[Top 10] LOL Best Tanks (Ranked)

Updated:

16 Dec 2023

10. Tahm Kench

Tahm Kench is a tank that can scale very well into the late game and become an unkillable monster. He can be played both as a support and a top laner to great effect.

Tahm Kench is a great tank to play if you’re looking to keep your allies alive while scaling into the late game to become unkillable. Tahm Kench has a great kit for keeping himself alive while also having decent engage and teamfighting potential. His only notable weaknesses are that he doesn’t have much early-game threat, making him weak against scaling champions and far-distance poke.

Tahm Kench is the best choice to pick when your team needs heavy peel, which he can fulfill with his ultimate. He’s also great when he doesn’t have any late-game threats and can scale relatively safely.

Pros

Great scaling
Amazing CC
Good roaming
Good Utility

Cons

Weak into scaling champions
Weak into poke
Low ability to threaten enemies in lane
Low damage

9. Malphite

Malphite is a powerful engage tank that can force a fight in most situations. He is primarily played in the top lane and is mostly useful versus AD top laners.

Malphite is a great tank for dealing with AD top laners, especially short-range ones who depend on running to you to deal damage. His primary role in a team is to engage in fights with his ultimate, which is one of the strongest engage tools in the game. The weakness of this is that his power as a champion is extremely reliant on this ability, so it’s important to save it for key moments.

Malphite is the best to pick when your team needs a powerful engage champion in the top lane. He’s also quite useful if your opponent is a short-range ad champion that lacks hard engage, which he can abuse with his abilities.

Pros

Great versus AD champions
Good poke
Amazing Roaming
Amazing Engage
Great Teamfighting

Cons

Weaker versus AP champions
Very reliant on ultimate to be effective
Weak to high mobility champions

8. Amumu

Amumu is a great and versatile engage champion that scales well into the late game. He can be played as a jungler and as a support, both with great effectiveness.

Amumu is a great tank that has multiple engaging tools, all of which are very powerful in their own right. He also scales very well into the game, both being very tanky while doing good damage at the same time. Due to these strengths, he has a very weak early game and struggles with mana early on as well.

Amumu is a great tank to pick when your team needs engage from the jungle. He’s also great to pick when your team has AP champions due to his passive, which makes them take true damage from magic damage.

Pros

Great Engage
Great Roaming
Great Teamfighting
Decent Damage
Amazing CC

Cons

No way to disengage
Very weak early game
Runs into mana issues
Low Mobility

7. Rammus

Rammus is a great tank who specializes in dueling and fighting ad champions. He’s primarily played in the jungle but can also be used as a top laner.

Rammus is quite a powerful tank, especially when dealing with AD threats. He can deal high amounts of damage, especially by having AD champions hit him, while reflecting the damage. He also has decent engage, but can suffer greatly if his team doesn’t follow up.

Rammus is the best choice when you are facing teams with tons of AD auto-attackers. While ADC’s usually will fill this requirement, there’s plenty of other champions that are auto-attack heavy that should be checked before picking Rammus.

Pros

Great Roaming
Great Damage
Good Engage
Great scaling
Amazing versus ad champions
Good CC
High mobility

Cons

Weak into AP champions
Weak early game
Lacks disengagement tools
Weak teamfighting
Weak if behind

6. Zac

Zac is an amazing tank who is great at engaging and peeling for allies. He is primarily played in the jungle, but he can also be used as a top laner or support with decent efficiency.

Zac is one of the best tanks in the game when it comes to engaging and assisting his team. He is one of the best and consistent engages champions in the game and provides great support to his team. While he can deal good damage, he lacks the power to duel enemies, making him mostly useful in team settings.

Zac is usually a great pick when your team needs long-range engage and disruption. He’s also very effective at ganking and roaming, especially when played on the blue side, due to the fact that he can take very unique angles due to his engage range.

Pros

Great Roaming
Good Damage
Incredible Engage
Good CC
Decent Mobility
Great peel for allies
Revive passive

Cons

Cannot duel enemies
Countered by healing reduction
Weak to high mobility champions

5. Nautilus

Nautilus is a great tank that specializes in catching high-mobility carries out of position. He is primarily played as a support, where he is most efficient.

Nautilus excels at catching enemies with his high CC, especially his ultimate, which locks on the targeted enemy. Due to this, he has incredible engage and you will find use for his kit throughout the entire game, even when behind. Due to his main role being a support, you will generally be behind in gold, which will make you relatively squishy for a tank.

Nautilus is the best pick in situations where you need to counter high-mobility champions that could normally get away from most other tank picks. Due to his ultimate ability, he can force fights in any situation and easily follow up with his hook.

Pros

Amazing CC
Decent Mobility
Great Roaming
Great Engage
Great Teamfighting
Counters high mobility champions
Useful at all stages of the game.

Cons

Low Damage
Low Survivability
Weak versus poke
Requires teammates to follow up engage to be useful.

4. Maokai

Maokai is an amazing and versatile tank that can fill multiple roles. He is primarily used in the jungle but can also be used to great success in the top lane and as a support.

Maokai is incredibly versatile and can be used as an engaging or peeling tank for his carries. Also, by using his ultimate, he can provide one of the best engage ultimates in the game, but unlike other tanks, his kit still allows him to be continuously useful throughout extended fights. While he does not provide much damage, he is incredibly tanky and provides easy engage and CC to any team.

Maokai is the ideal pick in situations where you need long-range engage, without overcommitting. His ultimate is great for checking engage angles without being forced to get into dangerous positions. He’s also a great pick when you specifically want a jungler that can hold down a single enemy for long periods of time.

Pros

Amazing Engage
Amazing CC
Amazing Teamfighting
High Survivability
Great peel for allies
Great Utility

Cons

Low mobility
Low Damage
Weak early game
Weak into some poke matchups

3. Ornn

Ornn is a great tank that is not only tanky but can engage from any position. He is primarily played as a top laner, where he is most efficient.

Ornn is a very powerful tank that can not only engage from anywhere but also becomes very hard to kill. He also has the ability to upgrade his allies items later on, making him even more effective. Ornn does suffer from being alone, however, meaning it’s best to use Ornn when you know you’ll keep teamfighting.

Ornn is the best pick for when you need a safe and reliable top-lane pick that scales well into the late game. He provides most of the benefits other tanks do while also assisting his team in unique ways through item upgrading, which is really good for players looking for a tank that's generally good.

Pros

Amazing Engage
Great CC
Amazing Teamfighting
High Survivability
Decent Damage

Cons

Cannot duel enemies
Mana issues early on
Low mobility

2. Poppy

Poppy is an amazing tank for countering dashes and keeping enemies away from objectives. She is primarily played in the jungle, but you can also play her as a top laner and support.

Poppy is an incredible tank who excels at countering champions with dashes while providing a ton of CC in return. She can also secure objectives quite safely with her ultimate by pushing enemies far away from it. Even with her insane strengths, it requires good positioning and timing to make full use of this champion without being punished by enemies.

Poppy is the best pick when you against teams with a high amount of dashes. She’s also good in situations when she knows her enemies wants to fight near walls so that she can abuse her dash into stun.

Pros

Amazing CC
Counters dashing champions
Good damage
Counters high mobility champions
Useful at all stages of the game.
Can safely secure objectives
High mobility
Great disengagement tools

Cons

Difficult to play efficiently
Struggles against poke
Not many Engage tools

1. K'sante

K’sante is an amazing and flexible tank that can dominate any game with his versatile kit. He is primarily played in the top lane but can also be flexed into the middle lane.

K’sante can dominate any game with his high mobility and incredibly high damage for a tank. He’s also still incredibly tanky and provides CC immunity for himself, which allows him to get out of most situations. Due to this, he is incredibly difficult to play, but with time and effort, you can learn how to dominate on this incredibly strong pick.

K’sante is a very strong pick when you need an all-rounder for a tank in the top lane. He deals a lot of damage for a tank, so he can help fill damage requirements for your team while also still being very tanky and being a frontline threat for your team. He can also be flexed to midlane if he faces a bad matchup, which makes him quite flexible if the situation is rough.

Pros