A champion Review: Amumu

General play style, Jungle routes, Pros and Cons

PROS

Consistent AoE damage

Amazing initiation

Good chasing

Fast clear speed

Very tanky

CONS

Needs first blue or he will fall apart

Easily invaded

Relies heavily on landing your bandage toss

If you miss your ulti, you may lose the game off it

Doesn't have very much CC outside of his ulti

JUNGLE ROUTES

STANDARD BLUE START

Very simple wolves, blue, wraiths, wolves, red, wraiths, then gank as you see fit.

AGGRESSIVE BLUE START

Wolves, smiteless blue, straight to red and start the gank train.

STANDARD RED START

Amumu isn't as blue reliant as you would think, he can start red and be fine as long as he gets the blue at some point.

Anyways, wraiths, red, golems, wraiths, wolves, and blue, you won't have enough life to start ganking with this path but it is still an option.

THINK YOUR GOING TO GET INVADED PATH

Start wraiths, red, see if you can get a smiteless then immediately head to blue. Securing your buffs is key here. Then either gank if you see an opening or continue to farm your jungle up. 

If your for sure the enemy jungler is in your jungle, you can go man mode as see if you can take there buff and get out before they get there. 

IF YOU GET BEHIND

If you get behind due to jungle invasion, there's 2 ways to deal with it. Option A. is to tell your team your behind and farm up to 6 as fast as possible to try to make some plays. Option B. If you are confident in your abilities to land a bandage toss, you should gank more often to bring you back into the game. If it helps, ask your mid laner if you can take the second blue to help you out a little more.

EARLY GAME

This is what makes or breaks Amumu as a jungler, if he has a good start, he is going to become a monster. But if he doesn't, it is going to be slow and miserable.

Most people know by now that if you shut down an Amumu early, he is not going to be as effective so they will try to take advantage of your weak early game. If you suspect an level 1 invade, ask for wards around your blue buff to see if they are coming. If they are, go to there blue immediately. Watch the enemies positioning, if they start to leave your blue area, you should as well, because it most likely means they have it warded. 

AS LONG AS YOU GET A BLUE BUFF YOU WILL BE FINE is basically how his early game is decided.

MID GAME

This is where the outcome of a game is usually decided. When you have your ulti up, you should be looking for a fight. Force a dragon, set up a gank, invade the enemy jungle whatever you have to do to gain an advantage, because Amumu's ult is so potent for securing kills, and making plays.

LATE GAME/ TEAMFIGHTS

This is where Amumu shines. If your team is even or slightly ahead, you should always be trying to force a fight. Push towers, force or bait baron/dragon. 

Your job in a team fight is to start the fight and do as much damage as you can by crying on people. Because Amumu doesn't have very much CC to peel for your allies, so you need to just   be an annoying little bugger. But remember, the longer the fight goes on, the more damage you are going to get out with your tears.

Tips, Tricks, and Synergies

GANKING TIPS

If you can help it, always lead with your auto attacks, see if they burn any escapes, then throw out your.

Always be aware of the enemy side steps. Hold on to your to get a feel for your opponent. If you know he is going to juke in a certain direction throw it there. 

If you can lead with , it is always the best choice just for the fact that it is a lot more reliable. Don't be afraid to burn your  to get you in a perfect position. And always try to extend your CC for as long as possible. If you do it perfectly, you can get 3 seconds of the enemy not moving. 

A very simple concept but always have your  when you fight. It may seem obvious, but I've seen people strictly use this ability to farm the jungle. You never know when that little bit of damage will make the difference between a kill and a very crippled enemy.

Make sure you always refresh your on your enemies because reduced magic resist = more damage for you and your allies. 

SYNERGIES

and more. She is your best friend in a team fight. Having high damage on-top a vortex CC is absolutely amazing. Anyone with consistent AoE damage works really well too.  A good example.

If you want to go complete wombo combo and   or . If you land a 5 man Amumu ult, the enemy team will die within 4 seconds give or take. 

Any champion with really good diving abilities works really well with Amumu. If you ult an enemy ADC, and someone like  jumps on there face, there dead.

Final Statements

 Isn't used in competitive play that much because you can coordinate a jungle invasion and shut him down early, and keep him down. However, If you get a strong level 1 team to protect you, ward your jungle early and an get sufficient ganks off, he is an amazing addition to a team just for the raw initiation.

Always remember that Amumu is the strongest late game tank in the game because his tears will always do high damage, he get insanely tanky with items, and his initiation is the best in the game. 

I hope this guide helps for all the future, or current Amumu players out there.