Hi everyone, my name is Reflect, I am a 1300 Elo player, college student, and the top laner for Team Rejection.

Dr. Mundo

Dr. Mundo

WARNING! This is a wall of text kind of guide! I go very in depth into my choices and I ask that you don't downvote my guide just because of the length.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy.

Runes

Being that they are likely the most unorthodox portion of my build, I will explain my rune choices first before I get into the rest of this guide. This is the most wordy section of the guide.

For Dr. Mundo in the top lane, I take:

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration

While there are a large number of guides instructing players to use 9 x greater mark of desolation for their builds, I have found 9 x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration to be much more effective for both the laning and team fighting phases of the game for two reasons.

1)

One of Dr. Mundo's main strengths in the laning phase is his ability to safely farm at a distance using his Infected Bonesaws. As Dr. Mundo's Infected Bonesaw skill has no stat scaling (i.e. ability power, attack damage, etc...) the only way to increase their damage output is to increase your magic penetration by taking magic penetration marks rather than armor penetration marks.
While proponents of the armor penetration route are correct in stating that taking magic penetration over armor penetration decreases Dr. Mundo's ability to farm under tower with his auto attacks, if you cannot kill a minion while your masochism is active, you should not be hitting that minion.

2)

Currently in competitive play, many tank/initiator players have been favoring the use of the Sunfire Aegis + Guardian Angel item combination. When combined, these two items give a tank +103 armor and + 450 hp, stats that are nothing to scoff at if you want to dive towers as any initiator should.

How now does this relate to Dr. Mundo and the use of magic penetration marks?

Due to the speed bonus, crowd control reduction, and "aoe burn" provided by combining his masochism and Maximum Dosage skills, Dr. Mundo has--in my opinion--the single best dive synergy with the Sunfire Aegis + Guardian Angel item combination. With the previously mentioned skills and items, Dr. Mundo is able to dive immediately at the enemy team's ADC--under tower, or otherwise--while doing 135 magic damage/second to every enemy player caught in your path. As such, taking magic penetration marks rather than armor penetration marks increases your total damage output towards the enemy team as you won't usually be given the chance to auto attack your way through their line.

I am still working on determining if the Greater Mark of Magic Penetration applies to damage dealt by the Sunfire Aegis

Greater Seal of Armor

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

These are fairly standard for most top lane champions, and for tanks in particular. If you are going up against an AP top laner--say Vladimir, Rumble, or Elise--you can optionally swap out the Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist for the Greater Glyph of Magic Resist to mitigate their early game damage.

While to some this seems a fairly logical rune choice for a champion lacking in lane sustain--think Jarvan IV--I have still had other players and even my teammates question whether or not these runes are excessive compared to say, more damage or resistances.

After much trial and error, I have found that hp regeneration runes help shave off some of Dr. Mundo's survival issues if you're constantly throwing Infected Bonesaws at minions to last hit--as I prefer to do rather than risk harass at melee range.

The extra regeneration not only helps to keep your health pool high while farming, but it also allows you to bait Ignite from your lane opponent--post lv 6, and usually with your Spirit Visage in tow--with Maximum Dosage and a Health Potion, often turning the fight during ganks, enemy tower dives, or duels.

Masteries

*due to the impending mastery changes riot has planned for season 3, this section will not be up until after the season patch

Summoner Spells

This is one of the more straightforward sections of this guide. My summoner's spells do not deviate too far from the norm, as such, experienced top laners can skip this section while I recommend newer players to read it thoroughly.

My summoner's are:

Flash:

Pretty much the golden standard of summoner's spells. Many higher tier players will admit that logic in League doesn't quite make sense without this spell. Use it to Flash + Infected Bonesaw an enemy to initiate, reverse the combo to escape a chase, or simply to blink over a wall and away from harm.

Teleport:

A somewhat underrated summoner's spell that has been making a resurgence with high level top lane players--TSM's Dyrus for example--because of the global presence it gives you. I take this for Dr. Mundo both to be a constant threat to my enemies, and also to smooth out buying--particularly with my Heart of Gold--during the laning phase. Use it to Teleport back to lane, hank across the map (or conversely, retun to lane from them), secure Dragon/Baron Nashor, or to keep the enemy players paranoid of your whereabouts.

Other viable summoner's for Dr. Mundo:

Ignite:

Allows you to secure early kills in lane or on the enemy jungler. I would only recommend this spell if no other players on your team have taken it (as it falls off so hard late game), or if you are leaning against a champion who is only viable because of their sustain--think Vladimir, Yorick, or Warwick.

Ghost:

Works very well with your Maximum Dosage to get to and stay with enemy carries. Use this if no one is planning in building a Shurelya's Battlesong, and you still need the extra stickiness.

Skill Sequence

This is a fairly basic chapter. As with other tanks like Singed, Olaf, etc., Dr. Mundo takes a fair amount of gold to get off the ground. Due to this, you max your Infected Bonesaw first, your masochism second, and Heart Zapper last, taking points in Maximum Dosage whenever it is available. Explanations for this are below:

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Infected Bonesaw:

When playing Dr. Mundo, this is your "bread and butter" skill. The major difference between good and bad Dr. Mundo players is how effectivly, and accurately they use their Infected Bonesaw. Early on, you will primarily use this skill to farm safely at a distance, or to "permaslow" your lane opponent for ganks--much like you would with Olaf's Undertow. As this skill does not scale off of stats, deals % of current life, and has minimum damage which increases by level, you max it first to make sure you get every possible last hit and kill.

Heart Zapper:

For those who have ever jungled Dr. Mundo, you will know that this most risk/reward of your skillset. As a relatively powerful, AoE, DoT skill, Heart Zapper allows Dr. Mundo's DPS reach insane levels. In the jungle, this means faster clear times. In lane however, it means missing last hits, and unnecessarily wasting your health pool. While you will be able to sustain yourself while using this skill by level 18, early on it just means you're pushing your lane and chugging health potions. As such, max this skill last.

masochism:

Just like your Infected Bonesaw, this skill is primarily a farming/ganking tool. It acts similar to a free Maw of Malmortius, except that it grants you no spell shield or magic resistance. Because Dr. Mundo can use this skill as a massive damage steroid, you never need to buy and AD boosting items. As soon as you start diving on enemy carries, just pop your masochism and start hacking away.

As with using Olaf's Tough It Out, this skill allows you to kill caster minions under tower by level 2, making this an invaluable skill as Dr. Mundo lacks a strong early laning presence, and often is stuck under tower early on. Due to this, max this skill second.

Maximum Dosage:

Infected Bonesaw aside, this skill is what makes Dr. Mundo, Dr. Mundo. In lane, this skill is mostly used to chase down gank targets, or--when used in conjunction with a health potion and Spirit Visage--to bait your lane opponent's ignite at low hp. As with all useful ultimates, max this skill as soon as it is available, at levels 6, 11, and 16.

Items

These are pretty standard for most Dr. Mundo builds. The only real variation is the addition of a Guardian Angel and an Abyssal Mask. Explanations for my item choices are below:

Starting purchases:

Item Sequence

Health Potion 50

Health Potion 50

Health Potion 50

These are pretty standard on most solo lane champions. Boots give you the mobility you need to farm and harass, while the Health Potions give you a bit of sustain to stay in lane until your first item.

First time going back:

Item Sequence

Stealth Ward 0

This is probably your most important buy of the game. You want to go back to pool almost immediately after you have 900g. You need to get back to lane with both a Heart of Gold and at least 1 sight ward in order to out pace your lane opponent, and be able to safely push back your lane and invade the jungle. I recommend using your teleport to get back to lane here.

Second buys:

Item Sequence

Mercury's Treads 1250

Depending on your finances when you head back to pool a second time, you can fit in your Mercury's Treads after your Spirit Visage. If not, it's not a major issue.

Item Sequence

Final touches:

Item Sequence

Sunfire Aegis 2800

Guardian Angel 3200

Randuin's Omen 2700

Abyssal Mask 2650

The real order of these items all comes situationally, based more on where your team is at relative to your opponent than anything else.

Build orders:

If you're absolutely dominating before 25 minutes in:

Guardian Angel, Sunfire Aegis, Abyssal Mask, Randuin's Omen

If you have a comfortable lead and want to start tower diving:

Sunfire Aegis, Guardian Angel, Randuin's Omen, Abyssal Mask

If you have to be beefy immediately:

Sunfire Aegis, Abyssal Mask, Randuin's Omen, Guardian Angel

If you're behind:

Aegis of the Legion, Sunfire Aegis, Randuin's Omen, guardian's angel

WHY THE !?!?