Tryndamere Build Guide by Axenstar

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my first MOBAFire guide.

This guide is solely for Tryndamere in the top lane, and all of the information I have about him in that lane. It consists of FOUR item builds, 3 mastery tree pages, 3 rune pages, in depth match up analysis, general tips, advanced techniques, and much more, for the terror of top lane, Tryndamere, the Barbarian King.

Through reading this guide you will acquire the knowledge that I've gained through my experience with the champion that has allowed me to climb in ranking quicker than I ever have.
My IGN is Axenstar (Seconday Profile is "Wimmenz") , and I have been playing League of Legends since July of 2012, and my best rank was 2200 Elo Last Season. I am currently Diamond V:



I must mention Boxerpete, the summoner who has inspired me to play this champion and gave me the urge to want to play again.

Here is his Twitch Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/boxerpete
And Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/boxerpetelol
Please give him a watch, follow, and subscribe. He's very funny and has amazing game knowledge.

Also thanks to foggedftw2 who from watching his streams has helped me obtain matchup information and general tips. Give him a watch, follow, and subscribe: https://www.twitch.tv/foggedftw2

**NOTES** Simply click on a box that has the champion sprite portrait that you wish to view matchup information for, above the Table of Contents, in order to view detailed matchup text information! To view detailed information for masteries, purchase order, and even runes are found under "Notes" in blue next to each, simply mouse over the blue tabs that are next to each.

Pros / Cons

PROS

• Has high base damage and good sustain with Bloodlust
• 35% Critical Strike Chance at 100 Fury
• Valuable Initiation and Escape tool Spinning Slash
• Great duelist
• Is the only champion in the game that can withstand any amount of damage without dying for a guarenteed 5 full seconds Undying Rage
• Is "Your Worst Nightmare" :)

CONS

• Can be kited around easily, especially without Spinning Slash or Flash
• Teamfighting is challenging against enemy team compositions with hard crowd control
• Weak against nearly all ranged champions in lane
• Cannot teamfight very well, or sometimes at all, without his ultimate Undying Rage

Abilities

Battle Fury : "Tryndamere gains 5 Fury for striking a unit or 10 Fury for a critical strike, and 10 extra Fury for killing a unit. When out of combat for 8 seconds, Tryndamere loses 5 fury every second. Each point of Fury grants +.35% Critical Chance."

For every point of fury you gain from striking any enemy unit you gain 0.35% crit chance. This is very important, as it can result in having 35% crit chance once you hit level 2. Early engages can yield easy first bloods with crits on your side. Look to take advantage of this early!

Bloodlust : "Passive: Tryndamere thirsts for blood, gaining 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 Attack Damage plus 0.15 / 0.2 / 0.25 / 0.3 / 0.35 per 1% Health missing.
Active: Tryndamere consumes his Fury, restoring 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 (+30% of ability power) Health plus 0.5 / 0.95 / 1.4 / 1.85 / 2.3 (+1.2% of ability power) Health per Fury consumed."

This is Tryndamere's Q ability. It passively grants you attack damage based on its rank. Plus it gives you AD based on the percentage of health you are missing. This synergizes really well with Undying Rage. The active on his Bloodlust heals Tryndamere for a flat amount based on how much fury you have. Thus, the more fury you have the more health will be given to you. The active part of Bloodlust is Tryndamere's main sustain and is also the ability you need to heal you when nearing the end of Undying Rage. The main priority is to preserve my fury as much as possible in order to hold onto the 35% crit chance, without it, Tryndamere is much weaker, so do not heal randomly. Find the balance of sustain and crit chance. I'd only use my Q active if it was worth trading the sustain for the 35% crit chance. I max this ability first.


Mocking Shout : "Decreases surrounding champions' physical damage by 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80, and enemies with their backs turned also have their movement speed slowed by 30 / 37.5 / 45 / 52.5 / 60%. Lasts 4 seconds."

Mocking shout is Tryndamere's W ability. The active part reduces surrounding enemies attack damage, which means using your W for dueling in order to negate the enemy's AD is worth it even if the enemy's back are not turned. Enemies with their backs against you will be slowed, which obviously aids Tryndamere in chasing enemies. I max this ability third.

Spinning Slash : "Active: Tryndamere spins through his enemies, dealing 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+100% of ability power) (+1.2 per bonus attack damage) physical damage to enemies in his path. Spinning Slash's cooldown is reduced by 1 second whenever Tryndamere critically strikes (2 seconds upon critically striking an enemy champion)."

Spinning Slash is Tryndamere's E ability. It is extremely useful, especially with the cooldown reduction build, as you are able to initiate or disengage every 5 seconds. The cooldown of your E is reduced whenever you critically strike by 1 second, and by 2 seconds when you critically strike an enemy champion. This is part of why Tryndamere does well with critical striking items. I max this ability second.


Undying Rage : "Tryndamere becomes completely immune to death for 5 seconds, refusing to be reduced below 1 Health and instantly gaining 50 / 75 / 100 Fury."

This is Tryndamere's ultimate ability (R). This ability is the reason that Tryndamere players do not have to buy any armor or magic resistance items if they do not want to, as building as much crit chance, attack speed, and damage as possible is the most optimal choice in order to maximize damage and make full use of his ultimate. Undying Rage provides Tryndamere with fury upon being cast, which helps when you don't have any fury and need some critical strikes in order to win a duel. The general concept behind this ability is to deal as much damage as possible before the 5 seconds on your ultimate ends, and escape afterward. I max this ability last.

Summoner Spells

Flash or Ghost

Personally, I always take Flash, as it gets me out of sticky situations, allows me more kill potential against enemies who also took Flash, and allows for a cool combo which I will discuss in the "Unique Skills" tab. Ghost is a summoner that isn't as useful as flash in most situations, despite the lower cooldown when compared to Flash

Teleport or Ignite

This decision of Teleport or Ignite is mostly up to the player, but can also be dictated by the matchup. Against ranged champions, I would always recommend taking teleport, even if you are proficient with ignite. My playstyle isn't one that uses ignite very often, as I used to play Wukong frequently and just stuck with Teleport. Also, taking ignite and not getting a gold and experience advantage from getting kills can put you behind, especially if you are ganked many times. Taking teleport can resolve this issue.

Exhaust

Exhaust can be taken against enemy Tryndamere players if you are in normal games, but for ranked play I would only really recommend usage of this spell if you think you either need it to survive, or think it will provide kill pressure in lane or teamfights.

Runes

Notes for each Rune Page can be found by hovering your mouse over the blue tab that says "notes" at the top of this guide.

Skill Sequence

Explanation of Leveling Skills:

Level 1: Bloodlust and Mocking Shout do not provide much kill pressure, and against champions who have a strong level 1, you will need Spinning Slash to be able to disengage effectively.

Level 2 and 3: I put 2 points in Bloodlust, as you gain attack damage per level passively by leveling it up, which synergizes well with the ferocity tree mastery tree when you allocate points into "Natural Talent" which gives you Attack Damage per level.

Level 4: You need a slow/attack damage reducer at this point, waiting any longer for Mocking Shout simply is not efficient for dueling, kill pressure, or even escapes.

Level 5: Bloodlust is leveled once more for more AD and healing power.

Level 6: Put a point in your ultimate Undying Rage, as this is Tryndamere's biggest power spike level-up wise. He becomes one of the best duelists in the game at this point.

Levels 7 - 10: These levels are devoted to first maxing out your available points in Bloodlust, then putting points into Spinning Slash, as I max out this ability second.

Levels 11 - 16: Finish off levelling Spinning Slash and then max out Mocking Shout.

Levels 17 and 18: Finish the final two points in your ultimate Undying Rage

Itemization Description Information For All Three Item Builds

Current Season 8 Build

This build's main focus is to play to the strengths of the recent item changes that were executed in patch 8.11, and provide Tryndamere with the damage necessary to balance the lack of cooldown reduction items with critical strike items to allow for a lower cooldown of Spinning Slash despite not building CDR items. Here we equip Tryndamere with a high amount of attack damage, sustain, and pushing power with Ravenous Hydra, and as such diminish the usefulness of Statikk Shiv for pushing power. This is why Phantom Dancer is built second, as it enhances attack speed, critical strike chance, and movement speed with better stats than Statikk Shiv can provide at a less expensive gold cost. The goal is to repeatedly push the wave in as much as possible when your laner is away, and to use the advantage that your wave clear creates in order to exert a constant pressure that the enemy team is forced to deal with. Phantom Dancer is a fantastic dueling tool, and its passive makes up for the movement speed lost from the passive of The Black Cleaver that was used in seasons past.

First Items :

Doran's Shield and Health Potion. This is my favorite start for Tryndamere, as the stats from Doran's Shield and also the health potion allow for great sustain in lane.

First Recall : Depending on how well you survived in the lane, you can either purchase Brawler's Gloves and a Dagger with a Control Ward, or ideally purchase Berserker's Greaves with a Health Potion and Control Ward or Refillable Potion

After this point, the goal is as follows with this build:

Complete Tiamat next, then Zeal into Phantom Dancer. From here, with the changes in Infinity Edge, it is an awesome item to buy immediately after Phantom Dancer. From there, I personally build Quicksilver Sash into Mercurial Scimitar. After this I like to build Recurve Bow into Guinsoo's Rageblade. Lastly, I finish Ravenous Hydra and as well as an Elixir of Wrath, but items such as Maw of Malmortius, Mortal Reminder, and Guardian Angel are good ending situational items if you choose to sell Tiamat.

Tryndamere S8 Updated 40% CDR

This build is my attempt to bring life to the cooldown build of old times. 40% CDR was originally achieved through runes, The Black Cleaver, and Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Since the runes have long since been changed, there is no way to achieve 40% CDR with those two items with runes that are efficient on Tryndamere. This is where Essence Reaver is purchased to suffice. Since it's passive has been changed considerably, it now only provides 20% CDR, which is identical to the 20 that The Black Cleaver provides, adding up to 40% total.

First Items :
Doran's Shield and Health Potion

First Recall :

As with the main season 8 build, depending on how well you survived in the lane, you can either purchase Brawler's Gloves and a Dagger with a Control Ward, or ideally purchase Berserker's Greaves with a Health Potion and Control Ward or Refillable Potion.

Complete Tiamat next, then Zeal into Phantom Dancer. With this build no Infinity Edge is built, as maximum critical strike chance is not the focus here. Purchase Caulfield's Warhammer and upgrade it into Essence Reaver. Although the changes to essence reaver hurt the item significantly in terms of its use on Tryndamere, I personally believe it is still salvageable in some situations, as the new passive that grants 30% attack speed and causes basic attacks to refund 20% of your remaining non-ultimate cooldowns after using your ultimate Undying Rage is beneficial for Tryndamere. After this, The Black Cleaver is built from Phage, then Quicksilver Sash is built into Mercurial Scimitar. Finally, Ravenous Hydra is completed, with an Elixir of Wrath to finish the item set.

Attack Speed Dominant

The main focus of this build is to reach very high levels of attack speed while also hitting hard, as well as allow you to dish out as many critical strikes in as short amount a time as possible (Especially Thanks to Lethal Tempo . Although there are no cooldown reduction items in this build, Spinning Slash's cooldown is reduced by 1 second every time you critically strike an enemy unit, and if that unit is a champion it is reduced by 2 seconds. This is how the build compensates for a lack of cooldown reduction.

First Items :
Doran's Shield and Health Potion

First Recall :

As with the main season 8 build, depending on how well you survived in the lane, you can either purchase Brawler's Gloves and a Dagger with a Control Ward, or ideally purchase Berserker's Greaves with a Health Potion and Control Ward or Refillable Potion

From here, the goal is to upgrade your Zeal into a Phantom Dancer, then buy another Zeal and upgrade it into Statikk Shiv. After that, purchase Recurve Bow and upgrade it into Guinsoo's Rageblade. Then build B. F. Sword into Stormrazor. Lastly finish with the Blade of the Ruined King, and an Elixir of Wrath.

**Note About Boots**
Ninja Tabi, Mercury's Treads, Berserker's Greaves and Boots of Swiftness all work well, but mostly situationally. Against a champion such as Quinn, I would purchase Ninja Tabi and against a Nasus, a team composition that has hard crowd control, or a team that has a lot of magic damage, I may take Mercury's Treads

Tryndamere Gameplay

Now that you know three different build paths, rune pages, masteries, what his abilities do, and how matchups fair for Tryndamere, I will now explain the core of his gameplay.

As Tryndamere your main objective is to win lane, snowball the lead that you've gained, and most importantly, Attract Pressure WITHOUT Dying. Doing these three fundamental things are what helped me win games, especially the third, because if you are constantly running the enemy team around the map, splitpushing effectively and intelligently, and also helping your team when needed, games will be won.

Fighting above 70 fury is optimal for duels, as critical strike chance is very important when playing Tryndamere. Landing your Mocking Shout and timing the perfect ultimate to where you have the least amount of health possible before its use, and using Spinning Slash effectively are all essential fundamentals when playing this champion.

Teamfighting

Tryndamere's engagements are decided much by positioning, enemy cooldowns, and priority targets. You should never be the first one to engage as Tryndamere, as you will be crowd controlled and focused by the enemy team, allowing them to kill you without you getting any of your damage off. Always wait for another member of your team to engage so you can flank from a side angle or from behind the enemy team. This is part of why I use the summoner spell Teleport, as League is becoming more and more of a team game. Before even teamfighting, you must decide whether your presence is: Needed, would make a difference in the fight, would result in a victory in the fight, or would be more beneficial then split pushing at that current time. If it is, then use the tips written above, and all over this guide to help you focus priority targets.
**Hint** LOOK AT THE CHAMPION MATCHUP DESCRIPTION INFORMATION FOR SMALL CLUES ON HOW TO PROPERLY FIGHT WITH YOUR TEAM


Some things that help gain an advantage as Tryndamere are:

Knowing Your Matchup : I've detailed every matchup you are likely to see in top lane, and added very descriptive details on how to play when facing those champions, so please read them if you are struggling in a certain matchup

Get Rift Herald Buff : The Rift Herald grants a buff that is extremely strong on Tryndamere, and definitely should be taken in as many games as possible.

Split Push Intelligently : If the enemy team is taking the Dragon, and you know that no one will defend top from being pushed in, and your team can not contest the dragon, push hard. Whenever there is action on one side of the map, split push the other, unless your team TRULY needs you. Also, the most important inhibitor to take is bot lane inhibitor, as it is farthest from Baron Nashor , and is usually the lane with the least occpupants mid to late game. So be sure to not solely push top for the entirity of the game, but split intelligently! During the mid game split push top lane so that your team can get map control over dragon, however as the game drags on start splitting bot lane so you can drag the enemy team towards the bottom part of the map. This will allow your team team to slay Baron Nashor whilst the enemy team is mindlessly chasing you across the map and you are 1 vs 5. Also, split pushing is not simply throwing yourself at a turret until it dies, while repeatedly dying yourself and putting yourself behind. It is rather a way to gain gold and experience through last hits and turret destruction, and a distraction procedure that provides pressure that when not dealt with can result in taking an enemy team's nexus.

Focus : When in games, do not expect to win because of a large kill deficit in kills between your team and the enemy team. Do not expect to win because you have destroyed more turrets and taken more Dragon 's and Baron Nashor 's than the enemy team. It is critical to have laser like focus into the game, and as such I play without any music in the background, and focus entirely on what is in front of me. Call MIA's consistently, know when to teleport, when to splitpush, death timers, cooldown timers, summoner spell timers, Dragon and Baron Nashor timers, and make each duel and every game count. Take enemy buffs if you know their timers, ward properly, and make your enemies pay for their mistakes. You must have the mentality that the people you are playing against are trying to take your league points away from you, and if you are unlucky with unskilled teammates, you need to play perfectly, attract pressure, and most importantly DO NOT DIE. Do this, and your ranking will skyrocket.

Unique Skills

In order to win duels, use your Spinning Slash as an auto attack cancel, and save your Undying Rage and Bloodlust heal for as long as possible, and use your Mocking Shout properly.

Tryndamere is the only champion in League of Legends that can survive any amount of damage for 5 full seconds, take advantage of this and do not waste it ever. It's cooldown can result in the difference between winning and losing a fight, a teamfight, or even the game.

The All In At Level 2:

Stack at least 70 fury, and do as this video explains:

E + Flash Combo:

Using Spinning Slash then near the very end of its animation, flashing, instantly deals the damage of the spin onto whoever you flashed onto, and allows for instant auto attacks. Here is a video example:


Matchup Analysis Videos:

Tryndamere Vs. Pantheon:

Closing

Read this guide thoroughly, as its contents are all of the information I've gathered from playing this champion. Enjoy playing the game, and win.

Thank you for reading my guide, and I hope it wasn't too long or boring to read, as I tried to include as much information as possible.

If you have any comments, post them! I will reply!

If you have any questions specifically about Tryndamere or League of Legends, feel free to add me as a friend on any of these three profiles:
Axenstar
Wimmenz
Matt The Shy
I am on the NA server and am usually active daily.
May the Crits be with you!