Alistar Build Guide by Razormaul

Introduction

Hello. I am Razormaul a player who enjoys support like junglers. Such as Maokai Nautilus and Amumu. I am going to be making guides for all of my favorite support junglers, I hope you enjoy them.

Alistar is one of the support type junglers. He bring great utility to the team from a knocback and a knockup and is also very tanky with his ultimate active. He is one of the best gankers in the game and one of the best turret divers.
IMPORTANT If you are planning on purchasing Alistar you can just subscribe to Riot Games Youtube channel. This way you can get him for free and also get Unchained Alistar skin.

By the way don't Headbutt monsters over walls :D

Other Guides and Abbreviations

Guides

• Maokai Guide: The Guide
• Nautilus Guide: The Guide

• CC = Crowd Control=Stuns/Snares/Taunts etc.
• AP = Ability Power.
• CDR = Cooldown Reduction.
• AOE = Area Of Effect, i.e Pulverize.
• HP = Health Points.
• OOM = Out of Mana
• MS = Movement Speed
• AD = Attack Damage

Runes

Runes
Greater Mark of Attack Speed 9	Greater Seal of Armor 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist 9	Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed 3

• Marks 9 Greater Mark of Attack Speed I get the attack speed marks to speed up jungling times.
• Seals 9 Greater Seal of Armor I get flat armor seals to keep your hp high in the jungle.
• Glyphs 9 Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist Magic Resist per level is more useful than flat magic resist as you wont be taking much magic damage early game.Magic resist is the best type of glyph.
• Quintessences 3 Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed Movement speed helps you to initiate, gank and to walk through the jungle quicker.

Masteries

Masteries

1/1

3/4

2/2

4/3

1/2

1/1

3/1

3/3

2/3

1/3

1/1

3/3

4/1

1/1

Alistar

Alistar

• Hardiness - Take less damage during ganks and from jungle mobs.
• Summoner's Resolve - 10 gold roughly every 70 seconds adds up.
• Tough Skin - Take less damage in the jungle.
• Durability - To be a bit beefier late game.
• Bladed Armor - To clear jungle mobs quicker.
• Veteran's Scars - More hp early game.
• Initiator - As the name implies this helps you initiate a teamfight or gank. Also helps you get trough the jungle quicker.
• Enlightenment - Cdr is great for Alistar. It could be the difference between a Headbutt saving somebody or death for somebody.
• Honor Guard - Taking less damage off everything is good.
• Juggernaut - Tenacity is great and you get over 100 hp from this when you are fully itemized.

• Summoner's Insight - Lower the cooldown on Flash.
• Expanded Mind - Extra mana lets you stay in the jungle and in teamfights for longer.
• Swiftness - Easier to gank and initiate with more movement speed. Increases clear time.
• Runic Affinity - To have Lizard Elder , Crest of the Ancient Golem and Baron Nashor buff for longer.

Items

Starting Items:

• Boots of Speed makes it easier to gank and gives quicker clearing times.
• Health Potion gives you more sustain in the jungle.

• Philosopher's Stone gives nice sustain in the jungle. The gold adds up.
• Boots of Mobility lets you get around the map quicker making it easier to gank.
• Heart of Gold gives you a bit more tankiness. The gold adds up.
• Sheen is very cheap and provides you with a lot more damage.
• Aegis of the Legion makes you and your team tankier.
• Oracle's Elixir gives you map control by being able to destroy wards.
• Sight Ward gives you great map control. This is the most important item in your build.

• Shurelya's Reverie is a great item.I t's so good at catching people off guard. Using Shurelya's Reverie than Flash and using Pulverize than Headbutting a squishy enemy into you team can be a great way to initiate a fight.
• Trinity Force gives you nice damage, ms and makes you a bit tankier.
• Zeke's Herald gives you nice damage, cdr, a great auru and a nice chunk of hp.
• Randuin's Omen is a great item against teams with a lot of ad. Use the active when in the middle of a fight, chasing somebody or in a duel. I tend to get this item over Frozen Heart on Alistar because hp is the best 'tanky' stat for Alistar becuase of his ultimate, Unbreakable Will.
• Frozen Heart is a very good item but i don't get it very often. This is because I get a lot of cdr from Zeke's Herald, Shurelya's Reverie and Randuin's Omen. I get Randuin's Omen over Frozen Heart on Alistar because hp is the best 'tanky' stat for Alistar because of his ultimate, Unbreakable Will.
• Force of Nature is good vs teams with a lot of magic damage. Also helps you initiate with the extra ms.
• Banshee's Veil I don't usually get this item but it is good vs champions like Morgana and Karthus because the spell shield is good vs them.
• Mercury's Treads You should swap this for your Boots of Mobility as you are going to be doing a lot of team fighting and Boots of Mobility aren't as good as Mercury's Treads in team fights.

Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

• Level 1 - Take Pulverize as this does the most damage to wolves and Crest of the Ancient Golem .
• Level 2 - Take Triumphant Roar unless you are ganking straight away.In that case level up Headbutt.
• Level 3 - If you leveled up Headbutt at level 2 than get Triumphant Roar.If you are going to wait till level 4 to gank than get another point in Pulverize.If you are going to gank now level up Headbutt.
• Level 4 - If you haven't leveled up Headbutt yet than level it up now, otherwise get another point in Pulverize.
• Level 5 - Get another point in Pulverize to start maxing it out.
• Level 6 - Get a point in Unbreakable Will for easy tower diving.

Pulverize

Alistar

Headbutt

Triumphant Roar

Alistar

Summoner Spells

You need Smite for jungling as it increases clear time and it helps you to secure objectives such as Baron or Dragon.


Flash is the best spell you can take on Alistar. There is many different ways you can use Flash. Such as Flashing in and using Pulverize than Headbutting an enemy towards your team. You can also use it to get behind somebody to Headbutt them towards your team or to just escape from a bad position.

Jungle Route Level 4 Gank

Video of route:Remember i got no leash or help at wolves. You will be significantly quicker and have higher hp if you get help. Make sure to ask!

• Wolves - Get help from your teammates. Tell them to attack the wolves, but not to take experience. Don't have Pulverize on cooldown for Crest of the Ancient Golem .
• Crest of the Ancient Golem - Get it leashed from your mid lane. 2 Pulverizes and a Smite should kill it.
• Wraiths - Use Pulverize first. Use Triumphant Roar before any wraiths die. Auto attack the big wraith.
• Wolves - Use Pulverizefirst. Use Triumphant Roar before any wolf dies. Auto attack the big wolf.
• Lizard Elder - Use Pulverize first. Use Triumphant Roar before the small lizards die. Auto attack the Lizard Elder
• If you spawned on the purple side you can gank top or mid.
• If you spawned on the blue side you can gank bot or mid.
• If there is nowhere good to gank you can clear the jungle again and than recall, look for a gank or continue clearing the jungle.

Jungle Route level 3 Gank

If I spawn on purple side and our top laner has some cc (characters like Renekton and Shen) and the other teams top laner has no escapes (characters like Mordekaiser, Nasus and Olaf) than I will take this route. The route is,

• Wolves - Get help from your teammates. Tell them to attack the wolves, but not to take experience. Don't have Pulverize on cooldown for Crest of the Ancient Golem .
• Crest of the Ancient Golem - To do this route you need bot lane to help you a lot with this camp. You don't Smite Crest of the Ancient Golem as we need Smite for the Lizard Elder . Get the bot lane to help you take the Ancient Golem to 300 hp and finish it off with auto attacks and spells. Make sure they don't take experience.
• Lizard elder - Use Pulverize than Triumphant Roar, than use Triumphant Roar after the small lizards die. Smite the Lizard Elder at 450 hp.
• Gank Top Lane - Go through the tri-bush and proceed to gank.
• If you have enough hp you can either gank a different lane or start clearing the jungle.

Jungle Route level 2 gank/level 4 gank

Video of route: Remember i got no leash or help at wolves. You will be significantly quicker and have higher hp if you get help. Make sure to ask!

• Wolves - Get help from your teammates. Tell them to attack the wolves, but not to take experience.Don't have Pulverize on cooldown for Crest of the Ancient Golem .
• Crest of the Ancient Golem - Get it leashed from your mid lane. Auto attack the ancient golem .Two Pulverizes and a Smite should kill it.
• Gank mid lane. Don't go through the bush. Take the route I show in the video. Remember to take Headbutt at level 2 because you are ganking.
• Wraiths - Use Pulverize first.Auto attack the big wraith.
• Wolves - Use Pulverizefirst. Use Triumphant Roar before any wolf dies. Auto attack the big wolf.
• Lizard Elder - Use Pulverize first. Use Triumphant Roar before the small lizards die. Auto attack the Lizard Elder
• Wraiths - Use Pulverize first. Use Triumphant Roar before any wraiths die. Auto attack the big wraith.
• Gank a lane - If there is nowhere good to gank you can clear the jungle again and than recall, look for a gank or continue clearing the jungle.

How To Gank

Videos of successful ganks: I've noticed my mid lane ganks on both guides feature me kill Heimerdinger. He is too easy to gank :D

This is a counter gank in bot lane. I use Unbreakable Will for the extra damage.

Alistar is one of the best gankers in the game. If your ganking a lane where you teammates are somebody like Ryze, Renekton or Sion (people who have cc) it will more than likely result in a kill. If ganking at early levels tell them to have their cc ready. When you are ganking you want to use Headbutt first, followed up by Pulverize. Rememeber to use Triumphant Roar to get Trample and Sheen procs. Try to let your teammate get the kill as an Alistar with kills isn't as scary as a carry with kills. Remember to ping on the target you are ganking before the gank.

Team Fighting

Alistar's job in teamfights is to either keep his teammates safe or to lock down enemy carries. You want to either Headbutt squishy enemies into the middle of your team, or Headbutt enemies that are chasing your teammates.
Use your ultimate when you feel you are going to take the most damage, i.e when Requiem, Crowstorm or Hemoplague is being used.
If you see people using abilities that can be interrupted, i.e Meditate, Drain or Crowstorm try to Headbutt or Pulverize them. If you are against a champion like Kennen or Fiddlesticks Headbutt them away from your teammates when they use their ultimates.

Tips And Tricks

• When you Headbutt somebody if you use Pulverize while in mid air you can knock your target up without knocking them back. This is useful when chasing a person down with your team and initiating. This is known as a 'W,Q' combo.
• When you Headbutt somebody into thick terrain you can stun them.
• You can Headbutt nearby neutral monsters or minions to use it as a 'dash'. Useful for chasing people just out of your reach.
• Dont spam your spells in the jungle. If you do this you will not have Trample on for long. Spread out your spells so Trample is always on.
• Unbreakable Will makes Alistar one of the best turret divers in the game.
• Use Unbreakable Will when you will take the most damage. Not when you are near death.
• It is much easier to 'W,Q' combo somebody if Headbutt is not on smart cast. If it is on smart cast you can Pulverize without using Headbutt on your target.
• Use Triumphant Roar before killing monsters as its cooldown goes down when you are beside things that die. This lets you use it more often keeping your hp high and Trample on at most of the time.
• Don't try to milk them, you can't.
• If someone messes with you give them the horns.

Summary

Thank you for taking the time to read my Alistar guide. If you like the guide please vote! If you want more tanky, support jungler's guides I have guides for all of them that I enjoy to play. Here is a list of all my other guides. I hope I have helped!
Don't just downvote.If you think it deserves a downvote than leave constructive criticism in the comments.Thank you!7

Guides

• Maokai Guide: The Guide
• Nautilus Guide: The Guide