Into a sunken town, the Handsome Gambler ran, for he owed gold and blood, and yet had none to spare. Desperate and forlorn, he was about to change his path and walk away, when he heard a song that called on him, to chance his luck again.

Now the singer was a creature, with the biggest mouth the Gambler had ever seen. "Excuse my song," the monstrous siren said. "The tune's purpose was your attention. For I knew you had troubles and I can offer absolutions."

"Can you carry me from this bind?" the youth asked.

"Boy, the world's one river, and I'm its king. Ain't no place I ain't been. Ain't no place I can't go again... And the price is a minuscule thing. See, I got hungers that ain't easily fed. But those finest tables? They ain't never got a seat for me. So I need men, like yourself, and let me in."

Now the Gambler's only hunger was dice and cards. So this bargain? It seemed too easy a price. "If you're offering a ticket," the youth finally said, "that's a deal I will take." And before another word was spoke, the monster snapped him up and fled.

To a faraway land the Gambler was conveyed. At a palace of chance, he was left.

Years passed. And love the Gambler found. His bride? a princess. And the wedding? None would miss.

Now when that hungry beast finally did arise: the family screamed and fought. And although the Gambler tried to cast him out... it ate the gifts, and house, and gold! For its hunger? Nothing satisfied.

"Please, not now, not this time!" the bride did cry.

The beast's response? To her it purred, "This hunger's a burden, but it's the last time, I swear. So please, forgive."

Now the creature's lies, so melodic and sincere, charmed that bride. And thus she failed to recognize when that demon's jaw unhinged. She screamed, just once. As I snapped her bones and crushed her limbs! Now that meal? It left me satisfied.

So cry if you want, boy, 'cause you had a chance to walk away. Instead you're the fool, the fool who let me in.

-I max Tongue Lash because it has a low cooldown and can be used in a way if timed correctly so your passive never goes off the opponent, it is also great at harassing in lane since it is your only ranged damaging spell.
-Second I max Devour because it scales with cooldown and allows you to eat people more often and the damage it does at later levels is huge.
-Last I max Thick Skin because it does the same thing at all levels with the shield and the healing isn't really that strong anyway since most of the time you just turn it into a shield since it is more useful.
-Takes points in Devour whenever you have it (6-11-16).


+ Can save his allies
+ Tanky
+ Sustain
+ Can engage and disengage
+ Good lane presence
+ Scales well
+ Can help others engage and can teleport

His main strengths lie within his abilities to help his carry stay safe and get them fed while helping others engage late game to start fights[/columns]
- Lacks CC
- Ult channeling can be disrupted easily
- Has no proper escape
- Is easily collapsed on under tower
- Hard to master

His main weaknesses is are that he can be bursted down when his shield is down and kited meaning he loses quite a bit of health when trying to devour an enemy or escape with one in his jaws. As a champ in lane he gets bullied against poke champs such as Sona and Lulu.

Runes
R U N E S				Aftershock is what I prefer on Tahm Kench over Guardian because you have no spells that can be cast on an ally from a fair distance so you have to be really close to them. On the other hand your stun from your passive, and devour both proc Aftershock which usually goes off quick enough to damage the enemy. However champions in your devour do not take damage from this, so spit them out just before it procs.
				Font of Life is a very good rune as any kind of movement impairment, including slows brands the enemy making them a heal target for your allies. This procs off your Tongue Lash slow and An Acquired Taste stun as well as a multitude of items such as Turbo Chemtank and Dead Man's Plate.
				Conditioning After 10 minutes some free stats are always helpful. The scaling 5% armor and magic resist boost are also helpfun in the late game as this could be another 8 ish resistances.
				Revitalize is the best of the 3 final Resolve runes, it boosts your Thick Skin heal and shield, and becomes especially useful for when you are low at health. Locket of the Iron Solari is also increased by this rune so it's pretty good as it can help save an ally or yourself.
				Magical Footwear gives you Slightly Magical Boots[/color] - You will get these for free from the rune Magical Footwear at 10 minutes. This is decreased by 30 seconds per kill or assist you have; i.e. you have 1 kill and an assist, and you wil receive them at 8:30 instead of 10. Not only do they save you 300g from buying the actual Boots, upgrades to tier 2 boots are 50g cheaper AND they give you an extra 10 movement speed which carries over to the tier 2 boots. This certainly helps you in all aspects.
				Approach Velocity Works well with Tongue Lash and Devour. As this will help you get to a cc'ed ally who you can save or to an enemy you have cc'ed such as with Tongue Lash. This is especially useful in the early levels to be able to get that 3rd passive strike off. I think this is indispensible.
	Runes

Items
I T E M S		AND		Relic Shield + Health Potions + Stealth Ward - Pretty standard on any support, healing it gives is vital, especially as you have no ally heal in your kit. It also makes it easier to last hit siege minion. The health it gives you is also useful as your passive, An Acquired Taste a little bit more damage, as well as some free survivability. Also it builds into face of the mountain and gives you free gold for hitting enemies with your auto attacks, and gives 1 gold for being near enemy minion deaths caused by an ally.
		Targon's brace AND		targon's brace and Sightstone - As the adc aims for his B.F. Sword, you will be aiming for this combination of items. targon's brace should be acquired first if you do not have the money. Sightstone should be purchased straight after as it gives health and free wards. One you buy sightstone sell Stealth Ward and buy Sweeping Lens.
				Slightly Magical Boots - You will get these for free from the rune Magical Footwear. Not only do they save you 300g from buying the actual Boots, upgrades to tier 2 boots are 50g cheaper AND they give you an extra 10 movement speed which carries over to the tier 2 boots. This certainly helps you in all aspects.
				Boots of Swiftness - These are a staple on Tahm Kench because of his Devour. He desperately needs these as it reduces the strength of the self slow by 25%. It also helps you escape ganks as you have no innate mobiliy which can be used likewise. In addition these are generally good for roaming and lessening the effect of external slows coming from items and enemy champion abilities.
		AND		Mercury's Treads vs Ninja Tabi - You will probably not build either of these boots as they are quite situational since Boots of Swiftness are much more useful. However if they have 10+non knockup/knockback/stasis spells build Mercury's Treads. If they have 2+ auto attack based champs such as Yasuo top, with an ADC build Ninja Tabi otherwise build swifty's.
		face of the mountain		face of the mountain - Face of the mountain is one of the staple items on Tahm Kench as it provides a self shielf, ally sustain and an ally shield. It's the perfect item and although you will lose a slot to Sightstone by not upgrading to eye of the equinox, it is worth it as Ruby Sightstone grants more health and 20% cdr from active items such as Gargoyle Stoneplate.
				Locket of the Iron Solari and Duskblade of Draktharr - With face of the mountain this double shield combo which is unaffected by grevious wounds, this item gives great personal stats as well as a massive aoe shield to allies on a low cooldown. This is a must item for Tahm Kench and any tank support.
				Knight's Vow - This is a really good item on Tahm Kench because he is very tanky so can take the %6% of damage that is mitigated from the partner which is usually your ADC. You also heal for 6% of the partners damage so the passive is a double edged sword. The base stats are pretty good too as 40 armor, 10% cdr and 250 health is nothing to be laughed at. Another useful passive this item has is the 20 armor you get near your partner, and 15% movespeed you get going towards your partner.
				Gargoyle Stoneplate - I'm not a big fan of GS, however on Tahm Kench it is an exceptional item, if you pop it at the start of a fight to mitigate some burst damage while you have full health; it synergises really well with Thick Skin since you can become twice as tanky. The armor and magic resist it grants is insane in teamfights and the health gained also increases when surrounded by 3 or more enemies.
				Turbo Chemtank - After the rework of this item, the stats it gives are much more helpful to you as the combined health and armor means you get even tankier to physical damage champions while increasing the strength of An Acquired Taste. The movespeed increase on engages and aoe slow creates a forced teamfight or skirmish when you need one. Be careful however as if you get carried away you could be leading your team into an unfavourable fight.
				Spirit Visage - As one of the most gold efficient items in the game, you could buy this against magic heavy comps as it boosts your Thick Skin heal by 20%. The cooldown, health and magic resist are all more than noteworthy stats that further increase your survivability.
Items

- A must have because it can you help you engage escape and even your allies! Do not pass up on this.

- In my opinion it is better than ignite as it can cripple adc's and other high damage champions. This is so good that I consider it a must in every composition. It can shut down mage and assassin burst combos, it can prevent ganks and is just too versatile to pass up on compared to ignite.

- Strong against healing lanes like Soraka and Sona. It is also good for laning against champs that have a weak laning phase and can be abused such as Kog'Maw or with a lane bully to give them an early advatage such as Draven or ADCs that can help themselves such as Kalista, however it does fall off later in the game as it's use is predictable, though not always preventable.

Tongue Lash

- Tongue Lash is an AA reset spell meaning you can get 3 stacks off quickly with the AA-Q-AA combo, however you will not stun them.
-The slow scales with level so it is good to max it first
-It is your main harass tool and costs little mana however spamming it will drain you so keep an eye out on your mana.
-It is good for hitting an enemy through minions or as a minion is about to get killed by a projectile fire out your tongue and it will go through the minion as it dies, catching your enemy off guard.

Devour

- Devour can be used to help your adc dodge skillshots such as Thresh's Death Sentence and Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab
- Devour can be used to steal scuttle crab and gain control over it, it can also be used to leash at level 1 if you choose to start with it
- Devour/ Regurgitate can be used in conjunction with Devour to help a friendly tank such as Sejuani engage or a squishier target such as Kog'Maw to escape
-This costs a lot of mana so don't spam it too often, also the slow can be reduced through items such as Elixir of Iron and Boots of Swiftness however tenacity will not.

Thick Skin

-Most of the time you will take the shield as the regen isn't that strong however if you back off and stop taking damage then the regen is a better option.
-This can save you in many situations however the shield decays over time as you heal so just remember the shield will not stay up forever.

Devour

-Ping your mouth and an ally to tell them to enter or to back off, also ping where you are going, although the game does it for you, remember you can cancel the channel.
- Devour can be used to engage or get to lane quicker to save your ADC or even gank with your jungler and Devour combo.

{18/07/15}-5.14 Patch notes, Tahm gets a buff! What?? Better damage on his Tongue Lash (coup de langue) and increased scaling on his other abilities from health due to his Devour passive.{17/08/15}-5.15 Found [dead man's plate]] to be a good item so added a description.
{18/08/15}-5.16 Unofficial Patch Notes, although not final very probable to occur and similar, here they are, more buffs as expected.
{28/10/15}-5.20 Removed some items, fixed some coding and improved spell and item descriptions.
{06/01/18} - Revamp for season 8, new items, runes and formatting.