Tristana jungle is a thing, thanks to Press the Attack

The preseason update always brings a slew of strange picks or champions in odd roles. While the new runes are proving better at mixing things up than any change that has come before them, one oddball pick so far this preseason has been a clear standout even among its other strange counterparts.

So, here’s everything you need to know to play Tristana jungle.

Why it’s good

Technically, Tristana jungle was never that bad. It’s all about doing damage quickly and she’s more than reliable at that. The only problem was, she could rarely do it fast enough to secure a kill on a gank. The preseason difference, however, is that the new Press the Attack rune allows her to cross that line and become a legitimate threat with every gank.

What runes to take

Press the Attack may be the main reason behind this pick’s success, but it’s not the only rune that helps Tristana out in the jungle. In particular, Triumph, in the precision tree and Sudden Impact in the Domination tree, both provide Tristana a little bit of assistance as she is clearly the jungle, while the Domination tree’s Ravenous Hunter, makes her ganks even more potent when she jumps behind her opponents.

How to play it

Tristana’s jungle effectiveness is almost entirely reliant on attack speed. Both for her clear, and her ganks, everything is centered around using Explosive Charge on a target, and auto attacking the target that has it until the charge explodes.

Thankfully, junglers get a huge advantage when it comes to attack speed, thanks to the Bloodrazor enchant. This puts Tristana out to a strong start and enables her to do incredible damage on early games. Pick up a Statikk Shiv and an Infinity Edge after and you should be able to quickly finish off your Explosive Charges and take down almost any other champion in the game.

Each gank should start off with Tristana jumping just behind the enemy laner, using her Explosive Charge, and Rapid Fire for the Attack Speed boost, then firing as many auto attacks a possible. Once you hit level six, Buster Shot turns her into an easier to use Lee Sin, and makes taking down opponents even easier.

With such potent ganks, gaining an early game advantage should be easy, and there’s still no champion in the game that can stop a Tristana when she’s fed.