Tristana's only line in the 26.19 patch notes is a bug fix. She's in God Tier bot lane anyway, because Riot spent this season making her build hit harder.
Riot's own lead designer says marksmen are too strong right now, and Tristana carries every piece of what he blamed. She's held the third God Tier slot in bot lane on our solo queue tier list for two patches running.
Here's why she's there, and how to play her.
FOTM Report
Tristana Bot
Tristana's only line in the 26.19 patch notes is a bug fix. She's in God Tier bot lane anyway, because Riot spent this season making her build hit harder.
The 26.19 patch notes mention her once, to fix Explosive Charge [E] failing to explode when bonus damage finished off a minion. That's all. She joined Jinx and Caitlyn in God Tier on 26.18, and our 26.19 forecast kept her there before a single game had been played. She's been banned in about 7% of her games on both patches.
The reason sits with the whole class. Riot's lead gameplay designer said earlier this month that marksmen have gotten too strong in a lot of brackets, and he traced it back to 26.1 (we covered it in Red Post Roundup #7). Critical strikes went from 175% damage to 200%. Lord Dominik's Regards got a big buff. Role quests started handing bot laners extra gold. Tristana builds crit from her first item on, with Lord Dominik's in the middle of it, and Riot has raised her own attack damage per level twice since last November, in 25.23 and again in 26.12.
Her win rate sits almost exactly on 50%, over 55,703 games this patch and more than 213,000 on 26.18, and Emerald and above looks the same. That's a steady number on a champion this popular. It's the rest of her profile that earns the slot: she wins short games as often as long ones, she brings her own escape, and nobody in bot lane takes a tower down faster.
Riot's 26.20 preview landed on September 29 with nerfs for Yunara, Varus and Runaan's Hurricane. Tristana isn't on it, and neither is anything she buys.
How to Play Tristana Bot
- Abilities
- E, Q, W then prioritize R > Q > E > W
- Summoner Spells
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- Starting Items
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- Strategy
- Plant Explosive Charge [E] on the enemy tower every time your wave reaches it, then turn on Rapid Fire [Q] and hit the bomb until it goes off. Treat Rocket Jump [W] as your escape until a fight is already won, because a champion takedown or a fully stacked Explosive Charge [E] on a champion refreshes its cooldown. Buster Shot [R] knocks back everyone near the target, so keep it for whoever dives you
- Core Items
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Tristana Rune Setup
Precision
Domination
Support Synergies
Tristana's best partners in our 26.19 games split into two camps. One group locks a target down so she can jump onto someone who can't walk away. The other keeps her standing when the enemy team decides she's the problem. Both work, and which one you want depends on whether you plan to win lane or win the fights after it.
Engage: Pick a Target for Her
Leona
The pairing you'll see most, and it wins 52.3% of 3,323 games. Once Leona lands on somebody, that target is staying put long enough for a bomb to fill up.
Blitzcrank
52.8% over 2,689 games. A hook drags the enemy into her range instead of asking her to jump into theirs, which is the safest way to start a kill with her.
Braum
He sits between both camps. He can start a fight off her auto attacks and then stand in front of her with his shield up. 53.1% across 1,261 games.
Peel: Keep Her Standing
Janna
Her best partner in the data at 54.1% over 1,258 games. Janna shoves divers off her, and Tristana is a champion who gets dived a lot.
Nami
52.9% across 1,491 games. Nami trades for her in lane, heals her through the chip damage and still has a bubble for whoever comes over the wall.
A few pairings go badly. Malphite (41.1%), Camille (43.7%) and Bard (45.1%) all post losing records alongside her, and so does Pantheon at 47.4% over more than 1,500 games. If one of those locks in first, plan for a quieter lane.
When to Pick Tristana
She's at her best against marksmen who want to poke from range and don't have a clean answer to someone landing next to them. Kalista (54.8%), Varus (53.6%), Ezreal (53.5% over 3,581 games) and Vayne (53.1%) all lose to her on 26.19, and Lucian does too at 52.1%. Most of those champions need the lane to go their way early, and she's happy to take a coinflip in a two versus two.
Pick her when your team would rather end the game on towers than on a single late teamfight. She doesn't care about game length (her win rate barely moves between short games and long ones), so she suits a side lane that can split and a jungler who'll help you dive. If the enemy has two or three champions built to reach the back line, bring a peel support and take her anyway. She has the tools to walk out of it.
How It Works
Every Multiplier Riot Named
Riot's explanation for why marksmen got strong is a stack of damage multipliers: attack damage, attack speed, armor penetration, Lord Dominik's and crit, all on one champion. Her usual order is Yun Tal Wildarrows, Infinity Edge, Navori Flickerblade and then Lord Dominik's Regards. The Collector is the other common first buy, though games that open on Yun Tal win more often.
Towers
Explosive Charge [E] sticks to towers, and every attack she lands on it makes the bomb bigger. With Rapid Fire [Q] running, the tower loses a real chunk each time her wave arrives. Early plates are gold, so every time the enemy backs, the lane pays her for it. Take the first tower and you can move mid or help with dragon while their duo is still walking back to lane.
An Escape That Comes Back
Rocket Jump [W] resets on a takedown. In a fight she's winning, that means she can jump in for the kill and still have the jump ready when the next person shows up. In a fight she's losing it's a 22 second cooldown at rank one, which is why you save it.
She Gets Longer
She never spends an item slot on range. Draw a Bead [Passive] adds some every time she levels, so the Tristana the enemy meets in a late teamfight reaches farther than the one they laned against.
Potential Pitfalls
Jinx and Miss Fortune
Both beat her on 26.19, and both are common enough that you'll run into them constantly: Jinx wins 52% of 5,751 games against her and Miss Fortune just over 51% of 3,617. Jinx is sitting next to her in God Tier. Don't try to out-trade either one early. Farm under your own tower, get your items, and let your range catch up.
Mages in Bot Lane
Veigar (she wins only 44.2% of 455 games) and Ziggs (46.3% of 516) are her worst matchups on the board. Both clear waves from a long way back, which takes away the tower pressure she depends on. Against Veigar, never jump into his cage.
Jumping First
Rocket Jump [W] used to start a fight is Rocket Jump [W] you don't have for the next 22 seconds. Plenty of dead Tristanas jumped in on a kill that wasn't there. Let your support start it and jump when somebody's already low.
Conclusions
Riot made crit hit harder at the start of the year, made Lord Dominik's better and started paying bot laners extra gold, all in the same patch. Tristana buys all of it, takes towers faster than anyone in her role and carries a free escape. The 26.20 preview leaves her alone.
Suggested Tier: God Tier
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