Hey guys, this is asn00pnugget here with a two short builds I use primarily on Twisted Treeline. This is not meant to be an in-depth guide but simply a build that can provide an outline of what to get for rammus when playing in a ranked TT game. If your more interested in gameplay rather than theorycraft I have included some videos below from a ranked game. Enjoy!

EDIT: More is yet to come, depending on how the guide is received I am going to be updating and receiving comments with utmost seriousness. I am not a perfect Rammus player and I am always open to suggestions on how I could improve.

Ill be posting some jungling video's shortly. Till then Ill give a short text based summary on how to pull this off. The most important thing is to get defensive ball curl first and make sure you have at least yellow armor runes. The Quints are merely optional.

In 5v5 start with the blue buff and use smite. Make your way to the wolves and then the Double Golems. Go back up to the wraiths and smite the large one. Go back, get the red buff and proceed to gank.

In 3v3 start at one of the camps nearest to your base, make your way to the other one that is closer to your base. If you feel cocky and still have smite try your enemies jungle, otherwise gank a lane and go back. Around level 4 go for red buff. Around lvl 6 go for dragon with a teammate if you can. Otherwise wait for lvl 8 to go and solo it

Well, in order to know how to play Rammus 3v3 you will need to know how 3v3 works period.

Map Control:
Because the map is so small and there is only 3 players there will be a lot of ganking and therefore map control all but wins the game for you. Knowing when the enemy at the top is coming bot to gank will save your lives and probably keep the game from snowballing away from you which happens so easily on this map. Not to mention buff control is hugely important. With less people on the team both sides will usually be evenly matched because most of the time the whole team of 3 people will stick together which isnt that hard. Having a buff will give you the extra edge which will cause you to barely win the first teamfight. From there on it becomes easier and easier to kill the enemy as well as control the jungle.

Getting Gold:
Here its all about First Blood, Ganks, Dragon and Turrets. Each stage offers you a way to gauge how far ahead or behind your team is. There will be practically no solo kills here because chasing is incredible stupid with enemy teammates so close by and people usually do not overextend until they are winning. If they do they will usually just head into the jungle for a bit and take the buffs. If you miss out on one of the listed forms on acquiring money its not a big deal however remember: GOLD WINS TEAMFIGHTS. Apart from certain OP champs everyone is pretty balanced and because no one will make stupid mistakes here, remember almost all the kills will be from teamfights, even a gank can turn into a teamfight here and half the time an overextended enemy is bait for his other two teammates. This basically means you will not get kills unless you have more gold. I know this may sound silly and applies more to late game than early however it is true and this helps me express the importance of dragon and turret pushes. DO NOT GIVE THESE UP. You need turrets and dragon here to be able to win the game, its not simply about team placement and focusing the squishies, you need better stats to win here most of the time.

Laning:
Laning here is somewhat passive and somewhat not. Early laning phase should be renamed early ganking phase. Its the only time you will be able to succesfully fight the enemies in 3v2 or 3v1. This is the one exception to the gold rule which says you need dragon or turrets before starting a teamfight to ensure your victory. Dont try to kill your opponent unless you are a burst champ. Chances are they will run away and if you chase, their team will come for a free kill. This is why I mean it can sometimes be passive. This is not to say dont harass your opponent in lane, Im just saying dont be an idiot and chase them past half for the kill.

Now for Rammus.
So as a true tank with no burst damage and large amounts of AoE damage and CC your job is to support your team. Currently this job is exceedingly easy with a 3 second taunt puncturing taunt on a unreasonably low CD as well as a stun/slow that ensures your a part of every teamfight and the ability to tank and deal AoE damage like a boss . Now what you need to realize is that you should not neccesarily be initiating everyfight and pushing like you would in a 5v5. If you initiate an enemy chances are it will turn into a teamfight very early and every second counts. By blowing your precious CC early you will be unable to protect your team and ensure your victory. Instead wait for late game before you initiate fights. Early game, wait for an opportunity to arise, powerball to the scene and taunt the nearest enemy. This will ensure a kill and protect your team. The problem early game is that every bit of damage counts and therefore so do CD's. If you taunt an enemy to let your partner harass, if two more enemies come from the bush and focus your teammate ashe, for instance, your powerless to help and she may very well die instantly. Late game however is when you shine because all your abilities should have relatively low cooldown and soloing turrets should be easy. Simply stand behind them and activate tremors, you should attract the aggro of both the tower and all the enemy minions allow your minions and/or team to fight the turret without taking damage. This should not be a problem for you because with your defensive ball curl and items the turret should deal practically no damage (I believe it deals physical).

Part One: Part One
Play Video
Early Game Items

Doran's Shield: This is a very solid pick for a Rammus who takes a duo lane or especially a solo lane. The regen is practically a necessity if you hope to do ANY last hitting with your melee attacks and the armor/ health boost help out very much even late game. By taking an early doran's shield your armor should be balanced with MR roughly and if they have a balanced team you can forego your Heart of Gold and go straight for your Philospher's Stone. TL DR; gives you everything you need at a great price - in fact best item for price, the only drawback really is that it cant be built into anything. This makes it an ideal early game item.

Heart of Gold: With this item it is optional of course to buy early game. With its GP5, it is a strong pick for some early armor. This can be replaced with philosophers stone if desired as it is preferable to have at least one GP5 item depending on how the game goes. Remember as a tank you are expected to give up last hits and kills so you may find it more difficult to get the money for your costly items late game if your team cant give you assists. Sometimes I see people stack these. If you plan on doing this do it very early and dont buy more than three. You can save these till around mid game when you need inventory space and then sell them for even more money. This is great when your a against a mainly AD carry team and you can afford to lose out on some max health.

Philosopher's Stone Philo's Stone: Beautiful item. Really early game you NEED any form of mana regen because taking mana regen runes would ruin your balance of armor and magic resist. Considering you should have about one GP5 item to be safe and you need mana it only makes sense that this item is a necessity early game. Buy it early and be proactive. Of course if you are very conservative and only use abilities to initiate a teamfight that your team will follow you into you can skip this item, just remember: things will no go perfectly. In fact half the time they wont and you will lose (usually). Escaping, harassing, failed initiations and farming can all cost mana if you absentmindedly spam abilities. The health regen on this item also stacks well with doran's and having both items will prepare you very successfully for the mid-game.

Part Two: Part Two

Play Video
Mid Game Core:


Randuin's Omen: This is what your Heart of Gold will upgrade into later. This item will greatly increase your presence in future teamfights. It's active may not be neccesary considering your ability to shut down an AD carry is quite high however using the active on this will allow you to use your precious 3 second taunt on the enemies offtand/dps or AP burst. The slow is also good for clean ups or inititating in order to position your own team more favorably in the case both sides are approaching a bush or your AD Ranged found themselves a little bit too close the enemies right before a teamfight is about to break out.

Aegis of Legion: Absolutely Beastly. My initial main was Nasus and needless to say I bought this every time. There is a logic to buying this item and it goes; you aren't be getting focused. Therefore your hard earned MR and Armor and Max health aren't really helping your team as much as they could be. Having an aura on your survivability to help your team will help much more overall than anything else. The stats you get for the money are also somewhat ridiculous and this item is necessary against any balanced team really. This is what will propel you and your teams survivability from mid game to late game. You will become somewhat invincible and your team will have that extra boost to defeat their counterparts on the other team.



Part Three: Part Three

Play Video
Late Game Situational


Banshee's Veil: This is another situational item. Because of your defensive ball curl, runes, masteries, items by mid game you should already be tanky enough that the enemy is unwilling to focus you. Chances are you will be getting your CC and tremors off before they can stun and kill you so its not the most desirable item on rammus. Once again, situational. If you are dying a lot or are getting CC'ed to death this could be an option. Mana shouldnt be an issue considering Philo's stone is high priority but if you skip that Banshee's could be a way to get the mana you need for sustain.

Sunfire Cape: Considering my initial build focuses more on resist than health this could be a very viable item if you do not wish to invest in a Warmong's right away. Whether its because you are not getting focused and see no reason for more survivability or simply you need the health and armor, the passive on this is sure to help your team to win overall. By using this and sticking to the enemies with Tremor's on you should be able to do a lot more good for your team than by standing there and taunting/stunning every so often.

Quicksilver Sash: Situational for high AP burst teams. If you are getting CC'ed and bursted this is crucial. Whether fiddle, sion or taric you should consider getting this if you are still dying by mid game.

Force of Nature: This is veeery good against a caster or stun team. If you chose Mercury treads for the tenacity and MR you might find yourself lacking in movespeed. This item works miracles with Merc Treads because of the overall MR and movespeed. Considering Rammus cannot shut down AP carries as well as AD, these items are both amazing. They give you the potential to do just that: shut them down. By surviving the AP carries initial burst and chasing them down you should be able to CC enough for your team to come and kill them. Dont buy this for Regen though, if you are against a balanced team or took boots of swiftness you should be looking at Warmong's instead.

Warmog's: When the game goes into overtime this is gonna be pretty necessary to making sure you can survive. With all your naturally high resists and the focus I put early on into MR and armour this is all you need to grow from early game rammus to scary big late game rammus. Literally with this item and your resists you will be all but indestructible. The regen is also sooo usefull and lets you stick around after teamfight, solo minions, solo dragon and after soloing turrets. Sometimes survivability may not be your goal; your not getting focussed anyway. If thats the case; forego this item.

Frozen Heart: Not really viable because you already took Randuin's which is better. The extra armour is not necessary as late game you should be focusing more on health. With a Philo stone or even a banshee's veil you should have enough mana to forego this item as well. The main bonus here is the cooldown reduction however it comes at a cost that just isn't worth the reduced cooldowns IMO. Correct me if Im wrong. I just put it here so people would not wonder why it was missing.

The two best options here would be Boots of Swiftness or more often Merc Tread's . Boots of swiftness are not really a necessary item considering you will not need it to catch up to enemies. An exact speed measurement is not applicable and not necessary considering that powerball increases movespeed exponentially. This is a viable option however because if you have good map awareness (which is a must) if your team runs into trouble you will always be there to save them and turn the fight in your favour. These boots really shine early game and drop off later. Merc Treads are gonna be the usual choice, not just against caster heavy teams but balanced teams in general. The tenacity is a must regardless of enemies and the MR is just an added bonus. The only time I would ever take another kind of boots is if the enemy team is more than half AD carries. In this case ninja tabi would do the job.