Let me start off by saying I am not a pro player, and I am not plat. I have, however played this game for a long time, and have a decent grasp of mechanics, numbers, strategy and theory. This is NOT a troll guide; in fact it is my opinion that this build is very competitive, and for any of you who cannot win a lane or even a game with this guide, I can only say it is not for you.

This is not an easy win guide for people who are new to the game or new to top lane, or even new to Dr. Mundo. The more you already know about all of the champions in the game, how to lane and ward, and how to control the flow of the game from top lane, the better you will do with this guide.

Every reader should have their own opinions and I welcome hearing about them. My conclusions have given me great success in this case, so without further ado here is my Dr. Mundo guide...

Dr. Mundo has been very successful as a competitive scene jungler for a long time now. His ability to do high AOE and single target damage, sustain himself well, and kite enemy champions have contributed to his success as a jungling menace who excels behind enemy lines. In the San Francisco Summer Arena Tournament of 2012, there was a very notable game for Dr. Mundo's legacy, where ToFu of the Saigon Sentinels went Dr. Mundo top lane vs. Curse Gaming's Westrice on Jax. Not only did he win his lane, but what happened is uncommon in the competitive scene; ToFu completely dominated Westrice, both denying him creeps and killing him 1v1. ToFu did not use an Mpen build, instead building pure tank, however I hope this can at least put people who doubt the competitiveness of Dr. Mundo in top lane at ease. The details given in the rest of this guide should also help illuminate why Dr. Mundo is a good choice for top lane.
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The main reason why i prefer this build is because of its damage output while maintaining high survivability. I kid you not, the damage output is huge. I do not have the patience to crunch numbers for you, but I am not naive. I have played many top laners, snowballed hard and carried games and from my experience this build is up there with the best. If you are hard to kill, you are much more dangerous and have much more control over the game if you do high damage.

Pure tank Dr. Mundo does put out good damage, at least through the mid game. Late game he typically becomes a simple slow-bot. There is a lot to be said for the pure tank's mid-game but his damage is hardly terrifying, unlike mpen Mundo's, which remains so to the bitter end through everybody's full builds elixirs and baron buffs. The trade off of a bit of tankiness for a huge hike in damage is extremely worth it.

Look at what we're really sacrificing. Haunting Guise and Abyssal Mask still have good efficient defensive stats, and you will hardly miss the minimal stats of defensive boots. When you have up to 81 flat magic penetration attached to Infected Bonesaw, they hit very hard even to tanks. The synergy between this magic pen, Heart Zapper and Sunfire Aegis also creates very high AOE damage.

Especially considering you have more kill potential, the items this build provides you with via k/d/a should on average put you on close to equal defensive stats with a pure tank build in a parallel time frame.

Now AD tank Mundo accomplishes something similar to mpen Mundo, but requires him to stay in melee range to do damage and interrupt himself for swings. I will not speak on its viability but I will say that while the survivability and damage output of these builds are comparable, mpen simply wins due to useability. The advantage of AD tank is that you can fit Spirit Visage in easier and viably consider lifesteal (spellvamp being non-viable for the mpen build) but I still don't think it wins the comparison at all.

This list considers that you will be using my build. Do not expect consistency with this list if you run pure tank or AD tank Mundo top.

Laning phase Pros:

High damage ranged harass with low cooldowns and no mana dependency
High ability to kite and stay at range
High synergy with ganks and ability to counter enemy's flash
Ability to kill many champions at level 2
High sustain and free tankiness at level 6
Super snowball

Laning phase Cons:

Skillshot dependent
Cleavers can be blocked by creeps
Can be vulnerable to high burst
Not the best skill set for farming
Sacrifices small amounts of health over time
Negative sustain and squishy before level 6

Overall Pros:

Extremely high ratio of damage and tankiness
Huge threat to squishies
Chunks anything tanky
Can poke, peel and dive extremely well
Can rambo and invade extremely well
Snowballs very hard, can end games fast on his own
High control in teamfights
High control of objectives (fast dragons and barons, harass enemies away, etc.)
Can accomplish his tasks even if behind

Overall Cons:

Skillshot dependent
Vulnerable to healing debuffs
No interrupt
No direct built-in escape mechanism

#1: Flash

Flash is absolutely necessary, in my opinion even if you are jungling. Although there are situations where exhaust ignite or exhaust smite would excel on him I have found there to be many more situations where flash and one of the 3 outperform. Mundo is a great duelist but since his cleavers lock enemies down at range one more step towards keeping yourself in position goes a long way in a myriad of tricky circumstances. Flash provides you with superior safety and gives you the opportunity to make more aggressive and risky plays.

#2: The other one

Consider exhaust when your lane opponent is physical damage based, the enemy team has strong jungle ganks, if they have a strong AD carry counter to you such as Vayne or Kog'Maw, and various combinations of the above as you see fit.



Consider ignite if your lane opponent is magic damage based and the threat from other enemy team members is not so glaring. The situation may vary, such as taking ignite vs. Olaf. You will have to use your own judgment each game.



Smite when jungling, always. If you learn to play this build well I'm sure you can imagine what a couple early teleport ganks to bot lane could accomplish.

I do not believe any of the other summoner spells are worth taking, but I am sure some would consider ghost an option.

There are many good combinations of runes and ideally i would have 3 pages.

#1: Vs. AD

+21 Armor, +11 Magic Pen, +24 Magic Resist @ 18

x9 x9 x9 x2 x1
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#2: Vs. AP

+13 Armor, +11 Magic Pen, +24 Magic Resist @ 18, +8 Magic Resist

x9 x9 x9 x2 x1
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#3: IDGAF I will destroy everything

+13 Armor, +21 Magic Pen

x9 x9 x9 x3

9 in offense

For last hitting

Magic pen

One thing should be made clear - The only offensive stat you want at all is magic pen. You don't want to stack AP, and in the case of the offensive tree when we are presented with a choice AD is simply superior for last hitting purposes. I take whatever I can that is useful to me in order to set the 9th point on magic pen.

21 in defensive

Synergise with for sustain

For an edge in lane aggression

Superior to movement speed in our case

Good synergy with passive and crowd control reduction from

The defensive tree should be filled. These are the stats we want to stack up on. I make sure to take everything that improves my health regen, along with indomitable, and this leaves me with a choice between armor and magic resist in the 1st tier, and movement speed above 70% health or CDR in the 4th tier. 2 Pages to swap the armor and magic resist is a good idea, and I prefer CDR because I will be operating at below 70% health a lot and more cleavers can make up for a lack of movement speed as well.

This guide suggests that you do not level Blunt Force Trauma at all until level 13. Never having to auto attack while fighting is a huge advantage. Enemy champions have no chance of escaping or catching you as long as you land Infected Bonesaw, so more points in Heart Zapper granted by declining to pick Blunt Force Trauma allow you to do more damage while you perfectly control the distance you are from the target.

Many people will still prefer to take an early point in Blunt Force Trauma for last hitting under tower. If you do, I strongly advise against standing and auto attacking enemies to the death with this build. You rely on superior kiting capabilities to punish enemies for attempting to fight you until it's too late for them.

+

Start with boots and potions no matter what. Back for 4th if you want.
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I usually build this, it is very efficient for you and helps maintain your gold income if you have to leave top a lot to damage control around the rest of the map.
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Build either early if you need.
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CORE BUILD: These are the first items you should complete. Ideally you will have these items first no matter what the enemy team is doing, and even if you had to get Negatron Cloak earlier. The magic pen should make Sunfire Aegis + Heart Zapper do massive damage.
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As you proceed through the midgame these should be your next considerations. I usually end up building Warmog's Armor first because I am doing enough damage already. I have heard some people complain about Warmog's Armor being unnecessary on Dr. Mundo. Remember how Maximum Dosage and Goes Where He Pleases scale off of health, and you will certainly be building some resists, so it is very efficient for an item slot in a build that is designed for high damage output.
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When you get towards endgame and max builds and you get your full cooldown reduction from Enlightenment , this item is very strong on Dr. Mundo in combination with Maximum Dosage.
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These items can replace Abyssal Mask or Guardian Angel if you find yourself needing them.
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These are items that can give you an edge in the early or mid game when certain circumstances arise. Doran's Shield is good if you have trouble surviving vs. an AD champion who bursts. Warden's Mail is good if you have trouble surviving vs. an AD champion who auto attacks. These items can make your lane turn a B-line in your favor. Elixir of Fortitude is an aggressive purchase and has saved my life while fighting outnumbered.
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If I am jungling, the only change i make is Ninja Tabi instead of Sorcerer's Shoes. In fact, I still use the exact same skill order, and play to kill. It has been very successful but this is not a guide for that. Yet.

Thanks for reading and especially for trying. I made this guide close to season 3 patch so everything about it may completely change or become non-viable. I mostly did this because it is something I enjoy, but I am serious as well. As the game balance changes I will attempt to keep updating. As of yet I have not added any gameplay sections to the guide and I assure you I will as soon as I have the energy to.

Cheers

Human