Tryndamere Build Guide by Katsuie

This is a Work-In-Progress

I will constantly return to this guide in the future, adding more in-depth information and formatting as time goes by.

I've decided to put this guide up early in order to present masteries, runes and build paths for people interested in playing Tryndamere.

To-do list:

• How to behave in lane
• How to behave in teamfights
• Adding demonstration videos
• In-depth explanation on viable items

Introduction

Welcome!

I am Katsuie, self-proclaimed worst player in Diamond 1 and ocassional streamer.
As of recently, I've been experimenting with several champions, Tryndamere being one of them, and considering I have lot of free-time lately, I thought "Heck, why not create a guide?".

So here it is, a collection of potential ways on how to play Tryndamere.

Pros / Cons

Pros + High first blood potential + Strong early game + Strong late game + Snowballs hard

Cons - Potentially weak mid game - Below-average if not fed - Can get easily kited

Runes

Tryndamere is one of the champions which runes can be very diverse compared to others.
Even after a lot of experimenting, I usually tend to fall back on this paticular setup:



These are basically the runes I use in a "standard" top lane match-up (e.g. we expect an enemy top champion who mainly deals Physical Damage).
Using this setup, you'll have 42% crit chance at max fury without any addtional crit items.
I use Armor Glyphs to make up for the fact that I replaced Armor Yellows for crit chance, as the yellow runes yield more crit chance than the blue ones.

If the enemy happens to deal mostly AP Damage, MR Glyphs should be used instead.

Masteries

This is the Mastery Page I always use:



It is optimized to get the most damage possible out of the offensive tree, and spending the rest of the points in the defensive tree to give you that extra survivability against your opponent.


Altenatively, If you decide to use my Tryndamere 3v3 Build, this is the Mastery Page I use in 3v3:



It sacrifices the additional 30 HP from the defensive tree in order to get the Revive Health bonus, which is +200 Health(+20*Level).
I will explain later on why I use Revive on 3v3 in a different section.

Summoners

Flash/Ignite is pretty much the most basic as it can get. Even though Tryndamere might profit more from other summoners, Flash/Ignite is the combination which will increase your early game damage the most. If you're new to Tryndamere or plan to go aggressive early, these are your summoners to go.

Ghost/Cleanse is the combination which Tryndamere theoretically profits the most from. Compared to other champions, who often need Flash to either escape or close the gap in order to get their combo off, Tryndamere has to be able to constantly stick to his target and deal sustained damage. This is better achieved with Ghost. As Tryndamere is very likely to get focused by CC, Cleanse is almost a must. It will either save you or allow to kill that pesky AD Carry.

Teleport is very questionable in its effectivity. Its supposed to be used by champions who can easily gank other lanes with it, Tryndamere is not one of them.

You have an ultimate which makes you invulnerable for 5 seconds, there is no need for a summoner which prevents damage.

Exhaust is a summoner which does have potential on Tryndamere. If you feel like you need to kill your opponent, by all means take it. You want to snowball, after all. Very helpy in teamfights, too.

Skill Sequence

In order to be able to trade effectively with your opponent and stay in lane, you should focus on maxing your Q first. The reasoning behind this is that your opponent will very often try to trade with you, whereas you might not be able to trade back effectively or at all (considering that Tryndamare is heavily crit reliant), so you'll have to be able to sustain yourself. Maxing Q will give you a lot of health back, and additionally gives you AD depending on how much Health you are missing.

Afterwards you should max E to reduce the cooldown and increase the damage on it.
This ability gets more effective depending on how often you crit, so obviously it'll get stronger and more of a viable option after you got some of your items.
Critting an enemy will reduce the Cooldown on your E by 2, making it an effective chasing or escaping tool.
If it weren't for the very much needed sustain on Q, E would be maxed first instead.

Spells

Apart from the ultimate, this is Tryndamere's most important skill and potentially the only reason why he is a functioning toplane pick. Each level on Bloodlust will increase the amount of AD you gain depending on how much health you are missing, which means it synergizes incredibly well with Undying Rage. But that is not the reason why we skill it first, the active on Bloodlust lets you regain health based on how much fury you have build up, allowing you to keep yourself sustained during trades or heal yourself up while farming. Be careful though, it is not wise to use Bloodlust before engaging a fight or trade, as it will reduce your crit chance by a whole 35% (given you have a fully stacked fury bar)

Mocking Shout slows opponents which have their backs turned to you, allowing you to chase them easier or stop them from escaping. With the help of Spinning Slash, Tryndamere has a lot of chasing potential, and paired with Blade of the Ruined King, almost no enemy will be able to escape from you. Additionally, Mocking Shout reduces the Attack Damage of enemies, so you can also use it during fights to reduce their overall damage output.

Spinning Slash is Tryndamere's bread and butter. It will allow you to chase enemies, farm effectively and pass through terrain. On top of that, every critical strike reduces its cooldown by 2 second, meaning it will get more spammable the more crit chance you have. The further you get into the game, the more spammable it will become, making you a constant threat by permanently sticking to your opponent.

And here we have the skill which makes Tryndamere Tryndamere. Undying Rage makes you invulnerable for a few seconds, turning you into an unstoppable killing machine. This is the skill which determines good Tryndamere players. In teamfights, it is all about maximizing the effectiveness of Undying Rage by using it at the last possible second to increase the time you can stay in the fight.

Items

I personally dislike getting Doran's items in general, because it delays your build. I usually don't get them, but they're a viable choice if you are behind.

Blade of the Ruined King is an incredibly valuable item on Tryndamere. It gives you everything you need, except crit chance, but that is easily made up by its amazing active. Combined with Spinning Slash and Mocking Shout, nobody will be able to escape from you.

Infinity Edge is hands down the best offensive item for Tryndamere. There isn't much explaining to do here, it increases your damage, your crit's damage and crit chance, what's not to like? Infinity Edge should always be somewhere in your build, but it is not a good idea to rush it. Make sure you got enough attack speed first and check if Last Whisper wouldn't be a better choice to complete first. Building an Infinity Edge won't help you much if the enemy armor restricts you from doing damage.

Another item which should always be in Tryndamere's inventory. The Question here is not if you should get Last Whisper, but when you should. This will be completely up to your judgement, buy it when you deem it necessary. If for reasons unknown your enemy is not getting Armor, you can punish them hard by getting other offensive items first.

Ravenous Hydra is another very effective item on Tryndamere. Not only does it speed up farming immensely, it lets you easily heal up on creeps. Ravenous Hydra is a viable substitute for Blade of the Ruined King, but in the end it boils down to preference. Personally, I always get Blade of the Ruined King because it gives me all the attack speed I need in combination with Statikk Shiv, and the active is too valuable for me to miss up on.

Statikk Shiv is an item I have found to synergize pretty well on Tryndamere. Many people ask, should I get Statikk Shiv or Phantom Dancer? My answer is always get Statikk Shiv. "But Katsuie, doesn't Phantom Dancer give more attack speed and crit chance?" Well yes of course it does, but Statikk Shiv makes up for it by being cheaper, easier to build and adding a damaging passive effect (which can also crit).

If despite what I said you're not convinced that Statikk Shiv is better than Phantom Dancer, then by all means get it. It's just that in my opinion it won't matter if you end up having 87% crit chance with Statikk Shiv or 97% crit chance with Phantom Dancer in the end.

Zephyr might look good on Tryndamere but it really isn't. If you think you need tenacity, then replace Berserker's Greaves with Mercury's Treads, but this item is a waste of gold.

Mercurial Scimitar is a very underrated item in general. If you find yourself not being able to do anything in fights due to CC, a Quicksilver Sash into Mercurial Scimitar can handle the problem. After upgrading it, you'll receive a speed boost upon cleansing, very, very useful.

The passive of Maw of Malmortius makes it seem like this item has been made for Tryndamere. Sadly though, this item is very cost inefficient. I would only recommend it if you play against a heavy-AP based team comp.

Mercury's Treads are your go-to items if the enemy team has more CC than you can handle. If the enemy team has a Fiddlesticks or Nasus, you should get these boots without a doubt as soon as possible.

What is better than being invulnerable for 5 seconds? Being able to revive yourself afterwards of course! Guardian Angel is with no doubt the best defensive item you can get on Tryndamere. In late game, Guardian Angel might be the deciding component in winning the game. One of the most important things later in the game is to be able to kill the enemy AD Carry, which might only become possible after purchasing Guardian Angel. On top of that, you'll be able to essentially waste 8-9 seconds of the enemy team by being invulnerable, which is a huge factor in winning fights.

If you find yourself struggling against the enemy AD Carry or your enemy has a heavy physical damage based teamcomp, Randuin's Omen is a very viable option. Not only does it reduce damage, but also slows people who are auto-hitting you, reduces their attack speed and gives you another slow for you to use on them.