Drawing Parallels: Wardens
This is the next entry in my "Drawing Parallels" series, where I attempt to look in-depth at a specific champion subclass and look at the similarities, as well as differences, that each member of the subclass has in their respective kits. I have three other posts of this nature, dealing with Juggernauts, Divers and Vanguards, in that order.
https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/77zlGQ8v-drawing-parallels-divers
https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/bH8VBf9P-drawing-parallels-vanguards
Today, I'll be looking at the other Tank Subclass; namely, the Wardens. The Wardens are described as such on the LOL Wiki:
"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."
Similar to the Juggernaut and Diver posts being short (For the Juggernaut sub-classes lower total membership, 13) and long (While the Divers have 19) respectively, the Vanguard post was much longer than this one will be, as the Vanguards had 13 total champions, while the Wardens (At this time of writing, anyway) have only 7 members.
One of the members of the Wardens, 
, is technically a double-dipper, as he also is placed under the Enchanter Subclass of Controllers (Otherwise known as Supports), so I will specifically be focusing on his Warden-related aspects here in this post. If I make a post focusing on Enchanters, I will then look at his Enchanter aspects in that future post.
At this time of writing, the Warden Subclass is made up of the following champions:
A much smaller roster than their Vanguard brethren, huh? The case is the same for Divers and Juggernauts, but I digress.
We will start by looking at what I will call in this post, the "Defensive Powers" that each champion has. When I say defensive, I refer to abilities like increasing Allied or one's own Armor/MR, Reducing/Negating Damage, and the like; NOT the CC/Crowd Control each member has.
DEFENSIVE POWERS
Braum has 2 Defensive Powers in his Kit. His W and his E.
On his W, he dashes to the targeted ally, positioning himself between them and the nearest enemy champion, gaining bonus Armor and MR. 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+ 10 / 11.5 / 13 / 14.5 / 16% bonus armor) and 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+ 10 / 11.5 / 13 / 14.5 / 16% bonus magic resistance). If the target of the dash was an allied champion, they gain the Armor/MR as well. He can target both allied champions AND allied minions with this ability. Minions just don't gain the Armor/MR bonus.
Oh his E, he raises his shield in the target direction and intercepts enemy projectiles that would otherwise pass through it, and takes reduced damage from them for the duration of the raised shield. The VERY First projectile blocked is negated COMPLETELY, while all those that follow are reduced in damage, the amount dependent on the rank of the skill. (30 / 32.5 / 35 / 37.5 / 40%)
Galio also has 2 Defensive Powers in his Kit. His W and his R.
First, on his W; He passively gets a Magic-Damage exclusive shield, the amount dependent on the rank of the skill and his maximum health. Next, after the first cast, he gets damage reduction from both magical and physical sources while charging for his second cast. Once the second cast is used, he refreshes the damage reduction for an additional 2 seconds.
Next, his R. Once he designates a target, that allied champion has damage reduction applied to them, with the amount dependent on the rank of the skill (20%/25%/30%) and if he has enough MR to apply the bonus ratio (+8% for every 100 MR Galio has).
The new Nunu and Willump actually, based on what I read from the tool-tips, Wiki and other sources, doesn't GET any defensive abilities, aside from Slow immunity while using his W and a Shield when channeling his new R. Nunu players are free to correct me if I'm wrong though!
EDIT: Since it's been brought to my attention that I listed Taric's heal as a defensive power, I should also include Nunu and Willump's heal from his Q. So here it is!
Nunu and Willump heal when using his Q, with the amount dependent on if the target was a champion or a minion/monster. Also, if they are below 50% of their max health, the heal's power is increased. One more thing; the Q ALWAYS does true damage to minions and monsters, and always restores an additional 25% health in addition to the normal heal.
Poppy has 10% increased Armor and MR passively from her W, doubled to 20% when below 40% maximum health, and she gets a shield if she picks up her buckler or kills a unit with it every couple of seconds. The amount for the shield is 15%/17.5%/20% of her maximum health.
Shen gets his passive Ki Barrier (50 − 101 based on one's current level (+ 14% bonus health), and the Dodge/Auto-Attack Blocking effect on his W, along with his much beloved (Or much hated, depending on how many kills of yours he's thwarted with it) Stand United shield on allies.
Tahmy boy, rather than reducing damage or something like that, just makes his allies (Or enemies) untargetable with his W.
He also has his "Grey Health" shield on his E.
Taric, I would say mainly has his Shield from W, and the Invulnerability from his R (Delayed though it may be) for his defensive powers. One could also say the heal on his Q is defensive as well.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the increased armor Taric gains and grants with Bastion. The Tool-Tip says the following about it: Taric gains Armor and links to his ally within 1300 units. While linked, the bonus armor and Taric's abilities are replicated on the ally, though the effects do not stack.
We'll now look at the Crowd Control each Warden has. We might retread already listed abilities, but, oh well.
CROWD CONTROL
Braum has his 4-Count Passive Stun, the slow on his Q (Which also applies a stack of his passive stun if it connects) and a knockup on his R.
The knockup on the R has some conditional aspects. These conditional aspects are described in the following way from the in-game tool-tip on the skill: "Enemy champions hit in the close vicinity are knocked up, while enemies hit in the line are knocked up for 0.25 seconds. If no enemy champions are hit in the point-blank area, the first enemy champion hit in the line is knocked up for the full duration."
Lastly, the R has a slow, also described in the tool-tip:
"A field of ice then remains at the fissure's location for 4 seconds, slowing enemies within, persisting for 0.25 seconds."
Galio has a Taunt (CC that forces the target to attack the source of the taunt for the duration thereof) on his W, and two Knockups, one on his E and the other on his R.
His W taunt has the following description in the tool-tip of the game itself: "FIRST CAST: Galio charges for up to 2 seconds, increasing Shield of Durand's radius, damage and taunt's duration. SECOND CAST: Galio refreshes his own damage reduction for 2 seconds, taunts nearby enemies and sets their Movement speed icon movement speed to a static 60 for 0.5 − 1.5 (based on charge time) seconds."
His first knockup, on his E, goes like this on the tool-tip: "ACTIVE: Galio steps backwards before dashing forward, though not through terrain. He stops upon hitting an enemy champion, dealing them and all enemies along the way magic damage, and knocking them up for 0.75 seconds."
Here's how it goes for his R: "ACTIVE: Galio designates the target allied champion's location at the time of cast as his landing spot, channels for 1.25 seconds, and then dashes to them, reducing the damage they take until he lands. Upon impact, Galio deals magic damage to all nearby enemies and knocks them up for 0.75 seconds, increased to 1.25 seconds at the center of the impact zone."
The new Nunu and Willump duo have a brief Knockup, a Stun, and two Slows as well as a conditional Root. These CC are applied via their W, E and R, respectively.
For the W, they conjure a snowball that grows in size, that knocks up, and then stuns, any champion or large monster it collides with. The Tool-Tip describes that specific part of the ability as follows: "The snowball explodes upon colliding with an enemy champion, large champion summoned unit, medium-large monster or terrain, dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies, increased by 0% − 400% (based on charge time), knocking them up for 0.25 seconds and subsequently stunning them for 0.75 − 1.5 (based on charge time) seconds."
For the E, Nunu must hit a champion with the snowball barrage that is used when activating this skill for the slow to apply, and they cannot be slowed more than once from this skill, despite it being able to be reactivated to start a new snowball barrage. Enemy champions that are hit are Snowbound for 4 seconds, providing the condition for the root. Willump then does his thing, and if he successfully hits a Snowbound target, that's when the Root is applied.
Now, the infamous R. Here's what the Tool-Tip says: "ACTIVE: Nunu and Willump Channeling icon sap heat from the surrounding area, slowing affected enemies by 0% − 95% (based on channel time), as well as gaining a Hybrid shield. The affected area is hidden if the duo are not visible to the enemy team. After 3 seconds or if the duo are interrupted, surrounding enemies take magic damage, reduced by 100% − 0% (based on channel time). Once the channel ends, affected enemies will remain slowed for 0 − 3 (based on channel time) seconds and any remaining shield will decay over 3 seconds."
Poppy has a Slow, a conditional Stun, and quite a few knockups/knockbacks.
First, the Slow is on her Q. The impacted ground left behind from the first strike of this ability slows enemies that walk on it, with the amount they are slowed by being dependent on the rank of the skill; 20% at minimum, 40% at maximum.
Next, one of her conditional knockbacks. On her W, she gains a barrier for 3 seconds, and any champion that uses a dash whilst inside this barrier are knocked down and dealt magic damage. However, she can only block 1 dash per cast of this ability.
Now her conditional Stun. She dashes at a target enemy with her E, carrying them with her in the direction she's dashing. If they collide with terrain along the way, the target is stunned, with these numbers being the duration of the stun per rank, in seconds; 1.6 / 1.7 / 1.8 / 1.9 / 2.
Now last, but certainly not least, her "Team Rocket's Blasting Off Again" ult. (In other words, Keepers Verdict) She can use it instantly to knock up enemies around her for only 0.75 seconds. Or she can charge it, with the resulting hammer that erupts from the shockwave blasting all enemies around a distance towards THEIR Summoner Platform. The distance covered depends on how long she channeled the ability.
Technically, Shen only has 1 TRUE form of CC. That being the Taunt on his E Dash. One COULD call his Auto-attack block on W a Disarm-type of CC, but the Tool-tip itself doesn't SAY it's a Disarm CC, so I'm not going to call it one here either. It's partially why I mentioned the blocking effect above as one of his "Defensive Powers".
Tahm Kench has two conditional CC's: A Stun on his Q, and a Suppress on his W. Both of them require the target to have 3 stacks of his "Acquired Taste" passive to work.
If a target has 3 stacks of his passive and he hits them with his Q, they are stunned for 1.5 seconds. If a target has 3 stacks of his passive and he uses his W, he suppresses them for 2 seconds. Additionally, an enemy champion is stunned for 0.25 seconds upon being spat out.
Taric is a double-dipper, like I said above, and so that's probably the reason why he only has 1 TRUE CC.
That CC is a skillshot Stun on his E, which lasts 1.25 seconds if he successfully lands it.
CONCLUSION
Well, that's all of the Wardens (At least at this time of writing) with their defensive powers and the various CC they can apply. Now, unlike the Vanguards, these guys are more DEFENSIVE. They want to try and be the "Impassible Brick Walls" from which their carries (Whether ADC or APC) safely stay behind and pelt foes with attacks, and firmly stop any enemies that try to bypass them.
