Trundle’s passive is the “Tribute to the King” and ensures that he heals himself by a percentage of his maximum life every time an enemy unit dies near him. This passive gives Trundle a lot of sustain, so his jungle clear is very healthy. It also allows him to counter-heal when he fights in enemy Minionwaves and minions die from his Tiamat’s area damage.

At level 1 you skill Trundle’s Q, the “chomp”. This is an autoattack reset and when activated, Trundle bites his opponent. This deals physical damage, slows the target by 75% and removes some of their attack damage for 5 seconds, doubling Trundle’s own attack damage. This ability also triggers on-hit effects. Due to its low cooldown, Q is Trundle’s main source of damage and is perfect for duels with other AD champions, as Trundle can weaken them and strengthen himself at the same time. You therefore maximize Q first.

At level 2, you put the first ability point into Trundle’s W, the “Icy Domain”. Trundle uses this to transform the target location into his domain, giving him additional attack and movement speed. In addition, his heals from all sources are increased by 25% within the domain. You can use the W to get close to your opponent or to escape. In most cases, however, you will use it as a stat boost for a fight, as the additional attack speed and increased healing make you a real beast within your domain. As the bonuses for attack and movement speed increase significantly with additional ability points, you maximize the W second.

At level 3, you complete your basic abilities with your E, the “Ice Pillar”. When activated, Trundle creates an ice pillar at the selected position for 6 seconds, which becomes impassable and slows down nearby enemy units. Enemies that are directly at the position of the ice pillar when it is created are also pushed away from it. In this way, you can cut off the path of fleeing enemies and even hurl them closer to you. It is also possible to use the ice pillar to trap enemies standing close to walls or in corners. As the E does not cause any damage, maximize it last.

Please note: the ice pillar also counts as displacement for your teammates. This means that you can accidentally cancel your teammates’ channels (such as Karthus R or Teleport).

Tip: If you are already close to an opponent, you should not necessarily use your E directly, but wait for the opponent to flash away and then knock him back to you with your Pillar.

Trundle’s ultimate ability, “Subdue”, can be leveled up to levels 6, 11 and 16. When activated, Trundle immediately drains a percentage of his target’s life as well as 20% each of armor and magic resistance. During the next 5 seconds, the target is drained of the same amount again. The changed resistance values last for a further 4 seconds after the ability ends for both the target and Trundle. This ult is Trundle’s teamfight steroid, as he can use it to turn the opponent’s strongest frontliner into a soft target and become a real raid boss himself at the same time. The ult also gives you a further advantage in duels, which is why it is so incredibly difficult to defeat Trundle in a 1v1 in combination with your Q and W.

Combo: E->W->(R->)->AA->Q->AA->AA->… Trundle’s combo is relatively simple. You want to catch an opponent with E and activate your W (and possibly your ult) during the knockup to get to them faster (and steal their resistances). Once you have reached your opponent, autoattack them and then use your Q as an autoattack reset. Then follow up with more autoattacks and always use your Q as an autoattack reset as soon as it is ready.