Hello there, and welcome to my solo top trundle guide. It's my first real guide, so please if you do down vote it, give some constructive criticism so i can improve it for everybody! I have been surprised at how well trundle can cope at top lane, and in some situations it can work extremely well. I hope that this guide can help you in some way ^^

Oh, and btw, of course all of this is my personal preference, and you can change all of it if you wish, depending on your play style. Oh, and never build the same items every single game, don't follow the guide religiously.

the defensive tree seems to benefit trundle most since trundle fairly squishy at lvl 1.

I take extra health from the first tree since it is the only points which really mean anything to trundle in the first tier, and allows me to get veteran's scars in tier 3.
the Armour and MR points are no brainers.

Now you have specced enough points into the tree, the defensive tree really benefits trundle. Relentless and tenacious with merc treads and your W makes you almost ungankable, the cc reduction is just rediculous.

The veteran's scars is a valuable addition to your health buffer at lvl 1.
Juggernaut gives you a decent amount of extra health in the late game, preventing you just getting 1 shotted by the ap.

legendary armor gives you some more defensive stats, offering great synergy with your ult, and honor guard is a no-brainer.

see item notes.
I would mostly take , because it makes you almost ungankable due to the HUGE cc reduction with your W and the mastery choices. Amumu doesnt mean anything to you now. Seriously.

But is viable vs huge harrassers like gp/panth etc. but once you get enough lifesteal and some armour, tabi isnt really worth alot,and if i do build it early game, i will usually sell it once teamfights start breaking out and buy treads. unless its a nobrainer and they have no ap.

i would suggest these 3 items as it gives you a mixture of strong survivability as well as damage. GA and maw of malmortius focus on keeping you alive when you are nearly dead, and this is very nice vs fed ap, who can almost 1 shot you. Ensure you only buy GA when you are getting focused hard by the AP consistently. Since you are pretty tanky, it is better if you get focused over your squishy team, and the GA is like a big sign saying "DONT FOCUS ME, I'LL COME BACK". However, if you have built a lot of damage items, GA is a must, since you will be a threat to the enemy team. Spirit Visage when combined with supports such as soraka/sona/nami/janna and your blade of the ruined king give you a lot of bonus health, Especially when champions or baron die around you. Be sure to pick up aegis and then Runic Bulwark as your first late game item if your support hasn't build it, but ensure that you co-ordinate with the support on who builds it, since 2 of them is fairly inefficient.
These items are useful against really bursty fed Ap's who rely on stuns, like Veigar, as it will really screw up their combo. I dont recommend building both though.

These items are imo, the best vs ad heavy teams/teams that rely on attack speed. The combination of randuin's and frozen heart can shut down enemies like tryndemere/jax/teemo/ad carries. Sunfire cape also does pretty nice damage in an aoe around you, and this will help you split push when you have your TP up. Runic bulwark is a really nice aura item, and pick this up if your support hasnt bought it. As I state earlier, ensure your team has not got 2 aura items like frozen heart or runic bulwark, as they dont stack on anybody else except the heroes with the items!


These items are more focused as a supporty/utility trundle. Frozen mallet with Gauntlet will mean nobody will ever escape, and if combined with Shurelya's you become the best chaser in the whole damn game. Build shurelya's if you bought a philo stone early, and build it as your first late game situational. But take care, as this will make you more squishy than usual at this stage. If you have auto attacker ad carries like kog/vayne, as well as other lifesteal based chars like ww/lee sin the way to make them love you is to buy zeke's herald. It is a suprisingly strong item and gives a decent amount of lifesteal to the whole team. If you dont have at least 3 ad on your team though, i would avoid the item.

EDIT: haven't tested new blade of the ruined king

your pillar is an excellent tool for early ganks, and if your jungler tells you that they are ganking top early, by all means take it over contaminate 2nd, if anything it will force them to flash if placed well, since most players will go through the bush, allowing you to either flash over the pillar/walk all the way around it which should net you first blood.

Maxing Q first is crucial, since it is your only form of reliable damage. W second since it helps you a lot in the lane phase, E third as it is the only skill left, and is only that useful in team fights late game.

- this is what makes trundle trundle. Every single thing that dies near you gives you hp back, including champions. This gives you massive sustain, and can even save you when you tower dive that Garen with 4k max hp. This is also what makes him an incredibly sustained jungler. If you do get a bit low in lane, go to golems/wolves depending on what side you are on, and you can get a fair chunk of your life back if you have some lifesteal too. Oh and btw, keep in mind that you will get a ****load of your health back after baron, so you can tank a fair amount of the damage for your team.



- this is your AD stealer, and why i think you dont really need ad runes for early damage. At level 1, it gives you more ad than you get from AD marks and quints on its own. You can also pull off some neat tricks with it, like when playing vs akali, you can unproc her passive early due to the ad debuff, which can help hugely in the early laning trades. It is a decent chasing tool as well, since you move forward slightly when you use it, so you dont lose any ground on them as you use it. Try and ensure that you have it procced on your enemy as much as reasonably possible. (Obviously if you are laning vs a ranged char do not do this =p) It will make it harder for them to last hit, since they dont expect to have less ad than they did a few seconds ago. It is also a helpful last hitting tool, since it resets your swing.

- your anti ganking/chasing tool. This gives you so much cc reduction its not even funny. Together with the treads and masteries, you will not get stunned. If you are getting camped by a jungler like amumu/elise etc. with heavy stuns or snares, it might be worth levelling this up in combination with Q, as it will help you escape much more easily. It gives you a large movement steroid too, which is awesome for chasing with. Be careful when using in the jungle though. The contaminate area becomes like a massive "I'M HERE" sign, so make sure if you are going to use it, as it gives you attack speed to lifesteal faster, that you use it so that it is all on your side of the wall. But if you get caught while its on cd, you are in trouble. Oh hang on, dont you have that other awesome cc ability...

- your ganking tool, which will often force them to flash, or die if their blink/flash is off cd. Correct placement is vital. If you screw up, you just saved them, like anivia's wall. If they are running against the wall, ensure your placement, so that they have to go around the pillar, and cant run between the pillar and the wall, as this makes it difficult to catch them. You can actually trap them in between the wall and the pillar, which is always amusing. Also, dont waste it. if you are chasing an ezreal or somebody with a blink, ensure that you wait if they blink so they cant blink over your pillar. This wall make sure they always burn their flash if they have it up, or die. It is also awesome at helping you escape. put the pillar between you and you pursuer, and you will push them back and you forwards, guaranteeing your escape, unless they can blink after you. It also gives vision, and if necessary can be used to face check that bush if your laner is playing more passive than usual

- your armour/mr stealing/healing skill of awesomeness, and why trundle is viable as an anti tank. See that tasty leona with 250 armour? its yours now, and she is now as squishy as the vayne over there. In Teamfights make sure you use it on the tankiest enemy, unless you see the mvp come close enough to you, then obviously ult them, as it will really help your team burst them down. Also useful if you are about to die, cast it on your enemy and you will heal up a little. Has saved me on numerous occasions.

passive range

It's pretty big actually. This means that if you are getting bullied, you can hang back the same distance as the range on your E, and proc your passive helping you get back to farming faster, even if you are losing the lane.

W placement

Ensure you place it so that you are in the area for as long as possible, so you get the move speed for the longest. When pushing place like so:


this is so that when the laners eventually come back/jungler comes to gank, if you want to try and push down a tower quickly, you still get the benefit of your W, but can still run away like the troll you are.

When you are in the jungle place like this:


This is very important, since if you place your W wrongly, you can point out to other people in the jungle exactly where you are, which becomes increasingly more catastrophic as the game goes on.

E placement

Your pillar placement is also important. When chasing your enemies, do NOT place like this:

Although you will still slow your opponent, you can use it far more effectively, especially when they are against the wall like this:


Because of my placement, it meant ashe had to walk all the way round, which really slowed her down, allowing me to catch up. Also use pillar like this when the opponent is in the bush. Place it in the middle of the bush if the opponent has just entered it, since this will give you the maximum vision of them, and force them all the way around the pillar to go back into the bush, and even if they get back in, you will still have vision due to the pillar.

Warding

"buy a ward,stop a gank, save a life."

do it. Its true. Although you can get away with some crazy **** as trundle, if you get chased by a jarvan with red buff, if you overextend you are probably going to die. So here i show you how i place my wards:

This is the minimum placement if you are on blue side, and you are not pushing. As soon as you start pushing the opponent to the tower, you should place a second ward like this:


This will prevent you being ganked as long as you check the minimap regularly. (Ward placement is opposite on purple side ofc.)If you are always pushed to the opponents tower, i recommend placing the ward in the tri bush first.

If you are being really paranoid about being ganked, place a 3rd ward in the lane bush closest to your tower. (But this isn't really necessary. If you think you are being lured into their bush, throw your pillar down for vision first.)

Teleport

I know this is vs an Ashe bot, but its the same principal - why i take TP

i take , because it allows you to escape over walls, and i dont feel ghost is really necessary due to his W.

I would however, always select with trundle, due to his amazing ganking potential. There is a reason he is often selected in the jungle. Since it is unlikely early game that you will do enough damage to kill your opponent, unless you really wear them down over a long period of time, or you have a high damage ganking jungler such as xin/nocturne/jax it is much more benefitial to use teleport to gank bottom lane. You can add all your cc to help out your support. If possible ask them to ward the lane bush, so you can help them if the opponents tower dive. Plus it allows you to split push safely late game, just get your sup to drop a ward, or TP to a minion when the fight starts, and you can catch the enemy team out by appearing behind them and gettin' up in their shiz.

Other viable options if you want to swap out teleport include:

- a must have vs champions such as mundo/swain or anybody with heavy lifesteal. Also very useful for when that guy got away with 80hp. If you do take ignite, make sure you take the mastery point in the first tier for it.

- also a good choice vs champions such as jax to remove a large portion of his damage in teamfights and useful on high mobility champions too. If you do take exhaust, make sure you take the mastery point in the first tier for it.

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Difficulty pre 6 - easy
Difficulty post 6 - hard

It should be a farm lane tbh, since he will try to be passive until he gets his ultimate, since as usual if jax has farm, whatever his kills are he has a scary late game, perhaps the best in the game. However if he tries to trade with you pre-6 it is likely he will lose due to the ad debuff. Even if he does win, you will heal up faster than he will even if he does have lifesteal. This makes it hard for him to trade with you, however, unless you have got really ahead with some help from the jungler or on your own he should win trades post 6, and will stop you healing up until he pushes to the turret, if possible encourage him to dive you, since diving trundle is never a good idea due to his kit. Make sure you use your ult after he uses his, this will give you a much larger boost in armour and MR, and basically make his ult active useless. Avoid fighting him when his ignite is up, as this will severely cripple your lifesteal. Would recommend treads in this situation, since he has a decent stun and a fair amount of magic dmg.

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difficulty pre 6 - hard
difficulty post 6 - moderate

Although a very rare choice for top lane, it is a difficult matchup. He can also counter your teleport with his, and he has a much lower cd too. However, there is a range limitation, so it is unlikely that he will be able to teleport bot straight after you. The first few levels in lane will result in you getting poked a lot, and taking a lot of harass, and you may need to use teleport so you dont fall behind in cs. The key is once you have treads and a few points in W, you can chase him due to the cc reduction. Every time TF comes to attack you, cast your W down, and chase after him, if necessary using your pillar. (If a jungler has been seen recently near top, DO NOT do this. Your pillar has a long cooldown, and it may be the only thing that can save you if you put down your W.) After a couple of Q buffed AA's, you will have chunked him a fair amount. Run back to the minions and heal up, and you will the trade. But the key is to not let him poke you down so you cant farm, and avoid his skillshots as much as possible. (Btw, ad TF is much more of a problem than AP. The constant AA's will make it impossible for you to farm. If you get in this situation, try helping out your other lanes as much as possible, as it is likely if he is pushing you to the turret, that he will gank mid often. Oh and you cant interrupt his TP either.) Recommend treads, due to the stun and magic dmg.


difficulty pre 6 - hard
difficulty post 6 - moderate-hard

This is a tough lane. She will bully you a LOT. her E will dash through your pillar, and she can catch you in your low level W. Do NOT give an early advantage to her, or you will be in trouble for the rest of the game, she is a very snowbally hero. Tbh, even when you get to late game, unless you got really fed due to your jungler, she has a very strong late game, and her mobility will cause you problems the whole game. When laning you can fight lvl 1, but after that you will struggle. Just turret farm as best as you can, and dont give her any kills. TP bot as much as possible when not using it to stay in lane, and ask for ganks when she pushes to your turret. I suggest tabi for sure, and possibly gp10, as well as plenty of armour. You could even start cloth + 5 pots on this lane.


difficulty pre 6 - hard
difficulty post 6 - REALLY ****ING HARD

Now this is what you would call a counter. Trundle's strengths is his AD debuff, and his armour/MR steal. This is both countered by true dmg, which olaf deals out aplenty. In lane if you go to creeps, you might use your ad debuff on olaf, this makes no difference to the damage he deals with E. Trundles next best thing is his sustain - olaf outsustains him, if he can farm freely. Which he will since you cant go near him due to his E. Trundles final strength is his utility. His pillar is an awesome slow, which works all the time if placed correctly. OH WAIT, olaf ult + ghost, he chase you down and smites you down. Avoid this matchup if possible, like playing jungle instead of top, if you can. If you do get stuck in this matchup, turret hug, and make sure you remain in range of the heals from creeps dying. Dodge axes as much as possible. Build hp items like frozen heart/randuin's omen are the best to build vs olaf.


difficult pre 6 - moderate
difficulty post 6 - moderate to hard

unlimited poke. Its annoying. pre 6 you are fairly even, and your Q decimates his damage. Trades are fairly even, but ask for regular help from jungler at this stage. Zed pushes hard due to his aoe kit. As soon as he uses his shadow thingy, jump on him, since it has a long *** cooldown. Post 6, he can jump on you and kill you fairly easily due to the damage buff from his ult. However, wait much longer and it is only at the REALLY late game he can kill you. lvl 10ish, you cant kill him and he cant kill you since he cant chase you that well through your W once he burns his W/ult. But ends up being a farm lane, and he is a better farmer than you.

the guide is in a bit of a beta stage, and there is a little bit of a lack of content. If i get some feedback, i may continue adding to the build such as more lane opponents, etc. But thank you for reading, and if you get any good results with the build, feel free to link a picture of your score/build in the chat, and i may get a hall of fame going ^^ (this may be unlikely though!) I may also find some good videos to watch as a guide on trundle top.