Tristana is known to be one of the strongest late-game carries in League of Legends. If she gets going, she can easily take on all comers, dishing out damage and leaping out of the way of incoming danger. We’ve already been over all of that
last time we discussed Tristana.
However, like any ADC, Tristana is only as good as her supporting crew, and after her incredibly successful weekend at the NA LCS Summer Playoffs, we decided to take a second look at Tristana--this time focusing on all of this yordle’s friends.
Taking control early
Thanks to her incredible late game, Tristana wants to get to her final power spikes as quickly as possible. And because her mid game is very weak, she needs to stay safe in the times between laning phase and that hypercarry state.
It seems that, when teams build around her, they more often than not tend to focus on divey, aggressive early-game junglers. In the vast majority of playoff matches, North American teams picked up Lee Sin, Kha’Zix, or Elise to pair with Tristana, giving her the ability to farm to her heart’s content.
Take a look at Game 4 of the finals between TSM and Cloud9. Eleven minutes in, Amazing and his Lee Sin had already managed to secure first blood at level 1, and gotten his team two more kills in the bottom lane from successful ganks. Notice WildTurtle’s assist count: already sitting at 3. He may not have gotten any kills, but his presence in each fight gave him that early advantage that Tristana so desperately needs.
Protect the yordle
If she doesn’t get ahead early, however, she’s going to struggle during the mid game. Hell, she’ll probably struggle once laning phase ends regardless. It’s up to her teammates to protect her.
There are two ways that North American squads achieved that purpose: zoning and punishing engagements.
Game 5 of TSM’s match against LMQ featured the former style of comp. Between Nami’s crowd control, Nunu’s Absolute Zero, and Xerath’s, well, everything, it was impossible to get anywhere near WildTurtle’s Tristana without taking excessive punishment from long-range spells.
Even if they did manage to get nearby, Dyrus and his massive Dr. Mundo would get directly up in their face, causing the havoc that he had been all game.
Sure, Bjergsen and Dyrus carried for much of the game, but that’s just because they ended the game so quickly and in such dominant fashion. The fight to look to is the final one, when WildTurtle really showed off what a Tristana who was protected for much of the game could do. Turns out, it’s deal a hell of a lot of damage.
And then there’s Game 2 between Cloud9 and Curse, in which Cloud9 nabbed Kha’Zix, Zed, Braum, and the now ever-present Maokai as Tristana’s support staff. I’ll just ask you one question: Do you want to be anywhere near that team composition? The answer is no, no you do not. And Curse proved it after the beating they took in this midgame brawl.
Carry on my wayward Trist
Once Tristana enters the late game, it’s time to just let her do her thing. Once she gets her items, it’s all about just standing back, making sure she survives, and blowing people right up.
Watch as WildTurtle tears apart Cloud9. With her huge range, massive crits, and mobility, she’s able to stay far from the fight, shooting up anyone she can fix her sights on. In TSM’s final victorious fight, she’s left alone just too long, allowing her to secure the quadrakill and the title of North American champions.
Tristana may get all the glory, but she couldn’t have done it all without those around her. Let’s hear it for the support staff.
Related Articles
CARRY ON MY WAYWARD TRIST