This is a guide to introduce how I play Alistar. I rarely see people play him anymore, so I decided hopefully this guide will convert a few people into playing one of the hardest to kill champions in the game!

The runes are mostly flat armor with some cool down reduction. The cool down reduction is essential because all of Alistar's skills can be used as escapes as well. I'll get into that later though, the armor bonuses in the beginning are great because of the longevity you'll have in your lane from level 1.

The masteries again are based on the cool down reduction with the few points in armor. I believe that the mana regen and mana cap increase are way to valuable to pass up especially at a low level.

The item build is simple enough, you're going to start with a mana manipulator which is great for someone your laning with. I always lane with my friend who plays Lux, and the harass is awesome! I usually don't go base until i have around 2k gold, with that I buy a Philosophers stone, kindle gem, and regular boots. This should keep your mana count in tact for quite some time now. The next time you go back should be to get your Shurelya's reverie and boots of mobility. These are the two best escape items I know! Shurelya's reverie has an ability to increase your movespeed for 3 seconds when cast, and its cooldown lasts only 1 minute! Its a great thing to have for the entire team if you guys want to tower dive and run back out. Get soul shroud as your next item, and the last of your core build. The last 3 items I put up there are purely situational items. I like guardian angel because of the dual defense bonuses and the revive. But Any tank items which you believe will help you win the game are most likely best. Banshees veil is great here too, along with thornmails, warmogs, and frozen heart.

The skill sequence is pretty straight forward. You're going to want to start with pulverize just to get the early game damage in case you or your team mate want to try and get first blood. As soon as you reach level 2, level up triumphant roar (yayayaya) this is your key ability for this build. Unlike most heals, triumphant roar can heal minions! This is great for pushing towers because you'll have a huge creep wave around you by the time you get there if you constantly are healing. At level 3 get headbutt, and the rest is easy. Max out Triumphant roar first, than go to pulverize, then finally headbutt. This is all while leveling your ult as quickly as possible.

Alistars ult is amazing because it makes him (practically) immortal! It is great for both defense and offense.

For my summoner spells I like Flash and Ghost for their use as both initiators and escapes. Another great spell to use is Teleport for that turret getting pushed which is too far away to get to in time. Cleanse is also a great one, but is best with Ghost.

Don't get IGNITE! Its useless because the most damage you'll do as alistar will come from pushing an enemy into your tower, or into your allies.

The keys to playing with Alistar is knowing how and when to get an enemy. You'll want to play close to your tower because that is where Alistar is the most threatening.

My favorite combo with Alistar is flash in, pulverize, and then headbutt back into your tower. This is great, especially at level 3- its an easy way to get a kill and it scares enemies away from harassing you so you are free to farm.

Another great combination is when you are pushing a tower with two champions hugging it. You'll activate unbreakable will (his ult) and charge in, use pulverize to knock the champs up, and push them out of tower range with head butt. By then, your allies should have killed it by now.


NOTES: DO NOT FIGHT ANYONE 1v1 unless you are near a turret. Alistar is a great assist, and has huge survivability, but does not do a lot of damage. Only push if you know where the enemies are, or are willing to sacrifice yourself for a tower kill.

If you made it this far thanks for reading!
This is my first build, but hopefully if you guys like it I'll be back with my 3 other Ali builds :P