9/24/2011 - I edited the Shen skill sequence as was pointed out by a commenter. Thanks for catching that. I'm also filling in the Tanky DPS section as I go.

9/25/2011 - I noticed that I messed up on the Warwick code, so I fixed that so his Icon shows up. My bad. Also, I can't figure out how to make Rumble's Electro Harpoon or Durgot's ultimate icon's work, so if you know, please tell me.

11/24/2011 - Updated masteries to keep up with current times.

11/29/2011 - Volibear, I'm not sure what to make of him yet. I'm debating between Tanky DPS and True Off-tank, although I will need to see him in game. Once I play him, and see him played, and how well he works out, I'll categorize him, and explain my placing of him. I feel like right now he's kind of Mundoish: Frenzy reminds me of Mundo's E a little bit, Thunderclaws reminds me of Mundo's W, without hurting himself, and Rolling Thunder is his chasing ability, much like Mundo's cleaver. He can also slow with his terrifying roar, or whatever it's called, which is useful, too. His passive is also Mundo-esque, so for now I'm going to say Tanky DPS. Will update later, as he comes into the mobafire database, and I see him in game.

1/19/2012 - What's up everyone. I've noticed some glaring omissions in my guide, so I've decided to add the following champions: Lee Sin, Shyvana, Volibear and the latest true tank, and second female tank Sejuani! Hope this advice helps you in your understanding of the game!

2/12/2012 - I noticed that none of Lee Sin's skills except his ult are showing up, and neither is urgot's ultimate, or Rumble's Scrap Shield. Does anyone know the proper codes to fix this?

First off, this is my first guide I have ever written.

Everything contained within this guide is my opinion, but as I've watched and learned, I believe the opinions I've developed are quite accurate.

I would just like to point out that while there are masteries, runes, and item builds for each of the tanks, this is not a "how to play your tank" manual, it's a "What is a tank, what are the criteria for being a true tank?" manual. The information is simply there for those who may want it.

I did not come up with most of these builds, and borrowed almost all of them from other Mobafire people, for instance the "Shen is Everywhere" guide, or the "I hear he is the coon" for Malphite, or the "Alistar, Pure Tank" build, etc.. If I didn't list your build specifically sorry, but you know it's yours and not mine so be happy I thought it was good enough to throw up as an example :)

All of these shenanigans aside, let's get to the point.

Tanks. What are tanks? Is a tank just a champion that's really hard to kill, or is there more to it than that? I'm about to explain to you what I believe is the main criteria for being a tank.

First off: Initiation. Every true tank in the game has some form of initiation, most of the time it's a gap closer, although in some special cases it is not.

Second: Heavy disables. Almost every true tank has at least 2 forms of heavy disables in the form of snares/stuns.

Third: They effect entire teams. In almost every case a true tank has abilities that will hurt the entire enemy team, if they are bunched up close enough, all at once, giving your team a distinct advantage during this period.

Fourth: Shields. Almost every true tank has a shield of some sort, although so do many DPS champions, support champions, and off tanks. The difference is built around the rest of the champions kit

Typically every true tank in this game has all of these traits, and their kits are built around light sustained damage of some form, and getting in the way of the enemy. Using various forms of CC to control the enemy, as well as shields to absorb damage, and an initiation move to get into the action at the right type, they are not build for burst damage, they are built for taking damage. I'll go into a skills breakdown later in this Manual.

The point of this Manual is NOT to teach you how to play these champions, it's to distinguish why they are tanks, and what the kit of a tank looks like, so the confusion will end about how Garen, Mordekaiser, and other tough champions are tanks.

We will start off with Alistar, moving Alphabetically through the tanks. Alistar is a decent tank, although he has some flaws.
This is a great move, the only problem is that since Alistar has no way of closing the gap except for the summoner spell flash, it's difficult to initiate team fights with. Most of the time people see you coming, they'll just run away. However, it meets the Criteria of heavy cc (a knock up and a stun all in one) and it meets the criteria by effecting the entire enemy team at once.
A great move if used correctly, and can be used to displace an enemy into your own team. In certain circumstances, this can be used as a good initiation move, although it often means coming around from behind, leaving yourself open to all the enemy CC and you may die before you can pull it off.
While nothing in this meets the tank criteria, it is a nice sustain move early in the game, and can supplement team fights somewhat although the healing is usually minimal.
This meets the Shield criteria, as it reduces 50-75% incoming damage. Typically used at the start of the fight to make sure you can last long enough to utilize your disruptive moves.

As you can see Alistar has nearly all the main criteria, being naturally bulky via his kit (a sustain and a major shield as well as sustained damage from his passive.)

Amumu is such a good example of a perfect tanking kit he is almost always banned in ranked in at least some ELO.
This is a double whammy, being both hard CC (a stun) and a great initiation move. The only trick is it's a skill shot, although not a terribly difficult one to land.
Despair falls into the category of sustained damage, and it also happens to be AOE so it can affect the entire team, although the main focus of the AOE department under the criteria is that tanks are good at disrupting the entire enemy team.
It would be difficult to consider this a shield, however it does knock off a solid 10 points of physical damage, always, so while not quite a true shield it is definately geared toward survivability, as well as adding a bit of sustained damage.
This Is the big stuff, this move disables the entire enemy team with a massive snare. This is what wins team fights, and why Amumu is such a big threat.

As you can see with Amumu he has 3 1/2 out of 4 points, giving just half a point to the pseudo-shield built into Tantrum. However he has 2 hard CC moves, sustained damage, as well as effecting the entire enemy team and getting in their way.

Galio is a decent tank although best used against magic heavy teams. He has some flaws, although he can be gamebreaking under the right circumstances.
This is one of Galio's two CC moves, applying a ranged heavy stun. Galio is more bursty than other tanks, although his damage will never compare to a true casters, and his kit does not support nuking as well as it does tanking.
Bulwark is Galio's shiled ability, often used right before going into his gamebreaking ultimate. It gives him large amounts of armor and magic resist, which supports the tank theme of being tough to hurt, and also heals him slightly when he recieves damage, keeping him alive slightly longer to pester enemies with his ranged spells.
Righteous gust is Galio's initiation move, giving him, and anyone who follows the windy trail left behind a speed boost, however Flash is probably a better way to initiate. This buffs the team in whole, if used by them, and also can provide a speedy escape. A decent move, although other tanks have better initiators.
This is the big stuff right here. A mass taunt that controls the enemy team, rendering them unable to do anything but attack him, then bursting for a decent amount of damage. This is what makes Galio a tank, rather than a burst caster.

As you can see, Galio has all of the tank critera: AOE damage and heavy CC (taunts, and a mass slow), sustained damage although bursty in the form of Q and E, a shield, and finally an initiation move, although it's not as good as some other tanks.

There are varied opinions on Leona, some think she's terrible, but I think she happens to be one of the best tanks in the game. Her only problem is she's a bit slow, and she requires skill in order to land most of her attacks.
This is the first skill in Leona's tank arsenal. A solid stun on a single target to lock them down.
Eclipse is Leona's second move, and this is similar to Galio's shield in that it provides and increase to stats, armor and magic resist, as opposed to absorbing straight damage like Morganna's . The shield is handy for making her that much tougher and able to last longer, and provides a nice source of damage, although, as like all tanks, nothing too heavy.
Zenith blade is a double whammy, very much like Amumu's bandage toss. This move is a skill shot initiator, that also doubles as a snare, locking down one oponent in place.
Solar Flare is very similar to Amumu's ultimate, although it is much shorter in radius. In the dead center of the long range skill shot, any enemies caught are stunned, and near the outer portion of the radius it slows them down drastically. This can be game changing as almost all tank ultimates are.

The break down of Leona is that she has nearly the perfect tank kit. Attempting to make her something she isn't is a foolish decision, and by that I mean trying to play her as an AP support offtank. Her build doesn't provide nearly enough damage to build her for doing that, what it naturally supplies is lots of CC to lock down multiple enemies at once, or severely lock down one opponent for a long time, and straight up survivability. Getting past a good Leona is a difficult job.

Malphite is an okay tank, and is often used if other, more powerful tanks are banned, however he is rarely anyone's first pick.
This is a nice single target slow, and is often used for nabbing escaping champions from team fights so that your carries can close the gap and mow them down.
This move provides some decent sustain damage, like several tanks have.
This move scales with armor, which should be a big clue as to how Malphite should be built, however stacking only armor is a mistake as well. This also provides a team wide debuff to your enemies, slowing down their attack speed, which can be helpful, unless you're fighting a majority of casters.
This is a double whammy and what redeems Malphite as a viable tank at all. A great initiation that also knocks the entire enemy team up giving your team time to position and deal free damage on them. This move is boss.

Malphite has all four criteria for being a tank, he has a shield in has passive, granted it's not a shield on command, it still provides a solid defense. He has an initiator, and two forms of CC, as well as sustained damage and an entire enemy team debuff. Solid tank, but I'd rather take others, in my opinion. The point is that his skill set is built around taking damage and disruption, rather than focused on dealing damage.

Maokai is a pretty devastating tank early game, but seems to lose steam as the game goes on. That aside, he's one of my favorite characters, and a pretty solid tank.
Arcane Smash This is a fairly decent attack. It provides a form of CC in a knock back type attack, and deals some minor damage. Many other tanks have forms of knock back, too.
This is a double whammy as many tanks have. A two in one of an initiator, and also a snare that traps the enemy in place for a couple of seconds. Deals a fair amount of damage, too.
Like many AP tanks, he has a form of burst damage, similar to Galio. Supplemental damage to the rest of his kit.
An okay ultimate for a tank, channeled, but drains mana. It provides a team wide defense buff that reduces all incoming damage, however it's rather easy to avoid. That aside it still fits into the tank ideal as sort of a mass shield of sorts.

Maokai has all of the attributes required for True Tanks: Two forms of CC, one of which is heavy (a snare, although the knockback still disrupts the enemies and can hit more than one) an initiator, supplemental damage, and a shield in his ultimate.

Rammus is the man. I would just under Amumu in terms of just a good all round tank, however he doesn't effect as many enemies as does Amumu at once.
This provides a two in one combo of a high speed initiation move as well as a nice CC knockback. Coming from behind, similar to Alistar, can knock back the enemy slightly more toward your team.
This move is a nice shield that provides decent stat boosts to Armor and Magic Resist which helps in survivability, and also returns damage to anyone attacking him. Nice to turn on after initiating with powerball.
Puncturing Taunt The second form of CC, a taunt that seems to last forever, you can sort of guide enemies around while it's activated. This is really useful to locking down enemies, and is also on a pretty short cooldown.
Ah, this seems to becoming a pattern doesn't
it? This is the taletell supplemental damage that so many tanks seem to be running, nice for knocking down towers, and just hurting the entire enemy team at once. Good ultimate, but nothing super amazing.

Rammus is a great tank with a powerful kit, providing all of the usual criteria for tanking. He has two forms of CC, a long taunt and a knock back, as well as a shield, an initiator, and also decent supplemental damage.

Okay. The newest tank to the gang of true tanks, the second female true tank, and evening out the numbers at 10 true tanks is Sejuani! This tank, like Amumu, Malphite and Rammus, makes for a great jungler. She's also effective at ganking. Let's take a look at her skillset and see why she's listed a true tank, shall we? Alright, let's begin!
Number one on the criteria for a tank is met right here! Initiation. This move is great for ganking, and it applies your passive (frost) to anyone hit by it. It's a lot like Gragas's move. This is also great for escaping. An all round versatile move, but it's definately in the area of iniatiation.
Another tank with some nice sustain damage. This is similar to Singed's Poison Trail, Amumu's Despair, Malphite's Sweeping Strikes, and many more. It scales with HP, so the more you have the more damage it deals. It also deals more damage if an enemy is suffering from Permafrost. Nice!
Okay, here we are, one of the first heavy CC moves. While an enemy has her passive (Frost) on, when you activate this move they suddenly get slowed a whole lot more, making escape extremely difficult, especially if you've got your whole team behind you. This can make entire enemy teams crawl to a near stop. It also deals some nice spike damage!
Alright! This is a lot like Leona's ultimate, or Amumu's. It's extremely game changing. It provides so hard CC of 2 second stun for the first person hit and 1 second for all adjacent enemies. Nice! With that said, it can be used as initiation too! You have two initiation skills! Incredible! Using this also applies front to everyone. Between this and Permafrost you can really put enemy teams in a slow crawl of death.

Alright! Sejuani has a really exciting kit that has many variations for combos, two ways to initiate, and a very CC heavy kit that can really bring the pain to your enemies. All thing combined you're putting some hurt on with your W, making sure they arn't going anywhere with R and E, and chasing any runners down with Q. All around a great CC tank that's tough and deals some decent damage for a tank also! The real makings of a true tank right here!


Shen is a great character, although unfortunately, from what I've heard, he's not so great after a long series of nerfs. Still, he meets the criteria for being a main tank and I'm going to show you why, as I have been doing for every champion up to this point.
Ah, a decent ability that deals sort of ranged damage, and heals anyone that attacks the effected enemy. A small buff for your team if they're focusing on that target, giving them health back, definately not a horrible ability.
This is a small personal shield that absorbs a small amount of damage. Definately in line with the Tanking criteria.
Like most tanks, his initiation skill doubles with something else, and in this case it's a decent taunt. About 2 seconds if I remember correctly, which isn't too long, although it can effect more than one enemy as once.
Shen's ultimate is definately a life saver, providing a global shield to anyone in need, and also teleporting Shen to the emergency location. Can also be used on a carry at the beginning of the fight to help them last a bit longer, and putting Shen in the thick of things.

Shen is weaker than other tanks because instead of two forms of CC, he has two shields, and has difficulty locking down multiple enemies at once, if they are all spread about. However he still meets the tank criteria by dealing supplemental damage with a nice sustain, shields, and a form of heavy CC that can effect more than one enemy at once, under the right circumstances. Never the less, Shen is a fun character, and a decent tank.

Singed is a relatively new True Tank. You may be thinking, "But he's been out for so long." True, but his ultimate used to provide him more offensive capabilities. Due to the change of his ult, however, it put him from the Off-tank category into True Tank.
This move does nothing more than provides a nice bit of supplemental damage to the entire enemy team as long as you get close to them with this on.
This move can disrupt entire enemy teams if you place it in the wrong place, and it provides a whopping 70% speed reduction at max rank. This can bring even speedy heroes to a crawl. Definately powerful in tandum with his initiation set up.
This isn't quite a true initiation skill, unless and enemy is extremely out of position, however it provides a second form of CC in the form of a knock back. This can definately place an enemy into a really bad spot if executed correctly, much like Alistar's headbutt.
This provides Singed with everything he needs to be a true tank. Massive stat boosts to Defense and Magic Resist, reduction to CC, as well as a speed boost for when you need to initiate. It's hard to say whether this is Singed's initiation skill, or if Fling is, but they work well in tandum with his super slow.

Singed has 3 out of 4 requirements for a tank, lacking a shield he still provides two forms of CC, an initiator move (or two) and supplemental damage that effects the entire enemy team. All around a solid choice, Singed a great arsenal to most teams.

Summary

You may see a common theme that supports my thesis amongst all the true tanks, and that is their skill sets support disruption and survivability over doing tons of damage at once. Building a tank as a damage dealer, and trying to build a damage dealer to be “super tanky” is flawed thinking. There is a time and place for squishies to build some survivability, but too much impairs their ability to do damage. To build a champion with a kit geared towards dealing small amounts of damage at a time and focusing on dealing damage with them is equally as foolish, since you diminish your ability to survive long enough to make the difference you should in a team fight.

You may have noticed I left out many characters that people consider to be tanks, some examples being .

I will explain why I did not list them as tanks in detail in a later section of this manual.

Before I get into why Garen, Dr. Mundo, Mordekaiser and other company arn't tanks, I would like to address the champions who got left out of the Main Tank list, but by their kits, arn't exactly damage dealing champions either. They are a subtype of tank, a true offtank.

Offtanks are not suited for main tanking because their kits don't focus on as much disruption as as many enemies at once as a true tanks, however neither are they suited for straight damage dealing either.

Let's get started.

I will explain more about Blitzcrank in the summary after reviewing his moves.
This is a great move to tie down a single opponent, and can even be used as an initiation move. However due to the fact it only effects one person, blitz is usually tied down with keeping that one person in check, so it's best to have a true tank to deal with the other four enemies.
Power fist is the second form of CC that blitzcrank has. It's a nice knock up, but again it only effects one person. Great in tandum with Rocket Grab.
An interesting ability that helps Blitzcrank get into a better position for grabbing, or to run away. It also effects his attack speed, which, as like most tanks, provides a small amount of sustained damage.
With this move, you might think that Blitzcrank is a true tank, because it deals an AOE silence. Unfortunately, while silenced enemies can still run away, so it doesn't give your team the advantage that 90% of the true tanks ultimates do, by locking them down in place for a free few seconds of beatdown mania. However it's still useful.

As you can see Blitzcrank doesn't have the tools to lock down an entire enemy team like the True Tanks kits allow, however he is wonderful for locking down a single dangerous enemy for a period and making their life hell. Great in tandum with a main tank, because the main tank can keep the enemies busy while Blitz & co destroy the captured enemy by his rocket grab. Blitzcrank also has a shield, which lends to his Off-tank status, however unlike almost all true tanks, it's not on command, it's in his passive, and only at low HP. This lends credit to his offtankiness making him that much tougher to kill while low.

You may be wondering why I didn't list Cho'gath as a true tank. In the breakdown below I'll explain why I feel like he is a true offtank.
A nice knock up and slow move, that can effect more than one enemy, however it doesn't stun and it doesn't keep people in place for very long. Still a good move however.
This is an AOE silence, and while silence is always welcome, enemies are still free to run about as they please.
In line with sustain damage, Vorpal Spikes is nice for pecking slowly away at enemy health.
This is what I feel makes Cho'gath more of an offtank, as his ultimate can be used to execute a single target. Granted it gives him a tank stat for doing so (Health) it just doesn't provide anything more than an execution move. True Tanks never have ultimates for executing, unless you decide for whatever reason to pop it when the entire enemy team is extremely low.

While Cho'gath has a nice knock up+heavy slow and an AOE Silence it really doesn't tie people down long enough for your team to really take large advantage of the time. Another problem with Cho'gath main tanking is that his moves are skill shots, which means if people move, you've lost your one reliable lock down move (Knock up). True Tanks almost always have two forms of CC, sometimes just incase one fails you've another to keep disrupting. Cho'gath also lacks a shield, so what he does have is: One form of heavy CC, and sustained damage. He effects the entire enemy team but not enough for people not to ignore Cho'gath and walk around him to your squishies in the back. Plus his ultimate is an execution move, something true tanks never have.

Now we get to the Crown Prince of Demacia. Another great example of a true offtank.
This move in and of it's own does nothing more than debuff enemies with reduces armor. However used in tandum with his Demacian Standard this move becomes a key part of his offtanking duties.
A great move, the more enemies are around Jarvan, the stronger his shield gets. This means that Jarvan can do his job locking down one enemy, even in the thick of things, and still survive long enough to make sure they are punished. It also slows all adjacent enemies when cast, which is a nice mild form of CC
This provides Armor and Attack Speed, which makes Jarvan IV even tougher than he already is, as well as provides what all tanks and offtanks seem to posses, sustained damage. This move used with Dragon Strike provides a nice knock up effect, which is really Jarvan's only other CC besides the slow on his shield.
Now this is what makes Jarvan a true off-tank. Used correctly it can corner one opponent, for a 1v1 with Jarvan leaving your tank and the rest of the team to deal with the other four remaining enemies. It can even lead to a 2v1 if you catch an ally (Or enemy :( ) inside.

As you can see Jarvan can isolate one enemy, and make their day very painful by pecking at them with auto-attacks, landing the flag on them, as well as reducing their armor. Slowing them and knocking them up also reduces their changes of getting away quickly, and when it's time for the cage match, consider them locked down (Unless they have flash or an escape move -_-). Jarvan can definately make an enemy feel picked on and isolated, which is the job of an offtank. Good job Jarvan.

Nasus is a wonderful Off-tank and anti-carry, and his kit nicely supports the job of an off-tank to single out and destroy one single enemy champion.
This is an interesting move, in that it's one of the only nukes that any tank or off-tank has. If farmed properly it can certainly pack a wallop, but that's exactly what makes Nasus' kit so good for what he is meant to do.
Wither is his heavy CC ability, reducing the enemies attack and movement speed drastically. Cast in the middle of the fight, Nasus has enough bulk to single out that target, and they cannot escape, and bring them to their knees.
This is an AOE debuff+DOT that reduces the enemies armor and magic resist, as well as damaging them a slight amount, falling under the category of sustained damage.
An ultimate that provides him with extra health, and slowly kills anyone standing near him, this provides Nasus with the survivability he needs to find and massacre that one person in the enemy team.

Nasus has an interesting kit, but the theme is that of an anti-carry off-tank. He becomes bulky with sustain using his natural passive lifesteal and ultimate. He then charges in using Wither on his chosen victim, and dropping spirit fire under them to reduce their resistances and dealing a bit of damage. He then finishes them off with his nuke, leaving them if nothing else crippled and probably out of the fight. Nasus is a prime example of the Off-tanks job to find and neutralize one enemy target, but like all off-tanks, he simply doesn't have the kit to support disrupting the entire enemy team effectively, in addition to the fact that he lacks a shield, making him a poor choice for a main tank.

Skarner is probably my favorite hero. Under rated and underplayed, Skarner is a powerful off-tank in the right hands that can definately supplement your team well.
Doubling as constant sustained damage and a nearly perma-slow, this helps Skarner chase down people and ensure your team can catch them and kill them.
This is a nice shield that also provides a speed boost and attack speed boost, which in tandum with his passive allows him to reduce cooldowns even faster to keep that permaslow up, as well as keep his ultimate up more than you would expect. It also helps him last during team fights for a short while longer.
This is a skill shot that provides skarner with Health back when he attacks an enemy with the debuff glowing on them. Helps provide sustainment so he can keep doing what he does best, locking down that one enemy and making sure they ain't goin' nowhere.
This is what makes Skarner such a powerful offtank. The ability to snatch one enemy and drag them wherever you want, and them being unable to retaliate while it's happening is pure gold.

The idea behind Skarner's playstyle is that after your main tank has initiated, you run in and snatch their nastiest person that is the biggest threat to your team with your ultimate. You then guide that champion into the midst of your team, where they will be annihilated. The speed boost and shield give you the advantage to get in and out quickly without being flattened. The perma-slow from your Q aids in preventing said grabbed persons escape, but it always helps if your team packs tons of stuns. Your E is used for when that person is down to help you survive in the now 5v4 team fight. Skarner excels at nuetralizing one enemy, like all off-tanks but he has many of the criteria of a main tank as well: Sustained damage, a shield, AOE slow, single target stun. However he fails to lock down enough enemies at a single moment to truly main tank effectively, as what seems to be the common theme with all off-tanks.

Urgot is the only ranged Off-tank in the game, and there are no ranged True Tanks, which makes him a pretty special dude.
Acid hunter provides sustained damage and is one of two damaging abilities coming off Urgot's kit. The trick is that it's very long range, when auto-locked in tandum with the Noxian Corrosive Charge.
This doubles as a shield and CC in the form of a slow. This helps Urgot keep in check fleeing enemies while using Acid Hunter at long range to constantly keep them slow. It also helps his survivability, which is needed due to the akwardness of his ultimate.
Provides the auto-lock neccessary to make Acid Hunter useful in tandum with Terror Capacitor to keep the enemy perma-slowed, it also reduces their armor, making them easier for Urgot to dispatch.
Hyper Kinetic Position Reverser An interesting move that swaps an enemy with Urgot in positioning. This can put Urgot into the middle of the enemy team, and the enemy in the middle of your team. Luckily Urgot has a shield to help him survive. However it is usually best used when someone is very out of position.

Urgot is all about debuffing his enemies. His passive reduces the damage they do by 15%, he plasters an armor debuff on them, and with his shield active can peck away at them at ridiculous range with Acid Hunter also perma-slowing them. And just incase they were going to get away, Urgot can send them into your team with his ultimate ensuring that they die.

Summary

The Off-tank excels at one thing: Finding one single enemy and making sure that person dies (under the best circumstances) or at the very least, takes them out of the fight for a while (under the worst). Their kits don't have enough CC or disruption to effect an entire enemy team, and often lack shields and other protective moves to help them survive, however they have all the tools neccessary to destroy one enemy without mercy, making that person feed hard :P

Hopefully by this point you've come to realize the flawed thinking in seeing a Nasus or a Blitzcrank on your team and going "Cool we got a tank, so now the rest of us an insta-lock some carry and expect to win".

Tanks arn't made by how hard they are to kill, but rather what their kit looks like. Each champion has a time and place in this game, and Off-tanks work great in tandum with True Tanks, but are very ineffective 90% of the time if they don't have their big brother back up.

So I''ve shown you so far what the kits of True Tanks and Off-tanks look like. Now I'm going to go through the trouble to break down each Tanky DPS and show the flaws in their kit as to why they can never be main tanks and people should stop playing them as such, as well as stop insisting that they "can tank" or "really, they are tanks, nub."

The main point of tanky DPS is that they deal moderate to heavy damage, while being able to take damage themselves. This can be classified as a soak. Not even true offtanks about all they are good for is taking damage, but as you've learned so far, that's very far from what being a true tank is all about. True tanks focus on disruption and survivability, controlling the enemy team. None of the heroes below can control groups of 5 very well at all.

Let's get started with the perpetrators.

Dr. Mundo is often thought of as being a tank because he is very difficult to kill. However if you really look at his skill set, it doesn't really resemble a true tanks at all. Not even an offtanks.
A powerful ranged skill that provides a decent slow, but not a stun, nor a snare, and it deals a whopping 25% of his target's total health in damage. No other tank deals such large amounts of damage, this is clearly intended to be used to catch running away prey in order to kill them.
An AOE damage skill that burns of Dr. Mundo's own health, and also reduces CC on him by a significant amount. Sounds more in line with his Cleaver to help him chase than any tanking ability. True the CC reduction may sound tanky, but dispell all thoughts of this as it costs your OWN health in order to use it. No Tank purposefully hurts themself, as that is counter survivability.
Gives Dr. Mundo extra damage, especially the lower on HP he is. Doesn't sound like anything in the skill set of the above tanks have, does it?
This gives him massive regeneration and movement. That sounds pretty tanky doesn't it? After all it provides massive survivability.

Reviewing Dr. Mundo's kit, it looks like his kit is geared toward chasing down fleeing enemies and killing them with Q and E, reducing any CC attempting to be thrown on him to slow him from his pursuit with his W, and his R in order to recharge him to keep on killing, as well as a movement speed to further chase down those fleeing champions. His moveset provides little to no disruption, no shield, and a lot of damaging abilities, with some counter survivability. This is not a tank, this is a killer.

Garen is one of the worst perpetrators of being called a "tank" when he is in fact anything but. Let's take a look at his skill set and see why I claim Garen isn't a good tank at all.
This gives Garen a nice speed boost for chasing down enemies, and a Silence to prevent them from retaliating with their own CC for a moment. It does not stun, nor snare, and only effects one enemy. It also deals a nice bit of burst damage. Doesn't sound very tanky so far, does it?
Oh wow, a shield! This makes him a tank right!? Well if anyone with a shield were a tank, why don't we call Morgana, Lux, and Annie tanks too. It does provide him defensive stats...each time he KILLS AN ENEMY. What Tank kit focuses on KILLING ENEMIES in order to reach maximum potential? None.
A spinning attack that deals massive damage and reduces slows applied to Garen. Doesn't sound very tanky to me.
An Execution style attack. This is so far from being a tank-like ability it's not even funny.

Well it looks like Garen functions similar to Mundo, running into the enemy team providing some AOE damage, and focusing on reducing CC and chasing enemies down. His shield is there to ensure he can survive long enough to kill someone, especially with his ultimate. His kit is designed towards offense and killing, not defense and protecting allies, or disrupting the enemy team. Get out of your head that Garen is a tank and look at his skills and take them at face value.

Gragas is often considered a tank, but there's really nothing to really imply that he would make a good main tank at all. Let's take a look at his kit to find out why.
A long range attack that explodes on command, and reduces enemy attack speed. Nothing here really disrupts or controls the enemy team, it simply debuffs people effected.
This move gives him back mana and increases the damage he deals, as well as reducing the damage he recieves. Hm, sounds somewhat tanky, but it's not a real shield, and it doesn't really control the enemy too much.
He rushes toward target location, slowing enemies hit and dealing damage. Neither heavy CC, nor does it disrupt the enemy team too much.
Now this does infact disrupt the enemy team, but it only displaces them. It doesn't stun them, and does about the same thing as Janna's ult, but it doesn't heal your friends, too :(.

Gragas has an interesting kit, it doesn't seem to focus on anything really except sort of just being an annoyance. He doesn't have the CC of a true tank, and he can nuke. He's more of a tanky mage with some ways to protect himself. Definately a true tanky DPS.

Irelia is often called a tank, but really nothing in her kit looks tanky at all. She's just hard to kill, but what tanky dps isn't?
This shoots Irelia toward an enemy, and if it kills them the cooldown refreshes. This sounds like it's meant to keep killing enemies in repetition, and that doesn't sound very tanky at all to me.
This gives passive lifesteal and when activated deals True Damage to enemies. That doesn't sound like anything a True tank would have, does it? It does sound like something a DPS would, though.
Well now this is an interesting ability. If they have less health than Irelia it slows them, but if they have more HP then they are stunned. Well tanks have stuns, right? This, however, is a situational stun and only affects one target. Sounds more like it gives her an edge when fighting than it does disrupting the enemy team.
This shoots forth blades in a direction of your choice and heals Irelia for 25% of the damage they deal. This doesn't sound like anything a tank has either, but it does sound like something a DPS that likes to survive would have.

Looking at Irelia's kit makes it look like she's good for closing the gap against enemies then dealing heavy damage to them while making her difficult to kill. She barely does anything to effect the entire enemy team, and her passive reduces CC on her. Sounds like she's in the same league as Garen and Mundo, chasing and killing, and not being slowed down while doing it. Tanky DPS? Yes. Tank? No.

Easily mistaken for a tank, due to his high survive ability and the way people tend to build him. Don't be fooled however. His kit is suspiciously similar to a tanks, but Lee Sin, in fact, makes for a poor tank! He's just a very durable Tanky DPS!
Sonic Wave/Resonating Strike Alright. This move could be confused for initiation, but it's actually used for chasing. Lee Sin is a tanky assassin. He's got a durable kit like Dr. Mundo's. This is much like Akali's ultimate, a nuke that helps with chasing.
Safeguard/Iron Will A shield, similar to Mordekaiser and Garen's. It gives you spellvamp, lifesteal and armor, plus a small shield. This move is very versatile, can be self cast, or can dash you away to a nearby ally and shield then. This can be useful for escaping, but it's far too weak of a shield to last very long in combat. It's mostly for slight damage mitigation and survivability during team fights. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is a tank shield.
Tempest/Cripple This is an AOE move that deals a decent amount of damage and reveals hidden enemies around you for a short period of time. It also applies a nice slow, that can be used to help runners from escaping. Combined with your Q and this move you should have little trouble sticking to people in order to kill them. This is a pretty nice tool for an assassin, as it even lets you see escaping twitch and evelynn's and shacos and akalis. :D
This might look like a good tank skill because it's a knockback that also knocks up people if the knocked back enemy collides with them. However this is illusionary CC, and is about as effective as keeping a team controlled as Xin's Q. It's more of a hard nuke that is effective for executing enemies, or helping you flee when you need to. It's not good for trying to tank with.

Lee Sin really isn't a tank. He deals a ton of burst damage which no true tank does, and is really just a beefy assassin. This helps him stick to targets and kill them effectively with his high damage. However he is really not suited for true tanking because he doesn't have near enough hard CC, his slow isn't strong enough and his knockup is too short. He's meant to chase down and kill people, not initiate team fights and walk out alive. Leave that to the real tanks, please.

Almost as commonly mistaken for a tank as Garen, we'll take a look at this heavy metal fans kit and show just why he's not a tank at all.
This is either a single target nuke or a small amount of AOE damage, but provides no CC at all.
Wow, a shield! Morde must be a tank, right!? Wrong, this shield deals damage and is more to support his passive than anything else. It also makes him that much harder to kill, which is the point of a tanky dps.
A short range nuke, it hits hard and provides a lot of his passive regeneration. This is hardly anything like a tank, and once again provides no CC.
This is another Execution ultimate, similar to Garens, although it turns the person it kills into an ally for a short amount of time under Mordekaiser's control. This is definately nothing like anything a true tank has in their kit.

As you can see Mordekaiser may have a shield, but he provides zero CC to your team and really can't control anyone. People are free to ignore him and walk straight to the squishies if you're relying on him as your main tank. However if he has a main tank, then he's a very difficult threat to take down, and his game becomes that much stronger. Mordekaiser is a powerful champion, but is definately by no means a tank, as all of his abilities are geared toward offense.

This hard hitting viking is often confused for being a tank, but with his skill set I don't see how anyone could see him as anything other than a cold blooded killer. I'll show you what I mean in this champion's skill set breakdown.
A ranged ability that slightly slows his enemy and deals damage. Sounds similar to Dr. Mundo, doesn't it? Maybe if it were a stun that pulled him to his target he might be considered a tank...maybe..but as it is, it just looks like it's used to cut down runners.
Oh well this gives him more attack damage the more health he has, so that seems in line with tanks, right? Wrong, what tank mentioned above, or even off-tank gains a direct benefit to damage based on being tough? None of them. This also gives lifesteal, which helps him fight longer, and very few, if any true tanks have built in lifesteal, and only Nasus as far as off-tanks goes.
This deals true damage and nothing more. No tank has an ability that gives them true damage, and only one off-tank does (Cho'gath). Let's get with the program people.
Well this gives him passive Armor Penetration, which is geared toward offense...and when activated makes him immune to CC. Weird, no other tank in the game has an ultimate that seems to help them chase and deal more damage.

As you can see Olaf is much like Garen, Irelia, Dr. Mundo and so many other tanky DPS in that he's made for lasting a long time in fights and dealing big damage, with ways to remove the penalties the enemy wants to place on him. His kit seems designed for chasing down people and making them pay when he catches them.

Okay first of all, his passive should make it obvious as to what role this guy plays. It's called Reign of Anger, and runs off a mechanic called Fury. Seriously. Does that sound like it's more defensive or offensive to you? That aside let's get to showing why Renekton is not a Tank.
This ability does AOE damage, and heals him, doing more-so if he has more than 50 rage. That's right, the more rage he has, the more damage and effects he gets from his abilities. What Tank in this game gets boosts to offense like that?
This either attacks two, or three times depending on Fury, and stuns for 0.75 or 1.5 seconds, which isn't very long. The main point is that it applies on hit effects, which if you're using black cleaver or some such will really hurt your enemy. This isn't very tank looking either, except for maybe the stun part of it.
This is also very offensive oriented in that if it hits an enemy, you get to use it again. If you miss, well you just used it, time to wait on cooldowns. Provides no CC, and is really only goot for gap closing.
This is pretty much exactly like Nasus's and provides a similar function. Being able to last longer to deal more of that damage this character is so fond of dealing.

Looking at the way Renekton is set up, every single thing about this character screams offensive. He deals more damage the more his passive is charged, he gets an extra benefit when his passive is charged, and he even gets to use a move again if it hits the first time. This guy is all about making everyone around him feel pain all the time, smashing and clawing through everything in his path. This is not a tank people, this is a nasty damage dealing machine.

Rumble is a tough mage, nothing more, and nothing less. Let's see what him so.
This is a straight damage ability, and deals more damage if you have over 50 heat.
Gives a small shield that doesn't last long, and a speed increase, nothing to see here but a bit of survivability like all these tanky DPS seem to have in some form or another.
This can be used to slow down enemies while you are chasing, while dealing damage to them. It's not even AOE.
A straight line nuke that also slows people inside, dealing a DOT if they stand in it. Interesting move, but definately not very tanky.

Rumble's kit seems to focus like most tanky dps kits, on chasing down fleeing enemies and hanging with them, slowing them with his E, and catching up with his W to then flamespitter them to death. The Equalizer is just icing on the cake, since he has virtually no cooldowns. Has no stuns, and does a poor job of actual disrupting the enemy team.

Shyvana is often confused for a tank, but in reality she's a lot like Renekton without a stun. She even has a move that attacks twice, like Renekton. She's really tough, true, but she's ineffective for tanking because people can simply ignore her and run around her to the carries in the back. Trust me I've been on teams where "Shyvana is the tank". It doesn't work as well in reality as it does on paper.
This attack strikes twice. It's nice for single target damage, and when you have rage it deals a cleave, hurting all enemies. That sounds like a DPS move, not a tank move. It follows under none of the categories.
This allows you to move faster, deals constant damage, and also leaves a fiery trail while your ult is up, continuing to hurt people. Sounds like it's good for chasing, if you ask me, but this, also, doesn't provide any CC or survivability. It's simply another move to increase your damage. Verdict: DPS.
Okay a skillshot projectile! The first enemy it hits it leaves a mark that reduces their armor. So basically it's an attack with added armor pen! Awesome! Great for DPS! But strangely it doesn't fall under any of the categories for a tank...hmm I wonder why...
Okay. This provides Armor and Magic Resist. That's tanky, right? When activated she moves towards a certain location, and knocks back enemies in her path. Well...I can see how this could be confused for an initiation skill, but I think it's meant for chasing instead. The Armor and Magic Resist? That just helps you live longer so you can deal more damage!

As you can tell by her kit, everything Shyvana does is geared around damage, and boy does she do a lot! However she has almost zero CC, and really barely any survivability aside from how you build her. She has two moves that allow her to chase, and one that reduces armor. It looks like this fiery babe is nothing more than a killing machine. She's scary for sure but she's not a tank! Sorry folks D:

Sion is often called a tank, and I suppose I can sort of see why, and perhaps once long ago he was a viable one, but this is no longer the case, let's take a look at why.
This is a single target stun that lasts for 1.5 seconds, and deals heavy damage, nice for keeping enemies in place, and if Sion has another form of CC, like another stun, this would be great for disruption, but as it is, it's more to help him chase people down to explode his sheild on them, or if he's AD so he can whack them a few times with Chopper.
This is a pretty powerful shield, but it's main use, at least for AP Sion, is the second part of nuke. This deals AOE damage if it's not out damaged in time to be used.
This gives him flat AD, and for everything you kill, you gain more health. Again, you may see health and think tank, but like I've been saying, there's more to tanking than having lots of HP or being kind of hard to kill. This is definately offensive based, especially since it's secondary effect comes from killing things, which no true tank ever focuses on.
This provides Attack Speed and Lifesteal, which essentially helps him stay in combat, and heals his allies too, so he can stick around to whack them with Chopper more and burst them with his gaze and shield. Not very tanky, more offensive focused, if you ask me.

Sion is a powerful hero, but he lacks the sustainment to hold down an enemy long enough to be considered an off tank. Good old fashioned tanky DPS for this big, scary, undead fella. He's a great champion, just makes for a very poor choice in tanking.

Trundle is an anti-carry, and he can be tough to kill, but he's hardly a tank at all. He's more like Pantheon, only less bursty. Let's take a look at how his skill set measures up to the tank criteria.
A short cooldown bite attack that drains his opponents Attack Damage. Useful for making someone like Master Yi or Tryndamere less powerful, but not really what tanks do, per say. Maybe if it had a stun, or a snare.
This lays down a large area that becomes Trundle's own turf. He gains several boosts, including a reduction to CC, but it seems more in line of thinking like Dr. Mundo, Garen and Irelia, allowing Trundle to get to his enemy quick and begin killing them.
Unlike Dr. Mundo and Irelia, his slow deals no damage, but it can trap them, allowing Trundle to keep on biting and killing them. Still, it's not enough CC to qualify being a true tank, perhaps if it stunned everyone instead, like Amumu or Leona's ultimates. Then again, this is simply a regular move, not an ultimate, so for what it is, I suppose it's alright, but definately not in line with what other tanks have.
This is more anti-tank than anything else, sapping the defenses and attack of his enemy and giving it to himself. Useful cast against enemy tanks to make sure he can stick around and beat on people more, but yea, this isn't like anything any true tank has in their kits.

Trundle is an interesting character, but his kit seems to syngergize with keeping him alive by taking things from everyone else. He has poor disruption abilities, and can't hold down anyone for long at all, so he really won't do as far as protecting the squishies in the back is concerned. Beating people with his massive club is more akin to this trolls style. Definately a Tanky DPS champion.

Often considered a tank, and or even an offtank, I just don't think he's got what it takes. He's more of a single target DPS king, with a splash of AOE in his phoenix stance.
This provides a dot, and increased attack speed. Nothing tanky to see here.
This provides a shield at first activation, and lifesteal+increased regeneration when left on. Somewhat tanky, but I'd say more along the lines of Olaf's W, or Dr. Mundo's ultimate..more for staying in the fight than absorbing damage in order to disrupt.
Gives him a run speed increase on activation, and provides a stun. Nice ability, but seems more like Sion's gaze mixed with Garen's Q than a true initiation skill like Amumu's Bandage toss. That and it's his only form of CC, and only affects one person.
This provides some AOE magic damage, and that's about it.

Udyr is an interesting champion, and good use of his stances is key, but even the best management can't stun an entire team all at once. He's also seemingly geared more toward dealing damage, and chasing down, using turtle to make sure he isn't instantly killed, than for sustained tanking. That's just my opinion on his kit, however.

I know Riot has this guy introduced as a tank, but frankly he's just not a good tank. He deals way too much damage for a tank, and has an execution style move like Garen! He deals tons of AOE damage, and is all around very damaging. He's got some interesting moves, but I feel like he's more geared toward chasing down and killing people like most other Tanky DPS than he is tanking! Let's tank a look at why I've come to this conclusion.
Alright, as you get closer to an enemy you gain speed, and when you get to them you deal some damage and flip them behind you. It looks like Singed's flip, but since the rest of the kit doesn't support it like Singed's I can't say that he's a true tank. I might move him to the off-tank section though. I just havn't seen him used that way.
So you slowly gain more attack speed..then after three times you deal a vicious bite that deals more damage based on how much health your enemy is missing. Nothing about this says tank. It does say DPS and Execution though. You hit faster, and then you get a nuke. Cool. Just not for tanks. Not even Singed has burst damage like this. Again, why I say he's a tanky DPS.
Deals damage and slows enemies. Fears minions and monsters, too. That's nice, especially in combination with rolling thunder, helps you keep people close by after you've chased them down, and helps you build stacks on W. With the Q, E, W combo you can kill people pretty quickly. Sadly, this also doesn't really say tank. It provides low CC, and meant for keeping people close so you can finish them off, not disrupt teams. It helps that it keeps minion damage off you, too. Haha, nice bonus.
You activate this and start dealing tons of AOE lightning damage that bounces around. It deals -a lot- of damage, too. However nothing about this says Tank, either. It says DPS, and lots of it. That said..his kit overall looks more like a DPS than a tanks.

Volibear can chase, then he can slow, then he can deal a TON OF DAMAGE, as Phreak would say. However what he doesn't do is disrupt entire enemy teams to any meaningful extent, he just hurts them really bad. This guy has a great kit for chasing and executing people, and his passive is great for keeping him alive, and for baiting, but overall he lacks hard CC and doesn't really seem to be able to keep people off his carries. My verdict is that this guy is Tanky DPS.

Tankwick is such a stupid build. I hste people that think Warwick is a tank. He's clearly a killing machine. Let's take a look at his skill set to see why.
A short ranged nuke that heals him for 80% damage dealt. Clearly it deals damage and helps keep him in the fight longer, so he can continue shredding. Nothing tanky about this, it's geared toward offense.
This provides increased attack speed to him and his opponents. Used in tandum with his passive, and it provides even more lifesteal, clearly meant to help him kill people faster, and stay alive via his passive, while doing it.
This alerts him to where enemies with low HP are, and at max rank this can be very far away, then gives him a run speed increase to get to them faster. What tank has an ability like this? None of them do! It's meant to help him chase fleeing enemies down and maul to death!
This is probably what makes people think Warwick can tank. Wow, so you initiate with this, hold down ONE person for awhile, then probably die, and if you don't die, cuz you built tank, you just kind of do terrible damage and are a waste for your team. Great job. Either way, this is for catching fleeing enemies and finishing them off.

Warwick's entire kit is built around destroying runners. He is able to find them where ever they are, catch up to them, and with two ranged attacks, make sure they die, and auto-attack them down regardless. Warwick is a killer, his whole kit is offensive, he has no shields, and no disruption. He can't protect anyone, but he can certainly kill them. That's even what his lore is about. He's a slayer, plain and simple. Using Warwick to initiate with his ultimate then die is foolishness, it only stops one person and can be interrupted. Use your heads people.

Some people think Yorick is a tank, but to me he's just like every other tanky DPS. Good at chasing down runners, and good at lasting a long time to make sure he sticks around to deal more damage. That's about it. Let's check out his skill set just to make sure, though, okay?
This gives him a run speed increase while the ghoul is up, and is somewhat of a nuke. This just helps him chase better and deals some big damage. Not tanky at all.
This is a range attack that explodes underneath enemies, slowing anyone caught near the ghoul that spawns. This just slows them down, so you can pop your Q and chase them harder, damaging them the entire time. Not very tanky here either, even though it effects the entire enemy team.
Sustainment. Nothing more. Gives him initial heal when cast, then the ghouls attack heal him more. This helps him stick around to make sure he can deal damage and kill folks. Nothing tanky about this, at least as far as the criteria is concerned. Not a shield, not a stun/snare, and doesn't effect the entire enemy team.
This creates a copy of one of your team mates or yourself, usually cast on your strongest carry. This just deals more damage, and doesn't control anyone or lock anyone down. Gives people a chance to last around a bit longer if they die, too. Cool, but not anything like any of the true tanks have.

Yorick is a champion built around doing damage, plain and simple. He doesn't have the kit to support tanking, just chasing people down and killing them, even if he dies while it's happening.

Well that's all of the tanky DPS. Hopefully you see now why it's flawed thinking that any of these have what it takes to be a true tank!

You may have seen that I have not yet mentioned Taric up to this point. That's because Taric is none of the categories above. Taric is not a True Tank, nor is he an offtank, nor is he Tanky DPS. He is the only one of his kind and that is Tanky Support. It's similar to Tanky DPS, but instead of a focus on dealing damage, his goal is on supporting his allies.

Let's breakdown his skill set and see why I've come to this conclusion.

Taric is a great support hero, but he fails hard as a tank, let's take a look at why.
A heal that heals for a decent amount to an ally and also to you. Granted some other tanks have heals also, they typically heal for MUCH less and also have shorter cooldowns, the focus being more on minor sustain rather than actually healing. Almost all of them also don't effect allies except for Alistar's.
This could be considered a shield, but I prefer to think of it as another buff for your team. Providing just extra armor, it does not provide magic resist, as almost every tank shield does if it's the stat boosting kind, because some shields absorb straight damage rather than stat boosts. Another key thing is that you break this buff for yourself in order to deal some damage. No tank, or off tank EVER breaks their shield in order to do something, that's counter survivability, which is what tanks are all about.
Just one CC ability, and it stuns only one person for 1.5 seconds. Instead of thinking Off-tank, you should be thinking "set up for a kill" with a lane partner. This is how you can rack up assists as Taric.
This ability provides no CC, and doesn't even disrupt the enemy team. What it DOES provide however is a bit of damage, and a powerful mini-baron buff, adding bonus AD and AP to your team while the aura is up. None of the tanks or even Tanky DPS above actually boost allies stats this significantly, which is another thing that supports do well.

As you can see Taric doesn't meet the criteria for True Tank, nor offtank, dealing little in terms of sustained damage, it's far more bursty. Also he provides 2 AOE Buffs to your team (Support wants to say hi) and a short stun for single target (Also more supporty based on his kit than it is for most other off-tanks) plus a medium to large sized heal, which none of the True Tanks nor Off-tanks posses. I think we can safely agree on Taric being a tanky support.

Let's review then, shall we?

Tanks A tanks kit is typically designed around being tough to kill, and providing defensive boosts to himself and possibly allies, as well as dirupting the enemy team as much as possible in order to make sure your DPS last long enough to land hits on the enemy.

Off-Tanks The Off-Tank kit is similar in function to a main tanks kit, but primarily focuses on finding one enemy and making sure that enemy is "off-tanked" from the fight, and hopefully killed. They work well in tandum with a main tank, but due to the way their kits are set up they do not make good main tanks.

Tanky DPS As you've hopefully read, and come to see, Tanky DPS kits are geared toward dealing damage, as any DPS's kit should. Though they may have tools that help them survive, they provide little to no disruption and buy almost no time for your squishy DPS allies. They can be ignored in team fights and run around if they are main tanking. However they work great in tandum with a true tank, being a large threat in their damage capabilities, and just being plain hard to kill. They can also be called "soaks"

Hopefully by now you've read all of the guide, and you've come to conclude as I have that it's not being simply hard to kill that makes a tank, but rather, it's the champions kit that defines what a tank is. Feel free to upvote if you like this guide, and if you don't then please leave a comment explaining what is wrong with it. Thank you for your time, and thanks to all the people who made guides before me that I could borrow from.


Hopefully by now you've read all of the guide, and you've come to conclude as I have that it's not being simply hard to kill that makes a tank, but rather, it's the champions kit that defines what a tank is. Feel free to upvote if you like this guide, and if you don't then please leave a comment explaining what is wrong with it. Thank you for your time, and thanks to all the people who made guides before me that I could borrow from.