Trundle/Strategy

Skill usage

 * allows to jungle effectively as well as keep a sustained presence in lane.
 * has a range of 1400 and allows to heal from enemy minion waves as they die even if you can't last-hit them.
 * The heal from also helps in a team fight. As enemies around  die, he is healed. Although the heal per enemy is not that much, it does stack up nicely.
 * Bear in mind that will also trigger on  and the, each providing him with a significant boost of health; 's death can possibly heal  from under half HP to nearly full late game.
 * resets the attack timer. Land a basic attack,, and then land another basic attack for a potent harass in a lane matchup. Remember that it also has a slight range and can be used to lunge towards an enemy if they are outside of his autoattack range.
 * is good for shutting down the attack damage-based carries on the enemy team. When facing multiple melee enemies you may want to bite each one every 8 seconds to keep the AD debuff active.
 * It can also be used to pop the opposing tank's before using your.
 * Early game, can easily outdamage DPS champions in terms of attack damage with his.
 * excels at fighting within his . Try to draw enemies onto it.
 * If you are having trouble escaping or chasing champions, gives you bonus movement speed so you can drop it out in front to help chase fleeing enemies or speed your escape.
 * Since has a wide radius and fairly short cooldown, you can use the movement speed it grants to move quickly from pack to pack in the jungle by dropping it in the proper location.
 * Spamming will allow you to reach your destination much faster but know that  has a very limited mana pool and spamming will surely deplete it.
 * should always be used when attacking a tower for the attack speed increase. Place it so that most of the affected area is behind you so that you can quickly run away from an approaching champion.
 * also increases incoming healing by 20%. Use it before to increase the healing it does for you.
 * is his signature strength and has many various uses.
 * may not be big enough to block off a lane or a passage in the jungle, but if used effectively, a can make other champions have to walk around it in order to get to you, giving  time to escape or to chase.
 * A good tactic to keep people on is to plant a  on the escaping champion which will then push them backwards if placed correctly, allowing  to get in range to attack.
 * can move any player if placed close to him. It can now cancel any channeling spell that requires to stand still like, , or even.
 * has a large sight radius and is very effective to check the brush and slow any potential sneaky gankers.
 * can be used defensively or offensively near towers. Defensively, underneath your own tower, place the pillar slightly away from your tower when it is being attacked. The enemy will have to brave the slow, a, and possible tower shot (if they retaliate), just to hit your tower. Offensively, underneath an enemy tower, place the pillar next to their tower when attacking it and they will have trouble chasing you away without being slowed. Be careful when using this under an enemy tower, because it draws turret aggro when an enemy champion touches it.
 * Dropping to separate the enemy team offers some of the best counter initiation as well as initiation in the game. If you find an enemy out of position, a well-placed  can block off his or her escape, if somehow that enemy doesn't have Flash, as well as keeping enemy reinforcements from entering the battle. Understanding when to use  for either purpose is important, as once it's gone, it's gone forever.  can also save a teammate from focus by preventing enemies from crossing the terrain or once an enemy has initiated on a teammate,  can block reinforcements from entering battle for a while, giving your team a little 5 on 1 quiet time with the initiator alone. Combining this tactic with  can quickly dispatch an enemy, making the team fight effectively a 5 v 4.
 * Creating new impassable terrain over a champion (whether it is a friendly or enemy player) forcibly knocks him out of any dash animation. This means that, if timed correctly, it can block enemy champions trying to escape (e.g. ],, , etc.) or enemy initiations, even unstoppable ultimates (like , , or ). It can even save allies, by blocking their path, as they are displaced by enemy abilities (e.g.  or ).
 * Because enemies usually haven't built much armor or magic resistance early in the game, does not offer him much survivability. Its main use early is for the magic damage, the additional health, and for lowering the enemy's resistances to make  hurt a little more (and 's teammates if they attack the correct enemy).
 * Use to soften a powerful enemy tank for your own survivability or to create a target for your team to focus fire. Sometimes, it may be better to  a squishy target as once they die,  will be healed by.
 * When an early team fight breaks out, use on the squishiest targets, like whomever is doing more damage between the ranged attack damage carry or ability power carry.
 * enables him to effectively become a tanky DPS even without building many tank items.

Build usage
's high base damage and potent dueling due to his and  allow him to be a damage threat throughout the early and mid game. However, due to his short range with no gap closers and complete reliance on basic attacks to do damage, becomes very item dependent to be able to survive on the front lines and not get kited if he wants to do damage. When itemizing in general, value attack damage, attack speed, lifesteal, cooldown reduction, health, and resistances. Tenacity and/or some movement speed items are also very helpful.


 * Damage
 * When jungling, getting gives  the mid-game damage that he needs to stay relevant in terms of damage. This is especially good if you won the early game and aren't worried about any major sources of damage on the enemy team.   is also an option when looking for on-hit damage.
 * is a core item for Trundle and should be built on him in almost every game. The life steal, health shred passive, attack speed, small chunk of AD and especially the active to prevent kiting makes this item almost too good to pass up.
 * Prioritize using the active on ranged champions, especially the ADCs. Throughout most of the mid game, can duel most ADCs in a 1v1 provided he doesn't get kited back and they aren't far ahead. Using the active helps him get close so he can lay down his damage.
 * is good for as it gives a lot of stats for cheap. The cooldown reduction is good because  relies on his abilities to amplify his damage in the mid game. Attack damage, critical strike, and armor penetration make his basic attacks hurt, especially when combined with  . The active will increase his attack speed and the movement speed helps him not get kited.
 * is a very valuable buy for as it provides stats in almost every area.
 * A gives him a movement speed buff in addition to his.
 * The gives him a movement speed steroid that synergizes with his.
 * works especially well with and  as it will both activate and consume the proc to deal increased damage. This can allow  to last hit minions more effectively and take down targets easily.
 * is also worth looking at because the spellblade slow allows him to keep people close to him. The armor, CDR, and mana don't hurt either, and the AP gives more damage.
 * is another great, but somewhat situational, item on . The passive effect gives him the area damage he lacks so he can clear waves. The high AD it gives also allows him to take towers with ease and duel people with the active and high lifesteal that it provides.
 * The one downside to this item is that it doesn't help  with getting kited, whereas the  and  are quite good in this regard.


 * Cooldown Reduction
 * is a great cooldown reduction item that helps armor scaling problem when you are fighting an enemy team generally AD.
 * Consider purchasing a as a tanky DPS. Although it's mainly an item for cooldown reduction on, the other stats are also useful, health for survivability and a helpful life steal and attack damage aura.
 * works very well in conjunction with, because they increase your self-healing of and  additionally giving cooldown reduction, health and magic resist when you are fighting an enemy team that's mostly AP. This is still a good option regardless of the enemy team just because of the increased healing alone.
 * When playing Trundle as a support, doesn't offer a lot of stats that  desires. However, it is still a good choice because an early  can help with  early mana issues while the health regeneration stacks with his 's healing for great sustain.


 * Defense
 * Purchasing an early  provides some durability and resistances and helps the team. It can be later upgraded into a  Locket of the Iron Solari.
 * A  is a good option if you want both health and some extra damage. It's useful for  as it keeps the enemy on the AoE of  Frozen Domain.
 * can serve as 's primary armor item. The movement speed slow keeps anyone that chooses to fight  on his   area of effect and helps him avoid being kited, the attack speed slow and  Chomp helps them do less damage, and the active, especially when paired with   for a longer duration, can be devastating for enemies in a team fight.
 * provides a lot of health, health regen, and magic resist. The shield is also very valuable for blocking CC spells that would otherwise stop you in your tracks.
 * A is a great buy on . It gives him both good health and armor for the price and the magic damage passive allows him to push waves quickly and win trades with other champions. Not to mention he can make the burn more effective when using   on someone to shred their magic resist.
 * While somewhat situational, a is definitely worth looking at for . It gives him tons of armor and the damage reflect helps him in his anti-AD role. Like the, he can even increase the damage the return does with   to boost its effectiveness.
 * Both the and the   are desirable because it allows  to vary his damage output. WIth the high AD output of his attacks combined with the magic damage of these two items, he can become a somewhat hybrid champion who can duel almost anyone he can get his hands on.

Jungling

 * While is a good beginner's jungler due to his high sustain, early damage and lack of reliance of runes/masteries, several junglers generally outclass him and many would rate him as a better top laner. That's not to say  is a poor jungler; his counterganks, skirmishing, good tower pushing and counterjungling all make him a viable pick.
 * Starting items:, x4, and a warding totem.
 * Skill progression: →  →  or  →  →  (If support jungle build)
 * Recommended Runes: Armor Penetration Marks, Armor Seals, Personal Preference Glyphs, Attack Damage Quintessences
 * Jungling order: If building as the tank Gromp(Smite) → Blue Sentinel → Murkwolves → Red Brambleback → Krug (Smite) or Krug (Smite) → Red Brambleback → Murkwolves → Blue Sentinel → Gromp if you plan to be a damage dealer.
 * 's strengths in the jungle are his sustain with and his ability to invade the enemy jungle as he can duel most AD champions favorably with his  and he easily escape with  and.
 * is not mana dependent since most of his clear damage comes from basic attacks, so he can easily give up his blue buff for his mid laner after his first clear. Constantly spamming  will quickly deplete your mana however if you don't have blue, so only use it after its attack damage buff wears off.
 * can gank at level 2 (really just showing his face to make them waste ) but he needs all of his abilities ( and are critical so level 3 at the earliest) in order to gank effectively so he is pretty much stuck in his jungle route, no shortcuts should be taken.
 * When clearing the jungle, place your in a way that nobody in the lanes will see it. Place it behind you so you can also run to the next camp after clearing one. An example around this is the razorbeak camp; centering it on you may have the field bleed into mid lane, alerting the enemy that you're there.
 * is able to solo as early as level 6 with a  and a few s. Care must be taken, as  is favorable to help kill  but may also alert enemies to your presence. Some mana regeneration like s are optional.

Runes and Masteries

 * can use either defensive masteries (9/21/0) or offensive masteries (21/9/0), depending on player's personal preference.
 * General Runes: Attack Damage/Armor Penetration Marks and Quintessences, Armor Seals, Magic Resist Glyphs
 * Jungling Runes: 6 Armor Penetration Marks (9.96 Armor Penetration), 3 Attack Damage Marks (2.85 Attack Damage), 9 Armor Seals (12.69 Armor), 9 Choice Glyphs, 3 Attack Damage Quintessences (6.75 Attack Damage)

Countering

 * Avoid battling near minions. If a minion is killed,  will regain health due to his . This can sometimes turn a battle to his favor. Be aware that he has exceptional health regeneration along with his  to easily sustain himself and recover from most harass in a laning situation.
 * excels at fighting inside his AoE. Moving away from the spell's AoE can help you 1v1 him.
 * can block your way of escape and slow your movement speed. Therefore, it is best to avoid the spell's AoE or use to quickly go over it.
 * Top laners with ranged capacity (such as or ) will have good effect against Trundle if he attempts to push or attack.
 * Avoid a head-on fight with early-game in most cases. His early-game damage is high, and his  can reduce your own ability to retaliate. Try to focus on ranged harass and wearing him down as  has fewer options to retaliate than he would against melee attackers.
 * If uses his  on you, it is best to avoid him and wait until the debuff is over because  can melt even the toughest tank, or allow  to dive into your team and survive strictly attacking your squishy damage-dealers with the rest of his team helping him even with your best attempts to focus him down. As it is a large part of  durability which is necessary for him functioning in teamfights, using escapes to avoid letting him take advantage of  bonuses can leave him much more vulnerable while it is cooling down.
 * Trundle is always at least a decent duelist. Treat him the same way you would a, , a fed , etc. It is heavily recommend to avoid 1v1s with him at any time past level 3. During mid and late game, it is usually recommended to bring overwhelming damage (think having 2 more people on your side for any fights, so 3v1, 4v2, 5v3) or ridiculous amounts of CC (think AND ).