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Is there ever a time where you should hit the tank,

Chromatic Eagle··2 votes·774 views

and not the squishes? Just had game against an EZ, Janna, Jax, Gragas, and Sejuani, and practically all of my teammates, and even me admittedly, go after Sej and not anyone else. Is this ever a viable strat? Do we need to stack anti-tank items? Do I need to tell/yell/argue with my team to build that way?

15 Comments

TehNACHO5 votes

It's usually the ADC's explicit job to do just that - kill the tank - though other DPS carries fall into the category as well.

Of your team: I'm a fucking retard this is the enemy team.

  • Ez is the ADC and should simply be focused on consistently auto attacking what's closest to him while kiting danger; he should focus the tank if the tank is the only thing in his reach without putting himself in danger.
  • Janna's job is to protect Ez above all else. She does not have business in dealing with the enemy team in an offensive manner, save for a well timed Q to initiate with.
  • I don't know what Jax is building. Burst "Assassin" Jax should rush the enemy team's squishies, but Tank, CDR Tank, and Raid Boss Jax should all be fighting in and establishing the frontline.
  • Gragas definitely should be focusing the enemy squishies. He has the range to do it, the health to extend himself to get into range, and even displacement to make their squishies easier targets if used well.
  • Sejuani should be aiming for the squishies if she can reach them. Because of how her abilities function, she's she's more or less forced to build your team's frontline, but if she can flank and ambush the squishies and/or if she finds a good angle in the middle of the fight, she should be aiming at squishies.
Chromatic Eagle1 votes

You misunderstand, my team was me (Sivir), Thresh building AD I think (had coin, sightstone, and shiv), J4, Liss, and Renekton.

TehNACHO2 votes

Whoops, yeah I'm a retard.

Let's try this again with that team comp:

  • You (Sivir) are the ADC and should focus on consistently auto attacking whatever's closest to you and kiting, so yeah you should hit the enemy tank if they are closest to you and attacking anyone else would probably get you killed.
  • I...am not familiar with AD Thresh. I believe he'd be extremely similar to Sejuani and Janna, however. If he can find or create the opportunity, he should aim for their squishies. In every other situation though, his job is really just to set up the frontline of the team, and his secondary job, as a support, should be protecting you anyway.
  • J4 is a Dive Tank/Fighter. It's literally most of his job during team fights: He should be diving the enemy team's squishies.
  • Liss is similar. Unless she will get killed immediately and doesn't have Ult, she should be aiming to dive the back line.
  • Renekton is a mixed bag depending on his build and how far ahead/behind he is. If he's fed and/or sufficiently tanky, yeah he has plenty of reason to dive the back line. If he's fallen way far behind or is damage based, he probably shouldn't be in the team fight in the first place unless he can set up an ambush.
Chromatic Eagle1 votes

K so let's say I am fighting against a really tanky team, the tank gets fed, or what happened to us is that the tank kept ganking us, how soon should I build last whisper?

hh the thinker2 votes

[{quoted}](name=Chromatic Eagle,realm=NA,application-id=WEuoGbmp,discussion-id=4XTNIoAW,comment-id=0002000000000000,timestamp=2015-02-25T05:12:22.936+0000)

K so let's say I am fighting against a really tanky team, the tank gets fed, or what happened to us is that the tank kept ganking us, how soon should I build last whisper?

you can go from BT to LW right away (as I've seen challengers do it and explain why). going bt first would help you survive easier and since you didn't go IE for crits, you can go LW next. other situation is that you have IE, I would say go LW next if you are forced to focus the fed tank, otherwise, go PD/shiv in most cases.

TehNACHO2 votes

Well you're Sivir, a Caster ADC. If the tank manages to get fed super early, that's maybe a third* item purchase right there.

I don't play Caster ADCs so I'm unfamiliar with the build path, but I imagine being:

  1. Heavy AD item, something like IE or BT, that you'd rush early game simply to help maximize on farming
  2. Kiting item, maybe Youmuu's Ghostblade or Berserker's Greaves
  3. Last Whisper
StealWolverine1 votes

That was enemy team not his. And to op. Only if they are almost dead and will be quickly killed without blowing important cds, or if they are the only thing in range.

TehNACHO1 votes

Yeah I noticed lol.

Ice Weasel X2 votes

Yes, focusing the tanks is not only a thing, but it's a thing that you want to do when they're the only ones in range.

Explained by someone who has competed at multiple World Championships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQzB0HDstLY

Kiesling2 votes

Hi Chromatic,

You will definitely be hitting the tank, and possibly more often than you may expect. Your job is to kill, assist in killing, or attempt to make irrelevant (death/make leave the fight) any target possible, with each opponent hosting a different priority, at different stages of the game. When prioritizing, you want to consider the ratio between "how problematic is this opponent" and "what will be lost during the engagement". This means you need to consider the effectiveness of the opponent (be it utility from a support causing mayhem with initiation, interrupt, sustain, etc.; be it an indomitable tank or bruiser wreaking havoc; be it a damage dealer that is mopping the floor with you or your team) vs the cost of removing them from the fight.

Say, for instance, Sejuani was constantly forcing you out, getting a clean ult on you every fight setting up the rest of her team, etc., she has clearly become a high priority. However, even if you deem her as possibly the most problematic opponent in your engagements, because of what it costs in order to remove her (damage taken, your CDs, time, loss of damage elsewhere, etc.) she may need to drop a spot or three.

Now, when you're considering what priority every opponent is, you need to do AS MUCH damage/disruption as possible to the highest possible priority, while assessing that you are as safe as needed to come out on top (as in if you can flash in and take out two opponents, you threw away safety on the assessment that your life was worth the benefit of both of theirs). This also means that you have to consider that you may be unable to hit, or do anything to, the top 3 priorities - at that point there is nothing you can change about that, and you need to do everything you can to priorities 4 and 5. If 5 is in range (maybe the support, maybe Sejuani, maybe any opponent so bad they aren't a concern), you will lay in to them until you can't anymore, or you have the ability to rationally engage a higher priority.

Note that if Sejuani is the lowest priority, but she gets down to 300hp, using the cost:benefit calculations from before, she may be then become priority 2, or even 1, OR she has remained at 5 because there isn't much opposition she can bring at this point. Also note that as soon as she is the only 1 you can deal damage to (because running past her to try to take out the enemy damage dealers means your cost to rewards reward will be heavily in their favor) she then becomes your number 1 priority, and will remain so until another engagement may become more beneficial.

Bottom line, EVERY opponent is a priority - kill all of them as you can. Lay into every opponent possible, while maintaining you stay on the higher end of the trade.

-Platinum ADC (for what little it's worth to mention)

2000boxes1 votes

ya there is a time when the tank is caught out of position or when the tank is low health those are when you hit hte tank

Yulen Xoshxius1 votes

If the squishies build tankier than the "tank" and deal less damage than the "tank" I guess. I am not that pro though.

Anomander1 votes

If your a adc and it is the only one you can deal damage to without getting killed I would say ok but you have to be able to switch if any opportunities arise.

Renaille1 votes

You can either focus the tanks, or dive into the other team to focus their dps which will get you blown up. Which is more viable?

Chromatic Eagle1 votes

On one hand, the tank. On the other hand, you then have the team yelling at you for not hitting the adc as the enemy guns for you. Then when you hit the adc, everyone is on the tank. It's hard shot calling.

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