Lina vs Troll Warlord

How this matchup plays

Trying to burst down Troll Warlord often comes down to a single item timing. Lina's entire spell combination, from Light Strike Array to Laguna Blade, is magical damage. This means that as soon as Troll acquires a Black King Bar, her ability to threaten him directly plummets. He can activate it and ignore her attempts to stun or nuke him, closing the distance while she is at her most vulnerable. Lina’s game plan revolves around deleting a key target, and Troll has a straightforward way to make himself an invalid target, forcing her to play much more reactively.

This creates a distinct shift as the game progresses. Early on, Lina can leverage her stronger magical burst to control teamfights and potentially kill Troll Warlord before he is a major threat. Once he has his core items, however, the roles reverse. Troll will actively look for Lina, confident he can survive her initial assault with his BKB and then run her down. Lina is then forced into a difficult position, needing to kite the BKB duration and rely on teammates for peels. While she can still contribute with physical damage from Fiery Soul, she is unlikely to win a direct right-click battle against Troll.