Has anyone tried playing a tank champion in the mid lane?

Dasdi96·Feb 2, 2017·2 votes·7,572 views

If your top laner and jungler decided to go hero mode and pick full damage champions, is it viable to pick a tank as a midlaner to make up for the lack of durability?

28 Comments

TS MediaFeb 2, 20172 votes

Yeah!

Riven : Hey Malphite, thanks for picking a tank!

Rengar : Yeah dude, we might've been screwed if you didn't.

Caitlyn : It's not like I had a choice. We needed some ranged form of damage too.

Janna : Am I not enough ranged damage for you!?

Caitlyn : Come on Janna... that's not even funny.

Janna : hehexd

Malphite : I got you. -backs-

Malphite : Purchased ** item 3165 **

Teamfight starts, Malphite gets melted*

Team: Wait, wha--

SoundChaosDebugFeb 2, 20171 votes

If it's a normals match I'll go Jarvan mid as a tank

EndlessSorcererFeb 2, 20171 votes

Soultran has been playing Sion mid for a while now.

Radiant WukongFeb 2, 20171 votes

I do it all the time. Especially Galio Malphite MonkeyKing Illaoi Nasus Yorick

NiyumiFeb 2, 20171 votes

I used to play Darius into old LB and stomp her. xD

But it works fine if you know what you're doing.

Thief of SpaceFeb 2, 20171 votes

I tried Galio a few times mid lane but Annie kept getting picked and I couldnt deal with her spam and burst earlygame. although when I fought Fizz Diana Lux they were much easier to deal with.

DreadlocksFeb 2, 20171 votes

I don't see too many tanks but def durable champions..

llndFeb 2, 20171 votes

Yes. I did it many times before. Especially when i'm against an assassin melee such as Talon, Zed, or Katarina.

JVlasterQuinnFeb 2, 20171 votes

Garen ? I feel like Silence and his burst of damage combined but his innate durability would actually work out.

Meep ManFeb 2, 20171 votes

Only issue is getting to them if they are a Mage

JVlasterQuinnFeb 2, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=Chicken Dynasty,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=RT2E9X9t,comment-id=00080000,timestamp=2017-02-02T23:30:44.840+0000)

Only issue is getting to them if they are a Mage

Well. depend wich but yea

DreadlocksFeb 2, 20171 votes

#NotaTank

deoje299Feb 3, 20171 votes

Then u gotta build him full crit and jump people like an assassin.

ModAcademy KaynFeb 2, 20171 votes

I played Sion mid when facing a Yasou once. Kicked his ass as he tried to windwall my Q. Built tank only.

A FLUFFY BUNNY 1Feb 2, 20171 votes

If only woks so so. Not very well but I did see blitz wreck mid one game. I have also seem a blitz get wrecked once mid. But supports do well mid for some reason.

Miror BFeb 2, 20171 votes

Mid-lane tank master here, to answer your questions.

From what I can tell, tanks are not only viable in the midlane but can actually be quite oppressive if played correctly. While a lot of their kill pressure tends to fall off mid/lategame, their early game dueling pressure (especially into melee matchups like zed) makes them quite powerful especially if you take flash/ignite like I'm prone to doing. Combined with the immense amount of cc in their kits and ability to push waves quite well (naut being a good example), and you have a lane which can not only gather leads quite well but also become ridiculously easy to gank by even the dumbest jg. The one "con" to playing them is without a doubt their matchups, as blind picking them can be rather difficult to do due to the sheer number of ranged/"annoying" lanes you can come across (from what I can tell, viktor cassio and malz lanes are literally unwinnable even if your jg gives you a 5-kill lead). Counterpicking them into matchups though is never a bad idea, as they not only make certain annoying matchups relatively easy (my 30k mastery point m7 on tahm was done primarily into zed/yasuo mids) but also enable things that other team comps can't do (like using a mid-tahm ulti to roam both bot or top, and turn into a "pseudo-TF" with a stun and tons of burst damage).

Meep ManFeb 2, 20171 votes

There are a few viable Tank mids like: Galio Chogath Gnar Sion

Kledy McKledFaceFeb 2, 20171 votes

yeah nasus and rush zzrot and watch leblanc not being able to handle the push :D

LauchmelderFeb 2, 20171 votes

I sometimes picked Rammus into Zed. If I can't have fun, they can't have fun.

oSEXYPLATYPUSoFeb 3, 20171 votes

ve played "tanks " in mid lane

depending on if they countered the enemy mid laner

pick garen into akali

mao into katarina

and so on

malphite into yasou

RalanrFeb 3, 20171 votes

Once or twice. Usually just to sandbag the lane.

TeemodanegroFeb 3, 20171 votes

yeah, its fine because you're gonna get ganked alot. Thing is if you're a tank you're gonna be hard to kill. Hopefully this will slow their snowball down. But yeah you can do it. it works.

oSEXYPLATYPUSoFeb 3, 20171 votes

old sion mid was a counter to Akali Leblanc

Troll for TrumpFeb 3, 20171 votes

Darius isn't a juggernaut, but it works fine. Since he takes ghost+flash top, that set of summoners works too. He shits on some assassins, as well. Chogath sorta Maokai niche, he has nice waveclear and ganking potential. But you have to rely on jg, since you'll basically be farming until he comes. Horrible against long ranged picks. Might work on something like annie Galio . Urgot can "tank" if you need it.