The tank destroyer... Is it a dying breed? Is it a bad thing?

Elindiir·Mar 25, 2016·2 votes·3,506 views

With the recent nerfs to Fiora, Shyvanna, and DPS Master Yi, it seems that Riot is trying to take anti-tank fighters out of the meta. But is it a bad thing? AD fighters with %HP damage and innate armor pen are the sole reason a team can go without a mage and be fine. By weakening these fighters, it allows 'pure' tanks (as opposed to bruisers) to have a real place in the battlefield other than to give kills to the ADC. It also gives more motivation to bring mages to a fight. The arms race between armor and armor pen is not all that fun anyway.

12 Comments

EndlessSorcererMar 26, 20163 votes

First of all, the nerfs didn't really affect DPS Yi. DPS Yi will build a combination of AD, attack speed and critical strike chance to optimize his damage, so the damage dealt by Wuju Style won't really be affected.

Instead, the nerfs were to the on-hit fighter builds, where Master Yi would build defensive items after Sated Devourer and Guinsoo's Rageblade.

Secondly, Shyvana is still quite strong. The nerf only really affected her early dueling and clear-speed slightly but leave her mid-game and late-game unaffected aside from being slightly less ahead in gold and experience). She wasn't really a tank-killing anyways, just a durable champion who synergized well with on-hit effects such as Blade of the Ruined King.

There are still quite a few good "tank-killers". Ignoring ADC and sustained damage mages in general, the following are still quite good at murdering tanks (among others).

DrMundo Trundle Vayne Malzahar MasterYi Kindred Jax

Ricky Spanish DCMar 25, 20162 votes

Its called Vayne- she is the original, tru tank slayer.

EndlessSorcererMar 26, 20162 votes

Actually, I think Kog'maw was the first tank-killer ADC.

Vayne was released about a year later.

I miss pre-rework Kog'maw.

Savage DeviMar 26, 20161 votes

Depends, would you consider Amumu or Corki tank-busters? They existed before Koggy

EndlessSorcererMar 26, 20161 votes

Corki, definitely not. While he did deal mixed damage, that made it difficult for him to itemize penetration, the fact that he needed to weave ability uses between basic attacks diminished the importance of Attack Speed on him and he lacked steroids.

I wouldn't say Amumu was a tank-buster either. While he does deal percentage health damage with his W, that mostly exists to keep his damage relevant against most targets. If he builds enough AP and magic penetration for it to burn through tanks, he's going to be pretty squishy. Though, it is a threat for longer fights.

Savage DeviMar 26, 20161 votes

Koggy it is then ^_^ But I was thinking Corki more because of the armor shredding. While not dealing the damage himself he was a threat with it,

EndlessSorcererMar 26, 20161 votes

The armor reduction was flat, so it was better against squishy targets than durable targets.

Corki was really good at killing squishy targets. They would typically build one defensive item, so it was hard for them to deal with his combination of physical damage, magic damage and true damage.

Savage DeviMar 26, 20161 votes

Yeah, I concede to that point. I could argue about the combination of flat and % armor reduction when building Cleaver on Corki, but then I realized nobody did that >_<

Savage DeviMar 26, 20162 votes

Fiora still busts tanks, problem was that she simply did it too well.

Shyvana's never been a true tank buster, and the nerfs weren't even focusing on that aspect. Problem was she wrecked tank and squishy alike too easily.

Master Yi also was never a tank buster, and those nerfs weren't even focused on that aspect either. What the nerfs did was stop Yi from gaining so much power from building tank items, and make him build more standard ad items, which overall all it did was make him squishy again while keeping his damage output the same.

QuephaMar 26, 20161 votes

Fiora literally busts tanks better now SO LONG AS SHE ISN'T BUILDING TO BE A TANK HERSELF.

GigahappytownMar 26, 20161 votes

The champs you listed aren't tank busters

they flat out shit on everyone with no counterplay

a tank buster is a champion whos more effective against tanks than against squishys

ie kindred vayne kog'maw trundle

Asayake 5150glowMar 26, 20161 votes

First of all, mages don't bust tanks. ADC's do. Second, you can't possibly tell me you thought Fiora wasn't extremely strong. Third, mages are the best at killing ADC's (though fighters such as FIORA seem to have taken that role, as they can assassinate even while building tank (though they are still split pushers primarily).