If you’re looking for a tank that regularly trolls enemy teams while still dealing a moderate amount of damage, look no further than Dr. Mundo.
As powerful as Dr. Mundo is, he comes with a very big catch: all of his abilities are tied to his maximum health. While at first having abilities tied to health is exciting as it means that players will not need to rely on mana in order to cast abilities, however, due to the fact that Dr. Mundo is probably going to end up being the main tank in ARAM, players will want to be careful about when they damage enemy champions using abilities.
I will go into more depth on how Dr. Mundo’s abilities fully work in my abilities rundown below, however, this is the simple rundown to playing Dr. Mundo:
Dr. Mundo is one of the best tanks players can be in ARAM, most notably for his ultimate Sadism (R), which both health Dr. Mundo and provides movement speed for the time being. Dr. Mundo players can use Sadism (R) to secure takedowns, heal while running away or to keep himself up during intense team fights.
Dr. Mundo players will also have access to his ranged ability Infected Cleaver (Q) which essentially allows players to throw a cleaver in the direction of an enemy. If the Infected Cleaver (Q) hits an enemy champion, players will receive a portion of the health they used to throw the Infected Cleaver. Players who secure a takedown from killing an enemy with Infected Cleaver will receive more health back.
The most substantial aspect of using Infected Cleaver (Q) is the slow it provides Dr. Mundo players. If players successfully hit an enemy champion, the enemy champion’s movement speed will be reduced by 40%.
When Dr. Mundo players are in the middle of a team battle, I recommend turning on his toggleable ability Burning Agony (W), which damages enemies surrounding the player. Burning Agony (W) should not be kept on regularly unless Dr. Mundo players have access to enough healing from their passive healing or have items like Warmog’s Armour.
Dr. Mundo players can also use Masochism (E), which allows players to deal more attack damage based on their missing health, Players will also gain a number of passive stats from upgrading Masochism (E) so I would recommend levelling this sucker up either first or second based on which ability you are more likely to land in each game.
QUICK RUNDOWN:
SUMMONER SPELLS: Flash & Snowball
RUNES: Grasp of the Undying, Demolish, Conditioning, Overgrowth // Triumph & Legend: Tenacity
ABILITY POWER UP: Q, E, W
FIRST BUY: Guardian’s Horn & Boots
BUILD ORDER: Spirit Visage, Sunfire Cape, Warmog’s Armour, Adaptive Helm, Thornmail
COMBOS: Dr. Mundo doesn’t have any “clear combos”, though I suggest players should try to engage with an Infected Cleaver (Q), walk in with Burning Agony (W) toggled and then begin whacking enemies with Masochism (E).
Though I say that there aren’t any “clear combos” players should be aware that the magic resistance players receive from Masochism (E) can be kept up by leaving Burning Agony (W) on.
SUMMONER SPELLS FOR DR. MUNDO IN ARAM
FLASH
As is with most other champions, Dr. Mundo benefits from having Flash on his kit, merely because of the utility Flash provides in escaping and dashing into team battles. I truly can’t think of many instances a Dr. Mundo player will need to jump into battle using Flash though.
I would recommend that Dr. Mundo players save Flash for situations where they need to Flash away and either pop their Sadism (R) or Flash away if they have already popped Sadism (R) and are still at risk of dying.
Due to Dr. Mundo’s insane tanking abilities, players should be able to get away with some truly shocking damage, especially if players secure takedowns and have the Triumph rune.
SNOWBALL
No tank’s kit is complete without Snowball. As my brother-in-law claims, he is a “Snowball-main” and while I wouldn’t condone that statement from anyone else as I still don’t understand why Marksmen like Xayah, Ashe or Jhin take Snowball, Snowball is Dr. Mundo’s wet dream.
Use Snowball to jump into battle, engage with Masochism (E), slow with Infected Cleaver (Q) and let the pounding begin with your auto-attacks. Of course, make sure that sexy Burning Agony (W) damage is getting those enemies at the same time.
RUNES FOR DR. MUNDO IN ARAM
In my opinion, there is only one way you want to build Dr. Mundo’s runes in ARAM, but I’m happy to be proven wrong.
Given Dr. Mundo’s abilities and passives, players are going to want to focus on making sure that Dr. Mundo is as fed as possible. Players will also want to focus on runes that help boost health, armour or resistance stats by a percentage as those will be Dr. Mundo’s primary focusses.
I recommend building Dr. Mundo very tanky like you would build Garen, Singed, Amumu or a tank Soraka.
The following is the rune build I use whenever I play Dr. Mundo in ARAM:
GRASP OF THE UNDYING
Upon entering combat, players will generate one stack of Grasp of the Undying for the next 3 seconds. Players can then proceed to gain additional stacks by re-entering combat after 2 seconds.
Once players receive 4 stacks of Grasp of the Undying they will have 6 seconds to damage an enemy champion to consume stacks and deal 4% of the player’s maximum health in magic damage.
Players will also restore 2% of their maximum health and will also receive 5 bonus maximum health.
Players can refresh their empowered attack each time they reenter combat.
It’s no secret why Grasp of the Undying is considered essential for all Dr. Mundo players, especially for players who expect to play extra aggressive with him.
DEMOLISH
Every 45 seconds players will be able to generate 6 stacks against an enemy turret when they are within 600 units. It will take a minimum of 3 seconds for players to generate all 6 stacks, however, upon the player’s next basic attack the player will deal 100 (+35% max health) bonus physical damage.
If a player fails to successfully use Demolish it will not go on cooldown.
Demolish is great for champions like Dr. Mundo because he really doesn’t do much damage. If Dr. Mundo is left alone to attack an enemy turret, chances are he isn’t going to be able to do very much.
The only downside to taking Demolish is that it doesn’t do anything when you’re done defeating enemy turrets. Though, in my experience having Demolish leads to an early push that can potentially end the game before the other team has a chance to properly build.
If players do not want to take Demolish they can take Shield Bash.
CONDITIONING
After 8 minutes players will gain 9 bonus armour and 9 bonus magic resistance and increase their total armour and magic resistance by 5%.
As mentioned, it’s going to be a great idea to focus on runes that increase or boost Dr. Mundo’s stats by percentages as the majority of items players will want to build on Dr. Mundo are defensive.
Even if players plan to be aggressive with Dr. Mundo, it’s a good idea to have as much magic resistance and armour as it will help sustain your health pool.
Players can also choose to take Second Wind as it provides them with some healing after being attacked by enemy champions, though the choice will be made based on your preferences.
I used Second Wind early on when I was learning Dr. Mundo but quickly switched onto using Conditioning when I was able to control the amount of damage I took.
OVERGROWTH
Players receive 5 bonus health for every 8 minions that die near them, After gaining 15 stacks (80 minions) players will receive an additional 3.5% maximum health.
Do I need to explain how overpowered that is? No? Thank you.
TRIUMPH
Players will receive 6% of missing health as well as 10 Gold every time they participate in a champion takedown. Players will experience a 1-second delay before they get their health from securing a takedown.
Triumph is extremely powerful with Dr. Mundo players, especially when it is paired up with Dr. Mundo’s ultimate Sadism (R).
LEGEND: TENACITY
Players gain 5% +2.5% per Legend stack (max 10) tenacity up to 30% tenacity.
Tenacity is another one of those defensive stats players are going to want to have on Dr. Mundo, just to ensure that they are mitigating as much damage as they can in team battles and general happenings.
SKILL LEVEL UP RECOMMENDATIONS & TIPS ON HOW TO PLAY DR. MUNDO IN ARAM
The reality is that Dr. Mundo isn’t very difficult to play and his abilities are straight forward.
When upgrading Dr. Mundo’s abilities it is recommended that you power him up Q, E, W if you are focussed on dealing crowd control and also are having difficulty reaching enemy champions.
If players are noticing that the majority of the time they are in team fights and that they need extra defensive stats they should upgrade their abilities in the order of E, Q, W.
In no circumstance is it a good idea to upgrade your Burning Agony (W) first.
INFECTED CLEAVER (Q)
Upon triggering, Dr. Mundo will throw a cleaver in the targeted direction dealing 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30% of the target’s current health as magic damage.
Infected Cleaver does a minimum of 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 magic damage.
Infected Cleaver costs Dr. Mundo 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 health although if players successfully hit an enemy they will receive 20 / 24 / 28 / 32 / 36 health. Players will receive double the health if they secure a takedown with Infected Cleaver.
Infected Cleaver has a 4-second cooldown.
Players should use Infected Cleaver as often as they can, though players should try to make sure that they always damage enemy champions, versus hitting minions or throwing the Infected Cleaver in the open air.
Infected Cleaver should always be used as champions are trying to get away to slow them down. Chances are if you successfully land an Infected Cleaver your teammates will be able to jump onto the targetted champion to secure a takedown.
I will say, it’s quite exciting when you’re Dr. Mundo and you continuously attack the same champion with Infected Cleaver.
Tip: Infected Cleaver is extra scary when it comes from out of a bush.
BURNING AGONY (W)
For the cost of 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 health per second players will deal 10 / 13.75 / 17.5 / 21.25 / 25 (+5% AP) magic damage ever 0.25 seconds.
Players will also receive 30% tenacity.
Burning Agony has a 4-second cooldown.
Players should always use Burning Agony when they are in team fights or when they are surrounded by enemy minions.
As mentioned earlier, it’s important that you do not leave Burning Agony on as it quickly reduces the amount of health players have over time.
MASOCHISM (E)
Upon taking magic damage or using an ability (“paying a health cost”) players will receive 3% magic resistance for 2 seconds and stacking up to 6 / 15 / 24 / 33 / 42% magic resistance.
Masochism is most notable when players leave Burning Agony (W) on or when they are being damaged rapidly in battle.
To activate Masochism, players will not need to surrender any health, though upon casting Masochism the player’s next basic attack (within a 5-second duration) will cost 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 health.
Empowered basic attacks have 25 bonus attack range and deals 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 / 100 attack damage.
Players will also deal bonus physical damage equal to 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5% of his maximum health. The only catch is bonus damage is dynamic to deal more damage when Dr. Mundo has lower health.
The only thing that’s important to know about Masochism is, it makes you ultra tanky and you should always use it whenever you’re in range of an enemy champion.
Players should also use Masochism against turrets as it will deal more damage than a regular basic attack.
Players can use Masochism every 6 / 5.5 / 5 / 4.5 / 4 seconds.
If players build Warmog’s Armour, players can leave Burning Agony (W) on at all times in order to prepare players with full magic resistance before a battle.
SADISM (R)
Upon being activated Dr. Mundo regenerates 50 / 75 / 100% of his maximum health over 12 seconds.
Players will also receive 15 / 25 / 35% bonus movement speed while Sadism is active.
Sadism is phenomenal and players should focus on trying to get between 20-30% cooldown in hopes of getting the cooldown for Sadism to decrease.
Sadism is the ultimate trolling ability and players should use it whenever it’s available unless they have Warmog’s Armour already built or aren’t below 40% health.
GEAR BUILD FOR DR. MUNDO
SPIRIT VISAGE
Providing players with a 10% cooldown reduction, 450 health, 100% base health regeneration and 55 magic resistance.
Players will also receive 30% bonus healing from all sources of healing.
Spirit Visage is a great choice for Dr. Mundo players as it will give them a good amount of health, some cooldown reduction a chunk of magic resist, but it’s most notable for the 30% boost that amplifies Sadism (R)
Spirit Visage is a must and quite frankly I find Spirit Visage much more helpful than Warmog’s. Shocking, eh?
MERCURY’S TREADS
25 Magic Resist and 30% reduction on status effects.
SUNFIRE CAPE
Sunfire Cape provides players with 60 Armour and 425 Health as a passive (IMMOLATE), players will also deal 26-43 (based on level) magic damage per second to nearby enemies. Immolate’s damage is increased by 50% against minions.
Every 12 seconds, if a player hits an enemy with an immobilizing ability they will deal 26-43 (based on level) +4% bonus health as bonus magic damage.
Sunfire Cape is especially good when paired up with Burning Agony (W), however, Sunfire Cape is also great on its own.
Sunfire Cape’s biggest nod is the ability to help with minion farming.
WARMOG’S ARMOUR
Warmog’s Armour provides players with 10% cooldown reduction, 800 health and 200% base health regeneration.
Once players have at least 3000 maximum health they will receive 5% of their missing health per second. Players will only receive the missing health if they have not taken damage from a champion in the past 6 seconds or in the past 3 seconds by a minion.
Warmog’s Armour is a tank’s best friends and though Riot has tried time and time again to nerf that bitch, they haven’t seemed to successfully do it.
If players are having difficulty with health or staying alive they should build Warmog’s Armour second. The only warning I give you is, try to make sure you’re going to have at least 3000 Health by the time you build Warmog’s, or else you’re going to feel stupid for not taking the extra damage from Sunfire Cape.
If players realize that they have no issues with health, scrap Warmog’s Armour altogether. Honestly, good riddance. The only good thing about it is the sustain in regards to Dr. Mundo, but sometimes having extra damage early on gets the job done.
ADAPTIVE HELM
Adaptive Helm provides players with 10% cooldown reduction, 350 health, 150% base health regeneration, and 55 magic resistance.
When players take magic damage from a spell or effect, for the next 4 seconds they will take 20% less damage from said source.
Players can receive this perk from multiple sources of magic damage at the same time, each being tracked separately.
Adaptive Helm provides players with a good amount of health, magic resistance and gives some extra cushion for Dr. Mundo players with that health regeneration, but the truth is I like it mostly for its passive and the cooldown reduction.
Adaptive Helm makes Dr. Mundo especially tanky and lets me rely on using his abilities in battle. I’m a big fan of that stacked magic resistance.
THORNMAIL
Thornmail provides players with 80 armour and 250 health.
Players also gain Thorns which reflect 25 (+10% of bonus armour) magic damage upon being hit by a basic attack.
Thorns will also inflict the attacker with Grievous Wounds for 3 seconds.
Players will also receive Cold Steel which cripples an enemy’s attack speed by 15% for 1 second upon being hit by a basic attack.
Thornmail is a Marksman’s worst nightmare, so get it on and head into battle. Mundo players will want to build Thornmail second or third if they are against an all attack damage team, however, depending on what kind of team you’re up against, I typically build Thornmail in the late-game.
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