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Hi, my name is Apotheosis and here you will find all of your Tryndamere questions answered and explained very thoroughly. What you are about to read is how I personally play Tryndamere. I have taken all of the knowledge that I have learned over the vast amount of time that I've spent playing Tryndamere and have condensed it into an epic read more than worth your while. I highly encourage all strong criticism for it helps keep this guide in the shape that it's in. Having said this, please do not come here and act a fool in my threads. I've dedicated a lot of my time writing and keeping this guide updated, so please don't show disrespect.

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Pros

• Snowballs harder than many champions
• Is extremely mobile which allows for great jungling flexibility and the ability to catch or escape an opponent oftentimes with ease
• Is provided Fury which increases the amount of Critical Strike Chance he can obtain without items
• Can slow opponents to provide the team with kills or ally escapes depending on how the ability is used
• If triggered correctly, becomes immune to death for 5 seconds through his ultimate

Cons

• Unfortunately, is more of a late game based champion due to the reliance of items for damage.
• Is easily harassed by other champions who utilize Crowd Control abilities, those with large amounts of early game damage and ranged carries

Battle Fury
When laning, you need to make sure that you're maintaining your Fury. It needs to be as close to full at all times if possible. Don't waste your Fury on Bloodlust if you don't have to, it's close to worthless before maxed anyway. You'll find that your lane will be much easier to maintain, last hits won't be as hard to get and when the opportunities for ganks via the jungler are available, you'll be ready to deliver optimal damage. You will also notice, if you've known me through this guide for a while, that I have always been a huge fan of Critical Chance runes. These runes, in conjunction with Tryndamere's passive are extremely potent in lane. This is how he is capable of maintaining his lane as well as he can and is able to pressure most opponents laned against.

Bloodlust
The key to using this ability is paying attention and forseeing events happening. Trigger timing is important in team fights. Too many people use Bloodlust way before they should. Obviously, if you don't need to use it then don't. I hardly use this ability before using Undying Rage unless I'm taking constant pressure from my lane opponent. I prefer to use Health Potion over consuming Fury for Health. If your opponent sees that you have no Fury, you're weak to them and they will keep you from getting Fury and last hits.

Mocking Shout
This ability can be used to catch an enemy, flee from an enemy, save allies and locate hidden/stealthed enemies. It can also serve as a way to cripple the Attack Damage of carries on the opposing team in fights to give your team a bit more of an edge. This, however, can void your capability of slowing an enemy for the duration of the ability's Cooldown.

Spinning Slash
I shouldn't have to explain Spinning Slash too much. Basically, the ability is used less as a way to deal damage and more for mobility and catching up to/escaping and/or juking enemies. Later in a game when the ability is properly leveled you're items provide more Attack Damage and the ability scales better for damage. This is the primary reason why it's leveled last. It's an efficient jungling tool because it allows for faster clearance times. Keep in mind that it will lower its own cooldown when you critically hit an opponent or minion. This is nice when your trying to catch or escape from someone. You can critically strike a minion in a wave you're passing by to continue onto/from your opponent via Spinning Slash.

Undying Rage
Not too much to talk about here. Primarily, don't stall when using this ability. Team fights are usually where individuals can fail to use their ultimate properly to avoid death. Familiarizing yourself with other champion's abilities and constantly looking at their items can better help with this. Keep in mind that this ability can also be used to grant Fury when you need it. Some of the only times that you'll want to prematurely use Undying Rage are when you're boosting your Fury to kill dragon or Baron quicker or have a sure kill on an opponent with a boost in Critical Strike Chance.

Exhaust
Exhaust slows movement speed by 40% and reduces auto/basic attack damage by 70% and ability/item damage by 35% for 2.5 seconds.

Mastery: Improves Exhaust to also reduce the target's armor and magic resistance by 10 for the duration.

This is an universal, amazing spell for all Attack Damage carries. This allows teams to help shut down other enemy carries in team fights so that they're all around less effective at their job. Using this spell, you can also catch up to or escape from enemies to obtain kills or saves other allies, including yourself. Why is this spell so necessary for us? For the above reasons, but also is amazing paired with Ghost. The array of opportunity is obvious with these two spells combined.

Ghost
Your Champion ignores unit collision and moves 27% faster for 10 seconds.

Mastery: Increases movement speed bonus to 35%.

This is an extremely necessary spell because it helps you stay on target and/or escape death threatening situations. You don't realize how much easier it is to stay on target until you have used it and done so. Granted, Exhaust will help a lot when using the spell. Champions such as Teemo have abilities that can give them a boost in Movement Speed as well where situations such as using Ghost and auto-attacking may not be enough. Sure, you have Mocking Shout, but against abilities like Noxious Trap it proves less useful.

Ignite
Ignites an enemy unit, dealing 50 plus 20 x level true damage over time to a single target and reduces the health regeneration and the healing effects received by 50%.

Mastery: While your Ignite spell is on cooldown, your champion gains 5 Ability Power and 5 Attack Damage.

I would say that Ignite is a great spell when aiming for those early kills with more aggression. It's obviously also good for reducing enemy heals as well.

Teleport
After 4 seconds, it teleports your champion to target turret or friendly minion (making it invulnerable for the duration). Can be canceled.

Mastery: Reduces cast time by 0.5 seconds.

Teleport is great for ganking if the enemy commits to a fight and is around friendly minions or turrets. Teleport is also used to quickly switch lanes to defend an unguarded tower. Another use for Teleport is the backdoor maneuver when placing a ward inside or near the enemy base and teleports to that ward. From there that champion will attempt to bring down as many towers and inhibitors as possible.

So, why do I choose these rune types? They all provide the early essentials for laning solo top. The Critical Strike Chance runes allow you to go headstrong with your opponent. They occasionally grant more critical hits to build Fury, ease farming and create more damage more often to lower and finish off your laning opponent's health while your defensive runes provide resistance against both Attack Damage and Ability Power that opponents will deal for better sustain. I can personally pledge that these defensive runes will save your life several times, whether you believe it or not. Just ask yourself how many times you've survived with 10 Health or whatever.

Greater Quintessence of Swiftness
These mobility runes are for extra mobility in your lane. That's pretty much it. They're great
for kiting opponents and their abilities such as Rumble's Flamespitter which he's constantly using to pressure with. They aid when grabbing last hits. Sometimes if you're to slow, you receive hits that you can't always trade back and this causes you to suffer future last hits. Lastly, they aid when dodging skillshots. Less damage from skillshots allows for better lane sustain.

Greater Quintessence of Malice
I only recommend these runes for more early game Critical Strike Chance for the ability to crit more often and build up Fury quicker. Fury is a big deal for last hitting minions and delivering large hits to the opponent(s) in your lane. Also, tagged along with Greater Mark of Critical Chance and full Fury, which you should have often, your Critical Strike Chance before items raises to approximately 50%! That means that with full Fury, you crit half the time! This will put Attack Damage and Armor Penetration runes to shame if used correctly. Opponents complain that "You're lucky when you pwn and crit", and I'm like "lol, crit runes".


Greater Mark of Malice
Paired with Greater Quintessence of Critical Chance to reach 50% Critical Strike Chance with maxed Fury.

Greater Seal of Resilience
Why does a carry even want Armor? Isn't that stuff for tanks? I'm a big fan of these runes because they are very helpful when it comes to better sustain your lane. They ward off quite a bit of Attack Damage over time if you really think about it. Minions and other enemy champions will auto attack you a decent amount and many abilities are based from Attack Damage. It saves you from having the need for several more Health Potions before you get Wriggle's Lantern or before Bloodlust actually starts becoming more beneficial for health procs. I don't think there are any better runes for the spot except for these.

Greater Glyph of Warding
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist, just like Greater Seal of Armor, provide early game sustainability for your lane. These two runes help sculpt out your early game and make the experience easier on you. All of my runes are laid out that way so that late game is as rewarding as you'd hope for it to be.

No questions should arise here.

I hate having to trade out Durability and Veteran's Scars , but to give up Runic Affinity on Twisted Treeline would be a mistake. This is Tryndamere's jungle, not anyone else's. What's on the showcase for our jungle? Blessing of the Lizard Elder, Crest of Crushing Wrath, Crest of Flowing Water and Crest of Nature's Fury. Every one of these buffs are beneficial to Tryndamere and you might as well take advantage of the durations if you can increase them.

I said that for the longest time that I would create and display videos for several champions that may lane against you as Tryndamere top lane. When I was in the recording phase, I realized that I had no reason to record every champion that I laned against because I would either counter or get countered, and this brings me to my next HUGE point: The whole idea behind choosing any champion is to counter the opposing lane and team if possible. You can't simply just go into a game and think that if you choose Tryndamere you're going to be a wrecking ball. Sadly, it doesn't work like that. You can't snowball if you have no early game cs. You will lose your game.

HOWEVER, if you absolutely want to play Tryndamere then you must work things out with your mid lane ally. If the opposing team chooses, for example, Kassadin for their mid lane and Teemo as their top lane, you clearly don't want to mark yourself as a target and go top lane. Work things out with your mid and tell them to shoot for Rumble, Akali, Vladimir, Ahri, Fizz, or whatever to lane against Teemo so that you can take on Kassadin. This allows you to still have both a bruiser and AP carry on your team and still choose the champions that you both want. You'll just lane in mid instead of top. If they counter switch lanes, you have to swap to continue facing the opponent that you previously did before.

Remember, don't be an arrogant little bi*ch, if you clearly shouldn't be playing as Tryndamere then don't! If you get countered, you'll most likely lose your lane, and it could cost you the match as well.

*Read the abilities for help in your laning phase.*

I've talked with many Platinum ranked players about some big questions: "Why do you build this way?", "What do you personally think about such and such items?" (This was before Diamond rank was introduced, some are that rank now). My guide has somewhat evolved around these questions and my perspectives have changed through the course of my Tryndamere history after having these conversations. You can't think of everything and I've come to realize that as I've updated this guide over time. Here's what I've gathered from my own experiences, and the experiences of those that are ranked higher than I am and have met success:

Starting Items

OR
A general item to choose is Boots, which will be your best choice against those who have a series of skill shots and/or just for having extra personal mobility. If your top lane opponent is Attack Damage based, then you may want to get Cloth Armor. I highly recommend playing Tryndamere as solo top lane, in which case Wriggle's Lantern is almost always prime for lane sustain. What's also good about Wriggle's Lantern is the ward that it provides to grant vision for aiding against ganks.

Choosing The Right Boots


These will aid with your Wriggle's Lantern procs early game to help you farm up creep score.


If I'm losing my lane, I may decide to purchase these boots if I'm against an opponent who deals a lot of Attack Damage through items and/or basic attacks. I also consider the team that I'm facing when selecting these boots. If they are Attack Damage stacked, then I will highly consider Ninja Tabi.


Mercury's Treads feature the highest value of Tenacity of any item and is in a tie for being the least expensive Tenacity item in League of Legends. It would be wise to purchase these because Tenacity works on every type of Crowd Control, except suppressions and knock ups, obviously, which is what Tryndamere needs most as he is easily harassed. Having 35 Tenacity results in 35% reduced Crowd Control duration. This is usually a later game recommended item by myself Mercury's Treads are a bit on the expensive side, so I recommend that later in the game when team fights occur more often and you have gold, trade out what you have for them depending on the level of harass you're dealing with. Berserkser's Greaves and Ninja Tabi are more early game friendly as far as gold is concerned and provide Armor for your lane or Attack Speed for farming minions..

Returning From Lane

OR if you can completely afford it.
We're going to purchase Wriggle's Lantern because we want to stay in our lane with proper sustain and have the ability to continuously farm. The Lifesteal's great for staying in lane and retaining the capability of pushing. Also, we don't have to buy wards to verify our safety from jungle ganks. However, you may still choose to get some for more coverage and comfort.

Finishing Our Core Build


Again, Wriggle's Lantern provides amazing lane sustain while Phantom Dancer allocates for proper early game Attack Speed for Fury build-up to raise Critical Strike Chance. Also, with these two items, you will better excel at pushing minions for gold to obtain future items because of the Wriggle's Lantern procs you'll be earning from the Attack Speed from Phantom Dancer. This is why I choose Phantom Dancer before I choose B. F. Sword. Infinity Edge is obviously an item that we need to obtain as soon as we can in games for heavy damage. The Lifesteal from Wriggle's Lantern and Vampirism will be there to aid you for great sustain with Infinity Edge.

Every game usually has a time-frame or window of opportunity for us to get so much gold to establish our core build. We, as individuals, can't always account for everyone on the team because we don't have the option of being in several places at once, obviously. When other players on our teams die to opponents, they are making our early game, leading into the later game, more difficult to work with. So, it's very crucial to build cheap, but effective throughout the game.

Quicksilver Sash

This item is almost prime because it's great against heavier teams consisted of Crowd Control and/or Exhaust. It is the only item that you can purchase that removes all debuffs from your champion, unlike Cleanse. It's also very affordable and provides Magic Resistance.

The Bloodthirster

You absolutely need this item eventually if you have the gold to continue on after Infinity Edge. You have to have Lifesteal in order to do your job in team fights. That's all there is to it. If you don't, you're probably going to die from AoE or direct damage. When you're looking at this item, sell your Wriggle's Lantern. It's of less use to us now that we can one shot minions and sustain a hell of a lot easier than before.

Last Whisper

You will most likely be getting this item if you have a hard time killing an opponent(s) that keeps you from doing your job in team fights. Why? because that individual(s) probably has a great deal of armor. 200 Armor or more is an indicator to go ahead and get this.

Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel is an amazing item for a few reasons: It provides Armor, Magic Resistance, and either saves you if you don't use Undying Rage quick enough or becomes a great companion when engaging in team fights. Many don't realize how good this item is in team fights as a brusier. When the brusier initiates, usually the enemy team starts blowing their Cooldowns, especially the AP. You may die and use Guardian Angels passive, but you just put the enemy team in a bad position. It does have its downfall of a five minute Cooldown, but having the resistances more than makes up for it.

Maw of Malmortius

This item is actually a huge counter to many mages or those who deal Ability Power through their abilities. It also gives you an extra 40 Attack Damage when your ultimate is activated (When you have no health). If you want, start off with a Hexdrinker earlier if you need it and work your way into Maw of Malmortius.

Frozen Mallet

I don't particularly recommend this item because I'd just rather have red and call it a day. The rest of the stat's are nice, but I'd put the extra money to better use.

Force of Nature

I don't entirely recommend this item either because we'd really just be benefiting from the Magic Resistance. If you follow this guide, then Movement Speed isn't an issue and there's really no reason for the percentage Health Regeneration because we're not a tank with a massive amount of Health.

Wriggle's Lantern
I want to touch up on this item a bit so that you're not all partially confused as to why I recommend it as a core item. I've already mentioned that you want it for sustain, creep score, and Lifesteal, but you also have to look at the big and small pictures that establish the picture as a whole with this item. This item is somewhat expensive, but is completely manageable for a first core item, especially if you're going to use it. The item cost 1600 gold and sells for 1120 gold. You're not meant to keep it the full length of the game if the game does last for some time as most do. So let's think about this item and what it can do for us and our team:

It can be used for lane control, granting the ability to clear minion waves faster than the opposing team and keep them behind their tower as the tower takes creep score from the enemy while using the free ward to prevent being surprised by an enemy gank. It provides sustainability while in lane with the Lifesteal and allows "farming" minions more effectively. This item is also great if you are losing the lane as it helps you continue farming and stay in lane. It is also very useful for controlling major objectives such as Dragon and Baron Nashor, as it greatly decreases the time required to kill them.

You have to realize that Tryndamere has the utility to farm and be mobile, and Wriggle's Lantern makes this much more simplistic. You could shoot for a B. F. Sword for about the same price and do a constant 45 Attack Damage, but it'll take 6-7 swings to average the damage from Wriggle's Lantern procs, which usually procs often. Let's not forget that Wriggle's Lantern does provide other statistics, including 23 Attack Damage to compare straight up with the Attack Damage a B. F. Sword does. So, even though a B. F. Sword will build into bigger and better things, for about the same price, Wriggle's Lantern will help you gather gold much faster and make life easier during the laning phase helping you reach those bigger and better things. Remember, you can always sell it later. It's kind of like playing Ezreal with two Doran's Blades in bottom lane against Ashe who decides to take B. F. Sword. She does more damage, but doesn't sustain as well.

So the small picture: laning phase; big picture: setting up for late game.

With everything I do, I'll admit, I take some pride in doing so. No matter what it is, I feel as if I have to perform at peak performance. With that in mind, I also think about the viewers who will read my guide. As soon as new updates are released, this resource is where everyone should come to for updates and questions. This guide has been up for over two years now, and I have encouraged several players to take Tryndamere up for play and have answered many of their questions along the way. Head to the threads with your questions and either I or someone else will be sure to get to you with a response as soon as we read the post.

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