In League of Legends, tanks are kings. And we see it all the time – a tank gets fed early, and he’s suddenly the best carry in the game. Take Rammus, Garen, Gnar, Nasus, and all other tanky champions – they’re simply unbeatable if they’re ahead. Playing tanks is a great way to increase your solo queue rank. But who are the top 5 tankiest champions in League of Legends that you can play?
And that’s not an easy question to answer. And here’s why – there are multiple reasons why a champion may be viewed as “tanky.” But what do I mean by this?
For example, when we say that Vladimir is a tanky champion, we usually want to point out that he has more HP than your regular mage, and he has ways to regain his lost health. However, when we say that Rammus is tanky, we mean that he has unbelievable amounts of armor, so we can’t even hit him.
In any way, here I’ve compiled the 5 tankiest champions in League of Legends from every such category. Some have more health than others, and some have greater stats. But any champion you choose from this list will give you a beefy boi in the late game!
Take a look!
Also read: 3 Best Supports for Miss Fortune
1. Cho’Gath
Even though Cho’Gath doesn’t have infinite scaling, he is easily the tankiest champion in LoL. No one can even come close to how much HP Cho can have in a game, which is one key factor to being tanky in LoL.
So, why is Cho’Gath so tanky?
The central part of Cho’s defensiveness is his ultimate, Feast. This ability allows Cho’Gath to eat minions, monsters, or champions to permanently increase his health. In other words, every time Cho’Gath executes a target, he gets 80/120/160 maximum HP per stack, depending on his level.
Now, eating different types of targets also makes a difference. This is because Cho is allowed t only have 6 stacks maximum per category. For example, if he has slain 6 champions with his ultimate, he will no longer gain maximum HP when he slays the 7th.
However, Cho’s Feast stacks aren’t totally limited either. He can go to the jungle and chomp 6 monsters too. Minions are a different category as well, so that already makes it 18 stacks. Add the 6 more stacks that he can get from eating epic monsters such as the Dragons and the Baron, and you get 24 stacks of Feast!
In the late game, 24 stacks of 160 HP equal to 3 840 maximum health. Naturally, Cho’Gath always builds tanky and gets a lot of HP that way. But combined with his bonus HP, he becomes a monster!
If you allow Cho to farm and scale in the late game, it’s very challenging to bring him down. It usually takes a whole team to slay him, making him a raid boss on the Summoner’s Rift!
2. Sion
Sion is a bit similar to Cho’Gath when it comes to scaling, but he has his own strengths too. You see, Sion’s W, Blood Furnace, has a passive effect that allows him to infinitely build his maximum HP. Every minion grants him 4 bonus health, and every large monster or champion gives him 15 bonus health upon takedown.
But what does this mean exactly?
It simply means that the longer the game goes on, it becomes less and less likely that you’ll actually kill Sion. The fact that his W doesn’t have any limitation is fascinating because, in theory, he can get up to 10 000 bonus Health. Sure, you’ll have to play a match for 2 hours for that to happen, but it can happen!
But that’s not everything! Sion can also activate his Blood Furnace ability to gain a large shield that lasts up to 6 seconds, or the whole team fight if you don’t break it. This spell can also be recast for another shield, which is also another form of being tanky in League.
And what’s the best part about playing Sion tank?
It’s the fact that when you die, you don’t actually die! Instead, you come as a zombie with more attack speed, movement speed, and damage. This makes it incredibly difficult for your enemies to shut you down at all stages of the game. They’ve just spent all their efforts to tear all your armor, magic resist, health, and shields down, only for you to come back and continue damaging them!
It’s simply amazing how tanky Sion can get in LoL. So, he is one of the tankiest champions in League of Legends!
Also read: Best Assassins in League of Legends
3. Shen
Shen may not have a mechanic that allows him to scale his HP infinitely, but he has other means to stay perfectly healthy. He is often considered to be one of the toughest champions to kill in League, and that’s not without reason.
For starters, Shen has his amazing passive, Ki Barrier. Ki Barrier actually grants him a shield that lasts for several seconds whenever Shen uses an active ability. It doesn’t have any internal cooldown, which means Shen can get 4 different shields from his 4 abilities. This effect alone makes him an extremely tanky champion, but it’s not all there is!
Shen’s W, Spirit’s Refuge, is an AoE type of ability that blocks all auto-attacks in League of Legends. Keep in mind that it doesn’t block abilities, nor its effects, which means that Shen can still get stunned, for example. However, if you and your allies could block all basic attacks for 1.5 seconds in a team fight, that almost guarantees that you won’t die!
And lastly, we have Shen’s R, Stand United. This ability allows Shen to teleport himself to an ally, granting them a shield for the duration of his channeling. You could say that Stand United doesn’t do anything to make Shen tankier, but it lets him get away from danger. And when Shen uses his R in a team fight, the enemies usually stop focusing on him. So in a way, it’s still helpful!
Anyway, that’s why Shen is one of the tankiest champions in League of Legends!
4. Mundo
Like Shen, Dr. Mundo doesn’t have ways to infinitely scale his defensive stats. In fact, on the surface, Mundo doesn’t look any tankier than most top lance champions in LoL. However, Mundo’s R does all the difference in the world here!
You see, Mundo’s ultimate is called Maximum Dosage. And the whole point of the ability is to heal Mundo back to full HP. In other words, any time Mundo gets to 10 or 20% HP, he can simply press this button and go back to full health in a couple of seconds.
And do you know why this is amazing? It’s because, in order to kill Mundo, you have to go two times through his health bar. And if that doesn’t sound too problematic for you, just remember that Mundo always builds like a tank. So in the late game, when Mundo has over 4 000 HP, you’ll have to do 8 000 damage to him alone! And that’s insane!
Additionally, Mundo has his W, Heart Zapper. Once used, this ability allows him to store a portion of the damage taken into a great health bar. And if Mundo recasts Heart Zapper, he’ll actually heal for the amount of health bar he has!
And lastly, Dr.Mundo’s great passive is Goes Where He Pleases. This effect is precisely what its name suggests – Mundo can’t be put in crowd control. His passive actually blocks the first immobilizing effect, making it easy for him to keep dodging abilities. So even though it’s not a damage-mitigation tool, it’s still helpful for avoiding damage.
Also read: 5 Most Squishy Champions in League of Legends
5. Ornn
And in the fifth place, we have Ornn. Ornn can easily be the tankiest champion in League of Legends if we exclude the infinite scaling of HP that Cho and Sion have. And not even Shen and Dr.Mundo can come close to what Ornn has in his kit.
The most important tool that Ornn has is his passive, Living Forge. Not only does this ability allows him to purchase items while he is in the lane, but it also lets him upgrade mythic items in LoL. And when he upgrades his tank item, Ornn becomes a tank monster!
Officially, Riot Games say that Ornn’s item upgrade is usually worth around 1000 gold of stats. However, if he upgrades Sunfire Cape into Forgefire Crest, those bonus stats are worth double in an actual situation. That’s because having much more health, armor, and magic resist than the enemy tank means that you’re going to live longer and probably carry the team fights.
The rest of Ornn’s ability kit is interesting, but it doesn’t add anything more to his tankiness. His W, Bellows Breath, is a fantastic ability for avoiding crowd control. When used, it makes Ornn immune to immobilizing effects, which can help him get away from many situations.
And there you have it! Those are the top 5 tankiest champions in League of Legends!
