In the last couple of seasons, Riot Games did a few changes to the LoL items. And although their goal was to bring variety to our builds, I can’t say that they did it successfully.
In fact, the changes mainly empowered the champions that were already strong.
And the perfect examples of that are the tanks and fighters. If you take a look at the general build that most top lane champions go for, you’ll see a lot of defensive stats.
The items are either completely tanky (they grant HP, MR, or Armor) or hybrid (they’re a mix of both damage and HP).
As a result, these champions are extremely difficult to shred, yet they do tons of damage to you. So even if you’re at full build, it’s still hard to damage them, right?
Well, the idea behind the anti-tank items in LoL is to counter the tanks in the game by directly exploiting their defensive stats.
So, let’s talk about the best items against tanks in LoL and how to use them!
Read Also: LoL Best Items Against Shields
The 10 Best Items Against Tanks in League of Legends
Here are the best items to build against tanks in League of Legends:
- Liandry’s Anguish
- Demonic Embrace
- Void Staff
- Riftmaker
- Divine Sunderer
- Kraken Slayer
- The Collector
- Lord Dominik’s Regard
- Serylda’s Grudge
- Black Cleaver
AP Anti-Tank Items
Liandry’s Anguish is the best mythic to get on an AP champion. It directly counters tanks because it deals up to 12% bonus magic damage based on the tank’s maximum HP. But it also burns the target for a small percentage of their own max Health.
And Liandry’s Anguish synergizes well with Demonic Embrace. Demonic Embrace adds another 1.2% max HP burn effect to your target for 4 seconds, which is the same duration as Liandry’s.
It also grants you a bit of Armor and Magic Resist so you can survive for longer and continue to deal damage.
Void Staff is another handy tool you have when playing a mage. It grants 40% Magic Penetration, which basically means that your abilities will ignore 40% of the tank’s Magic Resist.
However, keep in mind that Void Staff won’t be much of a help if you don’t have enough Ability Power. And that’s why it’s recommended to only purchase it in the late game.
Riftmaker is another helpful mythic item against tanks in LoL. It doesn’t deal maximum HP damage, but it deals true damage.
After 3 seconds of hitting a target, Riftmaker gives you 9% bonus damage. But this bonus damage is converted into 9% true damage if you stay in combat.
Unfortunately, not too many AP champions build Riftmaker. It’s not a recommended purchase for mages because it doesn’t grant Mana nor Mana Regeneration.
But it can work in specific matchups, especially against a full tank team!
Read Also: The Best Items Against AD Champions
AD Anti-Tank Items
Divine Sunderer is one of the best items against tanks in LoL, but it’s only built on melee champions. And Ezreal is the only marksman that goes for Divine Sunderer.
The item causes your next auto-attack (after you use an ability) to deal 12% bonus damage based on the target’s maximum Health.
On the other hand, Kraken Slayer is the most reliable mythic against tanks for ADCs. Every third basic attack deals true damage with it, so it’s a no-brainer.
The Collector is a fantastic item to counter tanks with. It executes enemies below 5% HP, no matter how much health there is in that 5%.
For example, Cho’Gath might have 5000 HP, so The Collector will deal 250 additional damage that can’t be avoided!
Marksman and AD assassins can also purchase Lord Dominik’s Regard against tanks.
It grants 35% Armor Penetration right away, and additional bonus damage of up to 15% depending on how much more Health the tank has than you.
Serylda’s Grudge is another item that grants 30% Armor Penetration, which is always recommended.
But it’s also helpful because it applies slow to your targets when you damage them with an ability. This is handy for kiting around and staying out of the tank’s range.
And the last item you should consider is Black Cleaver. Repeatedly dealing damage to tanks with Black Cleaver will lower their Armor by 30%.
And it’s especially valuable if your team is full AD.
Read Also: The Best Items Against AP Champions
What Else Should I Build Against Tanks?
Not only do tanks have all the defensive stats in the world, but they also have ways to heal themselves.
In fact, most of their recommended items provide Health Regeneration, so you’ll need to counter that too.
The best anti-healing items to build against tanks in LoL are:
- Morellonomicon
- Chemtech Putrifier
- Chempunk Chainsword
- Mortal Reminder
- Shadowflame
The great part about these items is that you don’t have to complete them right away. You can only purchase either Oblivion Orb or Executioner’s Calling, which only costs 800 gold.
Oblivion Orb and Executioner’s Calling apply 40% Grievous Wounds, which means 40% weaker healing.
Tanks are also annoying when they build full Armor. But AD champions have an advantage for countering this over the AP champions – Lethality items.
As a stat, Lethality is closer to Armor Reduction than Armor Penetration. It lets you bypass the amount of armor your enemy has and not go through it.
For example, if the enemy Malphite has 100 Armor and you have 40 Lethality, then Malphite will only have 60 Armor for you.
And that’s why building as much Lethality as possible is a great way to counter tanks in League of Legends!
Here are the best Lethality items in LoL:
- Eclipse
- Duskblade of Draktharr
- Prowler’s Claw
- Axiom Arc
- Youmuu’s Ghostblade
- Serpent’s Fang
Read Also: How to Counter True Damage in League of Legends?
How to Further Counter Tanks?
Well, it all starts with your champion. Some picks do exceptionally well against tanks while some only cause headaches.
For example, Vayne is known to be the best champion for shredding tanks in League of Legends. That’s because she has a Kraken Slayer effect integrated into her ability kit.
On every 3rd auto-attack, she deals bonus true damage based on the target’s maximum Health. And since tanks have a lot of HP, Vayne deals a lot of damage to them too.
Even though other champions are not so fortunate, they become good anti-tank tools during the match. That’s because their regular builds consist of one or two items that we mentioned above.
So, they deal a lot of damage to tanks no matter what!
Here are some of the best champions to play against tanks in League of Legends:
- Cassiopeia
- Yasuo
- Brand
- Garen
- Trundle
- Darius
- Master Yi
- Varus
- Teemo
I also recommend checking my lists of top anti-tank champions by role.
- Best Top Laners Against Tanks
- Best Mid Laners Against Tanks
- Best Junglers Against Tanks
- Best Supports Against Tanks
Conclusion
And that sums it up!
Unfortunately, tanks are a problem in every elo. There isn’t only one way to counter them, but these items and champions are a good start.
I recommend you always purchase one Lethality, Anti-healing, or Magic Penetration item, no matter who you’re facing. These stats are incredibly helpful and they boost your damage.
Good luck!
