Tryndamere Build Guide by Thundermourn

Introduction: Welcome to the End Days

Welcome to my NO SALVATION guide to Tryndamere! Please read thoroughly and rate! I would love feedback! It only takes a minute to register and it makes mobafire more useful!

First of all, I would like to state my mission here. I'm not trying to build a guide for a competitive, high-elo, veteran Tryndamere. I'm trying to help players who are new to Tryndamere to find that groove. Yeah...you know that groove. When learning a new champion, often there is an exact moment when we feel like we had a breakthrough. When you pop all your abilities, items, spells, and do something exactly right that just CRUSHES your opponent. Hopefully, this guide will spare aspiring Tryndamere's some of the learning curve. Along with my guide to Spyndamere, I hope to provide some BASIC strategies as well. Enjoy the guide, please rate however you feel, however, please try the build a few times. I would wager your Tryndamere game will improve dramatically.

Secondly, I would encourage everyone to play each champion in the manner that makes them enjoy playing that champion. My guide is a GUIDE. Each match is different and adaptation, flexibility, and control will win many more games than a strict guide that you don't break from. Take the basic build and make your own adjustments.

Thirdly, I would like to outline what Tryndamere is supposed to FEEL like. Everyone has felt clumsy or slow with a certain champion, and usually that comes from playing them incorrectly. I hope to provide a little depth into how to drive this Ferrari of a champion.

Lastly, I would like to add that I will be adding photos, videos, match history, statistics, that sort of thing as soon as I learn how to do that. I apologize for the sheer amount of unbroken reading at present and intend to make this guide more entertaining and visually appealing. Please bear with me!

Well! I'm back...glad to be back too. Been very busy with work but having some great success even still with this build. I would highly recommend SoH's guide...I've been trying some of his stuff (which is VERY similiar to MY stuff...hmmmmm ;) ) and adjusting here and there. Thanks for all the positive input, and looking forward to adding/subtracting/and updating my guide.
Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.

The Thin Red Line: Synergizing your Fury

Now we come to the reason I choose to play with Tryndamere!!!

The Hulk. Wolverine. Gimli the Dwarf. Commander Worf. William Wallace. They all have one thing in common: Fury. They fight with reckless abandon. Fear is not in their vocabulary. They WELCOME a glorious death in the name of what they believe in. Fury inspires fear in opponents and awe and respect in allies. When played correctly, I average 3-4 honorable opponent honors PER MATCH. After level 6, Tryndamere is a freight train, leaving the only escape to get off the tracks. Enemies will know your fury, and they will respect your courage. Teammates will flock to you mid and late game like moths to a flame. You will be the tip of the spear. You will fight with the full intention of dying, covered in blood, under a pile of dead enemies. To date I haven't found a more aggressive champion who inspires more dread/hope.

The reason for this joyous rage: The synergy between Battle Fury and Bloodlust. I'll get into a deeper explanation later, in the Skill Sequence section. For now, just know that your STRENGTH comes from appearing WEAK. A low health Tryndamere is one of the most dangerous champions out there. The enemy KNOWS your ultimate is coming. They KNOW you'll devastate them if they stay near you while you're raging. What they don't know, is why. And that is your advantage. Walk the line between life and death with success, and you'll amaze everyone who watches you play.

Tryndamere's overall role is AD Carry/Bruiser. Late game is your time, and trading kills 1v1 will usually be just fine for you. He makes a lot of money, and spends it effectively. Don't worry if you're not killing early game, just don't die and you'll be fine. You should be able to start bullying by level 8 or 9.

Well, it seems after everyone has figured out their new itemization, that melee is somewhat gimp. If you want to try and play Tryndamere, this guide will help. But as of current itemization, it is very difficult. Hope the guide helps!

Pros / Cons: Why We Fight/ Why We Run

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Pros + Exceptional damage output. + Exceptional mobility and terrain management. + Bloodlust and life-steal provide incredible sustain. + Fast farmer. + Explosive AoE potential. + Easy to learn.

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Cons - Predictable intentions: SMASH! - Dependent on fury. - Squishy (more accurately: only killable) when Undying Rage is on cooldown. - Forces aggressive play. - Heavily focused in teamfights. - Hard to master.

Skill Sequence: Picking for Passives

: Battle Fury! There could not be a more beautiful passive for a berserker. Who else gets a 35-40% chance to crit at level one? Managing your fury will be the key to your success as Tryndamere. Your eyes should be on the red bar every other second. You should CRAVE a full bar. It's more important than health, more important than items. It's everything to you. Tryndamere is an AD champion, to be sure. But this passive means you should build Attack SPEED first. The amount of fury gained is NOT dependent on your AD. You get 5 points for a non-crit, and 10 points for a crit or a kill. This creates a cascading effect, since you'll crit MORE the higher your fury, thus gain MORE fury for each hit. Basically, it's supposed to be a slow climb until about 75 fury, then it fills quickly. However, by building Berserker's Greaves to full, and rushing Phantom Dancer, you'll find that fury bar filling VERY quickly, thus improving your damage output via double-damage crits instead of slightly more AD.

Undying Rage! Your "OP" ultimate. You'll hear a lot of crying about your ultimate being OP. Just remember: THEY KNEW IT WAS COMING. YOU AREN'T SNEAKY. Tryndamere inspires hatred in his enemies, but they're only mad at themselves. Tryndamere is incredibly single minded in his intent. If he gets you, you probably deserved it for not fleeing like a frightened child. This spell is good, don't get me wrong. But it's not OP. Battle Fury and Bloodlust are, but don't tell anyone. They think it's the ulti. All Undying Rage does is allow you to maximize your two passives for 5-8 seconds. It won't save your life when fleeing in most cases. It leaves you tired, hurt, and (hopefully) escaping like a wounded animal. Use it when you're as close to death as possible. If you're going to kill them, and you know it, don't run. I wouldn't advise EVER using Undying Rage to try to flee, I would almost rather die, come back and use it to kill. If you find yourself using it to save your life, with no chance of kill, I would advise re-reading this guide, then hitting them once or twice and spinning/flashing to safety. Max this at level 6, 11, and 16. ASAP!

Bloodlust! Your other bread-and-butter passive! He has TWO passives...and they jive! Bloodlust provides a passive boost to your AD at full health, and a MASSIVE boost to AD at low health. This is why Tryndamere appears vulnerable. At 1 health and level 5 Bloodlust that's an extra 60 AD! At level 9! Ideal scenario: Undying Rage is ready. Exhaust is ready. You've farmed up your fury and are 100% red bar. You've taken a beating and are at 10% health. At level 9, you have somewhere around 150 ad, are critting 85% of the time, and they think you're vulnerable. Beast mode: engage. Oh it also heals you. But we don't care about that. We'd rather have low health and full fury than half health and no fury. Max this ability if your ultimate isn't available, but take the first rank, second, after Spinning Slash.

Mocking Shout! Another wonderful, deceptive, useful, synergistic ability. Here's what everyone knows: It's a VERY powerful snare, but only when they face away from you. They'll try to face you to negate its effects...but that leaves them closer to your sword, and therefore, their death. Once they realize you can stomp them in a face-to-face swapping of blows, they'll run from you. If you check toward them, expect them to back up a couple steps. This means turning their back. Check them, use Mocking Shout, Spinning Slash PAST them in their slowed state, swat them four times as they walk slowly past you, exhaust when YOUR snare wears off, kill. That's what everyone knows. Now here's what they don't usually know: it reduces their attack damage whether they're facing you or not. This is the most powerful, non-item, AoE attack damage debuff in the game. Everyone hates taking useless, unexchanged damage. This negates a LOT of it. Use it when it's up, every time, unless you're about to kill combo. You'll want this one to be used IF they decide to retalliate. Max this skill if Undying Rage and Bloodlust aren't available.

Spinning Slash! Tryndamere's only damaging spell! Yet another deceptive ability though. The damage isn't what's important. It's the utility, the function that makes it dangerous. Positioning is key when playing Tryndamere and this ability puts you where you want to be (and might do a little damage in the process). It will go through walls, making straight line travel through the jungle possible. It will gain ground in a chase. It will gain ground when fleeing (are you still fleeing?) Most importantly, learn to use it defensively...most people will try to poke you. This ability allows you to get last hits and exchange with the enemy champions in a poke-like fashion. Combine Spinning Slash with Flash and Mocking Shout to horrify your opponent. If they know the range of your spin, it's to your advantage. They don't want you anywhere near them once you paste them a couple times. Max this ability if there's nothing else to max.

Tryndamere will take a lot of flak for being an OP champ...but only when he's used right. If his abilities aren't in order, and he's not using them TOGETHER, he will be severely underpowered. Feel free to revel in the fact that you don't use ANY of your abilities to do serious damage, only to make the damage inevitable by fury management, positioning, and player fear. Keep your fury bar full, your life bar empty, and know where your enemy is and wants to be, and you'll be fine.

Masteries: Attack Damage and a couple other little things.

These are the masteries I use for top lane or jungle Tryndamere.

I think this is a pretty standard mastery build for season three. All the AD ones possible, enough in defense to provide modest armor for early game, and health per level for late game, and one support to buff your flash since there's not really a better way to spend it.
Notable Tryndamere Masteries: Frenzy provides 10% attack speed for 2 seconds after landing a critical strike! This mastery is particularly potent on Tryndamere because he pretty much crits his pants. I don't know if it stacks, since obviously you will be hitting more often that every two seconds.

I'm sure there are variations that will work just fine, but these masteries will help establish how Tryndamere should FEEL.

Thanks to SpawnofHell for reminding me to put jungle masteries up!

While the other mastery build will FUNCTION for jungling, this one has definitely served me more effectively. The damage shield is actually pretty damn good, I like it. It helps because you don't have to do anything extra to do around 50-60 damage to each collateral creep at the camps. I would also like to add that any of my jungle suggestions are works in progress. I'm trying to follow more experienced junglers here, so if you want more help on good jungling Tryndamere, you should check out Spawnofhell's guide, its very well done.

Runes: Frontload your match! Early game help.

• greater quintessence of armor penetration: I feel quints are a good place to get ahead of the armor penetration curve. The 7.7 armor you'll be ignoring after three of these is enough to surprise your tougher bruisers like Darius, Gangplank, Irelia, Garen, Malphite, and others in the early game. Tryndamere's early game isn't as important as these champs, but it helps to frustrate them. I would imagine it wouldn't be hard to make a case for Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed as a newer player to help with fury management or Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed although I can't see sacrificing that shock value from the armor penetration for a little bit of movement speed early game. If you want to move faster, get the items for it, I wouldn't waste a quint. UPDATE: I have been using Greater Quintessence of Life Steal since discovering them in the mis-labeled "utility" section of the store. These runes are now by far my favorite quintessence. I can still recommend using the others I have listed, but these have made a HUGE difference in my early game sustain both in jungle and in lane. Give them a try if you are having issues with sustain.
  
  
• Greater Mark of Attack Damage: Pretty standard AD reds I would imagine. Less potent for Tryndamere than for some others. I've had success with both Greater Mark of Critical Chance and full greater mark of armor penetration. If you're new to Trynd, I would recommend the Greater Mark of Critical Chance. Once you've gotten a strong sense how to maintain your fury, move up to a comfortable combination of armor penetration and attack damage keeping in mind that AD will give better sustained damage versus low armor targets like minions and monsters, and armor penetration will provide better burst versus more heavily armored targets such as champions, buff monsters, dragons, and Baron (not necessarily TANK champions with armor items, you'd want %armor penetration from items for that). Adjust to your personal preference. These are the runes I'd suggest for top solo laning. For jungle bashing I've recently discovered AS reds! Greater Mark of Attack Speed is WONDERFUL for jungling. I would highly recommend switching them out if you end up jungling. I couldn't believe the sustain after I got the Vampiric Scepter.
  
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: This is a frustrating rune slot on Tryndamere. I wish there was something that did more, but there really isn't. I've literally tried everything in this slot that's a 'primary' rune, and there is very little difference. Once thing I did notice was that Greater Glyph of Ability Power did make a noticeable difference in the size of my early game Bloodlust heals. Worth trying it to see if it makes you feel better than the MR/lvl. Late game you won't be thinking about MR very much...trust me.
  
  
• Greater Seal of Armor: This one is simple enough. Early game whether in lane, or in the jungle, you will want to get hit for less damage. Odds are, top lane you'll be against someone who does AD auto-attacks or AD enhanced abilities. As with before, late game you won't notice much armor from runes, but early game you'll feel the difference.

Items: AD?! No thanks, I'll keep my AS!

• : Only boots to choose if you're following the standard theory of Tryndamere. They buff fury generation, they buff damage output, THEY BUFF FURY GENERATION. Give them the enchant (after you get The Bloodthirster) that increases movement speed after an auto-attack. You're fast, strong, and aggressive. These boots play to all three. If you're finding yourself the victim of constant snares/stuns/other cc, Substitute in Mercury's Treads. They're much more expensive, and they gimp your fury production, so use them in extreme situations.
  
• : There is no better item for mid-game Tryndamere. It provides his second and third best stats: life-steal and attack damage respectively. It encourages you to trounce minions and monsters on the way to wherever you're headed. It was recently buffed also, meaning the full bonus from kill stacking is easier to manage.
  
• : There is no better item for ANY part of the game for Tryndamere. The recent buff to make it ignore unit collision is insane. The attack speed is insane. The crit chance is insane. Trynd is listed as 'melee' and 'fighter'. This item makes him an assassin, a pusher, and somewhat of a support due to covering the whole map faster. Get it as soon as possible. The only things you want before this are Berserker's Greaves and Vampiric Scepter.
  
• : A must have for any AD champ. As earlier mentioned, the AD isn't as important to Tryndamere as it is to some others, but the passive is butter since he crits almost every hit anyway. While not drastically important by itself, it's definitely still worth taking as part of your four item core.
  
• : Oh the deception just keeps coming. This item was made to compliment Undying Rage, Battle Fury, and Bloodlust. Granted that you WILL be focused in teamfights, this is an extra Undying Rage without the offensive bonus. Rage into battle, kill a couple, "die" only to be reborn with low health, weak enemies, and Undying Rage still up! You will almost certainly inspire hopelessness in your enemies if you get to this point in your build.
  
• : The coup de grace. You'll be intensely scary with your five previous items. This one will tip the boat. I'm not exaggerating this. IF you have maintained a positive kill-to-death ratio, and the enemy still has some fight left in them, this will break all hope. Explosive AoE doesn't describe what happens when you wade into a team-fight with this weapon. Sure it makes you passively hit everything around, sure it has a clicky that will flatten a whole team in 3 seconds, but the best part: A....o....E life-steal. I had three pentakills before season three with Tryndamere. I now have lost count.
  
• : This item is also suitable if you find yourself unable to handle the crowd control of the enemy. I wouldn't advise it if you're doing well, but if you need to, switch out the Ravenous Hydra or the Guardian Angel.
  
• : Thanks to SoH's Tryndamere guide, I'm now not totally opposed to Statikk Shiv in place of Phantom Dancer. Yes I still believe if you're truly minimizing/maximizing Tryndamere, Phantom Dancer is slightly better. He makes a good point though, it's more expensive and doesn't have Avarice Blade in the build like Statikk Shiv does. I'd wager you'll have more money early and mid game.
  
• : I occasionally get Thornmail if there is a lot of incoming physical focus on me. Think of the implications....three champions beating on you for 30% returned damage during Undying Rage. That's a lot of returned damage that costs you nothing.
  
  Follow the build order exactly until you get Infinity Edge done. Then you can play around a little bit. But the core is essential. People will cry that you only had 10 bonus AD from Vampiric Scepter when you built Phantom Dancer. Just show them your full fury bar. People will cry that Infinity Edge should come before The Bloodthirster. Calmly remind them that those two items now have the same base bonus AD and The Bloodthirster helps your sustain more than Infinity Edge, as well as stacking MORE AD. Basically, this build is dedicated to making sure you're generating huge amounts of fury by about level 7. As stated earlier, fury management is the key to Tryndamere success.
  
  
  I will pick up any AD items that combine later into Infinity Edge as soon as I'm done with the The Bloodthirster if I die, or have to make a trip back earlier than expected.

I would also like to add that this is a more offensive build than most. If you prefer a little more defense, I would check out SpawnOfHell's guide for Tryndamere. He knows his stuff and I use his build almost as often as I use my own.

Summoner Spells: There can be only one...

: Exhaust Use it. Buff it. Make love to it. Don't EVER get caught playing Tryndamere without it. Regardless of your role, regardless of your team. ALWAYS take exhaust.


: Flash I would prefer to always be able to take Flash. Positioning is important to Tryndamere and this spell is all about it. Take it when you don't need Smite to jungle.

: Ignite I don't use this spell myself, but many experienced Tryndamere players use it. It is a healing debuff, most importantly, and a DoT secondly. Don't take it for the damage, Exhaust on Tryndamere is MUCH more damage in most cases. Take it for the healing reduction. Nothing makes you feel ****pier than watching someone with a red buff ticking away heal for 100 and save their lives, where ignite would've finished the job. I can definitely see where Ignite has its place.

: Ghost This ****shoot. I LOVE the idea of Ghost, I HATE the reality of it. It does provide massive movement speed throughout the game. It is also the most easily countered summoner there is. One snare, one stun, one knock up, one just about ANYthing will negate ghost. I use Flash in this role. Yes flash is susceptible to the same kind of counters that ghost is, but at least there is a split second where the enemy is confused by your sudden disappearance. With ghost, it's just flee and pray. Again, use it if it makes you more comfortable, it just doesn't inspire a lot of security in me. As far as chasing goes, yeah I think this would be better than Flash for that. It always makes me cringe to use Flash to chase. This one wouldn't hurt my pride as much to chase with it.

: Smite Take it if you jungle. Please. Don't be that guy that thinks he's the ONLY one in the game who can jungle without it. Some champs don't need it to jungle, but they still take it. Seriously, don't be that guy. If you are in the jungle, use this spell. Oh and make sure it gets buffed by masteries. It's on the way to where you're going anyway.

: Cleanse Take this if someone picks a strong cc counter to you in lane. I find more use out of flash, and would recommend it in most situations but if you're getting straight demolished by every malphite you face top lane, try this one out. It might save your life where flash would have been wasted.

Early Game Tactics: Armor Penetration and Fear!

Tryndamere can jungle, or top lane with the build I've outlined here with very little adaptation.

Sustain is key to top lane survival, and Tryndamere has plenty of it, but we want to remember we're not counting on Bloodlust to sustain, only to prevent death. The main source of sustain should come from your life-steal mid and late game, and your potions early game. Basically, this means you have to be aggressive.

The irony is, many top lane opponents will try to fury starve you. They plan on it. They intend to do it. Then you set up a willing exchange of blows to show them they WON'T back you off. The first exchange of the game will set the pace. Countless times I've encountered a cocky top laner who thinks Tryndamere can be backed down. Darius and Gangplank are the two notable bullies. They're used to having their way up top. They WANT to get into exchanges knowing they'll come out ahead. Don't let them. Hit them early and hit them HARD. Let them know that if it comes to a toe-to-toe battle, you'll gamble on getting your crits and will die if it means killing them.

In the beginning, try to farm that fury. Last hits are great, but less important than seizing every opportunity to gain fury. You'll catch up on farm later as long as you keep it close early. If they let you get full fury, you WILL bully them. You will hit them so hard and so fast they will want to stay out of your range...and your range is deceptively large with Spinning Slash and Mocking Shout at your disposal.

You won't be able to favorably exchange well until you're level 3, but you can still shock them with your damage, especially with greater mark of armor penetration. If they buy Doran's Shield to start, you will decimate the lane. They NEED boots. If they don't have boots, turn it up even more. If they take a Doran's Blade first, wait til level 3 when you get your Mocking Shout but still, turn up the heat. Boots are the only thing that will keep most opponents alive.

Don't worry too much about killing them, just scaring them. If you find opportunity to end it with Mocking Shout, Spinning Slash, Exhaust, and Flash, take said opportunity. Tryndamere snowballs exceptionally well and if you get ahead, you'll likely win the game for your team. If you find yourself falling behind, maybe dying a couple times without a kill to show for it, you'll need to stay closer to your turret, but otherwise, not a huge crisis. You can trade deaths for kills 1:1 and do just fine. I've had games where I started 4-6 and lost my turret first that ended up 25-7 and a victory. Never surrender when playing Tryndamere. If you're not too far behind, that usually indicates that your team is stronger than they think they are moving forward.

With this build, you'll also be a turret wrecker. Because of your extremely fast attacks, and your need to eat minions, you will find yourself beating the **** out of turrets on a regular basis. You can also set up an easy escape with Spinning Slash while beating on turrets. If there's no enemy at the turret, I usually set up on the ENEMY side of the turret to kill incoming minions to prevent more damage to my minions who are taking the turrets' hits. This also allows you in most cases to quickly spin into the jungle through walls leaving your opponent frustrated and chasing you into your den.

Repositioning is NOT fleeing! If you need to insure that you get to hit first in an inevitable exchange, nothing is better than hitting them before they see you. Use bushes for this trick. You can hit them (aka: crit them) once before they ever see you. And it's going to hurt. And they'll probably fear they've made a mistake. Once this indecision sets in, wait for their back to be turned and Mocking Shout. Proceed with kill combo. If they DO stand toe-to-toe with you (god bless them), kill them. Your damage output, coupled with Undying Rage, and the ability to scoot over walls and quickly into turret range means that NO one should stand toe-to-toe with you.

While in lane, just remember the Tryndamere basics.

• Always, always, always be thinking of how you can get more fury ASAP.
• Make the enemy think you're vulnerable. You're at your strongest when you appear at your weakest. You'll enjoy being single-minded yet unstoppable.
• Show them you WANT to toe-to-toe. Even if you get bad RNG and don't crit as much as you would like, you can exchange deaths for kills all day long in lane. Come late game they'll regret that YOU have the same amount of gold THEY have.
• Undying Rage is an OFFENSIVE ability. Try not to use it defensively. If you pop it, you should know you're going to get a kill, preferably two.
• Bloodlust is a trap. It's good sustain, but it gimps your damage output. Use the heal in emergencies only (if possible) and use this ability to HIT HARDER. They KNOW you can heal, they usually DON'T know that you hit harder when you're at low health.
• Keep all this in mind and build toward that mid-late game dominance you're after.

If you find yourself STILL getting shut down in lane, but you want to play Tryndamere, it's time to hit the jungle!


Jungling with Tryndamere in the season three jungle is a joy. You no longer have bad laners begging for ganks at level 2. You are less likely to be counter-jungled early on. And your global experience and CS will be fantastic.

There was a time, when people didn't like Trynd jungle because of wimpy ganks without boots and boots taking a while to get because you had to start with Vampiric Scepter. Well, you won't be ganking earlier with the new jungle, but thankfully, neither will anyone else. Lane pressure HAS dropped pre-level 6, and people aren't expecting as much help from the jungle when they **** up their lane.

To jungle with Tryndamere: Right click the bad guys.

Ok that was kind of a joke, but not entirely. That's what happens after you complete your Vampiric Scepter. Here's how to start:

• Long Sword and Health Potion x2. Ask for help with lizard elder from your team. Most understand the new jungle and will help you.
• Spinning Slash should be your first spell.
• Start with the lizard elder of course. Tryndamere doesn't NEED either buff, but the experience from killing the buff monsters is crucial.
• Once he's down, and you've chosen Bloodlust as your level 2 spell, pop a health potion and head to wraith camp nearby, making sure to hit all the black wraiths with Spinning Slash on your way to focusing the purple wraith first. This will save you precious health.
• When the wraiths die, you should have full fury. This is the ONE time you'll WANT to use Bloodlust every time. The brown wolf can hit hard, and if you don't us the heal BEFORE you engage, you just wasted part of your heal. You may also get in TWO Bloodlust on the way if you are really on it. Head to wolf camp.
• Once wolves are down, you have a choice to make. Nine times out of ten, I head back to wraiths and wait for them to respawn. This will leave you with only the blue buff and the golem camp uncleared, and with the 400 gold you need to finish your Vampiric Scepter.
• OCCASIONALLY, you will get RNG love in the form of crits, or a super-duper-fantastic 'leash' on your red that will leave you feeling froggy after wolves. If you feel froggy, JUMP! Go get the blue buff! Your smite should be about 15 seconds from refreshing after the wolves. If you have full fury and at least 50% health, the blue buff will be yours as well before you return to base.
• If you manage to get the blue buff, stay out until you have around 1200 gold. This will net you your full Vampiric Scepter and full Berserker's Greaves.
• At some point during the first couple clears, I do like to make my presence known to the two solo lanes, mid and top. Even if you're SURE you can't kill the enemy, at least make them aware that you're not content to hide in your jungle, that ganks are forthcoming. They may laugh at your first couple of silly gank attempts, but this only plays further into the mind-games of Tryndamere. Haha! Trynd is a nub! He just tried to gank without boots.
• After working for your experience, gold, buffs, and items you should be able to jungle at will. I find the best route with full jungle and starting from base to be: Wolves, Wraiths, Lizard King, Golems, Wolves, Ancient Golem. Gank at will once you have your boots and Vampiric Scepter.
• Keep in mind as you gank that you aren't bound by standard pathways and roads. You can avoid more wards than most junglers with your Spinning Slash. Just don't forget that if you use it to attack, you won't have it as quickly to escape.

Counter jungling with Tryndamere is a hoot. While there are a couple of enemy junglers that can make your life miserable early game, you will dominate BOTH jungles mid and late game.

Junglers you should NEVER attempt to counter, just to get this out of the way first:

• : Yeah this guy. He will stomp your face in. He will escape your attempts to kill him. He will go through walls WITH you. He will not be denied by Tryndamere. I'm sure there is a counter to Lee Sin, but you aren't him. Avoid him like the plague.
• : Not as much of a problem, but still difficult if he's played well. You'll probably see him early, and often if he's good. He'll CC the hell out of you with his fear, then silence you as you try to spin to him, flee, prep his ulti, and nuke your head off. All the while life-draining and fearing you again. Try to avoid him if possible until you get Undying Rage, then show him just how mad you are at him.
• : So far, I've had a bit of trouble from a certain Amumu build. He's not really that aggressive, but woe be to you if he catches you in HIS jungle. If you're against an Amumu, plan on staying OUT of the enemy jungle. He's tanky, allowing his friends to jump on you before you kill him. He also does some freakish damage at times, so you'll blow your ulti way earlier than you're used to.
• : Trundle is a disaster waiting to happen. He's too tough, and too zoney to effectively counter. He probably won't kill you, but he'll waste your time and might get help from allies because of his tankiness.

Junglers you should enjoy countering: All others. Notable 'sleepers' on this list however, are heavy CC jungles like Alistar, Malphite, Shaco (not REAL cc, but he is difficult to pin down). Shyvana can also be a pain because of her innate durability, but again, that's only because her team can help her if the fight drags on in HER jungle.

Essentially, the longer an exchange goes on in the enemy jungle, the harder it will be to exchange favorably for you. You want to turn the enemy to chop-steak and be gone before they can respond. In YOUR jungle, you really don't have a lot to fear. You are mobile, thus easily escaping to get help from a friend, and you hit HARD, meaning if they want a toe-to-toe that far from home, let them have it. You also have Undying Rage. You'll win most 1v1 in your jungle, easily. The only people who probably think differently are the occasional superb Lee Sin and Amumu. Annnnnd they might be right.

Mid Game Tactics: The Barbarian Nomad, and more Fear!

Now it's your turn to shine. EVERYONE knows Tryndamere is a monstrosity late-game. Teams will intentionally try to shut you down early thinking it will insure a victory later. They'll do it early, they'll do it often. You will prevail, however, thanks to your skill-set and build. If you've gotten even 2-3 kills and kept your deaths to 5 or less by the time you reach mid game, you will start to snowball. Yes that's right, even if you exchange unfavorably early on, you're still in the game and still a game changer.

Tryndamere is one of only a few champions that can feed HIMSELF. He farms SO fast mid game that if you don't find him and harass him, he'll farm his OWN items. IF you're behind, which is a big if, since you'll usually trade favorably, you should take mid game and make it all about yourself. Feed in the jungle, feed in other people's lanes (as long as they're not severely behind in CS. Feed wherever you can. If you've managed to stay ahead, with a positive kill-to-death-ratio (KDR) become the assassin that you're meant to be.

Tryndamere is nomadic at his core, and struggles early game because he can't roam AND feed. If you're able to move around the map, spinning through walls to gank, disrupting the monotony of lane vs. lane, eating the enemy jungle, turret diving, turret defending, and other such nomadic activities, then you're doing it right. Everyone has had that feeling of dread before when a raging Tryndamere spins through a wall for a double crit on them. It's real. It changes behavior, and thus outcomes of games. You are fearsome, make it the reality of the enemy that they WILL die if they're alone. They WILL die if they're out of position. THEY MAY die in the comfort and security of their turrets and their jungle. Make them fear your inner nomad.

Tryndamere is (again) deceptive when it comes to his tricks. He's very straightforward as a fighter, yet infinitely useful as source of paranoia and confusion. Shaco and Nocturne may inspire more outright anxiety of the dark, unknown places of summoner's rift , but I have yet to encounter a champion that will inspire more outright FEAR. Who needs to fear a champion when you have already feared the summoner?! People fear things they don't understand. Very few people understand how you just did what you did when you pull off a nightmarish gank with Tryndamere.

As summary for mid-game: Nomad. You are the barbarian king. You strike frighteningly quickly out of nowhere, killing with reckless abandon. After the gank, you slaughter minions and push the lane insanely fast arriving at the turret in no time. What makes Tryndamere's ganks so dangerous is that he doesn't just gank a champion...he ganks an entire LANE all the way to the next turret. If you're active and mobile, you ARE going to gain ground in lanes in mid game.

Keep inspiring fear and you'll cruise to late game ready for your payday.

Late Game Tactics: Countering Tryndafear with alt+F4!

This is it. The moment you've all been waiting for. Without further ado I present to you the end of the world. Armageddon. The Apocolypse. The End of Days. Call it what you will, it has only one true name: Tryndamere.

I can't stress this enough. Late game there is very little that can stop you. 1v1 will become a joke. You'll be actively seeking 1v2, 1v3, and 1v4. You'll rarely think twice about diving in 1v5 if your fury bar is full. Pick out the squishiest enemy, two shot it. Pick the next squishiest, three shot it. If you're alone, you have all the ability in the world to Pentakill Ace. It requires some luck, some RNG love, and a little bit of insanity, but you'll be surprised at how easily you chop up enemy teams.

Team-fighting Tryndamere: You will be on the front lines, but there's no need to be the first one targetted. Let your tank or your support initiate. Try to stay hidden from the enemy if possible, but don't get too far away to help when **** hits the fan. When the time comes, your target is the enemy AP Carry or CC Support at first, followed by the AD Carry. If you can (you can) take down the AP carry in a couple hits, you've just crippled their damage output if your target is the first to die. ADC can hit hard , but usually aren't very utilitarian in nature. Hard CC usually comes from APC and support. Make APC and CC Support your first kills. If you enter a teamfight with all the CC already blown, and the defensive maneuvers spent, then you'll pretty much just mow them down like grass. If they can't keep you from reaching them, there's no limit to the amount of damage you can do at full build.

Several important things to remember in late-game teamfights:

• Don't go in first. You're very squishy when focused, and you don't want to only be active during Undying Rage. Team-fights usually last longer than 5 seconds.
• Watch for graphical indications that CC has been spent before engaging. Phantom Dancer's passive makes it easier to get around nowadays, but you're still vulnerable to hard CC locking you down out of melee range.
• NEVER Bloodlust before or during your Undying Rage. Save it for afterwards. It has a lengthy cooldown in the heat of battle, and the heal can save your life from poisons/DoT after you've killed everyone.
• Keep in mind that crits reduce the CD on your Spinning Slash. You can often get off 8-10 spinning slash in one teamfight. At level 18 it does respectable damage to the whole enemy team.
• If you see an opportunity to isolate or peel off a member of the other team, take it. Remember you're VERY strong 1v1 at this point, and they usually run from you. This will swing the numbers advantage toward your team's favor with what essentially amounts to a feint. Re-engage the team after the loner is fleeing.
  
  Although I think the notion of 'kill-stealing' is ridiculous and selfish, there's something to be said for not hogging all the kills. You'll be ABLE to, but should you? I rarely outright stop attacking an enemy, but I will try to ensure that allies get kills when possible. You are Tryndamere...you're going to get your kills. Share the love when you can and make your team more formidable. If you gank a lane for an easy kill, let that lane's occupant get the last hit if possible. If you 3v2 a couple of them, let the other two allies get what kills they can as long as it doesn't mean an escaped foe. Your team will thank you for the help, the enemy will suffer a stronger TEAM instead of a stronger CHAMPION, and you'll win more games. Tryndamere is SO destructive that he will get his even if he shares. If you're one of those people that cries about someone stealing your kills, or if you're one of those who hogs kills like early-mid game Darius, you should reconsider the grander implications, not just the whiny brat side of it. As a general rule of thumb: ADC > APC > Bruiser >Jungler > Support for killing blows. For these purposes, Tryndamere is a bruiser/jungler level. Only support needs killing blows less than you do. Watch Ciderhelm's "Don't Feed Darius" to gain a better understanding of why you don't want to hog kills.

Summary: Are you STILL fleeing?!

So there you have it! You now have all the tools you need to drive that Ferrari to the finish line in first place. Like I stated at the very beginning, I'm no pro. But these tips I've given are what took me from a middle of the road Trynd lover to a true force to be reckoned with. I rarely have less than 10 kills, and almost NEVER have a negative KDR. I have gotten more honor, more victories, and more friend requests since I started using these tricks. Your team will like you more, your enemies will fear and respect you more, and you will enjoy the game more.

To sum up all of what we've gone over, another list:

• Fury. Want it. Need it. Love it. Do whatever it takes to get it. You are an addict. Act like one.
• Location, location, location. You know where you need to be to do your damage. Get there and pop the cork and watch the blood spew.
• Low-health, high-fury is better than medium-health, no fury. Use Bloodlust to save your life and do damage, not to sustain.
• Undying Rage is an OFFENSIVE ability. If you're using it for defense, you're missing the point.
• Never leave home without Exhaust. Seriously, there's no comparison for Tryndamere for a summoner spell.
• Phantom Dancer is the BEST item in the game for Tryndamere. Make it your priority.
• This is very important: Do NOT talk trash. Even if people do it to you, whether friend or foe. Let your actions speak for you. You're gonna get flamed, you're gonna get chastised, and you're going to make mistakes. It plays right into your mind games to stay completely silent while you're building to your late game. Let your team eat their complaints, and your enemies respect your confidence. I play Tryndamere as a fast, fearless, nomad. The strong silent type. Don't waste your time responding to chat, don't waste your energy feeling bad about your game. Just stay quite, feed yourself, and come back later with enough firepower to level a third-world country. You'll get mad respect for not talking back and you'll enjoy the game more.

Tryndamere is possibly the flashiest of the melee champions, and will serve you well if you let him. He is a Ferrari...fast as all hell, maneuvers nimbly and accurately, expensive yet cost effective, and if he isn't tuned right, will blow a $50,000 motor all to hell. Play him accordingly. Most importantly, follow the last item in the list above. You'll have more fun if you concentrate on Tryndamere, not on chat.

Thanks to Ciderhelm for everything he does. I started following him 7 years ago at Tank Spot as a legacy tank on WoW. He is as good as it gets for fantasy/role-playing/strategy/mmo games. If you're not familiar with his work, you should be.

Thanks to Riot for the season three melee buffs. ADC's and APC's...beware...your time is drawing nigh.

Thanks to Swaze for all the goofy late-night entertainment. His guides are the most entertaining that I've found.

Thanks to that long-forgotten unknown summoner who told me to skip the golem camp until level 4. Without that one piece of advice, I may have never successfully jungled with Trynd, and wouldn't have been able to stick with him way back in season 2 when Gangplank was in every top lane.

Thanks to YOU! I hope this guide is helpful to anyone wanting to get some down and dirty details on my favorite champ. Please feel free to leave any comments you would like. I'm not sensitive and have already provided my disclaimer. League of Legends is all about the community, and these guys are the backbone. It has been my honor to contribute.

Match-ups: Slide Rule to Aggression

• Ahri: Not a typical jungler or top-laner. When facing her while covering a lane or while team-fighting you need to be aware of her taunt: Charm. She can taunt and flee rendering you useless to your team for the duration. She also has significant burst damage. I generally don't fear her as a 1v1 will usually not favor her, but she does move quickly, burst well, and has good utility vs. Tryndamere. Difficulty: 5
  
• Akali: You will face Akali regularly in top-lane. She is VERY annoying to Tryndamere. She will NEVER stand toe-to-toe unless fed, and then it still usually doesn't end well for her. She'll usually just Twilight Shroud, hit you for some moderate damage, and flee knowing that you'll eat her if she hangs around. Essentially what this means is that she's got some SERIOUS poke as far as you're concerned and you should Spinning Slash away when she drops her shroud. I bet she won't come out of it after you... Difficulty: 6
  
• Alistar: Not a typical top-laner but you will see him regularly as a jungler. When facing his ganks, be scared. He is hard to damage due to his innate tank stats. He can frustrate your mobility with his Pulverize and Headbutt. This is particularly troublesome when you are trying to get away after using Undying Rage. If he saves EITHER of these abilities cooldown for that moment, you will probably not survive. He can also become nearly impervious to damage and do surprising damage of his own if he activates Unbreakable Will. If you decide to try and kill his laner during a gank, you must also be aware that he can HEAL them with Triumphant Roar. As you may have noticed...ALL of his abilities are worth mentioning. Alistar causes Tryndamere a lot of grief on his own and if he has significant damage output from a friend, he's as lethal as it gets. I know I said not to flee, but unless you have full build, or he's alone, you probably should do what you can to escape. Difficulty: 10
  
• Amumu: Not a typical top-laner but you will see him regularly as a jungler. When facing his ganks, it is important to remember a couple of his abilities. First off, he can get to you quickly and from decent range (possibly out of sight through walls and from bushes) with Bandage Toss. He almost always follows it up with Curse of the Sad Mummy. The combination of these two abilities will leave you useless for almost four seconds. In tryndspeak: an eternity. If his damage dealing friends are nearby, this is enough time for them to SERIOUSLY damage you. He also has a passive damage reduction against auto-attacks: Tantrum. He's usually not too dangerous to you on his own, but he's so tanky that a 1v1 will almost always turn into a 1v2 or a 1v3. Difficulty: 8
  
• Anivia: Not a typical top-laner or jungler but you will see her occasionally ganking top from mid. When facing her be aware of her utility. She has a one second stun from Flash Frost detonation, and just about everything she does will reduce your attack speed and run speed by 20% from her 'chilled' effect. If she puts up her Crystallize whether to block your advance or your retreat, you CAN spin through it just make sure you don't use Spinning Slash as a gap closer if you can help it. You probably won't have difficulty NOT dying, but she's evasive by nature due to 'chilled' effect. She can also Rebirth every four minutes. She might not be 'dead' just because you 'killed' her. Annoying but seldom lethal. Difficulty: 5
  
• Annie: Not a typical top-laner or jungler. You may occasionally face her while covering mid-lane. While you can typically MAUL her if you can get close, be aware that she DOES have a strong stun in Pyromania. She will display a yellow aura thingy if she is about to stun. She also has AoE damage from Tibbers if he is around. Other than these two things, it's really straightforward. She wants to stay away and burst you, and you want to get in close. I've not had a lot of difficulty against her as long as her stun and her (annoyingly subtle) Tibbers AoE are managed. It's also worth mentioning that I can usually two-shot Tibbers. Eat her for a light snack between REAL meals. Difficulty: 3
  
• Ashe: Not a typical top-laner or jungler. You will see Ashe a LOT though, as she's cheap and easy. She's also your wife, incidentally. No disrespect intended, woman. If fed, she's got the potential to do some kiting with Frost Shot. She also has a terrific initiator in Enchanted Crystal Arrow. If she does hit you with the Enchanted Crystal Arrow you should back off afterwards, the fight won't be in your favor at that point. If you get the drop on her, just bash her til she's dead. She has no choice but to try to run from you and kite you, she can't toe-to-toe even though she's got good ADC damage, she's way softer than you are. Difficulty: 3
  
• Blitzcrank: Not a typical top-laner, but you will occasionally see him ganking as a jungler. I HATE Blitzcrank and I'm glad he's often banned in ranked play. However in blind-pick, you will see him in at least 50% of your games and he almost always has another carry-ish damage dealer nearby. His Rocket Grab, Power Fist, Static Field, Overdrive combo will do HUGE unavoidable damage to you if he hits you with ONE skill-shot. I save my Spinning Slash if he's anywhere around, knowing it will be my best escape after his Power Fist. Just remember he's not done yet since he still has Overdrive steroid. Keep running until it fades. If you DO manage to burst him equally, his passive, Mana Barrier will kick in making him very hard to kill and very fast moving due to Overdrive. If you burst him equally, consider it a victory if you survive and don't push your luck. Difficulty: 10
  
• Brand: Not a typical top-laner or jungler, but you will occasionally see him ganking from mid. As with most of the AP carries, be aware of his burst potential. He's got %health based damage from Blaze, and a stun from Sear. If he's nearby, you should distance yourself from any other nearby champions in case he uses Pyroclasm to avoid double and triple bounces. Other than big burst and the stun, he's a meal for you if you can get close. Difficulty: 3
  
• Caitlyn: Not a typical top-laner or jungler. You will almost always face Caitlyn in team-fights. She is your target if she's around. She's super-squishy and will do big damage. Cut her off from the rest of the team, dodge her Yordle Snap Trap, and kill her. She does have a snare in 90 Caliber Net but you almost WANT her to use it on you in a team-fight, as it will usually push her out of range to help her friends, and you can STILL close and kill. Should you face her 1v1, beware the Yordle Snap Trap and it's an easy kill for you if she doesn't just run away, which she should. Difficulty: 2
  
• Cassiopeia: Not a typical top-laner or jungler, but you'll occasionally see her ganking from mid. I'm not very familiar with Cass, but what I do know is that I run from her ganks. She's not that tough, but she does HUGE damage in a hurry, seems to move very quickly, and can either stun or snare you with Petrifying Gaze. Don't attempt to 1v2 counter her ganks, you'll probably die so quickly you won't have time to Undying Rage. When solo against her, treat her as you do other AP carries: get to her, and melt her. She doesn't want to go toe-to-toe with you, but she WILL on occasion...keep your finger over the 'R' button. Difficulty: 6
  
• Cho'Gath: You will see Cho'Gath a LOT in both top lane and jungle. He's not the typical top laner, but very capable of it. His ganks are monstrous. He can restrict your movement with Rupture and Feral Scream (silence means you can't Spinning Slash or Mocking Shout). He is often VERY hard to damage due to stacking health and Feast stacks. The biggest problem I have encountered when facing Cho'Gath is that his Ultimate: Feast does insane amounts of TRUE damage. This means you likely won't be ready with Undying Rage the first time he does it. Be very cautious against him, he'll dominate you until very late game. Always keep Spinning Slash at the ready to escape/juke/dodge his skill-shots. I spin 90 degrees to him whenever I hear the telltale "whump" before Rupture. Don't spin away from him as he likely led you in that direction, and don't spin toward him because of the combined danger of Feral Scream making you unable to reduce his AD with Mocking Shout, or the ever-present NOMNOMNOM Feast. Difficulty: 9
  
• Corki: Not a typical top-lane or jungle. You'll usually face him in team-fights or when you catch him 1v1. As with most other ADC, you won't have a lot of trouble out of him. You're built for the purpose of ending the fight quickly and decisively. Corki offers high-damage and some impressive escapes, but other than that, kill him before he kills you. Don't stand in Gatling Gun and Valkyrie's ground fire, and you should be fine. Difficulty: 1
  
• Darius: You'll see this turd CONSTANTLY in top-lane, and occasionally as a jungler. Despite most people's whining that Darius is OP, or that his ultimate is 'broken' or TOO powerful, YOU ARE TRYNDHAMMER! He has ONE ability that is a threat to you. If you constantly abuse him, you will find how easily he is dominated by Tryndamere. His Decimate will hit with the handle instead of the blade, doing less damage than it does to others. His Apprehend is only a danger in the odd case where you mess up and have to run from him. If he WANTS you closer to him then he's a fool. His ultimate is UTTERLY useless against a veteran Tryndamere. In team-fights you will usually shut down his resetting cooldown on Noxian Guillotine right off the bat. The only ability that he has that is a concern for you is Crippling Strike. It will make you feel weaker but you're really only slower...and it goes away after two seconds. Just realize that you're not going to burst like you usually do, it's more a siege than an assassination against Darius. The most important thing to remember is to stay VERY close to him, don't fear his abilities, and he has CD dependent damage...you, do not, and ult his ult. Difficulty: 1
  
• Diana: Not a typical top-laner, but you'll see her as a jungler occasionally, as well as facing ganks from mid occasionally. The important thing to remember about Diana is that she can move quickly to you with Lunar Rush and grab you to her with Moonfall. While she WANTS to do this to most people, again, you are the most powerful melee character in the game. She will probably pick someone else to do these two abilities on. Just save your spinning slash until after Lunar Rush and you'll survive. She is a little tanky, so it's probably not a good idea to try and counter her gank by killing her. Her burst damage is significant, but not if you Spinning Slash away after her ulti. Difficulty: 4
  
• Dr. Mundo: You will see him consistently in both top lane, and jungle. His ganks are pretty simple. He'll Infected Cleaver you and chase you like crazy. The only real danger is from an extremely fed Dr. Mundo. His cleaver does 25% of your CURRENT health even at max level with a minimum damage threshold. It will only kill you if you're very low. Other than his cleaver, he has no ranged attacks. Just move away from him as soon as possible. He's very tanky and can do decent damage with his melee range skills so it's not a good idea to try a 1v2 if he's around. The good news is, you can almost always solo him after you get Undying Rage at level 6. Dodge his cleavers as best you can while laning...it will cost him health if he misses you AND your minions. Stay away from your minions and dodge side to side. He'll hurt himself to the point of frailty if you dodge more than half. If he activates his other abilities, you might want to back away. Since killing with Tryndamere requires melee range, Dr. Mundo can surprise you with the damage he does ONLY from standing near you. Difficulty: 4
  
• Draven: Not a typical top-laner or jungler. You will usually fight Draven in teamfights. He can do pretty good sustained damage with his ADC auto-attack, as well as applying a DoT on critical hits. His ultimate is usually easily dodged by running, but you have a better option: Spinning Slash if necessary. One cool thing you can do is attempt to keep him from maintaining his strongest poke, Spinning Axe. He wants to catch his axes, so you can predict where he will be when it hits the ground. Step lively, be ready to Mocking Shout when he tries to run, and enjoy your meal! He has no natural escapes and tends to spam his only snare to do extra poke damage. Difficulty: 2
  
• Elise: Possible top-laner but not a typical jungler. She may gank you from mid occasionally. I'm not extremely familiar with Elise, as she is very new. I do know that I haven't had a lot of trouble out of her. She does have decent burst, especially when she lands her skill-shot, Cocoon. Be aware of that. Dodge her spiderlings, or 'wipe' them off on your minions. I haven't gone toe-to-toe with her in spider form yet, I tend to back off. Any advice on how to handle her would be appreciated. Difficulty: 5
  
• Evelynn: Not a typical top-laner, but you will face her very often from the jungle, or as a ganker from mid. She's all over the map, invisible, very bursty, and has a solid snare from her ultimate, Agony's Embrace. If she starts the gank with her ultimate, back off and recover before engaging her. She gains movement speed as she hits you, so you may have to run quite a ways to a turret or an ally. One on one she's most likely going to at least try to go invisible, and will almost never stand toe-to-toe as she is exceptionally squishy. Try not to stay in melee range of her as her Ravage will make her even more dangerous. All in all, you should engage her 1v1 any time you see her, but be aware if she's an enemy, she might be right on top of you and invisible. Difficulty: 5
  
• Ezreal: Not a typical top-laner or jungler. He falls into the same category as Ashe, Caitlyn, and the rest of the ADC group. You're made to destroy them, and Ezreal is no exception. In fact, he may be the easiest of the ADC crowd for a good Tryndamere. He has great skillshots that increase his attack speed if he lands them through his passive, Rising Spell Force. Fortunately, due to high movement speed and Spinning Slash, you can dodge and close distance as well as any melee. Don't let him hit you with his skill-shots (all but one of his abilities). His Arcane Shift makes him hard to track down and kill on occasion but it's his only real defense against you. If he stands still to fire auto-attacks, maul his face. Difficulty: 2
  
• Fiddlesticks: Not a typical top-laner, but you'll see him consistently out of the jungle. His ganks are a literal nightmare for Tryndamere. He will most likely lead with his silence, Dark Wind, which will prevent you from using Spinning Slash to escape. Then comes Terrify to hold you still (at least within range) for his Drain, and then, the coup-de-grace: Crowstorm. His ganks apply to everyone: he has brutal ganks. But the main thing with Tryndamere is that you can't spin away if silenced, and fear follows quickly. You'll be able to get out of the Crowstorm most likely, but you will be seriously hurt. If you happen to face him in lane, use exhaust or flash to get close to him instead of Spinning Slash since you'll want to use spin to escape after the fear while trying to break range on the drain. He's easy to poke this way, but it requires a summoner spell. If you find an opportunity to just walk up and smash him without ANY gap closer, that is your best option, save your map control spells and summoners for escape if he's an experienced Fiddlesticks. Difficulty: 9
  
• Fiora: You will face her in top lane consistently, but she's not a typical jungler, although she CAN jungle. Most likely this will be a head-to-head top lane opponent. As with most other melee champions, Fiora is not likely to stand toe-to-toe with you as Tryndamere, but she has some very good poke compared to you. She has typical AS and AD steroids, as well as three gap closers in Burst of Speed, Lunge, and Blade Waltz. She's never too far away to hit you a couple times. Her early-mid game poke is annoying because she can Burst of Speed, Lunge in, Riposte, AA, and Lunge back to your minions out of your reach. All this happens in about four seconds and you have little time to react. If she's using this combo to poke you, your best response is to Spinning Slash TOWARD her tower. She can't Riposte the damage from Spinning Slash and it will wear off before you reach her with your AA. Mid-late game, as long as you stay close in KDR, you'll easily dominate her. Difficulty: 6
  
• Fizz: You'll face him consistently as a jungler, and occasionally as a top-lane counter to you. Yes, a hard counter. Fizz fits will plague your game. He's very difficult to pin down because of his Nimble Fighter, Playful / Trickster/ Playful / Trickster, and Seastone Trident. He's all over the place quickly and this makes it hard to hit him at all. Add to that the fact that he takes less physical damage and does MORE damage the lower you health, AS WELL as a grievous wounds effect, and you've got your hands full. If you face Fizz in top lane, it's because they WANT that matchup. Switch with your mid every time they put him in front of you. An AP caster will have a MUCH easier time with him. His ultimate, Chum the Waters is easy enough to deal with, it's all the other tools he has that will make life hell for Tryndamere. Difficulty: 9
  
• Galio: Not a typical top-laner or jungler. Typically you will face him in a team fight situation. He's a strong support character with several abilities that can greatly assist his team. He has soft cc, team steroids, and an ultimate that can make focusing him dangerous, Idol of Durand. If possible, peel him from his team and force his ultimate out in the middle of nowhere, away from your team. He has NO chance against you one-on-one and will either try to hide in his team or run quickly away from you. Either way, he's likely not buffing his team if he's running for his life. Show him you want his blood, and he'll have to play defensively to avoid your advances. Difficulty: 4
  
• Gangplank: You'll face him regularly as a top-laner, but he's not a typical jungler. Gangplank is the reason I got good at Tryndamere. His early game poke is obnoxious with Parrrley. It hits VERY hard and is targetted, therefore un-dodgeable. His early game sustain is obnoxious with Remove Scurvy, which will also remove your Mocking Shout debuff and snare. His own passive, meanwhile, is a passive snare that all his attacks will apply: Grog Soaked Blade. From this nightmare of a skill-set I learned how to play Tryndamere as he is meant to be played: hyper-aggressively. I decided that since I was having no luck farming against him, that I was just going to beat his brains out the whole time; and it worked! I wouldn't recommend an all out assault at level 1, by any means, as his Parrrley has a short cooldown and will do more damage than your Spinning Slash. Once you get your first three abilities however, this becomes a much more even fight. Keep the pressure on him after level 3, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much complaining you'll hear from him in /all chat. While Gangplank was recently nerfed, he's still a top-lane dominator if he's not facing Tryndamere. You do have the tools to end his reign of terror, you just have to make all of your abilities count, and play him aggressively. Always try my spin-through technique instead of the typical spin-to technique, because his first auto-attack or his Parrrley will slow you. You'll want to hit him with a couple or three AA while he's retreating past you. This also allows you to Mocking Shout to either slow him and weaken his attacks, or force him to use Remove Scurvy as a Cleanse instead of a well-timed Heal. The CD on Parrrley being so short also means that he'll probably use it three times in a kill-or-be-killed fight with you. Be aware that it does HUGE damage and you need to be ready to use Undying Rage any time below 50% health...just listen for the telltale "CLICK" of his flintlock pistol to let you know it's coming. This match-up is VERY good for your team, even though most people will expect the opposite. Make the most of it! Difficulty: 4
  
• Garen: Typically top-laner, not typical as a jungler. This guy. HA! Garen, like Gangplank and Darius is an armored, fast, melee style champion with NO RESOURCE bar. He is only restricted by cooldowns. This makes him cocky, just like the other two. How you counter him: Perseverance only works if he's not taking damage. Keep damaging him, at every opportunity to shut down his sustain. A typical kill on Garen will usually go something like this: Decisive Strike to close distance and silence you. Silence means very little in this fight, since you're not going to be using Spinning Slash to escape his combo. Just hack into his skull when he gets to you. He will probably then judgement expecting to get free damage as you flee. But you're not going to flee. You're going to stand in his AoE and hack his skull some more. When he realizes you're not going to back down, he'll then try to retreat with Courage (yes that's hilariously ironic). Remember that at this point, you've used ONLY AA to do about 50% damage to him. YOU STILL HAVE ALL YOUR SKILLS ON THE READY. Wait until Courage fades, Mocking Shout, Spinning Slash through him, land a couple AA, exhaust him, and kill him. Garen is a cocky **** and it will cost him many deaths if he doesn't sober up and take his medicine. It's worth mentioning that if you KNOW you're facing Garen in top lane, take your greater mark of armor penetration to negate his little armor buff. Difficulty: 1
  
• Gragas: Not a typical top-laner, but he is capable of it. Occasionally you'll see his ganks as a jungler. Most likely, you'll see him mid, coming to gank once in a while, or in team-fights. He has good utility, good sustain, and good zone control. A good Gragas will make teamfights difficult for Tryndamere with his zoning from Barrel Roll and Explosive Cask. I feel that many Gragas make it their mission to keep you away from ADCs and APCs. He can also do very good damage if he's got his build right. One-on-one you'll probably roll him easily, but you're not gonna get many opportunities to fight him one-on-one. An annoying presence for you. Try not to let him zone you, as his friends will rip you apart. Difficulty: 6
  
• Graves: Not a typical top-laner or jungle. ADC rules apply. Graves has no more utility than any other ADC, and less that some. He DOES however, have more burst than most. Be aware of the potential to need Undying Rage quickly if he lands his combo, but other than that, close ground and kill, or chase him away. Difficulty: 3
  
• Hecarim: Typical top-lane, and typical jungler. More common as a jungler, but a capable top-laner, nonetheless. Essentially, this will be a no-kill lane. He is too fast for you to kill easily, and yet too weak to kill you in most cases. He does have a slight melee range advantage over you, so be aware of that. He can also strike quickly, but nothing you can't trade favorably on with the exception of his fear from Onslaught of Shadows. This is going to be a very neutral lane fight. If he's a ganker, be aware of his speed. If you get caught too far out he can do major damage with his combo, keep up with you easily, and harass you all the way back to your turret. Try not to let him catch you out alone vs. your laner. His speed will make fleeing very difficult. Again, 1v1 with him, you have the advantage if he doesn't run away. Difficulty: 3
  
• Heimerdinger: Not a typical top-laner and never a jungler. Usually mid-lane APC or bottom-lane support. He's a typical mage, decent burst, decent zone control with his little turrets, squishy as all hell. Be aware of a solid stun from ch-1 concussion grenade. Don't let it hit you, as he can follow up with massive burst. Difficulty: 4
  
• Irelia: Typical top-laner and a capable jungler, but you will rarely see her in that role. This is a very even fight. Possibly the closest match-up you will face in top lane. She has good sustain through Hiten Style. She has an equal gap closer with Bladesurge that compares to Spinning Slash, only she has to have a target, where you don't. One advantage she has is a little bit of range with her ultimate, Transcendent Blades. This isn't a major problem though, as it's not targetted, it's a skill-shot, so dodgeable. A kill-fight usually comes down to who has to ulti first. If you do, back off in a zig-zag pattern to dodge the ranged blades. If she uses her ulti first, you've got the upper hand. Don't underestimate her sustain and dodge her skill-shot ulti, and you're gonna be fine...just don't assume you can bully her...she's very resilient. Difficulty: 6
  
• Janna: Not a typical top-laner or jungle, will most likely be fulfilling the support role on the opposing team. One thing to note is her passive, Tailwind. As a melee champion, you're going to notice this across the map. Your opponent will be faster. Make the necessary adjustments. It usually means you won't be able to chase as well, sometimes, flee as well. Head-to-head matchups with her are rare, she'll probably just pop you up with Howling Gale, slow you with Zephyr, and run away. She's a worthwhile target in a team-fight for you because she has enormous utility, cc for days, and a massive healing AoE from Monsoon. Kill her or peel her off if you can in a team-fight. Difficulty: 5
  
• Jarvan IV: Typical top-laner, and sometimes seen as a jungler. His ganks are actually fairly weak against Tryndamere considering NO ONE really wants to be locked in a coliseum with the Barbarian King and you can simply Spinning Slash out of Cataclysm if there is a need for it. When laning against Jarvan IV, be aware of his abilities, as they can all affect the fight. His Demacian Standard is a ranged poke, similar to a small version of Trundle's Pillar of Filth. Don't stand near the standard as you'll take more damage, and do less damage. It may be a foregone conclusion having to deal with the standard though, a good Jarvan IV will use it a LOT. The real danger from being near it comes from his Dragon Strike. Tryndamere can't do damage while airborne so this ability is a free poke for him as well, not to mention the spear itself has more range than Spinning Slash. His poke is what challenges Tryndamere and his ultimate is nearly useless except that it does automatic ranged damage when he launches it. Learn his routine for poking you, stay out of the way, and hit him immediately after he misses. A challenging, fun lane for Tryndamere. Difficulty: 7
  
• Jax: Typical top-laner and jungler. You'll see him a lot. You'll hate him a lot. He's a counter to you because the longer he attacks you, the more damage he does. Try not to let him build momentum. This is one fight where Tryndamere's natural aggression is detrimental to him. You must poke Jax if at all possible. DO NOT attack him when he spins his lamp post over his head; Counter Strike is aptly named. He'll dodge your AA while it's active, and retaliate MASSIVELY for all attacks dodged AND stun you actively, or at the end of the duration. He can also outrange your Spinning Slash with his Leap Strike. With Empower and Leap Strike (if timed well after an AA), he can hit you FOUR times before your second swing. He's already ahead in damage and gains momentum faster than you do. Jax is a pretty good counter to Tryndamere and I won't deny having had major trouble from him all through the game. He is a late game champ just like Tryndamere is also, so you're not going to out buy him. Very tough fight, don't be afraid to ask for help, you're gonna need it. Difficulty: 9
  
• Jayce: Typical top-laner, seldom seen as a jungler, but he CAN do it. Usually I love to see Jayce in top-lane because he is very rarely played to his full potential. His FULL potential is absolute beast-mode, and I don't know how he could manage to lose a lane to anyone when played right, but it's rare to see someone take advantage of all his abilities. he'll try to poke you with Shock Blast and Acceleration Gate. It's an easy dodge though, just make sure you change direction a couple times as soon as he throws down the gate. Be aware that a smart Jayce doesn't USE the gate, so you'll have to dodge the shot on your own without knowing it's coming. It's still a decent poke even without the gate's help. As for his other abilities, man...there's just no stopping this guy if he uses them all. He'll blast you from range with his gun, close to melee range and do seriously uncanny burst, and revert back to shooting at you when you flee. He's a nightmare if well played, and food if he's not well played. If you find yourself against a good Jayce, ask for ganks a lot, try to stay out of his way and hold your turret. If he's a bad or mediocre Jayce, dodge his poke and move in close to steal his lunch money. Difficulty: 1-10
  
• Karma: Not a typical solo-laner or jungler. I have only seen Karma three times, and all three times she was on my team. I have no idea how to fight against her, but that doesn't bother me because no one ever picks her. She's a high skill cap champion so you'll probably face a lot of the same issues as Jayce in a different way. Assume she's the pro and not the tard if you want my advice. I don't the she does a lot of damage, but she makes her team A LOT better if played right. Any advice or tips against Karma would be appreciated! Difficulty: ???
  
• Karthus: Not a typical top-laner and never a jungler. He may occasionally gank from mid, but his ganks are weak once the snare from his Wall of Pain wears off, just spin to create distance and be aware that Lay Waste is spammable and has a deceptively long range. Also, be aware of his global ultimate: Requiem. If you see the pink telltale column of death above your head, and you're going to die to it, you have two get-out-of-jail-free cards: Bloodlust's active heal, and Undying Rage's invincibility. Just be aware that you need to make haste to outrange your lane opponent if it's going to leave you at 1 hp. Most of the time, a full fury Bloodlust will do the trick though, and bait the enemy laner into attacking you at low health, not considering you still have 5-8 seconds to bash their face in. I love playing against Karthus for two reasons: 1)One-on-one you will absolutely pulverize him. 2)His ultimate plays right into Tryndamere's deception and mind-trickery. Difficulty: -2 Is it possible to have a negative difficulty rating? Cause this guy USUALLY makes you harder to beat, and feeds you several kills if you catch him alone.
  
• Kassadin: Not a typical top-laner unless used to counter an AP top, which you aren't. Occasionally I've seen him as a jungler. His ganks aren't fun, but they're not exactly dangerous either. He's on you in a heartbeat with his Riftwalk and scares you with his silence from Null Sphere but other than that, pretty easy for Tryndamere to escape. If you happen to lane against him, thank the heavens. He's pie when you are in his lane. He can poke you with Null Sphere, but that's about it. Kassadin is built to take down APCs and you are the furthest thing from an APC. YOU'RE built to turn Kassadin into pieces of gear for yourself. A very easy fight for you, and I would recommend switching lanes with whosoever Kassadin was picked to counter. Difficulty: 2
  
• Katarina: Not a typical top-laner but I have seen her there. Not a typical jungler either. You'll see her a lot though, because she's exceptionally OP right now, and people like to faceroll with her. She'll probably Shunpo on you out of nowhere and just attempt to push buttons until you die. If she has help from your opposing laner, you'll want to check yourself. If she jumps you alone, stop, and SMASH. She's very squishy, has only one escape, which she probably just used to get close to you, and she CAN NOT out damage you considering your Undying Rage. If she wants a fight, you're the perfect guy to give it to her. She's built for high damage AoE in teamfights, but as stated earlier, she's OP right now and people tend to overextend her abilities because of it. A very easy fight for you most of the time, just beware the fact that she is PROBABLY fed due to her OP nature. If she's three levels higher and has more items than you it could go poorly. I do so love this opponent though, and in order to KEEP her from eating my mid, I'll offer to switch places with them, and it almost always wins the game for us. Difficulty: 1
  
• Kayle: Not a typical top-laner but I have seen her do well there. Not a typical jungler either, but again, I've seen her do fine in jungle. She will usually be ADC of sorts nowadays thanks to a superb guide on how to make her a carry instead of a support. She's an odd champion in this regard, that she has no real home. I play her often, and enjoy her, but it's a rare thing to find a team comp that she works well with. She can do decent burst damage from ranged, has lots of utility, and a miniature version of Undying Rage with her own ultimate; Intervention. She a tough call vs. Tryndamere. I know ALL champions are mostly OP because of the player's skill, but Kayle can be really good or really bad. It just depends. When she's got Righteous Fury up, stand down. When she doesn't, eat her for breakfast. Be aware that she DOES have the ability to negate 2-3 of your melee AA with Intervention. Other than these two hints, you shouldn't have much trouble with her. If she's built as an ADC, she's just like all the other ADCs: Tryndasmeared. Difficulty: 4
  
• Kennen: Not a typical top-laner, but I've faced him there a couple times. Not a traditional jungler either, I'm not even sure he's able to. I don't know a lot about fighting him, other than he does a lot of AoE damage and has a revolving stun. I don't like the stun, but the AoE damage is actually somewhat of an advantage for you since he suffers single target because of his AoE potential. I've rofflestomped him in lane every time. I'm thinking maybe he's an APC counter...er/teamfighter. But I could be wrong. Any insight into what Kennen is for would be appreciated! Difficulty: ???