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Quite a hard matchup, especially once Aatrox gets a couple of levels and his Q cooldown goes down. I wouldn't recommend playing tank Rengar into Aatrox, because he scales much better than you and you want more aggressive laning while building damage.
Akali
Akali has almost no threat on you once you get past the first 2 levels. Once you are able to use tripleW, it's super easy. She's also melee, so using Grasp is very good. At level 6 be careful around her R, but even then, it should be fairly easy.
Camille
Her Q2 will absolutely ignore all of your armor, making the tank build basically useless into her.
Cho'Gath
This matchup is pretty easy from the start, but after an item or two he will start doing more damage than you do, he will be tankier than you and most likely more useful than you.
Darius
Definitely an unplayable matchup, no matter the build.
Dr. Mundo
Early game is better for you, after an item or two you will both be very tanky and the matchup will become even.
Fiora
I think Fiora is super easy for tank Rengar. Even though her R and passive deal true damage, she can't really beat you until she gets 3 items and until then you can absolutely dominate the lane against her and get multiple solokills.
Gangplank
GP isn't really countered by tank Rengar, his passive and barrels will go through most of your armor and since you are tank, you will have trouble killing him 1v1.
Garen
Garen is always a hard matchup for Rengar, but with the tank build it's much easier. Early game with Grasp is pretty strong and in midgame you are tanky enough to get away from him, if he decides to fight you.
Gnar
Not really a hard matchup, you will deal more damage than he does for most of the game. Just be careful and don't fight his mega form.
Gragas
Basically the most even matchup. He can't ever really kill you, due to you being super tanky and you can't ever really kill him, due to him having multiple disengage tools. In this lane you want to just farm perfectly and get as many grasp procs as possible.
Gwen
Gwen is super unbalanced right now, so the matchup is kinda hard. Level 1 absolutely DON'T fight her, she'll beat you. After a few levels it becomes pretty okay and with doubleW you should beat her up. After she gets 2 items, be careful, she'll snip you to death.
Heimerdinger
Kinda weird matchup, you'll never be really able to kill him, since he'll just be pushing the lane against you permanently. I'd say DON'T play tank Rengar into him.
Illaoi
This matchup is very easy if you manage to dodge her E, very hard if she hits you every time. If she hits you, you need to get out, if she misses, you can fight.
Irelia
Tank Rengar is really strong into Irelia, he can tank up most of her damage and survives her strongest part (early game) pretty well. Once you get a few items each, she'll fall off, because she isn't a good mid-late game champion.
Jax
Jax on lane is very easy to beat, especially with Grasp and W max. You shouldn't have a problem with him until he gets 2-3 items and level 11, but most Rengar builds lose to a level 11 Jax.
Jayce
Not much he can do to you, since you are super tanky and will outdamage him for the entire game.
Kayle
Very bad idea to go tank Rengar into Kayle, you want to dominate her in the early game, thus you want to build damage. If you let Kayle scale for free, she'll beat you very soon and take over the game.
Kennen
Tank Rengar is pretty okay into Kennen, she won't have enough damage to kill you, but you most likely won't either. I'd stick with AD build.
Kled
Very hard to play no matter what build you go. His Q will make your heals much weaker even without building Bramble/Executioner's, so the lane is very easy for him. If, however, you manage to dodge his Qs, you will be very likely to win the lane.
Lee Sin
I find tank Rengar to be the best build into Lee Sin. Your tanky kit will make it hard to kill you, your W is very strong to heal his Q2. After building Bramble Vest, Lee will have nothing to do but cry.
Lucian
Lucian top is pretty bad right now and with the tank build he'll be doing basically no damage to you. Extremely easy to play.
Malphite
Tank Rengar into Malphite is very strong in the early, the Grasp+W max counter his passive armor very well. In most parts of the game you should be as tanky as he is, while also dealing more damage than him and healing more than he does.
Maokai
Tank Rengar into Maokai is very strong in the early, the Grasp+W max counter are very strong if he decides to build armor. In most parts of the game you should be as tanky as he is, while also dealing more damage than he does and healing more than he does.
Mordekaiser
Early game is super good for you, you should beat him very hard on lane and come out ahead. Once he gets 2-3 items, 1v1 with him is super bad, cuz he'll always beat you.
Nasus
The early game will be super easy, because it's Nasus, but since you are tank, you'll have trouble killing him. You being tank will only allow him to get more and more stacks and eventually take over the game.
Ornn
Tank vs Tank matchup. The lane will be quite hard after a few levels, because his spells deal more damage than yours. If you play correctly and dodge his W, you will win fights, but his tankiness is much better than yours is.
Pantheon
Pantheon on lane will be very weak on lane due to your W healing and you building armor. Once you get an item and a boot, you'll be able to fight him without any problems.
Poppy
Tank Rengar is pretty decent into Poppy, she deals mostly physical damage, which you can counter by building a lot of armor. Your W will deal a lot of damage while also healing you for quite a lot.
Quinn
Since you are full tank with a lot of armor, she can't really kill you that easily and you will end up outdamaging her.
Renekton
Renekton is a full physical champion, which is easily countered by armor. Once you finish your boot and Bramble, he'll always lose this matchup.
Rengar
The better hunter wins!
Riven
This always depends on the Riven's skill. In lower elos it's super easy, in higher elos it can be hard. Once you get a few armor items, she won't be able to kill you easily, but don't try to 1v1 her mid-late game.
Rumble
I think Rumble is pretty easy to fight, you can proc grasp procs very easily and his damage is very straightforward (his Q), which allows you to doubleW most of his damage. After you get Spirit Visage, it's super easy.
Sett
Early game is very easy, your damage is comparable, but you have much better healing than he does. Grasp will allow you to win most trades. Just be very careful if he goes Bramble+Botrk.
Shen
Shen is always a hard matchup. I think tank Rengar is better into Shen than AD Rengar. You need quick trades, proc Grasp as much as you can. Don't fight him for too long, his Q will outdamage you.
Singed
He'll never have enough damage to actually kill you, you can freely proc grasp and just try to kill him.
Sion
Fairly even matchup, both of you will get very tanky with a low chance of killing each other.
Sylas
Sylas is super easy to play into, he doesn't have anything that really defeats Rengar. You can just farm grasp procs and get tankier and tankier while chunking him with your doubleW. His R is also very useless against you.
Teemo
Quite easy to play, unless he's allowed to perma push you under your turret. You heal quite a lot, he doesn't really have enough damage to kill you, meanwhile you can slowly wear him down with doubleW.
Trundle
Personally haven't played this matchup yet, but I don't think it's too hard. Proc grasp as much as you can, use your doubleW to get away. If he ults you, make sure to disengage, he takes away a lot of your stats.
Tryndamere
Tryndamere is super easy to beat with tank Rengar, he can't kill you at all unless he's super ahead. Level 2+ you should be easily getting grasp procs every few seconds while damaging him quite a lot. Try not to stay on lane if you are super low and he has R.
Urgot
Tank Rengar is my favorite build into Urgot. Once you get Bramble+Tabis, he does basically 0 damage into you, meanwhile you do a lot with grasp+W. Also make sure you empW his E!
Vayne
Could be threatening if she gets super ahead, but since you are Rengar, that shouldn't happen. Use your W, try not to be under your turret and just jump her as much as you can.
Viego
Super easy matchup in the early game, especially with grasp. You should be denying him CS and killing him on lane. Once he gets Kraken+Botrk, you DON'T want to fight him, he'll beat you super hard. Just focus on other sides of the map and outrotate him with your R.
Vladimir
In this matchup you can't really die, since Vlad doesn't have that much damage that you can't heal. You will be able to freely farm on this lane, but so will Vlad and he'll most likely carry the game, because his laning will be super easy.
Volibear
Volibear is usually hard, since he can almost always beat you up. However, I find the tank build the best choice into him, since you can trade him fairly and can tank him up for a long time. Bramble+Grasp also make it very easy to play into him.
Warwick
Warwick toplane is only strong in the early game, which tank Rengar counters very well with his W healing and Grasp. After you build Bramble, lane should be super easy for you.
Wukong
This matchup might be hard at levels 1-2, but after you get a few levels and a bramble vest, it becomes super easy. You will always outheal him and most likely outdamage him with your W.
Yasuo
Very bad idea to go tank Rengar into Yasuo, you want to dominate him in the early game, thus you want to build damage. If you let Yasuo scale for free, he'll beat you very soon and take over the game.
Yone
Very bad idea to go tank Rengar into Yone, you want to dominate him in the early game, thus you want to build damage. If you let Yone scale for free, he'll beat you very soon and take over the game.
Yorick
Pretty hard to play if you decide to go tank, him and his ghouls will be killing you quite a lot, since you'll be missing damage to kill them.
Yuumi
The greatest synergy you can have out of all the champions in the game. Yuumi allows tank Rengar to be basically an unkillable god and carry almost every teamfight 2v5.
Orianna
A very strong synergy if she puts her ball on you and you get a jump into 5 people. It requires the enemy team to screw up and group as 5 against an Orianna, but if it works, it's an amazing combo!
Ivern
A super-strong combo, as long as Ivern knows how to play with Rengar. Can make you twice as effective in teamfights and allows you to constantly sit on top of the enemy ADC
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Yuumi
The greatest synergy you can have out of all the champions in the game. Yuumi allows tank Rengar to be basically an unkillable god and carry almost every teamfight 2v5.
Orianna
A very strong synergy if she puts her ball on you and you get a jump into 5 people. It requires the enemy team to screw up and group as 5 against an Orianna, but if it works, it's an amazing combo!
Ivern
A super-strong combo, as long as Ivern knows how to play with Rengar. Can make you twice as effective in teamfights and allows you to constantly sit on top of the enemy ADC
Hi guys, my name is SavagePridestalker. I'm an EUW Master tier Rengar toplane onetrick. My peak is currently 192LP. I've been playing Rengar for 5 seasons now and I have around 1.5 million points on all of my accounts combined. In this guide, I'll be showing you my tank Rengar build, which I sort of came up with and that I've been trying to improve by practicing it.
I also Stream on Twitch , so if you want to, I'll be glad if you visit me!
Why tank Rengar?
That is a really good question. When I was playing soloQ I noticed that most of my opponents were playing full AD quite often, so I decided to make tank Rengar an actual build, not something I do once a week. I found out that it's fairly strong on lane into almost all bruisers, has great 1v1 potential against everything that is AD heavy, and combined with your W and empowered W it makes you insanely tanky, if you can time them correctly.
When is tank Rengar a good choice?
Tank Rengar isn't something you can play every game, I think it's quite niche and you need at least one of few specific conditions.
One condition is that the enemy team is built entirely around one source of damage, either physical or magic. If that happens, tank Rengar will be almost unkillable and it will usually mean a victory if you manage to get to 3 items.
Next condition is that your team has way too much damage and you have no tanks. If your team for some reason drafts, for example, Graves, Zed, Caitlyn and Yuumi. If this happens, your team has no tanks whatsoever AND you also have way too much physical damage. In this team comp you go tank Rengar, you build Zhonya 3rd and you will be very tanky due to your build AND you will also dish out some nice magic damage, punishing the enemy team if they decide to go full armor.
The last condition is that you just want to play on autopilot (don't recommend!) and don't feel like playing to the max. Tank Rengar is much easier to pull off than AD/AP Rengar, you can afford to do a lot more mistakes and you won't get punished as hard. Laning is also pretty easy, Dshield+Grasp will make almost every lane easy to play.
Basic guide how to play during lane
Your laning phase is one of the most important parts about Rengar, even if you're going for a tank build. You want to start fairly safe, stack up your ferocity and play with it. The First 5 levels are super good for you and you should beat almost any matchup you get. You want to abuse your grasp as much as you can because the damage from it is really big in the early game and every proc gives you extra 5 permanent HP. Try sitting in bushes and jumping your opponent whenever they walk up (if the situation allows you to). I personally like having 4 stacks and just jumping over and over again to proc grasp, without using the stacks (unless I need to). Once you get your first recall, you should be hard winning most lanes, because you are way too tanky and deal too much damage compared to your opponents. Try stacking the wave and then either rotating to force a fight somewhere or carefully get a plate. You can also look for scuttle crabs in the river.
Basic guide how to play teamfights
In teamfights you want to be the first one in, last one out. As tank Rengar, you want to be the one who engages. Jumping into 5 people is not a problem for you (but make sure your team is close and that they'll follow you!). You want to get in, eat up as much damage as you can, heal most of it away with your double W, then kite into a bush and jump again to do the same thing. If you are ahead enough, you'll be quite a problem, because you can still kill the enemy ADC quite easily, so they have to waste a lot of time and spells to get you away from them. Meanwhile, your team can demolish the enemy team because they are too busy trying to kill you and peel their ADC.
The most important part of teamfights is W usage (you need to heal as much as you can) and good stack generation. You have to be aware of how many stacks you have and enemy spells (so you can empW a big stun, for example). Don't be afraid of dying in teamfights, you aren't an assassin Rengar, it doesn't matter if you die 6 times in a game. Your role is to be a meatshield, so be prepared to die from time to time for your team, so you can easily win the game by just being ego-less and knowing the right play!
Items explanation
- Zhonya's Hourglass - A very strong 2nd or 3rd item pickup. The bonus AP will make your double W much stronger than they usually are. Your waveclear will also be great, clearing almost the entire wave with just two W. I personally like this item if my team is AD heavy and we need some magic damage. It also works very well against Plated Steelcaps etc. I find my games where I go Zhonya's my damage is almost evenly split, making me pretty good into both Armor and MR. The stasis effect is also super good (depending on how you use it). It can help you dodge big spells like Ezreal R or Karthus R, thus making you even tankier.
- Abyssal Mask - A very rare pickup that I almost never build. I rarely meet AP team comps that require me to have another MR item after Spirit Visage. The passive is also fairly useless on you since you have only one form of heavy CC. I personally haven't built this item on Rengar yet, but if I was against 4 AP champions, I think it would be a good choice.
- Thornmail - A very rare pickup, I tend not to go for the full item, because there isn't anything extra that Bramble doesn't provide. The Grievous Wounds is still 40% unless you root them with your E, thus making the buy not that good. I only finish Thornmail as my 4th or 5th item.
- Randuin's Omen - Super good item into multiple crit Champions (like Jhin+Yasuo). I think this item isn't very good if the enemy team doesn't have crit users, so I rarely build it.
- Guardian Angel - A must-have if you are always diving into the enemy team comp to tank all of their spells. The bonus armor makes you a little bit tankier and the passive is super good if your enemies actually manage to bring you down. Respawning with 50% of your maximum health will basically give you another HP bar, while your cooldowns come up and you can wreak havoc again.
- Spirit Visage - If the enemy team has an Ability Power champion, this item is a must-have. One of the few tanky MR items that still exist in the game, while also being extremely good on Rengar, due to the passive that increases healing. If you have this, your W heals will be 25% stronger, making you heal more than you take (if the enemy team has no GW).
- Deadman's Plate - one of my favorite pickups on tank Rengar. The Armor+HP makes you feel very safe while also making you very fast due to the 5%MS and the bonus passive. If you have this item+boots, you will have around 460MS, allowing you to sprint around the entire map and being everywhere faster than your enemy.
- Force of Nature - Another MR item, unfortunately much weaker than Spirit Visage. The gold efficiency on this item is very bad and I'd only consider buying it if the enemy team had 3+ AP champions.
- Warmog's Armor - With the recent 11.11 buff this item is much better than it was. If you manage to get a few Grasp procs, buy Dshield and a Ruby Crystal, your Warmog will already be pumping you with HP. This item will make every trade you make a good trade because in just a few seconds you will be back to full. It's a strong 1st item pickup if all you need is HP and not armor.
- Cosmic Drive - A very rare pickup, compared to the Zhonya's Hourglass. Cosmic Drive is very good if your team needs more AP damage and you don't need any extra tankiness, due to the enemy team being too behind/too low on damage. I only buy Cosmic if I already have Zhonya's Hourglass. Cosmic alone is very bad because you can't utilize the passive. If, however, you have Zhonya and you get Cosmic as well (4th or 5th item), you will get a massive damage+haste boost, allowing you to deal twice as much damage and get more HP back due to your W being on a very low CD.
- Sterak's Gage - A massive item if your game plan is to just jump into the enemy team and soak up damage. It gives you a good amount of health, some nice AD, and a massive shield that will allow you to tank extra 1k-2k damage. If you prefer a more damage-oriented tank, this item is great for you.
- Black Cleaver - With the recent 11.11 buff this item is extremely good if you have an ADC or an AD midlaner that is doing very well AND the enemy team has a tank. Black Cleaver takes quite a while to stack, but once you stack it, you'll reduce the opponents armor by 30%, which is quite a lot, if it's a tank. I personally don't build this, because it has no effect on Rengar, but only helps your teammates (since you max W and don't do much AD damage), but in the case mentioned before it can be very valuable.
- Death's Dance - A fairly good pickup if you prefer being a more damage-oriented tank AND the enemy team is almost full AD. The passive makes this item a really strong pickup into AD comps. The heals are also very strong if you manage to chain up multiple takedowns. I personally don't build this with my tank Rengar, but it certainly has its highlights.
- Gargoyle Stoneplate - Basically another HP bar. If you have multiple tank items and you pop Gargoyle Stoneplate, you will get around 2000 shield, which can tank up some serious damage from the enemy team. The double resists are also great if the enemy team has both physical and magic damage.
- Titanic Hydra - A really good item if you prefer playing a more AD-oriented tank. If you have 2 tank items and you buy Titanic, you will get a massive AD boost, due to the passive (combining with your passive as well), giving you around 80AD. I personally am not a big fan of this item, but it definitely can be good if your team is lacking damage and you want to be more dangerous.
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