To start off, I'd like to say hey there to anyone I've played against. I used to play Soraka support quite often. With the new balancing changes with support (In an attempt to reduce passivity of the game) Riot has recently buffed Soraka, insomuch that I've actually been able to carry games with her. :P

This build works really well in normals, or even in low ELO ranked, where all the idiots and their dogs lock in with Squishy carries, then say "GO TANK" and I go "Fine" :P

The mentality that support soraka has left us with(Based on low ELO/Normal games), was that you are supposed to KILL THE SUPPORT. This build feeds off that, because when you have all five members of their team beating on you, and not your carries, You'll win teamfights, even if you die.

As far as tanky supports go, Before they nerfed Tarics heal scaling/CD I used to main him in normals, and played a few ranked with him.
Another thing to realize,

I've played very few ranked(only about 4 with tankraka, Won each with a huge gap)
I'm only playing at about a 1300 ELO

The one major issue with this build, the cost of your items reduces your ability to afford mass wards (Ranked players will hate your guts if you don't do well.) Just keep this in mind. - Warding is still very possible, its just a matter of being able to sustain 3-4 ward points all game is not a good idea.

Soraka is nice in game, simply because she has decent sustain (Even after the nerf, its better than Taric.) The silence counters most of the "OMFG OP NERF PLOX" heros that are used - To list a few Singed(Hard for him to toss someone when he's silenced!), Mord (Silencing him before he can cone a minion wave, followed by 1-2 auto attacks is huge harass), Annie(Silencing in the middle of a spell combo, or burst healing your allies to keep them alive, whichever works)


The beginning of this guide started about 2 days after the patch with the support rework. I noticed (As many of us probably have) How OP her Q is in a teamfight. Seeing this I decided that "If I could keep Soraka in the fight longer. Guarantee win?" Yep.
Hence - Tankraka was born (At least, I started playing her this way.)
Alright! As a general warning this is my first guide. I am also at a low ELO(1200-1500), so for those high ELO players who know wtf they are doing, ignore me. :O Good luck! Have fun reading!

Author's Note: There is a place for every champion in league. Sometimes tankraka isn't that good of an idea (Sitting and staring at your team of 3 tanks, 1 support, You don't pick tankraka. She just doesn't do quite enough damage). Play her with understanding please.

PROS

Good counter for squishy team comps due to her armor buffed heal.
Heavy support - Low chance of getting burst instantly, high sustain.
High Gold because of GP5items/assists (I've made 2-3k more than my carries in some games)
Powerful MDPS
High harass ability
Ability to carry low ELO, bad teams.
Able to push/Kill minion waves effectively.
As far as regular carries/supports, She's a supertank.

Cons

Easily countered by smart players(Don't aim soraka. Hit the carries)
Occasional starcall KSing.
The strength of your support is only as good as your team.
As far as tanks go, shes still squishier than most.

Alright, rune choice is a bit strange I agree.

WHAT!? No tank runes? No HP quints? r u mad?

No, Lategame, 15 armour isn't going to help as much as the AP the runes give. Starting the game with a flat 20 AP. Which turns into Roughly 69 bonus AP lategame. Your AP MDPS will suffer greatly without these runes.

Magic pen will work as well, I've tried it, But seeing as her Starcall (At level 5) gives -12 Mr/stack (Up to 10 times - -120MR maxed). You really don't need to worry about it.

Keep in mind - To be completely honest, at this point Soraka is So OP*giggles*. That having magic pen runes, health quints, and some Mp5 seals, still works great (Tried it, works well, but not as well as pure AP.)

I'm not saying that other runes won't work, because really anything will, (I've even tried using flat AD runes, works great early game for harassing from a bush)

You may be wondering about my skill sequence, there are many ways to effectively build Tankraka.

With a high AP lane. Maxing out your infuse is more important, (This works well against Singed, Mord, Veigar, Brand, Anivia, -Insert AP carry name here-). Simply because blocking a spell cast, breaking up a spell combo. or hitting Mord before he can Cone the minion waves, works very effectively.

With a high AD lane, getting a higher level in your heal (OR if they are mainly melee AD heros, your Starcall), can prove effective; either to save your lane partner (Because a lvl 2 heal giving 180HP and 50 armour is balanced) or to abuse a Starcall, that increases its damage by about 5% every stack that is dropped on the melee carry trying to last hit minions, or your ally. :P.

Nomatter what you do, for this build infuse is core, both as an inbuilt mana manipulator, and a decently ranged harass ability/silence. No matter what you decide to do as far as leveling starcall/heal, make sure your infuse is at least one rank higher than them.

The masteries are a bit interesting, I'll agree. I've tried using the old Pure AP - 3/6/21 (or something to that effect) It works, but not that well. (For this build)

Basically you are going to be tanking, Thats my only real defense for this mastery selection, for more tankiness, and some free Hp/5, a 4% increase on your AP, along with damage reduction. (Which isn't that much, but it does make a difference), You sacrifice 1GP/10, some Mp5, max mana/xp bonus', Lower CD Clair/6% base CDR (Items will give you about 33% later anyways)

The Pros and Cons are negotiable as far as mastery set up. I prefer sacrificing the Utility for the tankiness.

Honestly Tankraka can use just about anything you want to use. I stick to flash/clairvoyance, because people will complain when you pick a support and don't grab any escape or some kind of map awareness.

Regardless here is a list of summoner spells and why I prefer flash/cv.
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Fast answer Explanation
Derp* - So silly, if you choose these you're either trying to piss off your carry-locking-team-mates. Or you are so bad at this game, you just bought a 450 champion and want to try her out for your 3rd game.
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Exhaust - Its a decent spell, allows you to save an ally, reduce burst damage from ults like trynd, fiddle, annie, -insert hero here-. Or even slow enemies to allow your team to catch up.

Ghost - Good escape. Helpful early game (Especially when you get stuck with those double gapcloser lanes). But as far as I have noticed, Lategame you don't need to run, or if you do(See SHURELYAS), they will have enough CC to block it anyway.

Heal - 500 HP at lvl 18, - Thats ONE heal cast on yourself, (With spirit visage).Reducing all your heals on your team is bad anyways. imo. You shouldn't destroy your own healing, especially when tankraka requires it.

Rally - See Derp*

Revive - See Derp*

Smite - If you're really that bad at last hitting, go for it. Lategame your starcall will destroy minion waves in 2-3 casts. Don't bother. >>

Teleport - It's viable, there is nothing more annoying than having a soraka show up across the map, Starcall 5 times, Heal twice. and either get 3 assists, or 3 kills. :P

Cleanse - Viable, however, merc treads counters most CC. and you're tanky enough to not die from a 2 second stunlock. I wouldn't grab it.

Fortify - ALMOST a derp. It's funny to see kids dive you, and then burst heal yourself and watch them get raped (Katarina is the funniest).

Clarity - Soraka already has a mana manipulation skill, it's really not that necessary.

Clairvoyance - After getting really good at support/junglers, if you know a junglers route, you can easily keep tabs on him most of the game. Giving your team a general idea when you might get ganked. You can use it lategame to facecheck bushes. Check baron (Pesky wards just dropped). Check dragon. And timed right, you can figure out enemy lane comp BEFORE you find out five of them went top for a double kill at start.

Flash - I use it, because its noob. :)
No really. It has got to be the most annoying skill in the world, allowing you escape over walls, to other sides of turrets (In case of melee champions diving you). Juking bushes, countering some ults if timed right. Getting out of ganks, Securing kills. You name it, this ****** escape ability is there for you.

This one will be a long chapter.

I use this specific item comp, because it works in most BALANCED games; Given a 2AD/AP carry 1 tank, or support team/whatever.

Decent Armor/MR, anything else mitigated by your 125bonus Armor 550 heal cast (With spirit visage.

However, if the enemy team is Heavily AD or Heavily AP. You can build differently, based on your needs.

Here is a list of the items I deem useable. And why or why not I don't use them. Starting from the top.
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- The MR/MR reduction this item gives stacks well with the general idea of being a tank, as well as the -MR stacking of your starcall. The AP bonus on it is decently high, and helps with all your scaling.


- Aegis, the bread and butter of most any support. Complements tank Raka greatly, because of the health, armour, Mr, and the aura.


- Force is a decent item on any tank, IF the enemy team has a VERY heavy AP comp. Or you're strait of afraid of that brand/veigar combo. Build this item. The MS is very nice to keep up with allies and enemies alike. Cons - Sadly your health is not 3k+, you still gain some usage from the passive. But not as much as a high HP hero might.


- GA, Useful in many situations, if you find your tankiness isn't quite enough. (Love it when you have Champions who grab %pen items.) And you die too fast in the fights, pick it, it works.


- Heart of Gold, The early health bonus, as well as the early-midgame GP5/philos allows you to keep up with the most avid farmers, your assists and Starcall stolen kills (It does happen occasionally I'm afraid) Will do the rest for you.


- Merc treads - Simply put, Boots are necessary -See Derp in above chapter- Jk. The Anti-CC is necessary.


Philosopher's Stone - Philos, Core, builds into shurelyas. Gp5 and the regeneration it gives are amazing early-mid game.


- Rylais - It's not in my core build, simply because the 500hp. is equivalent to 50 armour or MR. IT's not that its a bad item, the inbuilt slow works will with infuse and starcall. It's just not the best. The ability power supplied is still nice though. if you have true damage heros. It's viable.


- Sunfire, Not viable In my opinion. The armor and health are nice. but your heal already gives 125 armor on cast, the 35mdps is still decent, but I'd prefer other items over this one.


- Thornmail, Entirely situational. Useful for heros who don't use very much lifesteal. High critting heros (Like gangplank). Or teams who have too many AD carries. Viable if necessary.


- Warmogs. Noob tank item. ;) Soraka doesn't need it in my opinion. the health it gives is equivalent to spirit visage against a caster, with a single heal. It's not HORRIBLE. It's just not good for this build.


- Zhonyas, My only problem with it is, It's an active, that does exactly what you DONT want it to do. The active makes them switch targets from you. Allowing your team mates to start tanking. I just. Dont. Like it. :P The armour and AP on it are nice. The active is not. For. Tankraka.


- A far as I'm concerned, if they have an AD carry. Use it. CORE For me. The movement and Attack speed debuff it gives on attack, as well as the additional active that reduces their mobility in teamfights. Worth it. Completely viable. (If you aren't good at using actives, I'd advise to pick something else.)


, It's a decent item. Once again, if you are looking for high health, and they are low of one type of damage. Go for it, The AP, Health, and mana it gives are all viable with the build, you just sacrifice a large amount of armor or MR for it.


- Shurelyas, another of those core items for this build. It finishes from a philos. Gives the GP5. Allows your team to catch up/run away/Improve mobility in teamfights. The CDR is great. Health is helpful. Honestly it's a great item. Core for me.


- Spirit Visage, It's in the core build, simply because the MR, Health, CDR it gives, along with the passive health bonus on heal. Is extremely helpful. At an extremely lategame, I'll switch it out for a rabadons cap. or Rylais.


- Frozen heart, if you have high AS heros (Kayle, Kog, TF, Teemo) who are on hit effect stacking. This item is a good counter. The mana isnt really necessary, the CDR is great, armor helps. and the passive AS reduction is decent. Situationally Viable.


Banshees Veil - referred to as BV. (OR as Brands Vagina. trololol) A good counter for high AP champs that rely on initial abilities to hit(Veigar, Brand, Annie) the mana/Health it gives are decent. but the passive magic spell counter is what you're really looking for.


If you think of any other items I may have missed. Let me know, and why you think they belong.

I'll save any "Huge" Replays I've played, as well as some stat pics here.
These are all normals sofar. I'll create a seperate area for ranked.

All for now, I'll load more as I play more (Or get un-lazy enough to copy the 20 or so replays I have and upload them to youtube.)

Tankraka can be a lot of fun to play. Her heal can reduce a 60 armour squish hero to a 185 armour AD carry. The point that she plays on peoples weakness for targeting the support champions. And the ability to still have a decent sustain, even if she's not being targeted. The mobility improvements to your team from shurelyas, and the ability to reduce the enemies mobility through randuins is a huge help in teamfights.

In summary, Tankraka can really help pick up a squishy team comp. She also does a decent bit of MDPS, without suffering from Squishy-caster-death-syndrome.

Author's Note: This is my FIRST replay, if you see anything lacking, or have any positive input. Let me know.

Don't troll me for the heck of it. I'll calmly reply/defend/fix anything I've said in this guide. But I won't deal with stupid people. >:I