Now that the 3.14 patch has been implemented, everyone is eager to see new and exciting builds, team comps, and especially champion picks come out of the pro scene. One region in particular that has been highly expected to have exciting innovations is Korea. Now that OGN Champions Winter is playing on the new patch, we got to see what the Korean teams had in store for us. We have seen how they used the trinkets, as well as the return of the outrageous Gem Knight. But what caught this editor's eye was CJ Frost Shy's Dr. Mundo during their match against the Jin Air Falcons. His use of the Madman of Zaun was spectacular and terrifying, especially when it can defend splitpushes AND splitpush at the same time, among other things.
Thus, we take a closer look at how this crazy cleaver-smacker is played, what runes, masteries, and items should be picked, and which team compositions are best suited for him. Let's find out how he goes where he pleases!
MUNDO WHO?
Dr. Mundo is a tank through and through. I don't care if the game says he's a primary fighter, his main job is to soak up damage for a long period of time. Brawling is just a bonus due to his unbelievable sustain. His kit is built around the theme of staying alive for as long as possible, while putting the pain onto his enemies. His passive, Adrenaline Rush, gives him innate health regeneration that scales perfectly well throughout the game, and his ultimate, Sadism, ramps it up even further, with the addition of a movement speed bonus to help him chase or retreat.
As for Dr. Mundo's offensive abilities, Infected Cleaver deals percent damage and slows by a good amount, making it great for poking and dealing with tanks. Burning Agony gives him an area of effect damage aura, and the crowd control reduction is perfect for sticking towards a target. Finally, Masochism grants him a boost in attack damage, increasing as his health gets low.
Being a manaless champion, Dr. Mundo uses his own health to pay for his skills, however, the sustain elements from his kit makes up for that detriment. With the right setup, the health costs are completely negated and surpassed, allowing him to use his offensive skills freely without any worry.
A great example of the usage of the Madman is from the aforementioned Shy of CJ Frost. So let's take a look at the game.
MUNDO FIGHTS!
Champions Winter 2013-2013 Dec. 6 (CJ Entus Frost vs Jin Air Falcons)
*requires subscription, or good searching skills ;)
Here we see Shy and the rest of CJ Frost face up against the Jin Air Falcons. CJF built their team comp around Space's Vayne, protecting her at all costs with peels and heals. On the other side, JAF created a strong disengage comp, with emphasis on winning early and a splitpushing Tryndamere to throw off CJF's rotations.
JAF looked great in the early game. With a lane swap done by CJF, JAF's Roar and Starlast were able to push fast, even managing to take down the inner bottom turret. With a lone lane available, they quickly started their splitpush rotations, grouping up while letting Tryndamere solo other lanes and create a lose-lose situation.
This is where Dr. Mundo steps in. With his core items built, he alone could stop Reapered's Trydanemere from splitpushing. What's worse for JAF, is that with the Madman's ridiculous sustain, Shy shoved the splitpush right back at them, doing the very same thing JAF was planning. Add to that the fact that CJF's team is better suited at teamfights, JAF were forced to go head-to-head, losing these engages. With their main stategy foiled, they slowly crumbled under pressure, and CJ Frost eventually rampaged to victory after a few advantageous teamfights.
MUNDO PREPARES!
Marks: 9x hybrid penentration
Seals: 9x armor
Glyphs: 9x scaling or flat magic resist (can be combined)
Quintessences: 3x hybrid pen/movespeed/armor/magic resist/health regen (can be combined)
It doesn't look like it at first, but Dr. Mundo deals mostly magic damage, with Masochism there to boost his autoattacks for last hitting and hitting between cleaver hurls. This makes Hybrid Penetration marks a good choice for him. The seals and glyphs are pretty much standard for a tanky-type champion. The quints are what's interesting though. Personally, I believe that quintessences are the most adjustable of all runes, and this is why it's a bit tricky to recommended just one of two options. It all depends on your playstyle and lane matchup, but for a more general approach, go for hybrid penetration or movespeed.
Yep. Just put it all into defense. Since Dr. Mundo uses his defensive stats (health, armor, magic resist, etc.) for his offense, Dumping every point into the middle tree works very efficiently. Because of this, he gets every mastery that reduces damage from various sources (Oppression, Evasive, Reinforced Armor, etc.) and buffs his defensive stats. But I believe that the main attraction here is his synergy with Perseverance and Second Wind. Remember how he has all this health regeneration from his skills? Well, now he get even more of that. If the game ever hits during the late stage, nothing short of an all-out burst would be able to take this hulking hooligan down.
Flash is a must for quick gap closing and having more unique angles of approach/escape. Some might say Ghost is better, but he already has a movespeed bonus from Sadism plus the slow from Infected cleaver. As for the second spell, Teleport is chosen if you want to emphasize on splitpushing and preventing the opponent from doing such if they make an attempt. Ignite, on the other hand, is for superior dueling and more help during teamfights. I would lean more towards Teleport, however, as answering or delivering splitpushes is what makes Dr. Mundo a good fit in the team comp as examined in the VOD and will be discussed later.
MUNDO BUILDS!
Infected Cleaver should be maxed first, as the poke and peel it offers is too good not to level up, and gives the most bang for your buck in terms of health cost in the early game. Burning Agony is tempting to level up quickly due to its ability to clear waves, but without the proper items, the damage you would deal to yourself is as good as getting chunked down by your opponent, so this goes second. Mascochism is already good at level 1, plus it scales how low your health is, so this goes last. Get Sadism whenever you can.
ITEM PATH
START: Doran's shield + Potions
CORE: Sunfire Cape + Spirit Visage + Ninja Tabi or Mercurt Threads
OPTIONS: Thornmail, Randuin's Omen, Liandry's Torment, Banshee's Veil
The items listed above are the typical choices not just for Dr. Mundo, but for any tank in general. So instead, I'll explain why these items are extra efficient for him. Jungle expert, youtuber and blogger StoneWall made an in-depth guide a few months ago on the Madman in the jungle. Now while this article focuses on the solo lane, one thing that could be picked up in his guide is the concept of "triple-dipping" from items. So far, only Mundo can pull this off, due to the nature of his kit. Since everything revolves around his health stat, every item that gives such becomes extra effecive. Best example would be Spirit Visage. This items gives Health, Magic Resist, and Cooldown Reduction. It also has the ability to increase the value of anything that relates to restoring health. Combine this his passive and masteries, Simply fortifying this particular area (health and health regen) will give him powerful increases in dueling, chasing, and tanking.
As a bonus, Liandry's Torment is a special choice for Dr. Mundo, as both Infected Cleaver and Burning Agony deal magic damage, making this item great for ensuring his threat status.
MUNDO PLAYS!
During the early game, Adrenaline Rush is not enough for you to survive high burst opponents and power ganks, so try to play safe until you get to level 6. With a Doran's Shield, you will have enough sustain just to throw a few cleavers here and there, for last hitting and harassment. Go for the kill only when you are either: abosolutely sure that the enemy jungler is not around or your jungler is near and has a good disable.
Past 6, and throughout the rest of the mid game, is where you start to become unkillable. If you are doing your lasthitting properly, you should be near your first core item. Generally, go for Sunfire Cape, since it gives you great wave clearing and the armor bonus will help you against AD-based enemies. However, if your lane opponent is AP-based or the main threat in their team is a mage-type, then you could opt for Spirit Visage instead.
When late game arrives, you should be literally just a walking wall. The power spike you get upon getting both your core items is massive, and you could take out anybody one-on-one. This feat is all the more useful when facing splitpushers such as Jax or Trynademere, the latter exemplified by the VOD. While you could focus on protecting your carries, Mundo himself has the power of one, and the percent damage he deals is enough to force the other team to deal with you.
Now, when picking Dr. Mundo in either solo queue, team ranked, or a premade, consider your allies first. As he is mainly a tank, you are foregoing having one powerful carry-type solo laner (such as Jax). And while Infected Cleaver is a great slowing tool, it only targets one, so peeling for the whole team is out of the question. This would mean the necessity of having another brawler, which the jungler would most likely provide (Olaf, and Shyvana are good examples).
With two roles already defined, and none of them having extreme carry potential, the team comp is boiled down to either a "protect the hypercarry" or a poke comp. The CJF vs JAF game is a good example of the first, allowing Space to safely deal damage due to a wall of Dr. Mundo, Olaf, and Taric. MakNoon is also there as a carry as well, his main focus is to ensure Vayne's survival, via his heals and his ult. The poke comp runs similarly, but in lieu of a hypercarry, requires mobilty of the team as a unit, kiting away opponents.
Here are other champion options you could pick in place of the ones used by CJ Entus Frost:
Jungler
(great peel), 
(utility), 
? (engage/counter engage), 
? (peel for poke), 
? (utility)
Mid
?(good zoning, possible wombo), 
?(decent zoning, extra burst), 
?(great zoning, sieging power), 
?(great zoning, strong poke), 
?(decent zoning, counters dive comps)
AD Carry
?
?(poke and hypercarry), 
?( hypercarry),
? (poke), 
? (hypercarry)
Support
? (peel), 
? (utility), 
?(initiation)
Final MUNDO! Thoughts
The rise of Dr. Mundo is an interesting shift in the metagame. His kit is unique in that everything revolves around his health, and when used in the right team, makes him uniquely invaluable. So give it a try, fellow summoners, and remember two things: He goes where he pleases, and SMASH!
