Five months after Gen.G streamer Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek first made waves on the Korean solo queue ladder by spamming Tryndamere mid, pro players that qualified for League of Legends Worlds 2021 have started to follow suit.
In May 2021, Nemesis had a 67% win rate on this champion in the mid lane, his highest at that time.
Still climbing solo queue on this bruiser, Nemesis has racked up 133 games on him in mid lane, his second most played champion, and amassed a 57% win rate.
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Why is Tryndamere mid viable in the current League of Legends Worlds meta?
The key reason why Tryndamere mid has risen in the meta is because bruiser items are outperforming mage items. The League of Legends preseason 11 has not been kind to this class of champions.
“Mage itemization sucks, it’s terrible,” said Team Liquid content creator Drew “Midbeast” Timbs in his VOD review of Nemesis. “These mages like the Viktor, the Syndra, the Orianna… take you 20, 25 minutes to become relevant unless you snowball.”
The combined power of Goredrinker and bruisers
Goredrinker has been the highlight of Season 11, built by many different types of champions in top, jungle, and now in mid lane. Immediately in the first League of Legends patch 11.1 of the year, Riot Games reduced its Thirsting Slash damage and healing.
On patch 11.3, Goredrinker’s heal health ratio was nerfed again, down from 12% to 8%. More recently on patch 11.10, Thirsting Slash’s health ratio went up to 10%.
On a champion like Tryndamere, who heals 1% of his missing health from Bloodlust (Q), and who possesses an Undying Rage ultimate that prevents his health from being reduced, Goredrinker’s active and passive compounds his ability to sustain.
Paired with Precision and Resolve runes, Tryndamere’s sustainability increases further. Second Wind, which lets you regenerate some health after taking damage from an enemy, and Revitalize, which improves shield and heal power, are crucial in the laning phase.
For these reasons, AD bruisers are stronger in the early to mid game, especially against mages in the mid lane.
Tryndamere mid runes
Primary Precision runes
- Lethal Tempo
- Triumph
- Legend: Tenacity
- Last Stand
Secondary Resolve runes
- Second Wind
- Revitalize or Unflinching if you need added tenacity
- Attack speed
- Adaptive
- Armor or Magic Resist depending on your lane matchup
Tryndamere mid build: How the pros are itemizing and playing this champion
Notable pro players such as T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Hanwha Life’s Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon from the LCK, and LNG Esports’ Xie “icon” Tian-Yu and FunPlus Phoenix’s Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang from LPL, have all been putting in EUW solo queue games on this champion in the mid lane.
Doinb already picked up Tryndamere mid after the 2021 LPL Summer Split concluded, playing in on stream. In early September, he predicted that this champion will be played and banned at Worlds 2021, and is stronger than Lee Sin.
While most pros tend to prefer the standard Goredrinker build, Nemesis, the pioneer himself, recently started to change it up by opting for Galeforce as a Mythic item instead to gap close, and slow enemy champions even more with Serylda’s Grudge.
Remember to swap out your Summoner Spells, for Flash and Ghost are best on Tryndamere — not Teleport — for he likes to push himself straight into enemies’ faces.
As Midbeast explains, “He spins into the middle of the team, and then he just sustains… You just tank everything. If you don’t focus Tryndamere, you die. If you focus Tryndamere he heals, and then pops ultimate. There’s not many good options to counter this.”
Tryndamere mid build
- Doran’s Shield (Starting item) or three Rejuvenation Beads (to be sold later) and one health pot
- Berserker’s Greaves (Boots)
- Goredrinker (Mythic)
- Essence Reaver
- Navori Quickblade
- Lord Dominik’s Regards or Mortal Reminder
- Infinity Edge
Nemesis’ Tryndamere mid build
- Doran’s Shield (Starting item)
- Berserker’s Greaves (Boots)
- Galeforce (Mythic)
- Navori Quickblade
- Serylda’s Grudge
Tryndamere mid Summoner Spells
- Flash
- Ghost
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