Playing as a tank against Vayne: itemization tips and strategies

TL;DR at the bottom if you just want the item choices and not the explanations.

So you're a tank main on patch 7.17 after Vayne's buffs on the PBE go through. Another day in paradise, right?

Well, I have the secret to making your game against Vayne a little less hellish: correct itemization.

It's always been the consensus that Vayne is impossible to itemize against, other than the tiny debuffs you can give her with Cold Steel and the like. But recent changes to tank items over the course of this season have actually made it easier to itemize against her.

Not only that, there have been a couple of items NO ONE has considered when trying to counterbuild her. I'm posting this to reveal those options to you.

Firstly, let's cover the obvious stuff. I realize that some of the insane stuff on the PBE (like Jinx W crit) doesn't go through, so we may not end up seeing these Vayne buffs. However, just in case...

0: Vayne does % Max HP True Damage. I've heard some whispers of people building either more resist or more HP to counter it, but DON'T DO THAT. Neither of these things counter % HP True Damage. Balance the two, like you would do against most other carries. If you are a resist tank, then prioritize a little bit extra resist, like you normally would. If you are an HP stacker, then prioritize a little bit extra HP, like you normally would.

Important: these items are not in the order you need to build them. You'll need to figure that out for yourself.

1: Cold Steel. Cold Steel decreases the attacker's total attack speed by 15%. Less attacks means less true damage. Easy peasy.

2: Grievous Wounds Vayne's AD increase as well as huge crits make her late game lifesteal as good as Draven's early game. If the PBE buff that heals her for 20% HP of any target she kills (that's you!) goes through, she'll likely heal to full HP.

Item: Thornmail has both of these properties, so it's the ideal item for the job.

Item: Randuin's doesn't have grievous wounds, but it has Cold Steel, and also crit reduction. Additionally, it offers more HP than thornmail. This is best used if you absolutely can't afford not to have HP, or if your team already has enough grievous wounds to hit Vayne.

Randuin's and Thornmail's Cold Steel doesn't stack.

Item: If you're in need of CDR and mana, however, this item should be bought early. The Cold Steel on Frozen Heart is an aura, meaning that it stacks with Thornmail and Randuin's.

However, this is a lot of armor and very little health, so be really careful if you decide to build this way. You will need some way to compensate for the lack of HP. Additionally, building both items can work for a lot of tanks, but it is definitely better on healing tanks and resist tanks.

Now, these are the items that haven't been considered yet.

3: Shields. Think about it: You have to increase your defenses somehow, but building resists and HP don't work. So instead, buy effective HP: shields. Shields will increase your defenses without increasing your actual HP, meaning that Vayne's true damage won't increase against you!

Item: Sterak's Gage grants a shield equal to 75% of your bonus HP. Due to the loss of HP and increase of resists on tank items, Warmog's has become more popular. If you've been building Warmog's on your tank champ, replace it with a Sterak's Gage for your games against Vayne. If you haven't been building Warmog's, build Sterak's 3rd item. If you're playing an HP stacker, build this 4th.

Item: Locket of the Iron Solari grants a shield to you and your teammates up to 434 + 36% of your bonus HP. This is ideal for a health stacker, as you will be low on resists but high on HP to make best use of this item.

Granted, these items aren't huge counters. These shields decay over a few seconds. However, it will make your life just a little bit easier. Maybe it'll give you just enough time you need to finally hit that Q on the Vayne to lock her down.

TL;DR: . Get yourself Cold Steel, and some Grievous Wounds if no one else has it already. Shields are useful against Vayne because they increase your defenses without increassing her true damage. Locket is good if you have a lot of HP, Sterak's is good on any tank vs. Vayne; 4th item on HP stackers, 3rd item anytime else. Don't buy all of these items in the same game.

I hope this post was informative. Good luck against the meta sheep, my friends. [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]