This guide will show you the strengths and weaknesses of Trundle, a beefy troll that resolves his issues by beating it into his oppontents. If there is anything missing, or if you have a suggestion, make sure to comment them down below (Thank you).

Traits:Tank, Bruiser, Fighter, Melee, Support. Common roles: Toplane, Jungle, support Summary: Trundle has for the most time been a hidden gem that shines but only in specific ways. He was commonly seen when tank toplaners were very common as he shines mostly against tankier champions. His kit focuses around stealing stats from enemy champions, slowing them and speeding himself up. He has a pretty straightforward kit that is easy to pick up. He has been played as support in the past but this guide will focus on his jungle and toplane potential.

Pros Tanky Kit includes crowd control Can deal good amounts of damage Straight forward kit Can deny certain enemy skills Decent mobility

Cons No dash, leap. Difficult engage potential. Weaker when there is no enemy tank present. No ranged spells (aside ultimate). Relies somewhat on mana. Slow has a high cooldown.

FAQ
/// This section still has no questions ///

Updates

• 31/12/2019 : Created the base guide, added basic sections and did the art for the guide.
• 02/01/2020 : Published the first version of the guide.
• 09/08/2020 : Reviewed the guide for update.

Conqueror Trundle is one of those champions that is good at longer trades, he wants to beat up tanks if possible too. Therefore Conqueror lets him heal up and survive those battles even better. The other option that is also commonly used is Press the Attack. Both options work well because Trundle can reset his auto attack with his Q, therefore making it easy to get a second stack on either of the runes.

Triumph Triumph will help you survive certain fights, especially when facing multiple targets. Upon killing enemies your passive will also heal you, therefore you'll get an extra boost to it and potentially survive some leftover DoT or be able to go to the next enemy. Going Overheal is also possible, especially if your build contains life steal.

Legend: Alacrity In this scenario all three options are viable, it comes more down to what you want to gain passively. You can buy extra attack speed or life steal too. Usually to enhance your clear and not having to add an attack speed item to your jungle build, you go for Legend: Alacrity. But it is possible to go the other two, if in need of tenacity cause they have a lot of cc or if you want to build more life steal.

Coup de grace Overall Coup de Grace is better than Last Stand although it can be swapped out considering trundle has some good healing options and usually wants to be in longer trades.

Sorcery The secondary trees change depending on your lane, as a Jungler you usually wanna go for Sorcery as it grants Celerity and Waterwalking to boost your map pressence. On toplane you don't need those so it is preferable to go for Resolve and use Revitalize (For your passive) and Bone Plating.

Stats

Flash: Flash is one of the most common summoners picked by any champion and Trundle is no exception, it allows you to either engage or disengage on enemies considering he lacks a dash or other engage tool. Although Ghost would be viable on Trundle it is usually not recommended since Flash allows for more counterplay, for example to avoid crowd control skillshots like hooks. Hooks however can be avoided by using your pillar, more in its ability description.

Smite: As a jungler this is a must have, as smite helps you clear your jungle camps and also allows you to smite enemies. Trundle can choose either of the two available jungle items as he can make use of both the on-hit effect plus the reduced damage on enemies but also the slowing effect of the other smite to get closer.

Teleport: When playing Toplane Teleport is the more viable option, it lets you get into lane quicker but also help your team with objectives or even potential ganks. It could be swapped out for Ignite if your enemy laner has a lot of healing or Ghost if you want to be able to stick even closer to the enemy champion.

Don't stop me now

As mentioned before, Trundle's main issue is getting to where he needs to be, smashing enemies. Therefore it can be quite frustrating when enemies deny your engage or gank by stopping you in your tracks, pushing you back or just stunning you. Therefore it is notable to try and avoid them if they can be avoided or just wait till they were used. Otherwise you'll have to rely on your teammates to do the work and just absorb the damage and use your pillar if possible beforehand.

Your stats? My stats.

Trundle's ultimate is a very strong fighting tool, the change between fighting with or without it is very noticable. He not only does damage to their maximum HP but also steals their part of their armor and magic resist. This makes it extra effective against tankier champions and it can be used just to make a tank useless and gain his stats while you fight someone else. When playing Trundle try and always focus a tankier champion with your ultimate.

The following matchups are considering the champion itself, the matchup of course changes depending if you are a jungler or laner hence why it will give an overall description of what to avoid and do when fighting these champions, which can apply as both a laner or jungler.

Aatrox

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Medium Try to win early on. Don't get hit by The Darkin Blade.

Akali

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Hard Lock her down when you can. Over chasing.

Darius

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Hard Lock him down, kill him fast. Don't get stacks on you.

Fiora

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Hard Outnumber her or be ahead. Don't underestimate her.

Garen

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Easy Wait till level 6 if needed. Don't get ahead of yourself.

Irelia

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Medium Get ahead somehow. Avoid her resets.

Jax

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Medium Try and deny him earlier on. Be careful of his auto attack avoid and also his scaling.

Mordekaiser

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Medium Don't be too afraid. Getting hit by his combo.

Nasus

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Medium Ult him when he ults if possible. Deny him from stacking.

Riven

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Hard Don't let her snowball Beware of her level 6 powerspike.

Teemo

Difficulty Advice Avoid

: : :

Hard Don't change your mind halfway through. Getting poked/slowed too much.

King's Tribute
A very straightforward passive, enemies units that die around you give you %Max HP healing. This becomes very effective when clearing minion waves or jungle camps. Giving you good sustain in both lane and jungle.

Chomp
The main thing you will use for most of the game, Chomp does extra damage on your next basic attack and grants Trundle extra Attack damage for a few seconds, half of the extra AD granted is taken away from the enemy you hit.

This is very good against AD based champions as it will most likely help you fight them head on, making them part of their damage and granting you extra damage against them. This can be very effective early on considering everyone still has their base stats.


Frozen Domain
Trundle lays down an area on the ground that allows him to move and attack faster but also (which is lesser known) increased healing from all sources. This of course means that when fighting an enemy it is vital to put this down whenever you can but also to put it in the correct position that allows you to keep fighting in the area.

The area is quite big and lasts for 8 seconds, the cooldown is a bit higher so make sure to use it well.


Pillar of Ice
Trundle's main engaging tool, a pillar of ice as the name suggests. This pillar pops up from the ground and will knock up or back enemies hit directly by it, on top of that it will have a slow enemies that move around it. The pillar acts like terrain (Walls or structures), meaning that it works just as such, it can only be passed through by those abilities that let you jump walls. Abilities that have special effects when hit against terrain also apply ( Vayne's E, Qiyana R, Poppy E,...).

There are certain tricks to this ability too, it is possible to push enemies against other terrain with the pillar making them get stuck between both, which is difficult to do as the pillar is on the smaller side, but it is possible. Also the pillar can deny certain abilities, for example Blitzcrank's hook, it will interrupt the pulling effect if cast on an ally while they are just about to get moved by it. This also means that other dashes, jumps, channeling effects or abilities that include movement can be interrupted by it, most likely because of the slight knockup effect, which can even affect allies.

This ability has a higher cooldown, so use it when needed, place it correctly in fights as missplacement can cost you the fight.


Subjugate
A really good ability that helps Trundle fight people head on. It steals enemy champion stats and applies them to himself. These stats include %Max HP, Magic Resist and Armor. Making this ability a very good tool to fight tanks, making them lose their stats and giving them to yourself.

Considering that the effect works with percentages, it works better on enemies that have tankier stats than on units like marksman who are usually squishier. This means that in teamfights you always want to use it on the tankiest enemy, even if you won't be focusing that champion. This is due to the stealing effect, you'll still get their stats so the fight will be easier for you for a few seconds, although it if used to its full potential it will make heavy tanks feel a lot easier to deal with for both you and your teammates.

This skill sequence is for Trundle as a jungler, if you decide to lane with him (Top) the only change would be leveling Chomp first at lvl 1 and then Frozen Domain at lvl 2, the rest remains the same.

Doran's Shield The most common starting item as a toplane tank. Especially good in matchups where you'll get poked often. Either go this or Doran's Blade.

Hunter's machete The common choice as an AD jungler. Can't really play jungle without it, it grants bonus experience from jungle camps and damage against them.

Titanic Hydra A good offensive item for Trundle, considering that he scales well HP wise, it helps with both wave and jungle clears. Provides good damage throughout the game too. It can be swapped out for Ravenous Hydra if you want to focus on lifesteal more than tankyness.

Sunfire Cape A good armor based item, it helps with waveclear, as a jungler the [[Stalker's Blade - Cinderhulk] would be the choice instead. Although if you want to build something more AD focused perhaps other items should be considered.

Spirit Visage One of the best items on Trundle it greatly increases his sustain and healing effects, especially when combined with his Frozen Domain. This will apply to both his passive and potentially life steal items too.

Warmog's Armor Not the most needed item, but it helps quite a bit in prolonged fights with breaks, pushing down enemy lanes after winning fights and mostly it boasts a nice health pool to scale Titanic Hydra or just grant scale with your Armor and MR items. It could be swapped out for Randuin's Omen if the enemy team has critical hit damage.

Thornmail This item can be a must or a swap it for something better. If the enemy has more Critical Hit damage but barely any healing then swap this out for Randuin's Omen instead of Swapping Warmog's Armor for it. Therefore this item becomes most useful against those that have a lot of Attack speed/Life steal, since it denies healing and scales well if the attacks are weaker but more often.

Mercury's Treads As is obvious, depending on your needs, you'll pick between these or Ninja Tabi . In case you don't know, Mercury's Treads are better against mages and more Crowd Control, and its counterpart against Attack Damage dealers.

Wit's End This item is not in the regular build, and it is also not the best item. But it is worth mentioning as it can be useful and fun to use, especially in lanes against mages. The healing and Attack speed benefit Trundle well, and the added bonus damage on his auto attacks can be quite devestating. But keep in mind that it is a situational pick.

Sterak's Gage A good item when building a bit more damage focused, especially in combination with Trinity Force. It will help you be a bit more tanky but also provide extra damage.

Dead man's plate Just a good overall item for Trundle, helps you get onto targets and once on them do extra damage and keep them in place. Grants both armor and health which are good stats for Trundle as a tankier champion but it could be used in a more damage focused build too, as you still probably want to buy some defensive items either way.

Trinity force A very good item when building a more damaged focused build, it includes Sheen which works well with Chomp adding extra damage on hit, Phage allows you to stay on your target and the bonus attack speed and CDR are always welcome too. It is expensive which is a downside but it will boost your overall stats quite a lot.

Honorable Mentions Of course as seen above, there are quite some more items there that I highlighted as possible choices. Here I'll talk a bit over how these items can be helpful. Zeke's Convergence: Good in situations where you want to support a certain member a bit more, helps to stay on enemies too. Turbo Chemtank: A useful item if you need to engage enemies who might be more troublesome to reach. Locket of the Iron Solari: Similar to Zeke's Convergence, useful for your team.

As ToplaneWhen laning as Trundle you want to make sure your mana stays healthy, don't spam Chomp too often as it will slowly drain it. Take into consideration who you are against, usually if they are AD focused you can beat them early on, as you steal their stats and will usually do more damage. You also have lane sustain with your passive. As a JunglerYour jungle clear is pretty good, you can take out most camps without struggling as you also heal after doing them. Raptors might be a bit more difficult early on because of the lack of AoE but the healing when killing them makes up for it. To gank you will need your Pillar of Ice in combination with Frozen Domain as it will help you greatly push and lock down enemies.

The troll police is hereWhen the game flow starts changing you can take two paths and they depend on your role, as a toplane or even jungler you can push waves and objectives, Trundle does quite a lot of damage to towers because of his attack speed and Chomp. Although he can become very good at fighting enemies too. As a jungler your choice will probably be to pick fights to control objectives like Herald and Dragon, which as a toplaner can be done if Teleport is available. All in all, you will be a lot stronger around this point, make good use of it and help your team get ahead. As a tank you want to be that wall that pressures their weaker units or even takes their tank head on and as a damage dealer you want to get in their backline and pull it apart.

Fight enemies or buildingsYour overal strategy on Trundle doesn't change much past the mid game. You either decide to take on fights with your team, in which you usually want to Subjugate the tank and then focus the key targets, or potentially catch people out with your Pillar of Ice. The other option is to get control over objectives, once you get a pick or win a fight, help your team tank and do the big objectives (Towers, Dragons and Baron). Lastly the final option, when your team cannot win fights or if you want to apply extra pressure on the enemy, push as trundle in a sidelane, he can take down structures pretty fast and usually wins a 1vs1 fight with Subjugate. Although as a jungler this can be difficult as you need to control baron and dragons, but in between spawn times this could be done.