Maokai, Nautilus, Alistar, Gragas. These are only a handful of the monstrous tanks that have gained popularity in Season 5. If you count Urgot, every single position on the Rift has hosted tank champions this season, and at least for the Top and Jungle roles, this doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. With all the tanks walking around with all their stats, one might wish for an effective method of counterplay against said tanks. What champion is better suited to the task than Trundle? Perhaps this is the question some top teams around the world have begun to ask themselves. Let’s take a look at Trundle in the professional scene, and discuss why this champion is now more effective than ever.

Let’s start with a brief rundown of what Trundle brings to the table. The Troll King’s kit provides strong sustain in lane or in the Jungle through his passive and his W. Trundle’s abilities also grant him strong 1v1 combat potential through his Q and his W, as well as gap-closing movement speed from the latter. Trundle’s E provides moderate hard CC, allowing him to trap enemies in tight spaces, and increase his teamfight presence. There are few drawbacks to the above, and Trundle’s ultimate is the cherry on top. Trundle’s R lets him steal a chunk of defensive stats from his target, as well as heal himself. This is an invaluable tool in the current meta. Trundle has the potential to dominate a Jungle matchup in the early game, and render the opposing team’s frontline pathetic during teamfights. With the assurance of an effective stat-steal, Trundle can often get away with building lots of HP, synergizing effectively with the ever-relevant Cinderhulk enchantment in the Jungle, or even fit an offensive item into his build. A more in-depth description of Trundle's abilities can be found here.

Trundle’s Season 5 debut was in the LCK, in the hands of the Koo Tigers’ Hojin, against Longzhu Incredible Miracle. Hojin picked the Trundle into IM’s Rek’Sai, undoubtedly one of the top Junglers of the current meta, and dominated IM at every turn. Though Koo made a few questionable calls in the beginning of the game, Hojin’s Trundle play was extremely effective, and brought enough to the team to bring home the victory. As LCK caster Montecristo pointed out, Trundle works especially well with CC and AoE focused mages, as the combination of their abilities provides powerful zone control in teamfights. Dominating the early-game Jungle and outclassing a heavily-contested champion like Rek’Sai throughout the game was nothing to scoff at, and the casters agreed that the Trundle pick, though uncommon, was by no means a troll pick. Pun absolutely, shamelessly intended.

Artwork courtesy of raspbearyart

The European LCS took notice of Trundle’s potential and flexibility as well. In their game against SK Gaming, Fnatic’s Bora ‘Yellowstar’ Kim picked the troll into the Support position. Now, you may be thinking that a champion usually picked into Jungle or Top roles couldn’t possibly fit into a THIRD spot. Your skepticism would be understandable, as most champions lack this level of diversity. Trundle, however, doesn’t. In the first few minutes of the game, Yellowstar made plays all over the map with his roaming Trundle Support pick, giving Fnatic a solid lead before the first objectives of the game were contested. From there on out, the Trundle play resembled that of Hojin and the Koo Tigers, dominating the opposition with Trundle’s unique kit and flexible build path.

So what does all this professional trolling mean? Hopefully, it means that a long overlooked champion’s potential has been realized, or is at least starting to be. Fnatic recently completed their record-smashing, undefeated Summer Split in EU, the Koo Tigers hold second place in the LCK. These teams are clearly not messing around, and their Trundle picks are not a random coincidence. The only real surprise here should be that it took this long for Trundle to appear on the Rift. Does this mean you should play Trundle in solo queue? Absolutely! Trundle seems to be in a solid spot at this point in the season, and can clearly go toe-to-toe against the more popular Junglers of the meta. The Troll King can dismantle tanks, swat off squishies like flies and crush the enemy’s backline. Oh, and have you seen his dance?

Bonus Tips for the solo queue Trolls:

- Jungle Trundle can take advantage of his passive and his Ranger’s Trailblazer smite combo to gain back a respectable bit of HP in a tight spot.
- Trundle’s E can be effectively used as a ranged Recall interrupt.
- Blade of the Ruined King is an extremely effective item for the King for a few reasons:
- Trundle is a champion who can benefit from attack speed without first building damage on account of his Q. Trundle can utilize lifesteal effectively with his bonus healing (from all sources) provided by his W. Trundle’s W also provides attack speed, even better amplifying the power of BotRK. Trundle’s R is similar to the active of BotRK, and the two are very effective when cast at once. Plus, BotRK gives Trundle yet another means to slow his target. “You can never bash something too many times.”

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