Hey guys, I'm Etruscian and this is the way I play Trundle. I have played Trundle a lot of games, and I found that I always kind of end with this build (although sometimes the situation requires me to take other items).

I started playing Trundle because I like the way he works. I saw him in a lot of competitive games, and every time he secured a kill with his pillar I thought: I want to do that too. Of course I failed horribly the first few times, but later I was able to do all the things I saw in those videos. Trundle has been my favorite character ever since.

changelog
29-04-2012: created the guide.
01-05-2012: added banshee's veil to items
01-06-2012: Added Guardian angel for extra defense

For the runes I use the following setup.

SPACE

Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed I take these because as an ad jungler, you need some attack speed.

SPACE

Greater Mark of Desolation These provide some good flat armour pen. It gives you more damage to jungle mobs and champs

SC

Greater Seal of Armor These are a must for junglers. You either take these, or you will be killed or behind.

SPACE

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist Some magic resist is always nice, and since the ap carry doesn't do a lot of damage early on, there is no need for flat ones.

This is kind of a no-brainer.


Rabid Bite should be your bread and butter. In teamfights, use it on cooldown and preferably on the ad carry/ad jungler. It also helps to speed up your jungle and gives you a safer one (jungle mobs hit softer and you steal more life on each hit).

The reason why I take 2 points in Pillar of Filth before maxing Contaminate is because in early ganks, it is more favorable to have a better slow than to have a little bit more attack speed. After rank 2, its usefullness starts to get behind on Contaminate, so I max that one then.

In this section, I will discuss my itembuild on Trundle.

I play trundle as a tanky dps. His ult helps a lot on the tanky part, which is the reason of not buying a lot of defensive items. The Wriggle's Lantern and the Mercury's Treads speak for them selves, since the cc reduction from Contaminate stacks with the boots and Wriggle's Lantern is the standard first item for an ad jungler. At this stage, you will have some kills and/or assists. The opposing team will become a real threat right now, so we need to buy some defensive items while not forgetting our damage output. (You don't want to be a wall, you want to be a spiky moving wall with a large club).
The order of Hexdrinker and Phage depends on how well the ad and ap carries of the opposing team are doing.

Hexdrinker you said?? yes, the Hexdrinker is an underestimated item in my opinion. it gives magic resist, which combined with your Mercury's Treads and runes gives you some nice magic resist. It also gives you attack damage. And on top of that all it gives you a magic shield on a 60 second cooldown. The last part is why this item excels. I can't count how many times I have retreated with semi-low health and all of the sudden there is this card from twisted fate who kills me, or that maokai with his saplings, or that ...... you'll know what I mean. or even in teamfights where the ap carry is so scared of you that he decides to focus you. Do you see where I'm going?
Oh yeah, on top of that all, it builds into a Maw of Malmortius.

To get back on the subject: after those items, I have usually already won the game. But if the game isn't decided yet, I build a Frozen Mallet and Maw of Malmortius. Once again, the order depends on what the biggest threat is on the opposing team: Do i need more health to counter that ad carry, or do I need more magic resist for that nasty ap carry?

After that I usually go for a bit more attack damage with Atma's Impaler and attack speed with Phantom Dancer. If the game really lastst long enough, I sell my Wriggle's Lantern for a Bloodthirster.

As you can see, I didn't get a lot of magic resist and armour. (total mr@lvl18: 138, total armour@lvl18: 125). I only got like 3k health. The reason for this is his ult. Agony gives you 25% of your target's armour and mr, and another 25% over 6 seconds. Put this on the opposing tank, and you'll get around 250 of each. and a free 500 health.

TRINITY FORCE
I have considered Trinity Force, but I came to the conclusion it doesn't really fit my playstyle. Don't get me wrong, it IS a great item on trundle. It just doesn't fit anywhere in my buildorder. If I build it after the Phage, I don't get some needed magic resist. If I take it after the Hexdrinker, I lack a lot of health I need because that usually is the point where the opposing team really starts to hurt. The only time I can see myself buying a Trinity Force, is when I'm really fed or if the game goes on really long and I don't feel like buying a Bloodthirster.

BANSHEES VEIL
I also consider Banshee's Veil and it is a viable addition if the enemy ap very annoying late game and Maw of Malmortius isn't enough to survive his first burst. In my opinion, Banshee's Veil is an end game item which should replace Atma's Impaler or Phantom Dancer, depending on if you either don't need more damage output or armor.

GUARDIAN ANGEL
This item would be swapped for Phantom Dancer if you feel like getting that extra defense and you don't need more damage. The stats are decent (combined with your ult, they're awesome), and the passive rocks. Overall, I would say this is a 50/50 with Phantom Dancer, and the one you get depends on how you are doing.

I won't say a lot on the jungle route part, because trundle can start everywhere and gank whenever he gets his pillar. I will however talk a lot about ganking with Trundle, since you've got to do it right. If you don't know what you are doing, you will actually help the opposing team get away. More on that later.

I take the standard jungle route of wolves>blue>wraths>double golems>red>wraths. This gives me a lvl 4 in under 4 minutes. Do ask for a leash on blue and some damage on the wolves. This really helps you a lot.


GANKS

As soon as you want to gank with your Pillar of Filth, remember that it is impassable for both your team as the opposing. This means that if you're ganking and place the pillar less than optimal, you will actually help the opposing team getting away. Or if they have flash and they see a pillar, the first reaction of most players is to flash away. Because of this reason, I use my Pillar of Filth the moment they have used flash, or to cut off their only escape route. This will force them to either flash and it was a succesfull gank, or to walk to my team which also results into a succesfull gank.
I tend to use Pillar of Filth at the last possible moment. Sometimes, I don't even use it at a gank, because I don't need to. It is always nice to have a slow standing by for situations like the solo top teleporting in or the mid didn't call a miss.

Also, think of the times an enemy was just out of range for you and your teammates. Lay down a Contaminate and pop a Pillar of Filth right before them. Guaranteed kill.

If you have made it this far, Congratulations! You now have an idea of how I play Trundle. This doesn't mean it is the way you should play Trundle, but I may have given you some ideas you didn't think of or how to counter him.

Please do keep in mind that this guide is, like the game, never finished. I'll do my best to keep this guide updated and if you have feedback, please say so. I'll give it a try and if it works, I'll write it down here.