May 28, 2011
-added Scores section
-posted scores from recent games

So this is my first build with Alistar. I recently bought him (1350 IP) and have found him really fun to play. He has a great aoe cc and his headbutt allows your team to focus on one champion at a time. I focus completely on armor and magic resist. I find many games that I solo queue in nobody wants to be the tank. I guess tanks must be in high demand. I've seen many teams fall apart because they are missing a tank. Who's gonna protect your carry? BAM Alistar out of nowhere sending everyone flying.

With this build you will be able to take abuse from the other team while you run around headbutting them. Generally I play pretty aggressive but at the same time Alistar is a great support. The only problem I've found so far is the cooldown and lack of mana for Alistar's abilities. I'll have to experiment some more to find a way to fix that :D

I think in the first game, the other team surrendered at 20mins.
The other games I got a pretty high assists to deaths ratios which is nice. Only 3 deaths, don't feed their champs. Takes away one of the unpleasant parts of the game (being dead).

Just your run of the mill armor and magic resist runes.

Used this guide to determine runes here

Runes seem to be a personal preference thing so whatever suits your needs/you can afford XD

I'll experiment with other runes when I have more money (IP). Chances are I'll be looking at mana or mana regen runes.

I found that there is no reason to have any offense runes. Without putting any points into AD or AP Alistar will not be dealing any damage.

Aegis of the Legion is a great first item to get by level 5 or 6. Provides both armor and magic resist at early levels. If you are laning with a dps on your team, you might be able to get a few early kills using pulverize.

Mercury's Treads is pretty straight forward. Allows you to run around without having to worry too much about cc from the other team. Could save your life a few times too.

For the next item, you can swap the order of Banshee's Veil and Guardian Angel. If the other team is mostly AP get Banshee's Veil first and Guardian Angel if they are AD. Guardian Angel is nice because it provides armor, magic resist, and a free revive every 5 minutes.

Frozen Heart will just provide more armor and its passive give you cdr which is always nice :D

Remember that Heart of Gold? Yeah we'll use it to make our last item, Randuin's Omen for even more armor (yay!) It also gives you an active to chase down enemies.

For summoner spells I usually mix around the first spell. Flash is a given. Will save your life many times and will also allow you to flash pulverize to catch them by surprise or track an enemy down. Heal is a nice way to round out your supporting ability. Ignite is good to get some kills while chasing. You can even use clarity if you choose to. I find that summoner spells are personal preference just like runes.

I try to imagine Alistar to be like the Batmobile. You'll come bursting in through walls and causing mayhem and destruction. Oh yeah, you're also indestructible. Even if they see you coming, it's too late. You're job will be to initiate team fights. With Banshee's Veil you'll be able to do a lot of damage before the other team can even begin to hinder you. Hopefully you;'ll have teammates who know how to play and they will be able to pick off enemies you headbutt towards them.

Hopefully after the first Pulverize/Headbutt combo, you're teammates will be able to quickly kill that champion. At this point, the other team should be trying to navigate around you to help their teammate which is where you can get a few hits in. Try to stay close to them, you're passive will also be dealing damage to them :D

By the time the other team makes it to yours and dealing some damage you can heal your team using Triumphant Roar/Heal. Now you just wait for your Pulverize to be ready so you can dish out some cc.

Team fights are pretty simple for you, run in, cause havoc and come out unscathed.

Oh yeah, if you're chasing you will be able to tower dive enemies due to all your armor and ult.

Don't forget to use your ult when necessary! At 80 seconds for cooldown, make sure you only use it when you're expecting alot of damage (tower diving, initiating against the entire team)

Pretty simple here. Start off with Pulverize and while they're in the air position yourself to Headbutt them in the desired direction. This will be your trumph card available every 15 seconds or so. Melee champs will be afraid to engage you. Use Triumphant Roar when you need to heal (try to have as many teammates around as possible to heal them as well). Use your ult when you are expecting alot of burst damage within 6-8 seconds.

For farming, you can use Triumphant Roar to heal your creeps and then walk around enemy creeps for your passive to do damage, you'll be able to farm pretty effectively.

I'll post some screens of my recent games with Alistar later. I find myself with about 7-10 kills, no deaths, and alot of assists in normal games. I get around 30-40 assists per game if I have good dps on my team.

Please try this out and let me know how it went. I want to improve this guide and would appreciate your feedback.