How to play against a tank? (for players who don't play top lane or tanks)

NuggeTech·Jan 17, 2017·1 votes·633 views

Hey guys!! Playing top lane isn't something I'm really good at. When I tried learning how to play, I am usually paired against tanks. The champs I enjoy playing a lot are Fiora, Riven and Irelia. I am able to land a few good trades from level 1-3. After that it becomes really hard to kill them so I have to resort to roam and lose my turrets. This usually happens against tanks like Nasus and Shen. Against Illaoi, Garen or Darius they always beat me in trades and I am forced to farm under turrets. Or if I start counter-attacking, the jg comes in and kills me. A detailed advice would be highly appreciated on how to and how not to trade, push, roam, etc. Thanks a lot guy

5 Comments

RalanrJan 17, 20172 votes

Ok, first off those champions aren't tanks. They are juggernauts (it's not too important to your question but I just like pointing that out). Except Shen.

Second: the best way to beat tanky champions top is quick and short skirmishes. Get in, hit then, get out before they can do much damage to you. Nasus however won't give two shits as he just wants farm.

It's best to itemize against them as well. BC is great for when they build armor as it weakens it. If you're losing trades, build some sustain so you can regain health with farm. Roaming for ganks when you have your wave pushed is smart imo.

Watch the map for any signs of jungle presence before you think about engaging. Especially if you lack a ward in the bush.

Fiora if played well can beat all of these champions with her passive, it'll require a lot of dodging. Riven is a bit trickier because she's all burst which isn't good against durability. She relies on short skirmishes the most.

I don't play much Irelia. Stun and run I guess.

KaiokoJan 17, 20171 votes

For Riven or Fiora it's called item 3071

For Irelia it's really just a matter of engaging with hiten on.

Nasus can be an issue if he builds full tank because you can't stop his stacking but he shouldn't win trades. Shen is a joke that gets outscaled easily. Illaoi is a matter of dodging her tentacles and spirit grab and moving out immediately once she uses her ult. Garen you just poke him when his passive starts to activate and he sucks. Lastly Darius is dangerous early especially if he's good but he's getting nerfed.

You also should realize that all 3 champions you've described are either mid or late game scalers. You don't typically win early game and as long as you're keeping up in farm you'll do just fine.

NuggeTechJan 17, 20171 votes

The champions that I mentioned, where just examples so that the other members here can get an idea of what I am trying to say. i have been playing league for 6-7 months and I have noticed the types of tanks or juggernauts if you will. The farmers ( Nasus or Singed or those who don't give a **** ( Garen or Darius ) or so bloody tanky that they are almost impossible to 1v1 ( DrMundo ). Even when I play against them in other lanes, I face a lot of problems.

KaiokoJan 17, 20171 votes

{quoted}

The champions that I mentioned, where just examples so that the other members here can get an idea of what I am trying to say. i have been playing league for 6-7 months and I have noticed the types of tanks or juggernauts if you will. The farmers ( or or those who don't give a **** ( or ) or so bloody tanky that they are almost impossible to 1v1 ( ). Even when I play against them in other lanes, I face a lot of problems.

It's because tank items scale early while damage items scale late. For example - if Mundo builds a sunfire a 2900 gold item, not only do you have to build an armor shred item - black cleaver 3100 gold but also a damage item (Tiamat or pick axe add 875 - 1200 gold). Because of that you'll almost always be behind tanks in the laning phase. The main reason for that is that tanks stop getting as much gold after the laning phase due to having less damage to clear the waves.

The fact that you also don't play early game damage dealers also makes the issue worse. Play jayce for example and you'll find that you're still able to solo them after they build their first full item.

Last thing you need to keep in mind - tanks need to be able to be tanky enough to survive more than one person's damage in order to stay relevant in team fights.