Greetings and welcome to my guide on Alistar. My name is ironorange and Alistar is one of my favorite supports right now along with Janna and Thresh. I personally love playing Alistar as he is one of those supports whom people fear if played right. He has lots of hard CC, a decent heal, and man mode for an ult. Remember, this is a guide which means I am basically giving you advice on how I believe is the best way to play Alistar. You should use this guide to make yourself better as a League player, and feel free to comment on this guide. You should be warned that I go pretty in-depth into my guide so this will not be a quick read.

I would also like to thank jhoijhoi for her guide about making a guide. It was extremely helpful to me and you can access it here. Now lets get on to the guide.

Pros Two skills with hard CC Has a heal Tanky Counters Blitzcrank Can Initiate Ultimate activates Man Mode Can save your carries from the big, bad enemy

Cons Has mana problems Can be kited easily Longish initial cooldowns Doesn't work well against some AD carries Gets banned Unreliable escapes Incorrect use of Headbutt can hurt your team

This is a description of the support role for newer players. When I first picked up a support champion, Taric, and tried him I didn't understand what I was supposed to do. I didn't understand why I should ward or build aura items or items with actives that help my teammates instead of building straight damage or tank items. However, I have learned what it means to support over time and I hope that this chapter will help newer players confused like I was understand what a support does.

The first main goal of a support is to make sure your ADC (attack damage carry) does well. This means that you do NOT try to farm or last-hit any minions when your ADC is farming. Also, you try to keep the enemy team from harming your carry as much as could be done. If you die and your ADC escapes from the enemy, consider your death a worthy sacrifice. Finally, you keep the enemy ADC and support anxious by harrassing them so that they target you instead of your carry. How this is done will be described later.

The second main goal of a support is to keep tabs on what the enemy team is doing and prevent them from doing the same. This requires you to ward certain critical places on the map, and use Vision Wards or Oracle's Elixir to clear out enemy wards. This will also be described in detail later.

Finally, a support should help his or her teammates through his skills and item auras or actives. This means initiating teamfights, helping people escaping, etc. Your team will love you if you can do this correctly.

Runes

• Marks: I take Greater Mark of Armor to help reduce the early game harassment from the enemy AD carry.
• Seals: I take Greater Seal of Armor for the same reason I take Greater Mark of Armor.
• Glyphs: I take Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist to reduce the late game damage of AP damage dealing champions. If you find that the enemy support deals a lot of early game magic damage, e.g. Janna or Lux, you could take Greater Glyph of Magic Resist to reduce that harassment. I personally prefer the scaling glyphs but that is just my preference.
• Quintessences: Take Greater Quintessence of Gold as this is most of your main early game gold generation.

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Masteries

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Take and you will thank me later. DO NOT REPLACE THIS SPELL WITH ANY OTHER SPELL. It is a free blink/short teleport which allows you to escape, set up ganks, block that nasty Caitlyn ult for your AD carry or another teammate, etc.
I take so that you can disable the enemy AD carry or later on, other enemies who rely on their autoattacks. It also helps secure a kill or force the enemy to use their Flash.

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• Heal: This is a good spell on any support without a heal. For Alistar this would allow you to sustain your carry more easily and allow for more baiting.
• Clarity: This helps if you have trouble managing your mana.
• Clairvoyance: This is a good reveal if you just want to check the bush for enemies and not face-check into a gank.
• Ghost: It gives a nice speed boost but it is only good for long chases.

Alistar will Headbutt you into a wall and then Trample all over your body. Basically, don't take them if you value your life.

+ Trample: Deals damage over time after you use an ability to a small area around you A decent passive for early game harassment or taking down turrets. Remember, this skill deals damage to both enemies and structures in an area about the same size as your auto attack range. Also, it removes unit collision to help with engaging or escaping after using your skills.

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Pulverize: Knocks up nearby enemies for 1 seconds dealing damage to them and then stuns them for .5 seconds upon landing Your main CC skill. It deals a 1.5 second AOE stun at level 1 which is AMAZING. The only drawback to this skill is that it has such a short range you practically need to be right next to the enemy champion, but that can be remedied by using Flash or Headbutt.

+ Headbutt: Rams an enemy dealing damage to them and knocking them back 650 units Your other CC skill. This one has more range and utility than Pulverize but the knockback does not last as long as stun/knockup from Pulverize. The knockback is directed in the direction in which you approach the enemy. This skill can be used in several good and bad ways which is described below.


+ Triumphant Roar: Heals you for a certain amount and allies around you for half that amount Although only a decent heal, this can be used multiple times in a space of a few seconds if timed correctly. Use this when you see that the enemy minion wave is getting low, as the cooldown on this skill is reduce by 2 seconds each time an enemy near you dies, so that you can use again quickly. Also use this whenever a teammate is getting low on health.

+ Unbreakable Will: Activates Man Mode removing all disables and increasing your attack damage and reducing incoming damage for 7 seconds ITS OVER 9000!!!!! Seriously though, this skill makes Alistar my favorite support, a free cleanse, steroid, and damage reduction all in one skill. If the enemy team focuses you with a lot of CC, pop this up and then do this:

It allows you to CC the enemy team, and punish them for daring to think they could kill you or your carry and make your auto-attacks hurt while forgetting that the enemies can actually deal damage. Unfortunately, it still does not reduce true damage, so yes, Cho'Gath can still eat you. It also synergies extremely well with Mikael's Blessing as described in the Items section.

I get Pulverize at level 1 to help with preventing the enemy team from invading or if your jungler wants to invade. Also, many early level 2 jungle ganks fail when the enemy is stunned for 1.5 seconds. I get Triumphant Roar at level 2 to help heal up any early game harassment from the enemy ADC and/or support. I get Headbutt at level 3 just to have more CC at hand and have an better initiation combo. I max Triumphant Roar first for better heals, then Pulverize second as it is the more reliable CC skill, and Headbutt last. Of course, take Unbreakable Will at levels 6, 11, and 16. If you feel you need a lower cooldown on Headbutt take a second point in it at level 8 and then continue to max Pulverize first.

SPACESPACE

sight ward This is the usual start for most of your games. Take a Faerie Charm to help with mana regeneration, 2x sight wards for early game vision, a Vision Ward to clear out the enemy's vision and 2x Health Potions to heal any early game harassment or recover from ganks.

sight ward Take this start only if you have a carry that likes to spam their skills like Ezreal or Caitlyn or your carry asks for a Mana Manipulator. Take the 3x sight wards for vision and rely on your Triumphant Roar for health regeneration.

SPACESPCP

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+ philosopher's stone: Builds out of your first Faerie Charm and gives more gold generation, mana regeneration, and health regeneration. At minimum, get this and wards when you go back to base for the first time.

+ Ruby Crystal: Gives more health and builds into Sightstone, get this and wards if possible after philosopher's stone. If you don't have enough for philosopher's stone, this, and at least one ward, get this when you go back the next time and just get wards.

+ Sightstone: Preferably on your second time back, you should be able to get this. This item stocks four wards each time you come back to the summoner's platform and allows you to have two out at a time. THIS ITEM IS KEY FOR EVERY SUPPORT EVEN ON AP SUPPORTS like Lux or Morgana.

+ Boots: Also on your second time back, you should buy these to give yourself more movement speed and thus more utility.

+ Mobility Boots: I believe these are the best boots on Alistar. You don't really need too much cooldown reduction and Unbreakable Will helps to cancel any CC you encounter. You do need speed to quickly engage onto the enemy and these boots provide it.

+ Ionian Boots of Lucidity: If you feel that you need cooldown reduction instead of good wandering speed take these boots instead.

+ Mercury's Treads: If the enemy has so much CC and magic damage that Unbreakable Will does not seem to handle it all then get these boots for the tenacity and extra magic resist.

+ Chalice of Harmony: Oh boy, here we go. This item may seem out of place on Alistar but I believe this item instead helps him succeed. I have noticed that many times in the early game Alistar runs out of mana VERY quickly when you have to use your abilities in quick succession, and he has to wait a long time to regenerate the mana back. This really helps as it allows you to use several ability combos instead of having to wait for your mana to come back. Also, if you do get some downtime to regenerate mana, it goes a LOT quicker with this. Also, the magic resistance helps if an enemy AP champion gets fed and it builds into Mikael's Blessing.
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+ Mikael's Blessing: I absolutely LOVE this item on Alistar. It gives the the nice mana font passive, more mana and health regeneration, and magic resist. And then the active is simply OP on Alistar because it allows you to save a teammate from devastating enemy CC, although I don't believe it removes suppression, and heal them too. For an example, say your carry is farming a lane after the laning phase is over, when suddenly a wild Nasus appears! His Wither prevents your carry from dealing damage or running and a farmed Siphoning Strike is super-effective against squishy champions. Then along you come with this item, removing the Wither and healing your carry and suddenly the Nasus has a very angry cow and carry in his face. Also, if you and another teammate get caught in some AOE CC skill like Curse of the Sad Mummy, you can turn on Unbreakable Will and use this item to save your ally. Unfortunately, this now builds out of the philosopher's stone so you will have to choose whether to get Mikael's Blessing or Shurelya's Battlesong first. I get this item whenever the enemy has lots of CC.

+ Shurelya's Battlesong: Also a good item on Alistar giving extra health, health and mana regeneration, cooldown reduction, and a nice movement speed boost active. Try to use the active near your team whenever you are engaging or trying to back off.


+ Ruby Sightstone: The upgraded version of Sightstone gives more health, another ward, and the ability to have three wards down instead of two. Get this as soon as you can.

+ Oracle's Elixir: From now on, you should consider investing into this item to help clear out enemy wards or for seeing enemy stealth champions.
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+ : Get this if your team can engage quite well and you need some more movement speed.



+ : Get this if you are the only hard initiator on your team to help your team pile in onto the enemy.



+ : Get this if you notice that the enemy team pushes really well or that most of the fighting is happening on your side of the map near your base.

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Against a Balanced Team

Normally a balanced team means the enemy has two AP damage dealing champions and two AD damage dealing champions. You would also go this way if the enemy team has three AD champions and one AP champion who deals a lot of AOE spell damage like Lux or has massive single target damage like Veigar or AP Nidalee. This will be based on what you feel is necessary at this point in the game.

+ Aegis of the Legion: A very nice item giving health, magic resist and armor, with an aura that give more magic resist and armor along with extra health regeneration. If you feel your team needs this earlier on, feel free to rush this once you have your Chalice of Harmony.

+ Runic Bulwark: The upgraded Aegis of the Legion, which you should get soon after you have aegis.

+ Iceborn Gauntlet: Although most games won't get to this point, this item helps you deal more damage with your spells and auto-attacks while lowering your cooldowns and giving more mana and armor. Also, the AOE slow from spellblade is very nice.

Against high AP

You should go this path if the enemy team has two really strong AP champions or just three AP champions. You will probably want to rush Aegis of the Legion after or even before Chalice of Harmony if the enemy APs are starting to snowball.

+ Aegis of the Legion: Take this for the magic resist and aura.

+ Runic Bulwark: Take this to upgrade the aura on Aegis of the Legion

+ Twin Shadows: A very nice item giving magic resist, ability power, and movement speed. The active also allows you to check and see if you can pick off one of the enemy's squishy champions.
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Against High AD

You should go this path if the enemy has three AD champions and a relatively weak AP champion, AP tank, or AP auto-attacker like AP Kayle or AP Teemo or if the team has four AD champions.

+ Frozen Heart: This item gives mana, cooldown reduction, armor, and an aura which reduces nearby enemy attack speed. You should gets this item if the enemy has relatively low mobility and rely a lot on auto-attacks to deal most of their damage.

+ Randuin's Omen: This item gives armor and health, a passive which slows enemies when they auto-attack you, and an active which slows enemies near you. Get this if the enemy team have a lot of AD burst from skills and such, but not a lot of attack speed beyond their ADC. Also get this if they have too much mobility for you to catch up.

+ Aegis of the Legion and Runic Bulwark: Get these for more tankiness and for the aura.
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+ Banner of Command: Only take this when you are playing against bots or destroying the other team and you want to end the game quickly.

+ zeke's herald: Take this if you and your teammates want to deal more damage with their autoattacks and you don't need to worry about surviving.

+ Shard of True Ice: Take this only if your carry asks for you to build a Mana Manipulator. Replace this with Shurelya's Battlesong in the normal build.

+ Ohmwrecker: Take this if you or your teammates tower dive frequently and you want to get out clean.

+ Locket of the Iron Solari: This item is good against teams with a lot of AOE damage.

+ Athene's Unholy Grail: In the rare case where the enemy team does not have a lot of CC, build this out of your Chalice of Harmony.

+ Spirit Visage: Take this if you don't want Twin Shadows and want some more health and cooldown reduction along with magic resist.

+ Abyssal Mask: Only take this if your team has a high AP damage dealing team composition and no other teammate already has it and if the enemy team has a lot of AP damage. Replace Iceborn Gauntlet or Twin Shadows with this.

+ Will of the Ancients: Take this for the ability power and spell vamp aura when your team deals a lot of AP damage and you don't need tankiness.

Finally, remember to buy sight wards and/or Vision Wards whenever you return to base. This becomes less necessary once you have a Sightstone.

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Below is the image which basically describes your mindset in the early game:

I have also included an image of the bottom lane for warding purposes and a feel of how the lane looks:


When you exit your base for the first time, if you are the blue team, you will do one of the things listed below:

• Help your jungler leash if he or she is starting at red buff
• Stand in the tri-bush, numbered 3 on the bot lane map, to watch for invades, if your jungler starts at blue buff.
• Help your jungler invade or help to stop an invasion

If you are the purple team, you will do one of the following things:

• Help your jungler leash if he or she is starting at blue buff
• Stand near the blue buff to protect it, if your jungler starts at red buff
• Help your jungler invade or help to stop an invasion

To help prevent against stealing the jungler's buff, click on the blue golem or lizard elder and back off when its health gets near five hundred unless your jungler has asked for a smiteless leash in which case you should back off when its health gets near three hundred. You will now return to lane with your AD carry and now you must ask one question: Can the enemy jungler do an effective level 2 gank? If you think so, IMMEDIATELY ward the tri-bush if you are the blue team or the river bush if you are the purple team and stay cautious. Continue to camp and keep watch on your carry in one of the side bushes and ward the other side bush you are not camping in. Heal your carry if they get harrassed, use Pulverize, Headbutt, or Exhaust if desperate to get the enemy off your carry. Around level 4, you should start being more aggressive and look for chances to kill or push enemies out of lane. Ask nicely for ganks if you feel you are getting overwhelmed or push to your tower. Ward the number 1 river bush and/or the tri-bush at around the five minute mark to help with enemy gank spotting.

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I define the mid-game as after you get your Chalice of Harmony and the outer towers begin to fall on either side, hopefully mostly on the enemy's side. Around this time people move lanes and no one really has a specific lane to themselves. Team fights begin to occur around this time and dragon becomes an important objective to contest. Ward the bushes in the area near where your team is coming together and ward dragon. Continue to try to protect your carry but also try to keep your teammates from dying. Keep up your communication with your team so that you know what each other are doing. The following is a map of Summoner's Rift with highlighted places for good warding positions for both Vision Wards and sight wards . I will explain your role in a teamfight in the next chapter.

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The late game is even harder to define that the mid game, as sometimes you never even get to it. I define this as when you have completed the mid game build or built your rushed Runic Bulwark. By this time, your AD carry should deal enough damage to melt through enemies in a few seconds but needs them to stay off of them, which is now your goal in teamfights. You may still initiate, but remember to come back to your carry. You should constantly ward Baron Nashor and dragon (Baron has higher priority) with preferably Vision Wards but a Sightstone ward or normal sight ward will do fine. Continue to ward as you did in the mid game. Also you must remember your role in team fights as described in the next chapter.

As an aggressive support with two skills with hard CC, Alistar plays a very fluid role in a team fight. With his Pulverize, he can initiate or counter-initiate very well. You should be the one to jump into the middle of all of the enemies and use Pulverize and then Unbreakable Will so that you can't get bursted down. Try to hit the enemy APC or ADC with your initial Pulverize. Proceed to use Headbutt to stop channeled ultimates or hit enemy carries closer to their team. Use Exhaust on the enemy ADC so that they don't auto-attack your team to death.

However, if your team has a better initiator like Malphite or Vi, you should instead follow up their initiation with Pulverize and Unbreakable Will combo and once again using Headbutt to stop channeled ultimates and keep enemy carries from running. Exhaust should be saved for the enemy ADC or AD bruisers who are charging your carry.

Finally, if the rest of your team has good dashes or jumps to get into the fight or if your initiation succeeded, your goal is to protect your carry. Pulverize, Headbutt, and/or Exhaust any enemies that come near your carry. Use Unbreakable Will if you are getting focused and remember to use Mikael's Blessing if your carry is losing health rapidly.

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asgfsafgad In early game, you have to be really on your guard to make sure she does not get killed before level 6 as most players see Ashe as free gank money early on. If she initiates with Enchanted Crystal Arrow wait for the stun duration to end to follow up with Pulverize. Once she starts dealing damage and has some points in Frost Shot around level 7 or 8, you can start playing more aggressive.
One of the two ADCs that I believe work the best with Alistar. She has so much range that she can do a lot of early game harassment especially with Headshot and still stay safe. If you need to initiate or escape she can use 90 Caliber Net to move into position. If your wards run out, she can use Yordle Snap Trap on the river bushes to help with detection and those traps are oddly very good magnets for the enemy. If you have good reaction times, you could even Headbutt enemies away who are trying to block her Ace in the Hole.
He works quite well with Alistar because he can use Valkyrie to jump to you if you are trying to set up a gank or kill. Also, true damage, from Hextech Shrapnel Shells, is always nice to have on your carry.
Although Draven does not have any jump, he does so much damage that if he gets off two or three Spinning Axes when you jump onto an enemy you basically dealt the same amount of damage as if he did jump to you. Also, he can use Stand Aside and Blood Rush to help you chase down an enemy. Finally, Whirling Death always helps to secure kills.
A very good ADC with Alistar because of his poke and mobility. Using his Mystic Shot and Essence Flux he can wear enemies down so that securing kills or pushing enemies out of lane becomes much easier. Also, his Arcane Shift allows him to enter and leave fights very quickly.
He works quite well with Alistar as he has a lot of good burst so that you can quickly take down enemies. Also, his Quickdraw allows him to quickly engage when you engage.
He has great mobility with Lightning Rush to engage or disengage, and good poke with Thundering Shuriken and Electrical Surge. He can spam his skills since he is an energy user and this is the best part in my mind-he has a STUN!. His Mark of the Storm passive is great for initiating and teamfights and with Slicing Maelstrom it becomes an AOE STUN!. With your CC all the enemy will complain about is not being able to do anything as they watch their health bar go down. Bring back the lightning yordle ADC summoners and read about it here!
Like Ashe, he has no good escape mechanism so you will have to be on your guard to make sure he doesn't get killed in the early game. He receives a huge spike in poking potential at level 6 with Living Artillery as he can basically nuke the enemy out of lane if done right.
She works well with Alistar as her Strut allows her to quickly engage or disengage. Plus a Pulverize and Bullet Time combo can be devastating.
She also works well with Alistar as she can engage with Vault or tag team if you engage and Harrier makes her attacks hurt more when in human form. Her Heightened Senses also helps to spot ganks or reveal low-life enemies.
She also works well with Alistar as she has a lot of poke to keep the enemy of you and her in the early game. Her Fleet of Foot allows her to easily chase down enemies you have engaged upon, and your ultimates when combined is a very scary thing.
This little yordle works well with Alistar as she has great engage and disengage tools with Rocket Jump and Buster Shot. She also can very quickly burst down a champion you Pulverize with Rapid Fire and Explosive Shot. Also she can knockback a champion towards you with Buster Shot if they know how to do it.
This is an interesting carry for Alistar. He deals a lot of damage, but is very fragile in the early game and can be susceptible to early ganks. However, if you manage to keep him alive until beyond level 6 and he farms well, he can absolutely destroy the enemy team or pick them off one by one with Ambush.
Like Twitch, he also deals a lot of damage but is also quite fragile in the early game. Unlike Twitch, he has an insane amount of long-range poke with Piercing Arrow so hopefully he can help zone the enemy. Also, wait for his Chain of Corruption to wear off of its target before using Pulverize.
Last, but certainly not least, Vayne. She is the other ADC which I believe works the best with Alistar as she has such great mobility with Tumble and Night Hunter. She can help you initiate or disengage with Condemn, and the enemy should be totally confused when you both turn on your ultimates as to where the damage is coming from. Also, her Silver Bolts laugh at enemy tanks while shredding their health with true damage.

All of the following match-ups assume relative similar skill level. Also, any ADC, when fed will do well in all games unless the rest of their team is feeding. Finally, I will only list champions that frequent the support role so no, I will not tell you how to counter a support Katarina (I have seen it).

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Avoid

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+ Vayne: Prepare to get kited, and pray that she has mercy on your soul to not go for the kill. As well as she works with you, she also counters you very well. She can Tumble out of your initiation and her true damage shreds through your ultimate like nothing. Plus, her Condemn can force you to use your ultimate at a bad time. Take a support with good long range poke like Lulu, Janna, or Lux instead to keep her at bay.

+ Ezreal: He doesn't seem to be catchable and he can poke you to death. He is just so mobile that you really have to rely on him not concentrating on you to land a Pulverize. Although not as bad as Vayne, you can play passive against him just as long as you dodge his poke. If you have an ADC with good mobility as well, you should do fine.

+ Graves: He has a lot of tankiness due to his passive True Grit and he can disorient you quickly with Smoke Screen and Quickdraw. Your ultimate lower his burst slightly, but that does not stop him from bursting down your carry. Take a support that can keep him away like Janna.

Stay Cautious

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+ Caitlyn: She just has a lot of poke with her Headshot and Piltover Peacemaker that you need to be on your guard to make sure she does not poke you or your carry so much that you can be engaged on for a quick kill or forced out of lane. Hard engaging with your skills her will force her to back off. Remember to try to block her Ace in the Hole if she is trying to finish off your carry with it.

+ Corki: If you let him get ahead he will shred your team with his true damage from Hextech Shrapnel Shells and armor shred from Gatling Gun. He is also has good mobility from Valkyrie and good poke with Missile Barrage. Try to trick him into using Valkyrie to engage and then punishing him.

+ Quinn: She can be quite annoying with her Harrier and Blinding Assault giving her good poke. Plus, her Vault allows her to disengage from you very well. Try and get her to use her Vault first before engaging on her and punish her for attacking you in tag team as Valor by activating Man Mode.

+ Tristana: A very hard ADC to catch due to her long range on her Rocket Jump and once she reaches level 6 it gets even harder with Buster Shot. Fortunately she does not have good poke beyond her auto-attacks so try to harass her so that she can't farm well enough to get her items. Also, try not to die to her because a Tristana snowball is a very scary thing.

+ Twitch: A very sneaky ADC with the potential to pull a nasty surprise for your carry with his stealth from Ambush. Also, his Spray and Pray allows him to snipe you and your carry from quite far away. Fortunately if you can jump on him while in the sight of vision wards or Oracle's Elixir or while his Ambush is on cooldown he will go down quickly if focused.

+ Varus: The insane range on his Piercing Arrow gives him great poke and his Blighted Quiver can shred your health quite quickly. However, he has no escape mechanisms so you can easily catch him when you go to engage him.

Easy Time

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+ Ashe: She has no escape mechanisms and Unbreakable Will negates her Enchanted Crystal Arrow. Just be careful about her full Focus critical and Volley combo and engage her whenever an opportunity comes.

+ Draven: Don't let him auto-attack you too much and you will do fine. Once you get Unbreakable Will it will be hard for him to burst you down. Also, if you really want to mess with him, you can use Headbutt to make him miss catching his Spinning Axes.

+ Kennen: You can knock his Slicing Maelstrom away and your Unbreakable Will removes his stuns. If he is foolish enough to Lightning Rush onto you, punish him with Pulverize.

+ Kog'Maw: He has no escape mechanism and goes down quickly when focused. Remember to dodge his Living Artillery and you should be fine.

+ Miss Fortune: Just remember to save a CC skill for her Bullet Time so that you can cancel it and try not to stand in front of your carry so that she can hurt your carry more with Double Up.

+ Sivir: Dodge her Boomerang Blade and when engaging her, wait for her Spell Shield to wear off before using your initiation combo.

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Avoid

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+ Janna: One of the best if not the best disengage supports in the game. If you charge onto her teammates prepare to get a tornado in the face or if she is level 6 or higher, shoved back. Also, her Eye of the Storm can protect her carry very well from any early game harassment and also makes her carry's auto-attacks hurt more. Take someone with a pull like Blitzcrank or Thresh to help engaging onto her team.

+ Lulu: She will poke, and then poke, then poke some more. If you try to engage she will turn you into a cute and useless furry animal and slow you to a crawl. You could also play passive against her, but someone like Taric works better at engaging her and healing her poke.

+ Lux: Long-range harassment annoys you greatly. Long-range holds destroys your effectiveness. Lux has both, and can effectively zone you out of position and slowly chunk your life away. You can play passive against her if you dodge her skill shots but a support with better engagement like Thresh or Leona would work better.

+ Zilean: Here, have a bomb, here, have a bomb, here, have a bomb, etc. He just can harass you into the ground while slowing you to a crawl and his ultimate, Chronoshift, gives him or his carry a free life. If you play passive, you only delay your or your carry's inevitable doom. I have found that Janna works really well against him, with her Eye of the Storm negating his Time Bomb while her other skills keeping him or his sped-up carry away.

+ Zyra: Like Lux, but with plants that can attack. You can't really do much when you are rooted and you don't have your ult. Instead, take Lux to poke her back into submission.

Stay Cautious

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+ Alistar: Mirror match! Only happens in normal blind pick games, so play safe and remember that he can counter-initiate or initiate as well as you can.

+ Blitzcrank: Even though you counter him, you must make sure his Rocket Grab only hits you at all times you cannot dodge it which should be followed up with a Pulverize. If he catches your carry, immediately jump on the enemy's carry to distract him from focusing your carry.

+ Elise: She is very strong early on, due to her spiderlings and percent health damage so play passively until you get around level 4 or so. Also, remember to dodge her Cocoon if you value your life.

+ Fiddlesticks: Fear. Is. OP. If he does fear your carry jump on his carry as he has no sustain or shield abilities for his carry. Fortunately, his main damage comes from Bountiful Harvest which you can cancel with Pulverize or Headbutt before level 6 and you can Headbutt his Crowstorm away from you and your carry.

+ Karma: She has quite good poke from Inner Flame and her Inspire shields and speeds up whomever she targets. Dodge her poke and try to get her to waste her mana before jumping on the enemy's carry.

+ Kayle: Like Elise, she is very strong early on so play passive until around level 4 or until you feel comfortable trading with her. Her Intervention prevents her carry from taking damage, but you still can lock the enemy carry up with your CC.

+ Leona: The queen of stun-lock, the only real options you have when she jumps onto your carry is to do likewise onto her carry or to use Headbutt to knock her away. Normally, you would only go the second path if the enemy's carry is a good distance away. Also, remember to use Mikael's Blessing on your carry once you have it.

+ Morgana: The only problem you have with her is her Black Shield which makes her or her carry immune to spell effects such as your CC. Try to get her to use it on herself and then jump on and punish her carry for her selfishness. Also, remember to dodge her Dark Binding at all costs.

+ Taric: He has good skills but long cooldowns except on his Radiance. Jump on his carry when you notice he has just used his Imbue as it has a very long cooldown or when he stuns your carry with Dazzle

+ Thresh: A very strong initiator with good poke from his Flay auto-attack passive. Like Leona, if he manages to hook your carry jump on his carry as fast as you can. Also be wary of the possibility of the lantern gank from the jungler or other enemies.

Easy Time

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+ Nami: Just dodge her Aqua Prison and use Triumphant Roar to heal her harrass.

+ Nunu & Willump: Once he reaches level 6, try to avoid face-checking into a bush to avoid a snowflake of death ( Absolute Zero) to the face. If he does use his ult in the open cancel it as fast as you can with a CC skill.

+ Sona: You can easily heal most of her poke with Triumphant Roar and Mikael's Blessing plus Unbreakable Will can save you and your carry from a full-duration Crescendo.

+ Soraka: You will be forced to play passive early on due to her sustain but you will eventually beat her out as she has no CC beyond a single-target silence from Infuse. Try to time your engagements when her heals are on cooldown.

+ Volibear: Your Pulverize out-ranges his Thundering Smash flip distance, so when he charges you run as far as you can and when he is just about to reach you, send him up into the air. Also, Headbutt is a great way to keep him away and remember that he has no heal or shield for his carry.

Thanks for reading this guide about Alistar. I would really appreciate any detailed comments, good or bad, about this guide about how I can improve. I hope that this guide would help you become a better Alistar player, and a better player overall.

• 4/16/13 Published Guide
• 4/29/13 Edited for Patch 3.6 and Skills section
• 5/18/13 Edited for Patch 3.7. Changed Introduction, Items, and Masteries sections
• 6/17/13 Edited Synergies section
• 6/18/13 Edited and begun expansion of Matchups section
• 6/21/13 Finished expansion of Macthups section