Everybody knows Alistar, hes the big ugly cow. He has decent to great AP capabilities, but only if you are skilled at that type of play. AP is a glamorous build which can carry a team in some of the worst situations. Its a good playstyle for those who can pull it off. However, this is the flip side of Alistar's build: the tank side. It is great for the team and can be very hard to kill if utilized correctly. Alistar is the king of iniating team fights and making himself a major threat due to his stun, knock up, and headbutt.

I would love some feedback, but please try it before you vote.

Honestly, they are up to who ever is playing. Early game armor seals are good a good investment so are mana regen glyphs. Marks are not so important (so do as you will with them)since we are not building for much of an offense, but magic pen would be okay as would secondary mark for defense.

0/21/9 Is a pretty obvious thing, one thing that i will remark on however is the XP boost masteries. The cow is fat and slow, so he does not farm minions so well. This will help you keep up level wise (though u may still fall a little behind).

There are several options here:
Ignite is as good as anything, even though this is not an attack oriented build, a headbutt under a turret with a stun and an ignite can almost guarantee a kill early game.
Heal is useful in team fights, especcially for someone with a lot of armor, who can make the most of this boost.
Flash... Without a doubt the most useful spell for Alistar, it is vital for positioning. A flash/stun combo is very disconcerting and can be easily used to disrupt enemies' abilities, initiate fights, etc. More importantly, it can be used to get a great angle for a headbutt.

As far as the other spells go, if you have a preference-- go with it.

Pulverize- a knock up with a stun, incredibly useful for initiations, assisting kills, saving lives, canceling abilities, and causing general mayhem in a team fight. Max this out early.

Headbutt- a versatile move: good for both offense and defense. It can initiate a fight well, separating enemy champs from their pack or group, and make a gank completely inescapable. This is not a serious damage dealer, what's important is the movement, so get this second but dont worry about rushing it.

Triumphant Roar- a completely underestimated, under utilized skill. Many claim that without AP, its useless. But 180 HP can go a long way, especially when it is so spamable. There is plenty of cooldown in this build, and it has time reduced for nearby minion kills. It costs relatively little mana to cast and is an AOE heal... whats not to like? It generally saves you from ignite and keeps you in lane longer. With a blue buff, it can give a small boost to your team in a fight, and can keep your trample (passive) going nonstop. When you cant upgrade Pulverize, go ahead and upgrade this.

Unbreakable Will- The core of tank-Alistar. Yes i know that I don't build a huge amount of armor in this build, but 8 seconds of practical invincibility is all a person needs. With 25 percent cool down it has a low cooldown anyway.

Trample- More useful as AP but not worthless as a tank, it gets a few minion kills and it lets u run through minions and enemy champs (good for stunning and running behind them to heabutt).

Aegis of the Legion- A great early game item, its cheap, it has a good team effect and it gives the base essentials for a tank.

Boots- Ionian boots of Lucidity are preferable, but if the enemy team is high on CCs get Mercury's Treads.

Soul Shroud- It is important to have lots of health, with a super damage reduction ulti, armor is important; but it is secondary in importance. The mana regen aura is also incredibly important for your team and for Alistar (who can be mana hungry). It also gives cool down, spamming stuns in a team fight is awesome, it completely throws off the enemy team.

Guardian Angel- This is where we start building our armor, it gives a good boost to both armor and magic res. It also bring you back to life... Whats not to like?

Sunfire Cape- Health, armor, and AOE damage, another good tank item, sorta self explanatory

Last Item- what does your team need most, are they heavy on AD? Build a Thornmail or a Frozenheart. Heavy Casters? Banshees or a Force of Nature. BE FLEXIBLE.

I prefer the bottom lane for Alistar, but he can solo top in the event of a DC.

Early game- Stand at the very tip of the 2nd bush against the wall (its the one farthest from your base) and try to knock them back to your teammate and then stun them, or else into the wall across from you. If they stop crossing your face, your teammate (preferably the carry) can farm minions to his hearts content while you soak up XP from being nearby. This will allow your carry to get lot of money and a full build. Don't forget that you can use flash to jump and surprise the enemy champ from behind, hopefully knocking him under the turret.

Mid game- This is the vital part of the game for Alistar, since Alistar does not farm well, he needs to get as many assists as he possibly can. This is where most of his money comes from. Here is where a you must also make a decision, look at the other team. Do they have more than three crowd controls? If yes, buy mercury's treads, if not buy Ionian boots of Lucidity for the cooldown. Once you choose, start looking for easy ganks, if the enemy mid overextends, make him pay and literally put him into your teammates lap (stunned). Ask your teammate for help gettin the enemy's (or your own) blue buff. As mentionied above, this is very useful.

Late game- I would characterize this as the "team fight" phase. Be the one to initiate (but make sure your team is there to help, duh) watch for enemy champs like Nunu and Katarina as they ult, a Headbutt or a Pulverize will put a quick end to that. Use your Pulverize to stun the whole enemy team and try to knock their tanks and bruisers out of the fight (so that your team can focus the carries and squishies without too much interference).

Alistar should be able to tank a turret by level ten, keep this in mind.

A Headbutt/Pulverize/ignite combo is a great turret dive sequence and flash or your ult can see you clear of it.

Take one for your team. If you can save two or three Allies by sacrificing yourself, do it.

Stay close to your team, a tank by himself is useless.

A tank should look to have more assists than deaths, not kills. So while a Yi might be unhappy going 3/5/10, its not necessarily a bad thing for a tank.

Lastly, a tank is like a score multiplier, they are great to have, but are most effective with a team who scores. So unless your team is dishing out damage, you are probably not going to shine.

The most important thing about being a tank is to be flexible, if they are all AD, build a Thornmail or a Frozenheart. On the flipside, if they are heavy on casters get a banshees or a Force of Nature.

Talk to your team, you are there to please. Help them out where you can.

Please comment and vote it up or down, tell me what works and what doesnt.