Champion Guide

Top · Fighter / Tank

Trundle Guide

The the Troll King

A Tier Patch 16.7.1 Fighter Tank
52.6%
Win Rate
3.8%
Pick Rate
3.4%
Ban Rate
0.4%
vs Last Patch
Trundle
Trundle
Current Tier
A
Role
Top
Difficulty
Easy

Trundle is an anti-tank juggernaut who steals armor, MR, and AD from whoever he bites with Subjugate. The tankier the enemy, the stronger Trundle becomes — he's designed specifically to counter tank compositions.

52.6%
Win Rate
↑ + 0.4% from 16.6.1
3.8%
Pick Rate
↑ + 0.2%
4.8
KDA (Avg)
↑ + 0.1
19.6k
Avg Damage
8.0
Avg CS/min
Skills Build Gameplay Teamfight Tips & Tricks Counters

Abilities

Skills Overview

P
King's Tribute
King's Tribute
Passive
When an enemy unit dies near Trundle, he heals for a percent of its maximum Health.
Q
Chomp
Chomp
Chomp — Enhanced auto that slows the target's attack speed
Trundle bites his opponent, dealing damage, briefly slowing and sapping some of their Attack Damage.
CD: 3.5 · Cost: 20
Q bites slow the enemy's attack speed — use Q on ADCs to make them attack at near-half speed.
W
Frozen Domain
Frozen Domain
Frozen Domain — Creates an ice domain giving Trundle attack speed and regen
Trundle turns target location into his domain, gaining Attack Speed, Move Speed, and increased healing from all sources while on it.
CD: 18/17/16/15/14 · Cost: 40
Always fight inside W domain — the regen and attack speed bonus is significant inside the zone.
E
Pillar of Ice
Pillar of Ice
Pillar of Ice — Creates a pillar that displaces and slows enemies around it
Trundle creates an ice pillar at target location, becoming impassable terrain and slowing all nearby enemy units.
CD: 21/19.5/18/16.5/15 · Cost: 75
Pillar displaces to one side — place it behind the enemy to cut off their escape route.
R
Subjugate
Subjugate
Subjugate — Drain target's armor, MR, and AD/AP — massive stat theft against tanks
Trundle immediately steals a percent of his target's Health, Armor and Magic Resistance. Over the next 4 seconds the amount of Health, Armor, and Magic Resistance stolen is doubled.
CD: 120/100/80 · Cost: 100
R tanks and frontlines, not carries — steal their armor/MR/AD for massive stat advantage.
Skill Leveling Order — Max Q for maximum Chomp damage and attack speed reduction. Then W for domain regen, last E.
Level Q W E R Note
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Itemization

Recommended Builds

Starter
Doran's Blade
Doran's Blade
AD and lifesteal — Q Chomp and W domain attacks heal through lifesteal.
450g
Core
Titanic Hydra
Titanic Hydra
HP scaling and AoE cleave — R Subjugate HP theft amplified by large HP pool.
3300g
Stridebreaker
Stridebreaker
Slow prevents enemies from escaping after E pillar displacement. Attack speed amplifies W domain.
3300g
Sterak's Gage
Sterak's Gage
Shield when burst — Trundle's R fight involves taking burst before stealing their stats.
3100g
Situational
Thornmail
Thornmail
Grievous Wounds vs healing comps. Armor reflects damage to chasers.
2700g
Warmog's Armor
Warmog's Armor
HP pool amplifies R Subjugate stat theft — stealing 30% of a Warmog's tank's stats is massive.
3000g
Spirit Visage
Spirit Visage
MR and healing amp — amplifies W domain regen and any sustain sources.
2900g
HP items are your primary scaling — R Subjugate steals proportional stats. The more HP the enemy tank has, the more effective your stat theft is.
Runes
Precision Primary
Conqueror
Conqueror
Stacks rapidly with Q Chomp autos inside W domain. Full Conqueror healing sustains extended R fights.
Triumph
Triumph
Kill heals during R Subjugate fights — sustain through the stat theft window.
Legend: Alacrity
Legend: Alacrity
Attack speed stacks W domain bonus and Conqueror faster during the R fight window.
Last Stand
Last Stand
Trundle takes damage before R steals their stats — Last Stand amplifies damage in the initial fight burst.
Resolve Secondary
Bone Plating
Bone Plating
Reduces initial burst before R stat theft activates the power swing.
Conditioning
Conditioning
Free armor/MR at 12 minutes — amplifies his durability pre-R stat swing.
Shards
Attack Damage · Armor · Health

Gameplay

How to Play Trundle

Trundle is the easiest anti-tank in the game. R their tankiest champion in every fight — you steal 30-40% of their armor, MR, and AD. The tank becomes temporarily squishier while you become temporarily much tankier. It's a massive stat swing that wins 1v1s.

01
Early Game
Early Phase
  • Q Chomp every trade — the attack speed reduction on the enemy is very strong vs melee champions.
  • Fight inside W domain for regen and attack speed.
  • E pillar behind the enemy to cut off escape.
  • At 6, R for every fight.
02
Mid Game
Mid Phase
  • R their jungle tank (Malphite, Jarvan, Amumu) in skirmishes — the stat theft weakens them while strengthening you.
  • E pillar at objective entrances to cut off escape or engage paths.
03
Late Game
Late Phase
  • In teamfights, R the enemy frontline tank immediately — Malphite, Cho'Gath, or Ornn targeted.
  • The stat theft window lasts 8 seconds — 30-40% of their armor/MR is stolen, making their tank significantly squishier while you're significantly tankier.
Power CurveLow → High
Lvl 1–5
Lvl 6
1st Item
2 Items
Full Build

Teamfighting

How to Teamfight as Trundle

Trundle's teamfight is R the tank, fight inside W domain, and use E pillar to cut off escapes. The R stat theft swings the fight — you're tanking their carries while their tank is temporarily squishier.

1
R the Tank — Stat Theft
Fight opener
01
R the enemy frontline tank immediately — Malphite, Cho'Gath, or Ornn targeted.
02
W domain active — stay inside the domain for attack speed and regen during the fight.
03
Q the target repeatedly — attack speed reduction and Chomp damage amplified inside domain.
⚠ WARNING
R tanks, not carries — Subjugate steals armor/MR/AD which is maximized on high-stat tanks. R-ing a squishy carry wastes the mechanic.
2
E Pillar — Block Escape
Trap phase
01
E pillar behind the R target — they're displaced to one side and can't run straight back.
02
Q Chomp their attack speed to 50% — they deal significantly less damage during the R window.
03
Conqueror full stacks active — massive healing from W domain + Conqueror simultaneously.
3
Cleanup — Stolen Stats Win
Post-R
01
R stat theft expires after 8 seconds — must kill or damage them significantly in the window.
02
Q any fleeing target to apply attack speed slow for team chase.
03
E pillar in escape routes for any enemy trying to exit the fight.
💡 PRO TIP
R immediately at the start of teamfights, not reactively — the 8-second stat theft window is most powerful when the fight is just starting.

Tips & Tricks

Advanced Mechanics & Hidden Tech

Advanced mechanics for Trundle.

Basic
R tanks, always
the more armor/MR/AD they have, the more you steal. R-ing a tank is exponentially better than R-ing a carry.
Intermediate
Fight inside W domain for attack speed and regen
place W under yourself before engaging.
Intermediate
Q Chomp reduces the enemy's attack speed
use it on ADCs to make them attack at 60% speed.
Advanced
E pillar displaces enemies to one side
place it behind their escape route to cut them off.
Basic
Conqueror + W domain regen + Titanic Hydra makes y
Conqueror + W domain regen + Titanic Hydra makes you nearly unkillable in extended R fights.
Intermediate
R at the start of teamfights
the 8-second window means every second of stat theft matters.
Advanced
Your passive is ice-based
you don't build any items for it, just auto-attack and Q to apply slows.
Advanced
Counter Malphite hard
R-ing Malphite steals his armor scaling (which is the source of R damage). He becomes squishy AND weaker simultaneously.

Matchups

Counters & Matchups

Trundle is countered by squishy carry compositions who have few armor/MR stats to steal and mobile champions who can avoid his E pillar displacement.

Click any matchup to expand tips & how to play against them
Loses Against
Fiora
Fiora Hard
Fiora's W Parry blocks Trundle's Q Chomp. Her Vitals deal true damage that isn't stolen by Subjugate.
Bait Fiora's W before Q Chomp. Her Parry CD is long early — punish the window immediately.
Vayne
Vayne Hard
Vayne's true damage bypasses all of Trundle's Subjugate stolen armor. Her Condemn pushes him away from W domain.
R Vayne for the AD/armor steal — but her true damage pierces stolen armor. Rush Sterak's to survive Silver Bolt scaling.
Gwen
Gwen Hard
Gwen's W blocks Trundle's Q Chomp from outside Mist. Her true damage ignores stolen armor.
Force Gwen to use W then immediately Q+R in the window. Her W has a long CD early.
Wins Against
Malphite
Malphite Easy
R Malphite steals 30-40% of his enormous armor — his R damage also scales with armor, so Trundle steals his damage output simultaneously.
R Malphite and watch him become squishier AND deal less R damage simultaneously. His entire kit is countered by Subjugate.
Cho'Gath
Cho'Gath Easy
R Cho'Gath steals proportional amounts of his enormous Feast-stacked HP worth of stats. The more he farms, the more you steal.
R Cho'Gath after he has 6+ Feast stacks — the stolen stats are maximized after his HP scaling.
Ornn
Ornn Easy
Ornn's Masterwork items give massive stats — R steals proportionally from all of them. He becomes significantly squishier during the 8-second window.
R Ornn after he has 2+ Masterwork items — the stat theft value scales with his completed item stats.