Build 1

- Pros:
- Very aggressive
- High damage output
- Great duelist
- Hard to 1v1
- Sticks to his target

- Cons:
- Less tanky
- Don't benefit your team much

As the pros and cons tell you, you want to be really aggressive and stick to their carries as good as you can, you actually deal quite an amount of damage but can't take major focussing - only use this if you actually got a main tank so you don' have to jump in and die instanly

Build 2

- Pros:
- Very tanky
- Great initiator
- Great benefit to your team
- Can tank their whole team and don't care :D

- Cons
- Less damage
- meh duelist
- more expensive

As the pros and cons tell you, this build are more defensive and you still do meh damage, you're really hard to kill and your ult still takes a chunk of their HP, you should be initiating the fight with Audacious Charge and use randuins and then your ult Crescent Sweep, this gives your team a really good start on the fight.

Build 1 vs Build 2 (tournament)

Smite YOU NEED THIS ONE FOR JUNGLING! PLEASE DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING BY ELSE, used for both securing buffs and then also for stealing dragon, baron and buffs Exhaust This is a really good both offensive and defensive summoner, it will help when you gank, in team fights and when you counter jungle (if you decide to do it) - with this summoner you would be able to 1v1 a lot of champs early on Situational ghost This is a viable chose for most champs and Xin Zhao is no exception - you can also use your E Audacious Charge to camps if you got a ward on you to get vision (if you go with Wriggle's Lantern use this) Flash For tournaments i love to go with flash it gives you so much potential and allows you to escape the most sticky situations

Runes

Greater Mark of strength I love to get a lot of AD (attack damage) on Xin Zhao due to his 1-1 scaling on his Q (Three Talon Strike) which also gives him just a little faster clear rate and some better early ganks Greater Mark of desolation Greater Mark of alacrity If you don't have 9 of the AD marks or if you fell more comfortable with armor pen they are still real good

Greater Seal of resilience Gives you some flat armor, keeps you more healthy between camps or if you met an enemy jungler like Shyvana you will be able to fight her better Greater Glyph of shielding Some nice magic resist which increases each level Greater Quintessence of strength Some more ad runes, for the same reason as the ad marks

- Tireless Warrior

Xin Zhao restores 30 health for every 3 attacks that he lands. This amount increases by 5 every 2 levels.

This are just a little bonus lifesteal, really great in the jungle and it also allows you to heal up on turrets and this are one of the things that makes attack speed good on xin zhao

Effective use

For maximizing this effect you want some attack speed to help get the attack thats why i often go with both Wit's End and Zeke's Herald

- Three Talon Strike

in Zhao's next 3 standard attacks deal increased damage, with the third attack knocking an opponent into the air.
Xin Zhao prepares to unleash a fearsome combo, causing his next 3 standard attacks to deal additional physical damage, with the final attack knocking his opponent into the air.

This is one of the best abilities ingame for 1v1 IMO since it gives you an knock-up and increased damage on each strike

Effective use

For maximizing the effect on his Q you can reset attack animation (auto attack, press Q instantly after), but also some attack speed helps to get the third attack off

- Battle Cry

Xin Zhao passively increases his attack speed and can activate this ability to further increase attack speed and lower his ability cooldowns with each attack.

Active: Xin Zhao unleashes a battle cry, doubling the passive bonus for 5 seconds, and causing his standard attacks to reduce all other ability cooldowns by 1 second.

This is your inbuilt CDR which is pretty good actually and gets better when you get attack speed

Effetive use

For the most effective use, try to use it always to lower cooldown on your ultimate Crescent Sweep so you will have it in all teamfights, but also if you have to trigger the third attack on Q Three Talon Strike, and remember your attack speed increases the cooldown reduced by this ability

- Audacious Charge

Xin Zhao charges an enemy, dealing damage and slowing it and all other enemies in the area.
Xin Zhao charges an enemy unit, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies and slowing them.

Your slowing ability and your aoe damage when you're jungling

Effetive use

Try to always keep this up when you gank so you can use it when they flash, and this is your main engage ability in teamfights, it slows all enemies hit and if you combine it with a Randuin's Omen you will be able to cripple their whole team in an instant

- Crescent Sweep

Xin Zhao fiercely sweeps his spear around him, dealing damage to nearby enemies based on their current health.
Xin Zhao unleashes a fierce spear sweep on targets around him, dealing physical damage. For 6 seconds, his Magic Resistance and Armor are increased by 25 plus 7/10/13 for each champion hit.

This is a really good ultimate IMO

Effective use

To maximize the effect of this ability use it when you engage in the middle of their team to both increase the armor and magic resist gain but also to reduce the maximum amount of their HP

Starting items Boots of speed I almost always start with boots, since it gives you a lot of mobility, some quite good sustain due to three potions and makes your ganks more deadly Health Potion 3 health potions will help keep your health close to max, if you get a good leash. Different Start Cloth armor If you're facing someone who likes to counter jungle a lot, like Shyvana and Shaco Health Potion Now instead of three potion you can get five, which allows you to "**** up" a bit more due to the high regen of Health Potion's Core items These are your main items without you're nothing but with them you can't be killed xD Berserker's Greaves Some nice boots, you love them xD they give decent movespeed and an powerful attack speed bonus Wriggle's Lantern This is a great jungling item, lets you farm you jungle fast and quick with high sustain. Wit's End I will always pick wit's end due to its high attack speed bonus and good magic resist bonus Heart of Gold These will give you some good health but will also give you some nice gold income and i always pick it. Preferred items These items gives you the last bonuses you need Zeke's Herald Zeke's Herald This item is considered a support item, but Xin Zhao benefits a lot from it, it also benefits your team, it gives you great lifesteal + attackspeed + hp and even CDR, a lot of good stats for cheap gold Trinity Force This is are properly the best item for xin zhao, you get all the bonuses you need, CC, damage, sheen proc, attack speed and whole lot more, but it is really expensive and you should only get this if you really need to carry and can afford it, or as a last item when you're super fed Randuin's Omen This are one of the best items for xin zhao, you need the armor and the attack -and movespeed reduction are really good combined with your skillset Optional items Spirit Visage This item is very optional some likes it some doesn't, it gives you a little hp and magic resist boost plus some CDR, but most important the increased healing gained which works wonder with your passive Aegis of the Legion A cheap great item which benefits your whole team when you are around them and are one of the best items when you're in a tournament and are playing with your team since you would like them to do as much damage and survive at least as long as you Frozen Mallet Sometimes you need a lot of hp but wont sacrifice any other good stats in order to get it, then frozen mallet comes in handy, you get a lot of hp, some ad and really good slow with it. Banshee's Veil This item is great against people who need do a combo like an stun opener. Force of Nature If they got lots of casters on the other team this is a very good and therefore i use it when i have to be the tank in my team. Warmog's Armor Well warmog are a really beefy item but the only two things it gives you are tons of hp and healh regen, and since you would focus on getting more resistance than just stacking hp, i would pick Frozen Mallet over it Guardian Angel Let you rise again to dominate them. Last Whisper If you have to carry you will have to penetrate all armor stacking people or else you would be able to kill them, this are the perfect item for it. The Bloodthirster Great replacement for the wriggle since it gives some mixed stats and these are even better than the stats from wriggle The Black Cleaver Really good item for 1v1 fights, so if you find yourself fighting a lot of people 1v1 and having a hard time winning a black cleaver will most likely result in you winning most 1v1 fights, replace for Last Whisper late game Youmuu's Ghostblade This is a great early game item which gives you all the stats you need and are okay late game if you just want to do damage early on pick up the brutalizer and maybe upgrade it to this Quicksilver Sash Those ignites and healing debuffs be gone, if you find yourself only saved by passive or really hard countered by it Optional Boots Ninja Tabi Great against auto attackers[/color]

This section is taken from Apotheosis Guide to Tryn with his permission of course :)

Warding is way too over looked by many teams. I'm going to show you how to ward correctly, or at least how my team and I ward. The ward possibilities are obviously endless for 5s. These are the primary areas that you and your team will be warding each and every game.

Order of priority; Use Sight Ward and Vision Ward where necessary:

Baron/Dragon Wards:
However you decide to set these up with your team, whether it be orderly among the team or supports only buy wards, make sure these are always laid out! Baron and Dragon are what we're primarily keeping an eye on here. Early in the match it's not as important obviously, however, you still need to know whether top, mid, or bot will be set up for a gank when enemy laners/junglers are wandering about. These early kills can help the enemy sculpt the rest of the match and land a victory. We don't want to be allowing the enemy to kill either Baron or Dragon. That's a good chunk of gold that will distribute among their team, not to mention Baron's handy buff. Again, don't overlook these wards!

Note: I would recommend using Vision Ward for these locations, especially Baron mid-late game. If not Vision Ward, then make sure someone, usually the tank, has Oracle's Elixir for discovering enemy wards.

Self Privacy Wards:
There's orange points at top, mid, and bot hiding locations. I would hope that your entire team would try to ward the areas entitled to them. These wards are not entirely important, however, they are lifesavers. Junglers and wandering laners will use these bushes to set up for early kills. If you're pushing your lane, then it would be a good idea to ward the bush(s) that is closet to you.

Team Privacy Wards:
These are crucial wards to put out when the match can go either way by eliminating possible ambushes when pushing minions or entering your own jungle.

Game Changing Wards:
Of course all of the wards posted on the map are capable of changing the outcome of a game, but these wards are placed in a location that both teams will always drift by. Reasons to go through the wards (for both teams): Getting to Baron and dragon, changing lanes, shifting from allied jungle to the enemy's jungle (either by self or team) to steal mobs/buffs, shifting as a team to gank the enemy team, etc. If you just have a ward on either Baron and/or dragon, you can still miss the enemy slipping by into your jungle never knowing it. This allows enemies to set up ganks. Therefore, these wards change the outcome of a game because you know whats coming.

Invading Wards:
I thought it was appropriate to name these wards in this manner because you can enter their bushes knowing whether they're there or not before you attempt to set up a gank. The enemy usually walks through these bushes hoping to freely enter their jungle for experience/gold and/or buffs.

Buff Wards:
Monitor your's and enemy's buffs with these wards. Good to set in your own jungle if they start playing dirty and snatching buffs early game from your jungle. These wards are primarily for the junglers of each team.