Who counters Tristana in League of Legends?

By rules over Riot's ability text, the picks that fit best against Tristana are Maokai, Xin Zhao and Rek'Sai, and each one is listed on this page with its reason. This is Analysis, not a win rate.

How do you play against Tristana in League of Legends?

Riot's own tip: If you see Tristana activate Rapid Fire in a fight, stun her and try to back off until the spell dissipates. The counter picks on this page add the champions whose abilities answer Tristana, each with its reason.

Who is Tristana good against in League of Legends?

Read the other way round, the same rules over Riot's ability text find Tristana strong into Locke, Kassadin and Kha'Zix. The reason for each is on this page. This is Analysis, not a win rate.

Which lanes does Tristana play?

Data Dragon has no lane data. As a Marksman and Assassin champion, Tristana typically plays Jungle, Mid and Bot. This is a class-based filter, not a play rate.

How hard is Tristana to play?

Riot rates the difficulty of Tristana as Medium (4 out of 10).

Tristana Counter LoL: Best Picks & Why

Tactical identity

Tristana, Marksman / Assassin

Tristana, the Yordle Gunner, is a Marksman and Assassin champion in League of Legends. Everything below comes from Riot's Data Dragon for patch 16.21.1: ability text, base stats and Riot's tips. Counters and matchups by class are worked out from that text, and each one shows its reason.

Riot's ratings, out of 10

Attack: 9
Defense: 3
Magic: 5
Difficulty: 4

Typical lanes (class-based)Jungle, Mid, Bot

ResourceMana

Playing as Tristana

Riot's own tips

Her massive gun allows Tristana to fire on targets at a great distance. Utilize this to prevent your enemies from ever laying a hand on you.
Use Rocket Jump after you have stacked up your Explosive Charge on an enemy to finish them off with a burst of damage.
Use Rapid Fire to help stack up your Explosive Charge on enemy champions.

Playing against Tristana

Riot's own tips

If you see Tristana activate Rapid Fire in a fight, stun her and try to back off until the spell dissipates.
Stand away from your creeps in a lane to take less collateral damage from Explosive Charge.

What the kit does

Analysis read from Riot's ability text. Each line shows the words it rests on.

Hard crowd control
Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target"
Soft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)
Rocket Jump: "damage and slowing surrounding units"
Knock-up, knock-back or pull
Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target"
Area damage
Explosive Charge: "damage to surrounding enemies"

Tristana in recent patches

Every official patch that changed Tristana, newest first. Numbers from Riot's official notes (before and after).

Patch 26.21nerf2026-10-20
- Q Rapid Fire: Attack Speed: 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120% → 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120%

Tristana's abilities

Riot's own text and preview clip for each ability, from Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Pick an ability and its clip plays here, muted.

PPassive

Draw a Bead

Increases Tristana's Attack Range as she levels.

QQ

Rapid Fire

Cooldown: 20/19/18/17/16 s
Cost (Mana): 15/20/25/30/35
Range: 20

Tristana fires her weapon rapidly, increasing her Attack Speed for a short time.

Effects in the text

Relies on basic attacks
Ranged poke

WW

Rocket Jump

Cooldown: 22/20/18/16/14 s
Cost (Mana): 30/35/40/45/50
Range: 900

Tristana fires at the ground to propel her to a distant location, dealing damage and slowing surrounding units for a brief period where she lands.

Effects in the text

Soft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)
Ranged poke

EE

Explosive Charge

Cooldown: 16/15.5/15/14.5/14 s
Cost (Mana): 50/55/60/65/70
Range: 550

When Tristana kills a unit, her cannonballs burst into shrapnel, dealing damage to surrounding enemies. Can be activated to place a bomb on a target enemy that explodes after a short duration dealing damage to surrounding units.

Effects in the text

Area damage

RR

Buster Shot

Cooldown: 100 s
Cost (Mana): 100
Range: 550

Tristana loads a massive cannonball into her weapon and fires it at an enemy unit. This deals Magic Damage and knocks the target back. If the target is carrying the Explosive Charge bomb, the bomb detonation radius is doubled.

Effects in the text

Hard crowd control
Knock-up, knock-back or pull
Magic damage
Ranged poke

Build direction, Analysis

Items and runes that fit Tristana

Riot publishes no builds and this page invents none. Below: completed items ranked by how many of the stats Tristana's kit uses they give (attack damage (AD) first), the runes whose official text matches the kit, and picks for each enemy type. A fit, not a strength ranking. No win rates.

Closest stat fit

Editorial estimate

Completed items ranked by how many of the stats Tristana's kit uses they give. A fit, not a verdict: Riot publishes no builds and no win rates.

Stormrazor3,200
- +50 Attack DamageTristana scales with it
- +25% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks
- +25% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
The Collector3,000
- +50 Attack DamageTristana scales with it
- +10 Lethalityits damage is physical
- +25% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
Yun Tal Wildarrows3,000
- +50 Attack DamageTristana scales with it
- +45% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks
- +0% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
Axiom Arc2,750
- +55 Attack DamageTristana scales with it
- +18 Lethalityits damage is physical
Bastionbreaker3,000
- +55 Attack DamageTristana scales with it
- +18 Lethalityits damage is physical
Blade of The Ruined King3,200
- +40 Attack DamageTristana scales with it
- +25% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks

More items with the same stat 38

Edge of Night3,000

Experimental Hexplate3,000

Guinsoo's Rageblade3,000

Voltaic Cyclosword3,000

Youmuu's Ghostblade2,800

Essence Reaver3,050

Hexoptics C442,800

Immortal Shieldbow3,000

Infinity Edge3,500

Lord Dominik's Regards3,300

Mortal Reminder3,000

Black Cleaver3,000

Bloodthirster3,400

Chempunk Chainsword3,000

Hextech Gunblade3,000

Hullbreaker3,000

Manamune2,900

Maw of Malmortius3,100

Mercurial Scimitar3,200

Overlord's Bloodmail3,300

Ravenous Hydra3,300

Serylda's Grudge3,000

Spear of Shojin3,100

Sundered Sky3,100

Titanic Hydra3,300

Boots

Armored Advance1,200

Chainlaced Crushers1,250

Crimson Lucidity900

Immortal Path1,100

Spellslinger's Shoes1,100

Swiftmarch1,000

Rune fits

Editorial estimate

Runes whose official text matches the most things Tristana's kit does. Each line shows the words it rests on.

AftershockResolve, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target"
Arcane CometSorcery, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It deals damage with abilities: Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon"
Deathfire TouchSorcery, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It deals damage with abilities: Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon"
Manaflow BandSorcery · Matches: 3
- Its kit leans on basic attacks: Marksman role
- It deals damage with abilities: Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon"
- It uses mana: Mana
Sudden ImpactDomination · Matches: 2
- Its kit leans on basic attacks: Marksman role
- It deals damage with abilities: Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon"
Approach VelocityInspiration · Matches: 1
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target"

Against each enemy type

Editorial estimate

Situational picks, counted from what the champions of each class do in Riot's Data Dragon. Swap a slot when the enemy team has several of that class.

Tanks
Anti-heal 25 of 46 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Cleanse or tenacity 20 of 46 have two or more hard CC abilities
Chainlaced Crushers Endless Hunger
To cut through them Tanks stack armor and magic resist; these items give armor penetration.
Axiom Arc Bastionbreaker Edge of Night Hubris
Fighters
Anti-heal 40 of 60 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Armor 38 of 60 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Assassins
Anti-heal 24 of 45 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Armor 23 of 45 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Mages
Magic resist 53 of 75 deal magic damage only
Abyssal Mask Banshee's Veil
Anti-heal 30 of 75 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Marksmen
Armor 14 of 32 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Supports
Magic resist 36 of 43 deal magic damage only
Abyssal Mask Banshee's Veil
Anti-heal 19 of 43 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon

Counted from the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. These are counts of champions, not win rates.

Rune trees

Lit runes: their official text matches something Tristana's kit does (Analysis). Select a rune to read why.

Precision4 lit

Domination3 lit

Sorcery7 lit

Resolve4 lit

Inspiration3 lit

Matchups by class

Tristana against each class of champion, counted from the official ability text. Choose a class or a lane to narrow it down.

Against all 172 champions: 49 ahead, 71 even, 52 behind. Each class is read against that, so check the best and toughest tags too.

Class

Lane

Patch

16.21.1Older patches: not available yet

Against Tanks

Weak

Toughest class

6 ahead · 10 even · 30 behind of 46

Ahead of

Struggles against

They cut your attack speed, which weakens auto-attack builds.
Their healing or shields outlast your poke.

What to do: A risky pick into tanks. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Against Fighters

Even

14 ahead · 26 even · 20 behind of 60

Ahead of

Struggles against

You out-range them and can poke from a distance.
Their healing or shields outlast your poke.

What to do: Neither side has a clear edge over fighters. Execution and the team around you decide it.

Against Assassins

Strong

Best class

21 ahead · 22 even · 2 behind of 45

Ahead of

Struggles against

Your hard crowd control stops their dashes.
You out-range them and they have no healing to recover.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several assassins. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Against Mages

Even

23 ahead · 36 even · 16 behind of 75

Ahead of

Struggles against

You can lock down squishy targets that have few escapes.
They cut your attack speed, which weakens auto-attack builds.

What to do: Neither side has a clear edge over mages. Execution and the team around you decide it.

Against Marksmen

Strong

13 ahead · 15 even · 4 behind of 32

Ahead of

Struggles against

You have early pressure while they need time to scale.
You can lock down squishy targets that have few escapes.

What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several marksmen. Play for the fights where your edge shows.

Against Supports

Weak

6 ahead · 18 even · 19 behind of 43

Ahead of

Struggles against

They can avoid damage for a moment, which blunts your burst.
They can lock you down: you have few ways out.

What to do: A risky pick into supports. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Source: Nexus Lab rules over the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. Each champion of the class is compared with Tristana one by one; the counts come from those rules, not from match results, so they are not win rates. Strong, even and weak compare the number of champions ahead and behind. Lanes are the lanes each class usually plays (Riot ships no lane data per champion), not play rates.

Picks that can punish Tristana

Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text.

Maokai

Counters you

Maokai has hard CC (Bramble Smash: "Maokai knocks back nearby") to catch Tristana, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

2 more reasons

Maokai can avoid damage for a moment (Twisted Advance: "becoming untargetable and dashing"), and Tristana relies on burst (Assassin role).

Maokai can outlast poke with healing or shields (Sap Magic: "attack also heals him and") against Tristana's ranged skillshots (Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon").

Watch out: Tristana is ranged (Marksman role) and can poke Maokai, a melee champion (Tank role).

Xin Zhao

Counters you

Xin Zhao has hard CC (Three Talon Strike: "third attack knocking an opponent") to catch Tristana, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

2 more reasons

Xin Zhao can avoid damage for a moment (Crescent Guard: "becoming impervious to damage"), and Tristana relies on burst (Assassin role).

Xin Zhao can outlast poke with healing or shields (Determination: "damage and heals Xin Zhao") against Tristana's ranged skillshots (Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon").

Watch out: Tristana has burst or execute damage (Assassin role) that can kill before Xin Zhao's healing (Determination: "damage and heals Xin Zhao") matters.

Rek'Sai

Counters you

Rek'Sai has hard CC (Burrow / Un-burrow: "Unburrow to knock up and") to catch Tristana, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

2 more reasons

Rek'Sai can avoid damage for a moment (Void Rush: "become briefly untargetable and lunge"), and Tristana relies on burst (Assassin role).

Rek'Sai can outlast poke with healing or shields (Fury of the Xer'Sai: "Burrowed to restore health") against Tristana's ranged skillshots (Rapid Fire: "Tristana fires her weapon").

Watch out: Tristana has burst or execute damage (Assassin role) that can kill before Rek'Sai's healing (Fury of the Xer'Sai: "Burrowed to restore health") matters.

Xayah

Counters you

Xayah has hard CC (Bladecaller: "damage and rooting enemies") to catch Tristana, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

2 more reasons

Xayah can avoid damage for a moment (Featherstorm: "air becoming untargetable and throwing"), and Tristana relies on burst (Assassin role).

Tristana needs time to scale (Marksman role) and Xayah has early pressure (Bladecaller: "damage and rooting enemies") to punish that.

Watch out: Xayah needs time to scale (Marksman role) and Tristana has early pressure (Assassin role) to punish that.

Jayce

Counters you

Jayce has hard CC (Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate: "enemy and knocks them back") to catch Tristana, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

2 more reasons

Tristana needs time to scale (Marksman role) and Jayce has early pressure (Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate: "enemy and knocks them back") to punish that.

Jayce clears waves more easily (To the Skies! / Shock Blast: "damage to all enemies hit") and can push the lane against Tristana.

Lissandra

Counters you

Lissandra has hard CC (Ring of Frost: "damage and rooting them") to catch Tristana, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

2 more reasons

Lissandra can avoid damage for a moment (Frozen Tomb: "while becoming untargetable and invulnerable"), and Tristana relies on burst (Assassin role).

Lissandra clears waves more easily (Iceborn Subjugation: "Thralls slow nearby enemies and then") and can push the lane against Tristana.

Watch out: Tristana has burst or execute damage (Assassin role) that can kill before Lissandra's healing (Frozen Tomb: "healing herself while") matters.

Who Tristana is good against

The same rules, read the other way.

Locke

You pressure

Tristana has hard CC (Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target") that can stop Locke's dashes (Ashen Pursuit: "location before dashing to attack").

Kassadin

You pressure

Tristana has hard CC (Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target") that can stop Kassadin's dashes (Riftwalk: "Kassadin teleports to a").

Kha'Zix

You pressure

Tristana has hard CC (Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target") that can stop Kha'Zix's dashes (Leap: "Kha'Zix leaps to an").

Kindred

You pressure

Tristana has hard CC (Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target") that can stop Kindred's dashes (Dance of Arrows: "Kindred tumbles and shoots").

Akali

You pressure

Tristana has hard CC (Buster Shot: "Damage and knocks the target") that can stop Akali's dashes (Shuriken Flip: "Re-cast to dash to the").

Counter picks are Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on. They are not win rates, and no League of Legends matchup list has been reviewed by hand yet.

Official story

Tristana's official story on Riot UniverseA link to the official source (in English). We do not copy its text.

Champion video guide

Video by 3 Minute League of Legends · Watch on YouTube The player loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only after you press play.

Measured numbers

Numbers published or counted by a named source. Each row names the source and the patch.

Attack9

Defense3

Magic5

Difficulty4

Riot data Riot's ratings out of 10, Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1

Base stats
Stat	Level 1	Per level	Level 18
Health	640	+102	2374
Mana	300	+32	844
Armor	30	+4	98
Magic resist	33	+1.1	51.7
Attack damage	60	-	60
Attack speed	0.656	+1.5%	0.823
Attack range	550	-	550
Move speed	325	-	325
Health regen per 5 seconds	4	+0.5	12.5
Mana regen per 5 seconds	7.2	+0.45	14.85

Riot data Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Level 18 is calculated from Riot's growth formula on the same numbers.

Editorial estimates

Our reading of the data. These are not measured rates and they change when the rules or the data change.

Counter picks: 6 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
Good against: 5 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
Typical lanes: Jungle, Mid, Bot Editorial estimateLanes of the class; Riot ships no lane data per champion
Best class (relative): Assassins Editorial estimateWins minus losses over the class, compared with the other classes; counts of champions, patch 16.21.1
Toughest class (relative): Tanks Editorial estimateWins minus losses over the class, compared with the other classes; counts of champions, patch 16.21.1

What no source gives us

Win rate, pick rate and ban rate. Riot publishes none we may print (the Riot API cards are switched off) and no third-party statistics site is read, so none is shown.
Popular builds. Riot publishes no builds: the items and runes in Build & Runes are a fit to the kit, not a popularity ranking.

Sources

Riot Games Data Dragon
Names, ratings, base stats, ability text, cooldowns, costs, range, items, runes and art.
Patch 16.21.1, file generated 2026-10-26
Open
Riot ability preview clips
Played from Riot's own server when you press play; never copied here.
Each clip checked with a request before it is offered
League of Legends Wiki
Release dates and skin prices in RP (CC BY-SA).
Committed data, see the skins page
Open
Nexus Lab rules
Counters, matchups by class, item and rune fit: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on.
Patch 16.21.1
Riot Universe
The official story of Tristana (a link, nothing copied).
Open

Tristana League of Legends champion guide

Tristana, Marksman / Assassin

Playing as Tristana

Playing against Tristana

What the kit does

Tristana in recent patches

Draw a Bead

Rapid Fire

Rocket Jump

Explosive Charge

Buster Shot

Items and runes that fit Tristana

More items with the same stat 38

Boots

Tanks

Fighters

Assassins

Mages

Marksmen

Supports

Rune trees

Precision4 lit

Domination3 lit

Sorcery7 lit

Resolve4 lit

Inspiration3 lit

Picks that can punish Tristana

Who Tristana is good against

Official story

Get new stories and champion updates

Champion video guide

Tristana skins

Quick answers

Who counters Tristana in League of Legends?

How do you play against Tristana in League of Legends?

Who is Tristana good against in League of Legends?

Which lanes does Tristana play?

How hard is Tristana to play?

Related champions

Next steps

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