Hi guys. I have been playing trundle as my main top laner for a long time now and have had great success in doing so. This guide will explain how I play trundle and the different roles he can fulfill.

Pros

Amazing sustain
One of the best split pushers in the league
Can 1 vs 1 almost anyone
Can tank through damage to get the the back line
Can steal everyone's stats
Pillar has a massive range and can be used to catch people out or block paths in the jungle

Cons

No ranged attacks
Can be kited with slows
No blinks or dashes
All ins without items are not extremely strong
Does not fit well with all team comps

Is probably the best offensive item you can get for Trundle. This is because Trundle gains more from attack speed than attack damage. The early life steal that BORK gives you means that Trundle can sustain through almost anything. The passive Of BORK makes you much more effective at killing tanks and the active makes it easier to speed away from a gank or sprint to the back line of a fight.

Spirit visage's passive will further increase your sustain plus the cool down reduction means you can spam your Q and ulti more often. The base stats are also good for the money.

The Tenacity that these give you makes it harder for the enemy team to stop you getting to the back line of a fight.

I personally don't think ninja are as powerful as merc but they are still useful if the enemy team have multiple basic attack reliant champions.

Randuins base stats are powerful as they are. The active slow makes it harder for people to both chase you and kite you.

Although the base stats are not as good as Randuins, sunfire is cheaper and the passive gives you a bit of extra AOE burn damage to people in fights.

Very similar base stats to spirit visage but the passive makes it easier to resist the burst blast of cc the enemy will throw at you. The problem being is that it is very easy to get rid of the shield just with 1 poke making the passive useless in some situations.

Warmogs is a great item because of the massive health boost and the passive sustain but I find that armour and MR are more effective and with armour and MR you lifesteal is more effective.

Personaly I don't like flat armour or flat MR items because even if they do have a full AD team the small bits of AP such as jax's 3rd attack or leonas spells will chunk you compared to the rest of the team. However this item does work if you have some HP along side it such as a warmogs. The passive is also very effective against a highly basic attack reliant team.

This item is very similar to thorn mail but with some mana CD and a different passive. This does come at the cost of a higher price. The passive may be different but it is still aimed against a basic attack reliant team. Over all I think this is the better item out of the two unless you are short on money.

Frozen mallet is great if you are having problems with people kitting you because of it's slow. This will increase your effective damage output on a target that is running away.

Not so good items on Trundle
Tri force is a good item but I would not say it is too good on Trundle since that you will normally only build 1 Offensive item and Tri force does not give you any sustain also Tri force is more of a bursting item due to it's passive rather than a sustain damage item.

This item would be great but it has the same problem as Tri force which is having no lifesteel.

This item is best on assassins not champions that need constant stats also yet again has no lifesteel.

Although this item give great lifesteal, attack speed is more effective on Trundle than AD. This is the same with Blood thirster.

Ghost is very strong on Trundle since that he will often be pushed up the lane so ghost is great for escaping ganks.

Is better for escaping sticky situations than ghost especially since that Trundle has not blinks or dashes so can not pass over terrain. Flash is also better at setting up early kills if your opponent is low on HP. This can massively snowball you into a lead.

Teleport Is almost a must have on Trundle. This is because it allows him to get to a team fight from top if needs be. He can also use it to TP to minions to push a lane or even use it to escape ganks when they have no CC to stop him or sit in a bush to TP.

I would not say that ignite is a very strong spell on Trundle since that it only gives you a bit more kill potential early rather than map dominance from TP. The only time I would consider taking ignite is if I am against a mundo and I am convinced he will be a big problem.

Trundle is strongest as a top lane tank with ether 1 or occasionally 2 offensive items. Trundle is one of the strongest split pushers in the game. He is very good at punishing people that get them self in a bad position. He is also very good at catching people off guard with his pillar. If you use your Q as an attack reset your damage output becomes massive and you can take a tower from full HP in just 1 minion wave after your BORK. So if your lane opponent roams make sure they pay for it with a tower or at least a lot of damage on the tower.

It is best to farm a lot in the early game even if you are against someone you can beat. You Q and your high base damage make it very easy to last hit.

You should not have any mana problems unless you are constantly using your W and you E.

Trundle can very easily bully people out of lane early giving you a lead. You should try and triad with you opponent as often as possible if you think you can beat them.

If you think you will lose trades against your opponent later on or even from the start it is important to try and trade at certain opportunists when they have certain spells on CD. This will naturally make them think that they can't fight you because of your lane confidence. So it might sound strange but you can use psychological warfare to win your lane. However be warned this does not always work.

There are 3 main tactics you can use with trundle in the late game.

1st is to stay up top no matter what and split push. This is most effective if you have a team comp that will avoid team fights. Champions that go well in this comp are people like janna or nami that have strong disengage. If they have a strong team fighting comp then this is probably the best tactic especially if they do not have TP

2nd is as a tank that sprints the back line of a fight and kill their carries. This is most effective when the enemy team have a fed adc or mid laner that is carrying their team. If this is the case you should try and use your ulti on their biggest tank so you gain 40% of their armour and MR and then try and get to the back line with your W. However if possible you should still be inside your W when fighting because this will give you increased sustain and damage output.

3rd is as a protector. This is the opposite of the 2nd tactic. If your carries can carry the fight then you should stop their bruisers, tanks and assassins getting to them. The best way of doing this is to use the ulti on them so that your carries can do more damage to them due to their reduced armour and MR and then start spamming your Q on them to slow them. Your pillar is also an extremely strong tool in this type of fight but if used badly can cost your team the fight.