Recent Changes: I replaced the second HoG with a Philosopher's Stone due to the new patch.

Hello, I'm Rythoka, and this is my first build.

Today I'm going to show you a build that I picked up on Leaguecraft and modified a bit. Unfortunately, the name of the original guide and author escape me, but know that the core of this build isn't my original invention.

I would like to note that I almost always jungle with Amumu now. He's got a decent speed jungle with some good gank capabilities. However, everything in this guide still stands.

Now, let's go head first and learn how to play Amumu!

To be quite frank, I don't have much experience with runes, but I have a reason for the ones I use:

• Greater Mark of Armor - I took these because we honestly don't need any straight damage runes. However, a bit of flat armor to help our early game wouldn't hurt.
• Greater Seal of Replenishment - Amumu tends to have some pretty bad early game mana problems that'll hurt if you don't have runes. Even then, if you don't have manage when you use your E, you'll still run out of mana. Be careful.
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - Same logic as with the marks; the early magic resist helps out.
• Greater Quintessence of Health - The flat health helps, but you could replace with Quintessences of Vigor if you'd like.

Pretty standard tank masteries. 21 in Defense, avoiding dodge because if you dodge attacks, they don't lower the cooldown on your E. 9 in Utility, avoiding Greed and Perseverence because they are mathematically proven to be nearly useless.

Items are where Amumu's true colors show. He has quite a bit of natural health to take advantage of, so I never build any straight health items like Leviathan or Warmog's Armor.

Doran's Shield is always a good start for a tank. Armor and health regen? Hell yeah.

A Philosopher's Stone and a Heart of Gold in that order are good for early lane survivability, and the Mana Regen is very helpful. Also, the extra 1 Gold/Second is useful for babysitting a carry, because you can ignore minions and still get lots of gold, allowing them to get the last hits they need.

I take Mercury's Treads because of the tenacity bonus and the magic resist. If they don't have much crowd control or ability power, don't be afraid to go for a different pair.

Aegis of the Legion rounds off the core of this build, providing health, magic resist, and armor.

Beyond this point, the way you build is almost entirely situational. I, for one, will never grab a Warmog's Armor. I just don't find that it really helps that much, but that might just be me. I recommend buying a Randuin's Omen if fighting any AD/DPS characters, and a Force of Nature to deal with any AP champs.

Also, don't forget to drop your Doran's Shield and Philosopher's Stone at some point. I usually sell the shield to buy my Aegis of the Legion. It's okay to keep that Philosopher's Stone for a while, and maybe upgrade it at some point.

Right now I'd like to say that there might be an error in the skilling order up there. It's 6AM and I haven't slept. I'll fix it if it comes to mind.

I take my E first because it's my primary damage source and good for a little bit of farming. Don't farm too much, though; I tend to let my lane mate steal my minions. That's what the Heart of Gold and Philosopher's Stone are for, remember?

Now, I want to set something straight here. Never level Bandage Toss past level one for any reason whatsoever. Damage output is not what you want; Mana conservation is. When you level your Q spell, it increases it's mana cost, but not the stun. Don't do it, it's not worth it.

Basically, my skilling order is R>E>W>Q, with a start of E-Q-W.

I take Heal because I play an agressive early game, hence the title. Teleport's just generally an all around good spell. Almost spells will work here, however. However, there's a few that I would rather avoid.

• Smite - You're not jungling with this build, so it's not exactly necessary.
• Rally - What? There's a spell called Rally? What does it do? (Just don't get it. There's a reason you never see it.)
• Revive - I can see how it would be usefull, but if you really need it, all it's going to do is help you feed faster.
• Cleanse - You're a tank. Take it like a man.

Alright, this is the part that's gonna rock. You're finally going to see this build in action, and if you play correctly, you won't be let down.

Grab your E and your Doran's Shield, and go to your duo-lane. You're not here to solo, you're here to babysit. Use your E to last hit a bit (But not that much, especially after you get your Heart of Gold. You don't want to waste your precious mana, and whoever's with you probably needs the gold more. I can't stress this enough). When you reach level two, things start to get a bit more fun. Whenever you get an opportunity where you know for a fact you wont die (Learning when these opportunities arise will take time), smack them in the face with your Q, smash them with your E, then bolt out of there. When you get your W, you can deal great damage, but it'll eat your mana up fast.

If you have an opportunity to use your ultimate and survive/save a team mate, do it. That's what it's there for.

I recommend getting blue as often as possible, as long as no one on your team needs it. Once you get your W it becomes pretty easy to take, but I wouldn't risk it at level four. However, whenever you do get blue, you can run around with your W on and not lose mana. This is great for taking out those pesky tanks who might be in your lane.

This is basically how your game will go. Remember something, though: if you can die for a team mate and doing so will allow there escape, do it. Doing so is fulfilling your role as tank, believe it or not. It'll make your team mates love you, too.

When teamfights start rolling around, you see the spell that really makes Amumu shine: Curse of the Sad Mummy. You're going to be the initiator. Eveyone's going to be hitting you when the fight starts. This is where most people begin the think that Amumu's a bad tank; he doesn't really have any incentive to be attacked. However, if you make sure that your team's ready before you initiate (by Bandage Tossing in with your Q of course), whenever you pound that R key, their squishies will drop like flies. Two full seconds of free reign on your enemies. Your team will have a field day with them. While you're waiting for that stun to go down, why not bring up your W and damage them based on their max health? Great against tanks and squishies alike. Spam your E while the fighting's going, and Q their damage dealers whenever you can. If your team's competetent and no one messes up, and the fight's fair, your team will dominate.

I'd like to take a second to note a few things.

1. I wrote this while I was extremely tired, so errors may abound. Don't be afraid to point out mistakes in the comments.
2. In the process of writing this guide, I think I realized a few things. One of which is that a Warmog's Armor might be viable if the team's well balanced. I think I'll look into it.
3. Don't be afraid to express your opinions in the comments. I half wrote this guide for myself so that I could get the opinions of some more experienced players. Just try not to flame, okay?

This build works for me (almost) every time. Like 99% of the time, at least. Amumu's my main champ, and I've been playing him for a while now, and this is what I find to be effective. I've had amazingly fun matches using this build, and it's half the reason I play League. Your mileage may vary.

Goodbye, summoners, and godspeed.

This is a list of things that I looked at and am thinking about right now. Tell me what you guys think:

• Leviathan might be a completely valid item if you play well. That's quite a bit of health, and the damage reduction at full stacks is intense. Just might be worth a shot if you can get a bunch of assists without dying.
• After a bit of testing, I've decided not to include it in this guide. Twenty assists without dying is quite a feat, and even with kills, it's difficult to do. I figure it's much more suited a carry or someone who can tanky DPS, such as Poppy or Xin Zhao.
• Banshee's Veil is a wonderful item. Beautiful beautiful beautiful.
• Jebus McAzn's guide here is a great guide for jungling. If you love Amumu and don't know how to jungle with him, be sure to check it out.