If Riot is going to update Vanguards next, here are some champions I think should get looked at.

Note: this list is based on my personal opinion on the state of balance for each champion.

Vanguards are described as your offensive tanks by Riot. They are the initiators, the engagers, the Malphite player that screams "DYNAMIC ENTRY!!!" Whenever he ults a five man team from a bush.

Basically what the Kool Aid man does in commercials where he didn't give a shit about property damage.

Here is a list of Vanguards:

Vanguards

Malphite Amumu Leona Zac Gragas Rammus Mega Gnar Sejuani Rek’Sai Sion Nautilus Skarner

I personally think that the main defining ability of a Vanguard is AoE hard CC of some kind. Sion's got his R and Q, Malphite R, Zac's E, etc. Warden also have AoE hard CC, but their kits are probably focused for more peel and protection (though that doesn't stop it from being used offensively. CC is very versatile).

So which tanks do I personally believe need a look at in a roster update?

Malphite: I'm sure there are Malphite mains that will disagree with me and go into the details of everything he provides (and I welcome it. Knowledge is power) but outside of his ult I just don't see much impact from him.

This isn't because his kit is bad, he's basically in the top 5 of champions that give AD the middle finger. But by god is his ult just crazy dumb. As a Sion main, I'm honestly jealous of how reliable Malphite's ult actually is. If your team is remotely competent to follow up (but it's also SoloQ so idk) then you've basically won the teamfight before it starts. Not to mention its 100% AP scaling for Mage Malphite burst. Squishies with low MR can basically get killed by the ult alone.

Not sure what I'd change beyond really. But I think a goal should be to make his ult less reliable so he can have power put somewhere else in his kit.

Amumu: I personally feel like Amumu could use more encouragement to actually touch people rather than just get close enough for them to step in the puddle of his tears. His passive at least is meant to encourage hitting people to take their MR so he hurts more, but how often does Amumu really auto attack outside of the jungle clears?

Personally I think his E and passive should be swapped, but I haven't given too much thought on how this could work.

Zac: Change his %health damage to something that's actually avoidable in combat. It's the same issue I have with the Warden Maokai. I'm all for tanks having %health damage so long as it's avoidable. As much as people hate Poppy's Q, the blast is avoidable on the second explosion. Sion's W is also a great example of this. You could also change this with Amumu's W, but him crying is just really iconic to him so I'm not sure what you'd replace it with.

Zac's slingshot ability is fine. It's countered by deep warding and now has a landing indicator.

These are just my opinions and I didn't put as much into this as I could have because I'm on a phone and a bit bored.

Final thought: notice how my only complaint on damage is when it is too reliable. I have no problem with tanks have high base damages (even if they are high enough to really hurt squishies later in the game. I mean...what do you expect when you don't have any defensive gear as a glass Cannon? To just naturally outscale tank damage? Nope, damage just outscales durability late game. Against bruisers and other tanks their damage is actually minimal. And it always takes tanks longer to kill someone than a full damage character or a bruiser) as long as that base damage is a bit unreliable. This is why I personally find Sion as the best designed tank (as much as you Sion Carry mains hate it) because all of his CC and damage is unreliable compared to other tanks. I think Sion's design should be taken into some consideration.

BRING ON THE DOWNVOTES!!!