PSA: Juggernauts are not tanks.

Ðelofasht·9/6/2017, 7:39:47 PM·95 votes·6,780 views

Tank:

Tanks are durable, front-line champions that help lock down enemies and start fights. They're usually found leading the charge, choosing the right times and situations to initiate aggression. Many tanks can also protect their more fragile teammates by stunning or pushing around dangerous foes and limiting their damage potential.

Juggernaut:

These heavy-duty champions boast powerful defenses in addition to tremendous natural resilience (or tankiness), and while entering a fight is particularly difficult for a juggernaut, actual combat heavily favors them once they are in range. Juggernauts tend to favor heavily defensive builds, though what few offensive items they purchase significantly enhance their already potent innate damage.

The wiki is your friend, learn to use it when defining the purpose of champions and clarifying strengths and weaknesses of champions.

In short: Tanks lead the fight, engaging and locking down enemies for the team. Juggernauts follow up on the engage and attempt to kill enemies

Please refrain from assuming that because a champion is durable it means they are a tank, juggernauts are not tanks.

236 Comments

Jbels9/6/2017, 8:05:05 PM38 votes

It's amazing how many people assume Juggernauts are tanks. Although it doesn't really help when every tank's mastery 7 title is literally Juggernaut. It ESPECIALLY doesn't help when you're a Sion main and your Champion's subtitle is The Undead Juggernaut. I really wish Riot had picked a different descriptive word for Sion and tanks

koshkyra9/6/2017, 8:21:57 PM17 votes

Im not saying that juggernauts are tanks but when Darius takes 30+ seconds to kill in a 1v5 yeah hes a tank

Noxian Pride9/6/2017, 9:53:48 PM16 votes

Darius main here.

No, I will not engage for you 24/7. Yes, I will engage for you in niche situations. No, engaging is not my primary goal nor use. Yes, I am phenomenal as a deterrent for the enemy engaging. No, I am not particularly good at backline diving, especially since the Righteous Glory changes. Yes, I will rip the head off of anyone that gets too close to my ADC.

TL;DR Juggernauts are more anti-engage if anything. Do you really want to approach my ADC when he's standing in my killzone?

Questions? Concerns?

Ðelofasht9/6/2017, 8:28:09 PM13 votes

Thanks to everyone besides Shadow who has responded here, it's a classification and clarity issue, that holds the entire class hostage by the community. Expectation is that a Juggernaut is some kind of tank, when really they are just a bruiser like Jax, Fiora, or Irelia without the mobility (they get higher base defensive stats and a higher base AD in trade for that mobility).

Honestly the trade off isn't so good, but the idea of hulking beasts of death lumbering toward the enemy and crushing them under boot feels so satisfying that many of us play them in spite of their weaknesses. Would really love to see Juggernauts get a compensation for their lack of mobility that actually felt impactful. I always suggest itemization designed for them that makes them immune to CC for the duration of an active, with severe restrictions so it would not be used by the wrong class.

Niyumi9/6/2017, 8:47:25 PM13 votes

PSA: If we're going to use RPG terms (which were around for DECADES before League was a thing, by the way), then, by definition, a juggernaut is in fact a tank.

Terchio9/6/2017, 9:10:14 PM9 votes

There is no reason Juggernauts should not be considered tanks, but there's no reason to classify them as any other label, anyways. Tank doesn't mean anything in a game that doesn't maintain that classification, and instead splits the highly durable champions (some consider to be "tanks") into Juggernauts, Wardens, and Vanguards. It's beyond me why they even distinguished the latter two, because they both specialize in durability and utility/CC.

So, overall, I don't see it written anywhere that tanks are required to excel at utility/CC, especially in a game that has decided to circumvent the term's usage and create other classifications. They can be tanks if you want them to be, just like the rest of us can be trolls, if you want us to be. Personally, I don't care. I'll just hang out under my bridge.

4th3t0s9/6/2017, 11:04:01 PM8 votes

Said it a million times, "tanky" is an attribute, "tank" is a class. Big difference.

Shadòw9/6/2017, 8:08:53 PM6 votes

I still don't get why a tank like Garen is allowed to have so much damage.

Sohleks9/7/2017, 2:01:44 AM5 votes

Who cares tbh? They are tanky. Durable. Maybe that is all they meant. They can force you to focus them a lot like cc tanks. Yeah tanks with 4 ccs and better damage reduction and even mobility which juggernauts were christened to not have are more OP yes agreed move along. Can we put this to rest now? It's pointless.

Which makes me wonder. Why is it some tanks are allowed to have all that? Some of them with less counterplay than others Gragas vs. Sion

Primaquarius9/6/2017, 9:20:45 PM2 votes

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