Where is the Truth?

I've been playing League of Legends for a while but I just (recently) started to realise how misleading and untold given roles and positions are. There's so much I didn't understand earlier about this game, I decided to share some of my thoughts and realizations here. Question me, if I'm (not) mistaken!

In the current season people used to whisper a new tank meta is in favor because assassins/fighters - generally those who don't have reliable hard cc-s - had to invest more than one skill rotation to take down their opponents... unless they got chain cc-ed and destroyed. Although champion designs are different. Some of them has a specific role and cannot be played anywhere else (Sejuani, Amumu, Skarner, Rammus). The adc, mid and support roles are also static ones. The first two should only prioritize damage and the third's job is to offer utility/peel for them. To be handy overall.

But let's take a look at tanks (and fighters)...

What are tanks doing? How do they work? Do we really need them? Can we compare them - one to another? Are they doing the same job?

...And this is ladies and gentlemen where it gets crazy. Because some tank can actually outduel fighters WITHOUT BUILDING ANY DAMAGE. Let's say a Riven and a Malphite are paired against top lane. Riven beats Malphite with or without junlgers help early on. After a while - if Malphite can keep up XP and farm with her - he will be able to smash the ground with her ass (with Summoner's current conception) regardless what damage item she has, just by rushing Sunfire Cape, Ninja Tabi and/or Frozen Heart in this matchup. How is this fair? Tank stats are easier to obtain and most of his kit scales with armor. The required skill to execute his combo properly is close to 0 meanwhile it's effectiveness is on the top! Riven needs at least full build to be useful against him later, but it's pointless on her side since they won't meet face-to-face again. Anyways if a possible late-game teamfight happens Malphite can pull out massive amount of damage and survive at the same time with this build - due to his kit - which is huge!

In the other hand what happens if Riven encounters let's say with a Shen at top lane? She will wreck him (again, with Summoner's current conception) without hesitation! No matter how much armor he stacks against her the only thing he can achieve is winning time before his "decapitation". If he has more armor than Riven could penetrate in a short period of time - he can hope that there is no point in killing him anymore - and her focus will shift to someone else on the map. If he starts building damage he will fall later because his kit doesn't allow him to do much more. His ultimate is nearly useless if he's IN a teamfight but he's probably the worst (tanky) splitpusher in the entire game. To be honest nobody runs in fear if a Shen is spotted near the second tower. However if it's a Nasus with 500+ stacks things might change a bit...

So tanks job isn't really to peel for their team? What else then? Do they need to build damage?

If a guy who prefers to be the primary tank for his team starts to build full defensive items - he'll have a hard time later regardless of how high his champion's base stats are. The only exceptions are %HP damage wielders or champions that scales from defensive stats... like Rammus or Malphite. Their job is not only to add cc/utility but to deal significant damage in teamfights. Otherwise any tank becomes useless when his trump card is already used in a fight - they need to build damage but with defensive stats including HP/MR to be effective. Sure they can peel for teammates but they need to become a threat alone.

Tanks can be replaced with fighters vice versa until they mix offensive and defensive builds. If a desired champion is a one-trick pony like Amumu, Darius, Sejuani mixed stats becomes a must. In solo and team queue all that matters is the damage dealt/soaked and the combination of cc a team can represent. If the initial combination was almost perfect the main damage dealers can finish the rest without casualties - but this statemant only applies to early game. Later they won't be able to finish alone. As the game progresses some or more have to make a sacrefice and deal as much damage as possible before the enemy team shut him/them down. THEIR JOB IS TO DIE FOR THE THE GREATER GOOD. If they explode before achieving anything the fight will be over and their team is probably done. However if they survive but their team's main damage dealers are dead there's no point in surviving either because they won't be able to defend themselves or achieving objectives all alone...

If 2 or more guys decide to build full tank and their team can't win within the first 20 minutes they will most likely loose. If one guy does the same besides support their chance of winning increases drastically and the time "limit" extends with approx. 10 minutes - as far as he ALWAYS initializes and probably dies first - without counting any damage he dealt. Missing tanks completely can lead to a point where a team wins by brute force in the first 15 minutes or falls behind - according to everyone. However that's not actually true. Sure, with %HP damage any tank can be a viable duelist but stacking defensive stats on non-tanks or adding more damage to tanks could be a more gamechaning thing. Something thats effectiveness can't be measured by time or champion levels... (And this is the point where roles merge together...)

Conclusions?

1. Damage will help you win games - a full tank setup won't. If your champion lacks any innate tankiness don't force him to build though. 2. If your enemy looks like a tank, listed as a tank but has %HP damage or his damage is generated by defensive stats/stacks you have to build both offensive AND defensive stats against him. As time passes this statemant applies vice versa. 3. CC and AOE matters. The more you have the more your team depends on you. Don't mess with them! 4. Nothing can be achieved without taking a risk or sacrificing something. Someone has to peel for the rest of the team - regardless of compositions.