A guide to Champion Classes For Beginners: Tanks

The following is an in-depth look at each Champion Class in League of Legends, and the intended role each one is meant to fill. This guide is the first in an attempted series to help inform new players of the roles of the game and the classes champions are classified in. Veteran players are also free to look at this guide and add their own comments/suggestions in the comments.

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TANKS

We'll start with Tanks.

Taken from the LOL Wiki page on the Champion Class of Tanks: "Tanks are tough melee champions who sacrifice damage in exchange for powerful crowd control. While able to engage enemies in combat, a tank's purpose isn't usually to kill opponents; rather, tanks excel at disrupting enemies and diverting focus to themselves, allowing them to lock down specific targets (or several targets at once), as well as remove (or peel) threats from their allies. As tanks can handle burst damage very well, they tend to succeed against assassins and most mages, but their vulnerability to continuous damage puts them at a disadvantage against fighters and marksmen."

Tanks have two subclasses: Wardens and Vanguards.

Wardens: "Wardens are defensive tanks. Wardens stand steadfast, seeking to hold the line by persistently locking down any on-comers who try to pass them. Wardens keep their allies out of harm’s way and allow them to safely deal with enemies caught in the fray. "

Vanguards: "Vanguards are offensive tanks. Vanguards lead the charge for their team and specialize at getting action started. Their explosive team fight initiation seeks to catch enemies out of position while allowing allies to follow-up to devastating effect."

(The above is not written by Riot employees; it is written by anonymous contributors to the LOL Wiki.)

Tanks (Wardens, Vanguards) are supposed to beat Assassins & Mages because of their ability to absorb burst via their skills, items, what have you. But on the opposite side of the spectrum...

Tanks are intended to be disadvantaged against Fighters (Divers, Juggernauts) and Marksmen because of the continuous damage (DPS) those classes have access to. The tank's own inferior attack power compared to a Fighter's, along with the Fighter's innate defenses (While not quite at the same level as a tank, they are nothing to be sneezed at) allow the Fighter to win the battle in the long run; or the Marksmen's ability to keep the Tank mostly at a distance and their high attack power burning through the Tank's defenses.

Now one thing we have to note is that it says a tank's purpose isn't USUALLY to kill opponents. My interpretation of that means that Tanks CAN be capable of killing the types of champions that they are intended to counter (Assassins & Mages) because of their ability to shrug off the burst damage and lock them down via their CC, thus FORCING the squishy/fragile Assassin/Mage to stand and fight.

Now there is another key word there. The key word in that statement of mine above is CAN. The Tank CAN be capable of killing the types of champions they are intended to counter. This does NOT mean EVERY TIME a Tank goes up against an Assassin or Mage. It means that the player needs to use their abilities, items and skill with their chosen Tank champion wisely to make that CAN kill scenario become a WILL kill scenario.

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EXAMPLE SCENARIOS

is a Tank, falling under the Warden subclass category.

is an Slayer/Assassin, falling under the Skirmisher category.

According to a number of champion counterpicking websites (Lolcounter.com, Championcounter.com as a few examples; League of Graphs on the other hand show HER as a counter to HIM, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad), Shen is listed as a counter to Fiora. (Fiora players will probably contest this, but I'm not here to talk about that)

Let's say a Shen and Fiora of roughly equal skill are facing off against one another, with an equal number of items in their inventories based on their build preferences, equal levels, etc.

The fight goes pretty equally, and both decide, "it's now or never" and start their all-in strategies.

Fiora activates her ult on Shen, and starts whacking the Vitals. But Shen hugs a wall to prevent her from getting that last Vital to gain the healing zone she's wanting. His Max %HP damage from his Q is getting her down low, and wise use of the AA-blocking effect of his W is keeping her from just outright killing him via normal attacks. Expecting him to use his E, she activates her Riposte. But the Shen instead waits until AFTER the Riposte is down, and then uses his E, and barely manages to win the fight by hitting her with his empowered Q's while she is taunted.

This is a hypothetical example of a Tank DOING the above; killing the type of champion he is intended to counter (A Slayer/Assassin) via wise/skillful use of his abilities. (I'm sure Fiora players will draw flak with this example, but remember: it's hypothetical)

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But once again, looking at the other side of the spectrum...

That SHOULD mean that if a Tank finds themselves going up against one of THEIR counters (Fighters & Marksmen), they will lose in the long run; because while they might be able to withstand the first few blows, the constant pounding a Fighter or Marksmen can give will wear the Tank down, and the Tank themselves just can't match the punishment the Fighter or Marksmen is dishing out because they traded their damage for CC.

So here's another hypothetical example.

is a Fighter, falling under the Juggernaut subclass category.

is a Tank, falling under the Vanguard subclass category.

Garen is listed as being strong against Malphite on a number of champion counterpicking websites.

Garen, as a Juggernaut, has strong offensive capabilities. He also has built-in armor shred via his E if he can get 4 ticks/hits off on an opponent. Combine that with his commonly built (UNIQUE: Dealing physical damage to an enemy champion Cleaves them, reducing their armor by 4% for 6 seconds, stacking up to 6 times for a maximum of 24%) , he can shred through about half of a target's armor pretty much at will.

Malphite builds armor because his kit has good synergy with it. Such as the bonus Armor on his W's passive, as well as the ratios on it and his E based on physical armor.

So, once again, equal skill, equal items, levels, etc.

The fight starts out, and initially because of his higher armor, Malphite appears to be winning. But, just as Juggernauts are intended to do, they thrive in extended fights, and Garen starts to gain the advantage, and when the armor shred of his E, combined with the shred from , he's broken through near-on half of Malphite's armor, greatly increasing the damage he deals to his opponent. Malphite tries to hold on, but just can't match Garen's damage output due to his status as a Tank and not a Fighter. The fight ends with Garen executing Malphite with his ultimate.

A typical outcome between a Tank and a Fighter, some veteran players would say, and yes, it is true. But remember, like above with Shen and Fiora, it was just a hypothetical example.

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CONCLUSION

So, in IDEAL scenarios, Tanks should be keeping an eye on the actions of any Assassins and/or Mages in the enemy team comp, and be on the lookout for opportunities to stop them RIGHT IN THEIR TRACKS as they attempt to make a play.