason, I sometimes may purposely gank mid then go blue, even if bot seemed the better lane to gank.

If you ganked mid, you should then go straight from mid lane to your blue buff. Secure blue buff, then attempt to get scuttle (if the enemy jungler defeats you 1 v 1 and the enemy lanes surrounding your blue-side scuttle have priority [they are farther pushed in the lane and in a better position to enter the river], then you may elect to not contest scuttle). After you get your blue-side scuttle, kill gromp then wolves. After wolves, you can either gank mid, go get chickens if they've respawned, go run straight to your red-side scuttle, or recall to base.

Depending on how long the fight took in bot or top, you can now look to get your red-side scuttle. Just understand this is more time with your blue buff open to the enemy jungler, and you may be increasing the chance the enemy jungler takes it from you. Otherwise, recall immediately after your gank, secure blue bluff, and then go to your blue-side scuttle.

Here are your basic combos with Amumu.

Pre-6 (or ULT on CD) standard gank combo:

Turn on W, press Q to travel to enemy champion and stun them, auto attack (AA) once, then press E. Then Q + AA + E will proc electrocute which is why it is so good on Amumu.

Pre-6 (or ULT on CD) delayed stun combo:

This combo is good for if the enemy champion is out of position and/or already at low HP. Instead of Q'ing right away, save your Q for if the enemy champion flashes away to then close the gap and finish them off. Simply walk up to the enemy champion with W on, AA once, press E, then look to Q.

Q first Ult Combo

(W on) Q to enemy champion, AA, E, R.

This combo is good if you are not in range to root the enemy with your ult, or if by landing your Q first you will then be in position to press R and hit multiple enemy champions with your ult.

Ult first Combo

(W on) Press R to first stun the enemy champion, this results in an almost guaranteed Q hit, then AA, then E.

This combo is great if you are already in position to hit multiple enemy champions with your Ult (or if you can flash into such a position), if minions are in the way of you landing your Q but the enemy is in ult range, or if you want to guarantee a kill on a squishy target. Your R is not a skill shot, so as long as the enemy champion does not flash or spell shield your ult, you land a guaranteed stun and can follow this up with a near-guaranteed Q stun.

Combos in summary (W assumed on at start)

Q, AA, E

AA, E, Q

Q, AA, E, R (or Q, R, AA, E if you want to quickly secure hitting other champions with your Ult).

R, Q, AA, E.

I believe if you can master the following, you should absolutely be able to climb to Plat with Amumu:

1. Take guaranteed kills. Basically, do not be overly cautious in using your Ult to wait for the perfect 4 or 5 man Ulti. If you can get a guaranteed 1-person kill by pressing R then the rest of your combo, mash that R button. This is especially true during laning phase. It is also true if 1 person is hyper-carrying the enemy team. If the enemy carry is within range, PRESS R!!!!!

2. Learn when to walk away from fights. If you watch successful League YouTubers/Twitch Streamers, one thing you will quickly notice is how often then engage and disengage in fights. Deciding to enter a fight isn't a permanent commitment where you ceaselessly attack until either them or you are dead. Maybe you land your combo on one person, they die, but you are super low HP. Walk away and either recall, or wait until your Q is back on CD to re-enter the fight. This is especially important if you are ahead so you don't needlessly give the enemy team shutdown gold.

3. Learn to fight over objectives instead of simply chasing kills. Is dragon still waiting to respawn? If yes, then why the HECK are you fighting in the jungle nearby it? There are so many times where games are pointlessly thrown because the team ahead is fighting an unnecessary fight where there is no objective to be secured afterwards. If there isn't the reward of taking down another objective after winning the fight, it is not worth the risk of losing the fight and giving the enemy team shutdown gold. Same is true if you are behind. If you keep engaging pointless fights where you aren't preventing the enemy team from taking a specific objective, then all you are doing is spending more time dead, less time farming, and giving them a larger and larger gold lead. Learning when and where to fight is EASILY the biggest difference between low and higher elos. People stuck in silver may have great mechanics but they are being held back by their poor macro decision making.