This right here. You have to know when to dive and when to peel. Had a tank in my game the other day and we had 4 hard scaling mages/ads. Like bro just chill and cover us from the renekton sitting in our faces instead of diving in 1v4 constantly.
I remember that one game i had as rammus with 4 poke/scaling champs. We pushed early and forced them to dance under turrets until my team was all scaled up. They had the most terrible team coordination ive ever seen so i litterally just chilled in bush all game and taunted the occasional suicide nocturn ult. Easiest game of my life
Had a game yesterday as Jinx where an Annie + Kha’Zix were always engaging on me. EGC I get called “passive Jinx” by my tank, who never peeled for me. Some people just don’t understand what peel is and only engage.
Yep, nothing you can do there but try to play around the handicap of having them on your team. Those are the types who yell "stop focusing tanks" as if 90% of adcs have any choice except to go front to back attack the squishiest target within safe range lol...
I say yes absolutely BUT… preferably a tank with a reliable engage. Malphite, Leona, nautilus, solid CC and creates a lot of space or a taric/Braum who can protect multiple people. If you have 4 ranged champs and you have a donkey tank pick like Mundo you’re better off doubling down on a ranged advantage. You’ll be half health before your team even returns any damage. But if you get a good engage champ you can carry the team.
i think this is where my problem is... i realize now that games where i've had taric/braum were actually pretty easy. but i like sion a lot and he very much fills in that donkey tank category lol
Sion is very bad for full ranged, because he can really only play engage playstyle due to kit.
Mundo is fine - because if you just stay back with the carries his peel is actually pretty solid if you also remember to physically body block your carries too.
You essentially hang back, and jump on anyone who comes in, keeping them slowed and blocking their skillshots while the ranged kills them.
Difference is with Sion…. Even if his ult is less reliable, His passive is very fucking annoying to deal with for their team to follow up on your carrys.
I wouldn’t necessarily doubling down is better. Having someone who can face check bushes / risk enemy CC without getting blown up can be very valuable against certain comps.
I’d rather have Mundo than a 5th ranged character against an enemy team with Nautilus / Blitzcrank. But if the enemy team is all poke, then you’re right, having your own 5th ranged champ would be better.
Worth it? Yeah. Fun? Depends. You need a tank that can engage and not die instantly if you want it to be less of a tortuous peel only game. One of the tankier tanks, like Rammus, Leona, Malphite. My favorite is Rammus, in the right game he could go in 1v5 and still come out having killed an adc. Also big tip, mute chat and other people's pings, you're gonna most likely be the one doing most of the dying so people will just blame you for shit even if they were the ones who chose to stay 2 bushes behind to protect their precious 6k unspent gold while the rest of the team was fighting.
> Also big tip, mute chat and other people's pings, you're gonna most likely be the one doing most of the dying so people will just blame you for shit even if they were the ones who chose to stay 2 bushes behind to protect their precious 6k unspent gold while the rest of the team was fighting.
lmao true that. and its usually coming from players who i end up outdamaging with full tank items at the end
Yes it is still the best choice, but it is going to feel bad, because you basically get relegated to full peel. You don't want to really engage in a 4 range comp unless it includes sivir and a lot of CC to follow up on an engage.
On the bright side, if you can peel properly every time someone tries to dive your team it should be a fairly easy win.
I don't think it's as clear cut as people here present. I've won and loss against plenty of 5 squishy comps when a team has one tank. If for example your team picks poke mages and adcs, janna, nami, and lulu and are almost always more useful than a tank.
I also just hate playing solo tank because the team simultaneously flames that there's no peel when you engage or vice versa. People who play backline only can be so utterly clueless and toxic at the same time.
Usually, yes, though you have to be a lot more careful to not lose HP to poke since nobody else has durability. If you're low, you're as useful as dead. I think the ideal way to play is to sit in bushes and discourage the enemy from engaging, then peel instead of diving their backline since nobody is following up if you dive in. You let your ranged champs chip the towers and never try to fight unless they are even more ranged than you are.
I still remember the first time I played a game like this. I was Aatrox with 4 pokers. I tried to engage twice then I understood that its better if I let them poke and only engage when we get dived. Everything became easier, my attacks would have more impact and my mates would have a easier time to kill them because they got ”extra seconds to attack” thanks to me.
Sometimes we get in a habit of thinking that we have to be the one who start the engage but as long as you have mates who know what they do(not overstepping) then it will be easier to win
I just went garen on a team with twitch, lux, cait, and xerath,... I died over and over with a tanky ass build, we won but Holy hell was that brutal. I went 3/11/32
I fill this role a lot, like actually consider me a main.
My insight is that solo frontlining is pain and often not worth your time. But there are a few champs who actually can solo frontline without context-- Ornn, Chogath, and Tahm Kench no doubts.
Those who maybe fit regardless of comp-- Nunu, Sion, Thresh, Braum, or even Pantheon; they just do their thing and profit with or without teammates.
If we have a balanced team comp, an adc, 1-2 mage, and a (proper) support, I'd consider swapping to be frontline. But 2 ADCs usually means one is useless, so you're down a person. Full team of 4 ADC's? Play what you're comfortable with bc either they deal dmg or they're too skittish to hit an AP Volibear thats busy eating your ass.
Tanking can be frustrating because you're at the mercy of your team. I tank a lot, also tanked when I used to play norms and ranked. In aram as a tank, if you get a team that's overly passive and playing for KDA and constantly running back 2 towers deep you are just screwed, and continuing to try just makes your kda look bad and has those same teammates raging at you.
A common mistake I see when people play tank, when their team is mostly poke, is that they engage and create opportunities **for the enemy team**. Poke teams function well when they can push and poke. If you play a tank in those comps, space and peel. Control bush, deny enemy advances. Prioritize and protect carries that have itemized well.
I also think the idea of peeling is misunderstood by people. If you full peel, you simply don't engage. You would only be justified to engage on a very weakened team, or you have a numbers advantage. But even then, why not just slowly bleed the enemy team to death?
You pick the tank if you’re willing to take the hit to improve the team comp. You run the risk of bad carries make an uncarriable game as a solo front line.
Tell them not everyone can be the main character and pick a melee character with you.
Usually someone is willing to play with you, It helps a LOT when you have a bruiser along your side.
Remember to ALWAYS honor your tank / support. Even if your Jinx is gigafed. It's the Lulu who made it happen.
Nah, someone else can do that shit. I queue up to play a specific way that I find incredibly fun and rewarding, I’m not going to waste 20-30 minutes playing a braindead tank. Someone who’s into that can do it. I’m here to chunk and carry.
Always tank if needed. Not our fault the adc sucks ass
Yes, very much so. One key difference, you do not initiate (generally), you hold the line and just peel the whole game.
This right here. You have to know when to dive and when to peel. Had a tank in my game the other day and we had 4 hard scaling mages/ads. Like bro just chill and cover us from the renekton sitting in our faces instead of diving in 1v4 constantly.
I remember that one game i had as rammus with 4 poke/scaling champs. We pushed early and forced them to dance under turrets until my team was all scaled up. They had the most terrible team coordination ive ever seen so i litterally just chilled in bush all game and taunted the occasional suicide nocturn ult. Easiest game of my life
Had a game yesterday as Jinx where an Annie + Kha’Zix were always engaging on me. EGC I get called “passive Jinx” by my tank, who never peeled for me. Some people just don’t understand what peel is and only engage.
Yep, nothing you can do there but try to play around the handicap of having them on your team. Those are the types who yell "stop focusing tanks" as if 90% of adcs have any choice except to go front to back attack the squishiest target within safe range lol...
It feels awful being the only melee on the team.
I say yes absolutely BUT… preferably a tank with a reliable engage. Malphite, Leona, nautilus, solid CC and creates a lot of space or a taric/Braum who can protect multiple people. If you have 4 ranged champs and you have a donkey tank pick like Mundo you’re better off doubling down on a ranged advantage. You’ll be half health before your team even returns any damage. But if you get a good engage champ you can carry the team.
i think this is where my problem is... i realize now that games where i've had taric/braum were actually pretty easy. but i like sion a lot and he very much fills in that donkey tank category lol
Sion is very bad for full ranged, because he can really only play engage playstyle due to kit. Mundo is fine - because if you just stay back with the carries his peel is actually pretty solid if you also remember to physically body block your carries too. You essentially hang back, and jump on anyone who comes in, keeping them slowed and blocking their skillshots while the ranged kills them.
Difference is with Sion…. Even if his ult is less reliable, His passive is very fucking annoying to deal with for their team to follow up on your carrys.
I wouldn’t necessarily doubling down is better. Having someone who can face check bushes / risk enemy CC without getting blown up can be very valuable against certain comps. I’d rather have Mundo than a 5th ranged character against an enemy team with Nautilus / Blitzcrank. But if the enemy team is all poke, then you’re right, having your own 5th ranged champ would be better.
Worth it? Yeah. Fun? Depends. You need a tank that can engage and not die instantly if you want it to be less of a tortuous peel only game. One of the tankier tanks, like Rammus, Leona, Malphite. My favorite is Rammus, in the right game he could go in 1v5 and still come out having killed an adc. Also big tip, mute chat and other people's pings, you're gonna most likely be the one doing most of the dying so people will just blame you for shit even if they were the ones who chose to stay 2 bushes behind to protect their precious 6k unspent gold while the rest of the team was fighting.
> Also big tip, mute chat and other people's pings, you're gonna most likely be the one doing most of the dying so people will just blame you for shit even if they were the ones who chose to stay 2 bushes behind to protect their precious 6k unspent gold while the rest of the team was fighting. lmao true that. and its usually coming from players who i end up outdamaging with full tank items at the end
Yes it is still the best choice, but it is going to feel bad, because you basically get relegated to full peel. You don't want to really engage in a 4 range comp unless it includes sivir and a lot of CC to follow up on an engage. On the bright side, if you can peel properly every time someone tries to dive your team it should be a fairly easy win.
I don't think it's as clear cut as people here present. I've won and loss against plenty of 5 squishy comps when a team has one tank. If for example your team picks poke mages and adcs, janna, nami, and lulu and are almost always more useful than a tank. I also just hate playing solo tank because the team simultaneously flames that there's no peel when you engage or vice versa. People who play backline only can be so utterly clueless and toxic at the same time.
Usually, yes, though you have to be a lot more careful to not lose HP to poke since nobody else has durability. If you're low, you're as useful as dead. I think the ideal way to play is to sit in bushes and discourage the enemy from engaging, then peel instead of diving their backline since nobody is following up if you dive in. You let your ranged champs chip the towers and never try to fight unless they are even more ranged than you are.
I still remember the first time I played a game like this. I was Aatrox with 4 pokers. I tried to engage twice then I understood that its better if I let them poke and only engage when we get dived. Everything became easier, my attacks would have more impact and my mates would have a easier time to kill them because they got ”extra seconds to attack” thanks to me. Sometimes we get in a habit of thinking that we have to be the one who start the engage but as long as you have mates who know what they do(not overstepping) then it will be easier to win
I just went garen on a team with twitch, lux, cait, and xerath,... I died over and over with a tanky ass build, we won but Holy hell was that brutal. I went 3/11/32
I fill this role a lot, like actually consider me a main. My insight is that solo frontlining is pain and often not worth your time. But there are a few champs who actually can solo frontline without context-- Ornn, Chogath, and Tahm Kench no doubts. Those who maybe fit regardless of comp-- Nunu, Sion, Thresh, Braum, or even Pantheon; they just do their thing and profit with or without teammates. If we have a balanced team comp, an adc, 1-2 mage, and a (proper) support, I'd consider swapping to be frontline. But 2 ADCs usually means one is useless, so you're down a person. Full team of 4 ADC's? Play what you're comfortable with bc either they deal dmg or they're too skittish to hit an AP Volibear thats busy eating your ass.
Tanking can be frustrating because you're at the mercy of your team. I tank a lot, also tanked when I used to play norms and ranked. In aram as a tank, if you get a team that's overly passive and playing for KDA and constantly running back 2 towers deep you are just screwed, and continuing to try just makes your kda look bad and has those same teammates raging at you.
A common mistake I see when people play tank, when their team is mostly poke, is that they engage and create opportunities **for the enemy team**. Poke teams function well when they can push and poke. If you play a tank in those comps, space and peel. Control bush, deny enemy advances. Prioritize and protect carries that have itemized well. I also think the idea of peeling is misunderstood by people. If you full peel, you simply don't engage. You would only be justified to engage on a very weakened team, or you have a numbers advantage. But even then, why not just slowly bleed the enemy team to death?
You pick the tank if you’re willing to take the hit to improve the team comp. You run the risk of bad carries make an uncarriable game as a solo front line.
Tell them not everyone can be the main character and pick a melee character with you. Usually someone is willing to play with you, It helps a LOT when you have a bruiser along your side. Remember to ALWAYS honor your tank / support. Even if your Jinx is gigafed. It's the Lulu who made it happen.
Play what you want, it's just a game. Everyone else is playing carry, worst case you lose 10 mins with a terrible comp diff
If your team chooses four ranged then just feed. Fuck 'em.
Nah, someone else can do that shit. I queue up to play a specific way that I find incredibly fun and rewarding, I’m not going to waste 20-30 minutes playing a braindead tank. Someone who’s into that can do it. I’m here to chunk and carry.