Double Relic Shield bot lane

I've been doing this for a few games with pretty good success recently in normals. First we start with , and take . After getting 850 gold, we back and buy for near-unlimited sustain in lane. If we're pushed in, we tp back, but usually we just walk back at this point. After this mini-powerspike, the sustain granted from Targon's Brace and Corrupting Potion allows us to trade more safely, or even all-in. Tahm Kench makes all-ins very safe, since if TK gets caught he has a shield, and if the other laner gets caught TK can devour and run away. The base tankiness is often enough to survive most all-ins, especially pre-6. During laning phase, double relic also gives us a lot of sustain, but also a lot of gold income. In one game, by the end of the laning phase, we had more CS than the enemy ADC individually.

After laning phase, TP allows us to roam and make plays/save towers, and overall apply map pressure. I build Zz'Rot Portal and Banner of Command so I can splitpush as a tank. While Zz'Rot Portal is useless as pushing tool, Banner of Command can effectively cover that weakness. After pushing to tower, if enemies are not nearby I drop the Zz'Rot Portal and take towers, or see if I should go help my teammates. The damage from Zz'Rot Portal is much more powerful against structures compared to previous iterations. While not having ADC bot means the damage output of the team is reduced, but this can be covered easily by having carry top laner or carry jungler, both of which are often strong in the early game.

Matchups so far include Alistar/Tahm Kench vs Varus/Janna Alistar/Tahm Kench vs Varus/Morgana Alistar/Tahm Kench vs Caitlyn/Thresh Sion/Tahm Kench vs Illaoi/Annie

We couldn't be poked or all-in'd during all points of the laning phase, even when the enemy team had strong poke or high kill pressure champions. This may be a low elo strat that won't work in, say Gold+, but it's fun to try.

I'm also looking forward to trying Taric, who is another tank with sustain.