Tristana goes tick, tick, tick, boom in the LCS Finals

Riot·Sep 1, 2015·1 votes·33,503 views

You know that scene in every action film where a time bomb is slowly ticking down and there's nothing anyone can do about it? That's playing against Tristana.

Because of her explosive expertise, the Yordle Gunner has been everywhere in pro play as of late. Her amazing tower siege and her relatively safe laning phase means that she's relevant in all stages of the game, ensuring that she'll be able to, as Krepo puts it, "jump, kill, jump, kill, jump, kill" all over the Rift. Oh, and there's her tower pushing. Hoo boy, her tower pushing.

Tristana has never been more relevant than in the 2015 LCS Summer Split Finals.

Death from above

Let's get the exciting stuff out of the way: Tristana is insanely explosive in teamfights. Once she picks up a kill or an assist, her Rocket Jump (W) cooldown resets, allowing her to hop repeatedly and fire away at whoever gets in her way.

That means giving her the first kill in a team fight can often lead to her turning the brawl into a massacre. For example, Rekkles' pentakill in Game 3 of the EU LCS Finals.

Take a little look at where that fight started. Rekkles and Tristana were able to chase Origen from where Fnatic's inner turret all the way into the base of Origen, picking up five kills along the way. The play shows exactly what Tristana becomes once she's got some items in her bombadier's belt: a terrifying killer raining hell from the skies.

Her mobility isn't only good for getting into the fight, though. It makes her one of the most slippery AD carries in the game, allowing her to escape from ganks during the laning phase and sticky situations once team fights begin. Plus, it's helpful for picking someone off with Explosive Charge (E) and Buster Shot (R) before bailing.

The girl's a time bomb

Explosive Charge does more than just inform those it's stuck to of their impending demise. It also blows turrets right the hell up.

By tossing a Charge right on top of whatever building is in her way, she can charge up the bomb to do more and more damage with each autoattack. Plus, she can pump them up even faster with the attack speed buff from Rapid Fire (Q). All of that adds up to some serious damage to whatever turret she's decided to bring down. Watch as Doublelift is able to say "Goodnight, sweet turret" during Game 1 of the NA LCS Summer Split Finals against TSM.

When combined with a siege composition, her ability to blow up objectives from afar is stupid powerful. When she's allowed to split-push, she can take towers on her own so quickly opposing teams barely have time to wonder where it went before it's reduced to rubble.

Oh, and if one combines Trist's tower pushing prowess with the bonus AD from a Janna's Eye of the Storm (E) shield, you can be sure that turret will be ripped to shreds in rapid fashion.

Speaking of split-pushing, Explosive Charge's passive makes it so her autoattacks do AoE magic damage when dealing a killing blow to enemies. That means she can quickly shove down waves, inching ever closer to the turret she wants to destroy. Tick tock, turret defenders.

She's a bombshell

Tristana sounds pretty great, huh? Sure, she's crazy powerful when she's given room, but pros have to be incredibly careful when playing her.

Thanks to her reliance on autoattacking and relatively low movement speed, using her Rocket Jump offensively is a very sketchy proposition. If she doesn't manage to get herself a kill right away, she's a sitting duck, only able to protect herself with the knock back on Buster Shot. Thanks her to her squishy status, she'll likely die if she ends up anywhere near a high-damage enemy champion. Moral of the story: Don't pull an old school Zuna.

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But with some of the best AD carries on the planet heading to the 2015 World Championships in Europe this fall, expect Tristana to be causing fireworks all around the Rift.

Keep your eye right here on Lolesports to keep up with the action. And if you missed any of the 2015 NA LCS Summer Split Playoffs action, head over to the spoiler-free VODs page.

28 Comments

SacnessEverdeenSep 1, 20153 votes

I think that her skill cap has just gone up a little bit. League is a team game and now she just relies a little bit more on the rest of her team to engage on, cc, and focus the correct people.

Oh, and I almost forgot that they need to peal for her. Playing champs like Sej are really good with Trist.

BRCCL BayericSep 2, 20152 votes

I love to have Braum with me :D

dektoriSep 1, 20152 votes

abyone play tristana will know this is a bullshit

tristana cant penta kill ever anymore after last nerf she got

in the video tristana got penta cse her group downed all hp to under 30% for all other group and we all know tristana will never ever 1 v 1 win of them even with that great tiems

so pllz stop lieing and bring old tristana back or at last nerf the tanks who u buffed with last patcdh like garen or darius

SacredÐeathSep 1, 20159 votes

I don't want to be rude but, you sound like u are a low skilled player. Here in plat adc's kite or wait for the proper moment to engage in teamfights and clean up. Ur job is not to 1v1 everything or everyone. Trist is one of the best adc to use to poke from far like cait in the late game or she can clean up with her jump reset not many adc's can chase like that.

BRCCL BayericSep 2, 20151 votes

Correct, but I actually do think that if you splitpush and there is only one guy defending you can actually 1v1 him (except for burst champs or bruisers) to get the turret afterwards.

franzillaSep 3, 20151 votes

Lol plat is low skill too m8.

Dawnwolf998Sep 1, 20159 votes

I play Tristana and I don't think this is bullshit in fact she is my highest played adc champion with a 70% win rate. Tristana is a great champion and i rarely lose lane with her so i don't know what you are on about saying she cant get a penta kill easily. The problem people make with her is expecting to much to early she needs to get going which can easily be done by just csing well.

BRCCL BayericSep 2, 20151 votes

You rarely lose lane? Do you play normal without counterpicks or what? There are only a few matchups that make you win early lane with a Tristana.

dektoriSep 3, 20151 votes

i think you play with ur own team thats why you so happy

tristan is sooo suck dmg early and without good support u just funked up

agree its awesome late game but

only if u could farm or get great item if and if and if also got great support

tbh i lost 99% of my games just cose bad support who maybe cant cc or cant help dmh my target so plz

if u have ur great team with skilled support dont talk about my skill woith tristana cuse i played around 3k game with tris

VashteaSep 3, 20158 votes

This hurt just reading it.

Buzz CatcherSep 3, 20152 votes

Trundle

EternálitySep 5, 20151 votes

RIP English also youre just a typical toxic player who sucks at playing then blames everyone else

A PorkchopSep 1, 20152 votes

Trist was the first character i learned when I started league years ago. As fun as her kit was, i admit it lacked counterplay. It was stupidly easy to force someone out of lane just by throwing your e at them whenever it was up. Although her rework is a nerf to that, ill admit it was a needed nerf. As fun as it was to play ap trist and watch your e melt a full health carry, it was not balanced.

BauchelainSep 1, 20153 votes

LOL you shitty retard

GodlyMikeySep 1, 20153 votes

uh.... its a team game no point in saying 1v1 its not too smart...

XandunSep 1, 20152 votes

So salty

CJ Entus DragonSep 2, 20152 votes

Would you like some fries with that salt, and some cheese with that whine?

ham døgSep 2, 20152 votes

I main tristana... And i've gotten at leas 5 pentas with her. Tristana is ment to be some carry where you stay on the back line... she has sustained damage, not constant burst like crit adcs. Tristana isn't ment to dive into the fights because she has peel and an escape...

BRCCL BayericSep 2, 20151 votes

You: item 3031 item 3072 item 3139 item 3035 item 3046 (WRONG ORDER) Support: item 3050

No constant crit burst? Which build do you play? (mercurials can be replaced by almost every other defensive adc item)

ham døgSep 2, 20151 votes

I only go for one crit item, and thats pd. I go Ie, Pd or Shiv depending, lw, bt, and then I go GA. A lot of my supports don't get a zekes.

BRCCL BayericSep 2, 20151 votes

I actually started maining Tristana four weeks ago and I played her around 80 times in a row without losing any game because of Tristana. Yeah there were some lanes and matchups that I lost (jinx, corki, sivir), but you always had the chance to comeback in late. Her jump IS great as it goes far and you can jump into a bad position, take a kill and jump out again or like presented in the OG vs FNC video pick up all their members in a row. So in my opinion she's a great chanmp to do pentakills and to carry late.

I don't think you've ever played the new Tristana as the 1v1 is very very much stronger than the old one. The kite witgh jump and ult is a old story, but with ur e u can leave the fight earlier to get no more dmg and don't gift the enemy a chance to lifesteal so that he gets blown up by the bomb.

The only champs that are hard to 1v1 are burst champs like corki, annie, brand, stacked nasus... , but it is very likely to win 1v1s against most of the other champs.

So you play safe early, farm up a storm, get to mid and late, splitpush and whenever theres a enemy that may kill you in a 1v1 you just jump away or ult, otherwise you 1v1 him and get the turret afterwards.

In my opinion she's a medium mobile champ (her jumps far but its a dash and it takes a lot of time to start the jump), a perfect cleanup adc and a good splitpusher.

I really love her the only problem is that she neds either a lucky early or two items to be able to 1v1 anybody apart from a support. I think that if you survive early without having a huge farm defeceit you will always comeback in late and if you don't overgreed with the jumps you will always have a strong and reliable adc. Tristana item 3031 item 3072 item 3139 item 3035 item 3046 WHO NEEDS BOOTS?

LaceUp23Sep 3, 20151 votes

dat grammar doe

Steezy StanSep 2, 20152 votes

Rancid reference. Nice. Sona

Omnem OccidoSep 3, 20152 votes

Picks Sivir, doesn't give a damn about Tristana or anything she tries to do, wins game.

AtaneedusuSep 3, 20152 votes

THAT'S MY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S MY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111 item 2044 item 3070

CCTylerSep 3, 20151 votes

I just started playing Tristana and now she is my main adc. Loving to see the pros play her and learn more about her. Enjoyed this article!

Lord DabzSep 3, 20151 votes

The first line made me think... Zilean

psychogamesSep 3, 20151 votes

most people play her either as just straight ad, Tristana has weak range for casting and getting in with out putting her w on cd. She has worked well with a Maw as a 3rd or 4th item to help her wait out the cd and get away.