Theory: Tryndamere and Ability Power

Tryndamere is a champion designed to carry, and like many such champions the issue has historically been getting to the point where he may do so. While he has some sustain from his Bloodlust, it has the fatal flaw of being largely based on his ability to melee, last-hit, and crit. When zoned by some of the more abusive top laners the sustain from Bloodlust is not substantial enough to guarantee Tryndamere's development.

That is, unless you start the game with a crapton of Ability Power.

The Setup:

Runes: Flat AP Quints/Glyphs, Flat AD or Crit % Marks, Armor Seals
Masteries: 21/9/0
Starting Item: Amplifying Tome + 1 Potion
Summoner Spells: Ignite, and Flash/Cleanse

By starting the game with 51.56 Ability Power, Tryndamere abuses the 1.5 ratio on his Bloodlust and the 1.0 ratio on his Spinning Slash to greatly increase both his sustain and his offense. Not only does the base healing on Bloodlust increase from a mere 30 to a whopping 107.34 (more than tripling its value) but the damage on his Spinning Slash increases by 51.56. This is a recipe for winning trades and lanes.

The idea isn't to continue building Ability Power, but to simply abuse this sustain and damage advantage to secure Tryndamere's farm and potential. Once its item slot is needed for something else Amplifying Tome can be sold for 305g, a net loss of a mere 130g. Amplifying Tome makes up for that loss in less than four minutes, assuming you would have spent that gold on potions.

Unconventional as this idea may seem, it actually isn't all that new. Back when Tryndamere was reworked (patch 122, a year and a half ago) this setup became popular as a means to deal with the even more contentious and exclusive top lane of the time. It, and Tryndamere, fell out of favor due to nerfs to Gunblade (which was better than Bloodthirster at the time) and the introduction of new abusive top lanes (i.e. Talon and Riven).

Because every champion who forced Tryndamere out of lane since that time has received nerfs, it appears the time is right to abuse a champion whose ridiculous sustain potential has snuck under the radar.