Trundle/Strategy

		"Some things must remain buried." Strategy is highly subjective and may become outdated without any notice. Because of this, the League of Legends Wiki has decided to retire strategy pages and would recommend using other platforms (such as YouTube) to find guides. For more information visit this thread. This page continues to exist for archive purposes.

Champion Spotlight

By David 'Phreak' Turley

In this edition of the Champion Spotlight, you’ll learn how to trounce your victims and own the jungle as Trundle, the Troll King.

The sustain from King's Tribute and Frozen Domain keep Trundle’s health topped off as he quickly tears through the jungle. By keeping his health high, Trundle’s ready to seize an opportunity to gank, pressure lanes or counter-jungle. A clutch Pillar of Ice can block enemies’ escapes routes, slow down stragglers and disrupt positioning in team fights. And when enemy champions get a little too tanky, Subjugate allows Trundle to steal valuable defensive stats from his target, reducing a scary threat into a tasty troll snack.

Check out the video for tips, tricks, and sample runes and masteries when playing as Trundle.

Recommended Items

Summoner's Rift
Starting
Early
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Summoner's Rift (Jungler)
Starting	3
Early
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Twisted Treeline
Starting	2
Early
Essential
Defensive
Situational
Consumables

Twisted Treeline (Jungler)
Starting
Early
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Howling Abyss
Starting	3
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Tips

Playing As Trundle

• Trundle excels at fighting within his Frozen Domain. Try to draw enemies onto it.
• Use Subjugate to soften a powerful enemy tank or to create a target for your team to focus fire.
• Chomp is good for lowering the physical damage of enemies; try to focus it on enemy physical damage dealers.

Playing Against Trundle

• Trundle is very powerful at location-based combat. Try to draw him off of his Frozen Domain.
• Make sure to get out of his Trundle's Pillar of Ice as quickly as possible, as it significantly slows you down.

Tricks

Ability Usage

• King's Tribute allows Trundle to jungle effectively as well as keep a sustained presence in lane.
  • King's Tribute has a range of 1400 and allows Trundle to heal from enemy minion waves as they die even if you can't last-hit them.
  • The heal from King's Tribute also helps in a team fight. As enemies around Trundle die, he is healed. Although the heal per enemy is not that much, it does stack up nicely.
  • Bear in mind that King's Tribute will also trigger on Baron Nashor and the Dragon, each providing him with a significant boost of health; Baron Nashor's death can possibly heal Trundle from under half HP to nearly full late game.
• Chomp resets the attack timer. Land a basic attack, Chomp, 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.
• Chomp 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 Banshee's Veil before using your Subjugate.
  • Early game, Trundle can easily outdamage DPS champions in terms of attack damage with his Chomp.
• Trundle excels at fighting within his Frozen Domain. Try to draw enemies onto it.
  • If you are having trouble escaping or chasing champions, Frozen Domain gives you bonus movement speed so you can drop it out in front to help chase fleeing enemies or speed your escape.
  • Since Frozen Domain 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 Frozen Domain will allow you to reach your destination much faster but know that Trundle has a very limited mana pool and spamming will surely deplete it.
  • Frozen Domain 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.
  • Frozen Domain also increases incoming healing by 20%. Use it before Subjugate to increase the healing it does for you.
• Trundle's Pillar of Ice is his signature strength and has many various uses.
  • Pillar of Ice may not be big enough to block off a lane or a passage in the jungle, but if used effectively, a Trundle can make other champions have to walk around it in order to get to you, giving Trundle time to escape or to chase.
  • A good tactic to keep people on Frozen Domain is to plant a Pillar of Ice on the escaping champion which will then push them backwards if placed correctly, allowing Trundle to get in range to attack.
  • Pillar of Ice can move any player if placed close to him. It can now cancel any channeling spell that requires to stand still like Nether Grasp, Infinite Duress, Death Lotus or even Recall.
  • Pillar of Ice has a large sight radius and is very effective to check the brush and slow any potential sneaky gankers.
  • Pillar of Ice 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 Chomp, 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 Trundle's Pillar of Ice 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 Pillar of Ice 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 Pillar of Ice for either purpose is important, as once it's gone, it's gone forever. Pillar of Ice can also save a teammate from focus by preventing enemies from crossing the terrain or once an enemy has initiated on a teammate, Pillar of Ice can block reinforcements from entering battle for a while, giving your team a little 5v1 quiet time with the initiator alone. Combining this tactic with Trundle's Subjugate can quickly dispatch an enemy, making the team fight effectively a 5v4.
  • 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. Tristana's Rocket Jump, Jax's Leap Strike, Vi's Vault Breaker, etc.) or enemy initiations, even unstoppable ultimates (like Malphite's Unstoppable Force, Vi's Assault and Battery, or Nocturne's Paranoia). It can even save allies, by blocking their path, as they are displaced by enemy abilities (e.g. Gragas' Explosive Cask or Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab).
• Because enemies usually haven't built much armor or magic resistance early in the game, Trundle's Subjugate 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 Trundle hurt a little more (and Trundle's teammates if they attack the correct enemy).
• Use Subjugate 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 Subjugate a squishy target as once they die, Trundle will be healed by King's Tribute.
• When an early team fight breaks out, use Subjugate on the squishiest targets, like whomever is doing more damage between the ranged attack damage carry or ability power carry.
• Trundle's Subjugate enables him to effectively become a tanky DPS even without building many tank items.
• Trundle's strengths in the jungle are his sustain with King's Tribute and his ability to invade the enemy jungle as he can duel most AD champions favorably with his Chomp and he easily escapes with Frozen Domain and Pillar of Ice.
  • Trundle 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. However, constantly spamming Chomp will quickly deplete your mana if you don't have blue buff, so only use it after Chomp's attack damage buff wears off.
  • Trundle can gank at level 2 (really just showing his face to make them waste Flash) but he needs all of his abilities ( Frozen Domain and Pillar of Ice 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 Frozen Domain 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.
  • Trundle is able to solo Dragon as early as level 6 with a Vampiric Scepter and a few Health Potions. Care must be taken, as Frozen Domain is favorable to help kill Dragon but may also alert enemies to your presence.

Mastery Usage

• Trundle is really flexible in a team comp and he can be played in top and jungle.
  • If you decide to take  Trundle in the top lane, you will pretty much every time want to take Grasp of the Undying, even if you face a ranged champion. The reasoning why, is because the Resolve tree offers great runes that he can utilize properly.
    • Trundle loves to trade 1v1 against the enemy laner and as a result you get many  Grasp of the Undying procs.
      • Chomp also procs  Grasp of the Undying because it applies on-hit.
  • You almost always want to take  Demolish as your Tier 3 rune, because  Trundle is played more as a split-pusher.
    • In V7.13, Riot Games reintroduced  Chomp to work on turrets after previously removing this mechanic in V6.1.
      • Using  Demolish +  Chomp +  Sheen's/ Trinity Force's/ Iceborn Gauntlet's Spellblade passive all at the same time, you could deal upwards of ~800 damage to turrets.
  • Use  Revitalize, since it increases your healing power.
  • Precision secondary is really good on Trundle top because it naturally gives you bonus attack speed which works with your kit.
    • All three of the Legend runes are great on  Trundle.
      • Legend: Alacrity can be taken if you want to build up more attack speed throughout the game as it helps with your trading and split-push pressure.
      • Trundle is a Juggernaut and therefore he can be kited by an enemy team with lots of CC.  Legend: Tenacity can be taken if you feel like you will be kited and you won't be able to do your job.
        • Legend: Tenacity gives you added tenacity throughout the entire game.
        • Legend: Tenacity stacks with other sources of tenacity from runes and/or items.
      • You can also take  Legend: Bloodline if you decide because it gives you free lifesteal.
        • It synergizes perfectly with your other lifesteal items, Spirit Visage,  Revitalize and  Frozen Domain for unmatched healing.
  • If you decide to take  Trundle in the jungle, you will need to take more combat based rune options even if you decide to build full tank because you need to be a damage threat early and need to clear camps fast to not fall behind.
    • You pretty much every game in the jungle want to take  Press the Attack because of the fact it gives you some extra damage and it is also a team utility keystone with the exposed passive.
      • Exposed champions take 8% - 12% (based on level) increased damage from all subsequent sources (except from true damage) for 6 seconds. 
  • Again talking about the Legend runes, you should decide to take which Legend rune will benefit you in the early game and throughout the entire game.

Item Usage

• Trundle's high base damage and potent dueling due to his Chomp and Frozen Domain 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, Trundle 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.
  • When jungling, getting Warrior gives Trundle 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. Cinderhulk is also an option when you are looking to be a super-tank in the front lane, and want to play as a disrupter.
• Trinity Force is the main item you should look to get on  Trundle as it provides stats in almost every area.
  • A Stinger gives him extra attack-speed which synergizes with his Frozen Domain.
  • The Phage gives him a movement speed steroid that synergizes with his Frozen Domain.
  • Chomp works especially well with Sheen and Trinity Force as it will both activate and consume the proc to deal increased damage. This can allow Trundle to last hit minions more effectively and take down targets easily.
• Blade of the Ruined King is a core item for Trundle. 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, Trundle 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.
• Iceborn Gauntlet 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.
• Ravenous Hydra is another great, but somewhat situational, item on Trundle. Cleave 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 Trundle with getting kited, whereas Blade of the Ruined King is quite good in this regard.
• Frozen Heart is a great cooldown reduction item that helps Trundle's armor scaling problem when you are fighting an enemy team generally AD.
• Spirit Visage works very well in conjunction with Frozen Domain, because they increase your self-healing of King's Tribute and Subjugate additionally giving cooldown reduction, health and magic resistance 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.
• A  Frozen Mallet is a good option if you want both health and some extra damage. It's useful for  Trundle as it keeps the enemy on the AoE of  Frozen Domain.
• Randuin's Omen can serve as  Trundle's primary armor item. The movement speed slow keeps anyone that chooses to fight  Trundle on his   Frozen Domain 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   Subjugate for a longer duration, can be devastating for enemies in a team fight.
• Adaptive Helm provides a lot of health, health regen, magic resist and CDR. The passive is also really good against DOT magic damage.
• A Sunfire Cape is a great buy on Trundle. 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 Subjugate on someone to shred their magic resist.
• While somewhat situational, a Thornmail is definitely worth looking at for Trundle. It gives him tons of armor and the damage reflect helps him in his anti-AD role. Like the Sunfire Cape, he can even increase the damage the return does with Subjugate to boost its effectiveness.
  • Both the Thornmail and the Sunfire Cape are desirable because it allows Trundle 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.

Countering

• Avoid battling Trundle near minions. If a minion is killed, King's Tribute will heal him. This can sometimes turn a battle to his favor. Be aware that he has exceptional health regeneration along with his King's Tribute to easily sustain himself and recover from most harass in a laning situation.
• Trundle excels at fighting inside his Frozen Domain AoE. Moving away from the spell's AoE can help you 1v1 him.
• Pillar of Ice can block your way of escape and slow your movement speed. Therefore, it is best to avoid the spell's AoE or use Flash to quickly go over it.
• Top laners with ranged capacity (such as Nidalee or Lulu) will have good effect against Trundle if he attempts to push or attack.
• Avoid a head-on fight with Trundle early-game in most cases. His early-game damage is high, and his Chomp can reduce your own ability to retaliate. Try to focus on ranged harass and wearing him down as Trundle has fewer options to retaliate than he would against melee attackers.
• If Trundle uses his Subjugate on you, it is best to avoid him and wait until the debuff is over because Subjugate can melt even the toughest tank, or allow Trundle 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 Trundle's durability which is necessary for him functioning in teamfights, using escapes to avoid letting him take advantage of Subjugate's 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 Jax, Tryndamere, a fed Sion, etc. It is heavily recommend to avoid 1v1 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 excessive amounts of CC (think Sejuani and Leona)