Tanks are some of the unsung heroes when it comes to champions and roles in League of Legends. There are some tanks that are literally just a meatball to stand in front of the ranged carries. While there are others who are more carry-oriented despite being a tank, stay tuned to this article to find out everything you need to know about the tank role in League of Legends, what tanks are, and also a tier list of who the best tanks are in LoL. 

What are tanks in League of Legends?

Before we get onto who the tanks are in League of Legends, we first need to understand their role within the game and how they function on Summoners Rift. Tanks are champions that stack up health, often with abilities that rely on having a lot of health to stay in fights. There are many different tanks in League of Legends, each with its own purpose.

Let's first take a look at engage tanks. These are champions whose primary objective is to get the team fight going. Ornn in my opinion is one of the best tanks in League of Legends history. He has great laning, can engage and disengage for the team, and has a unique passive that can build items for himself without having to go back to base.

And while this engage tank is played in the top lane, there are other engage champions who are support tanks in League of Legends. Nautilus is the ultimate LoL support tank in League of Legends. He provides a beefy frontline, can engage, and also does a surprising amount of damage. Despite Nautilus having a brief stint in the top lane, this champion is designed to be a support with his kit primarily focussed on being an engage support.

When it comes to builds, Nautilus will build support items that provide a lot of health, as opposed to the tank items. The only one that would overlap would be Thornmail, but that is mainly for if you're extremely ahead in the game and want to flex.

Now that you have started to get a brief idea of tanks in League of Legends. Let's go over the different types of tank:

1. Engage tank: Champion whose primary focus is to engage the team and start a team fight. These will often deal a lot more damage than supportive tanks and most will be played in the solo lanes or in the jungle.
   
2. Defensive/ Support tanks: These are called warden tanks in League of Legends, as they often deal less damage immediately than the engage/offensive tanks but will still provide valuable damage in the team fights. These are your lone survivors, meaning they can withstand a lot more damage than your average League of Legends champion. Nautilus again is a great example. He can be the large HP frontline the team needs while also starting the team fight himself and not having to rely on teammates.
   
3. AP tanks: These are a different type of tank in the sense they do a lot more burst damage due to their abilities relying on ability power. A great example is Gragas, he is a champion that can be built in many ways, including full AP which is more of a glass cannon build. The tank hybrid AP build for Gragas is a great middle-ground for players. Gragas also falls inline with engage tanks as his abilities can start and end fights.
   

What is the best tanks in League of Legends?

Tanks are starting to come back into the meta for LoL as 2025 approaches. They had fallen to the wayside with bruisers being more of the norm. Tank items are starting to become much stronger than they were at the start of the season, thus setting them up to have a great season 15. Let's take a look at the tier list for best tank champions in League of Legends right now.

If you're looking for what roles tanks play in, we have put together a brief list for which champions appear in each lane for League of Legends.

Finally, what tank should I play in League of Legends?

Personally, if I was going to recommend a tank to play in League of Legends, I would recommend Poppy. She has a great mixture of everything needed for you to be a valuable player in League of Legends. Firstly, she is a very tanky champion come the late game, meaning she is going to be able to kill any of the squishier targets if they are caught out of position.

Secondly, her ultimate offers various ways to play the game. From knocking enemies away that are chasing you, to eliminating them from an objective seige, Poppys' ultimate is a game changer in League of Legends. Not only can they knock champions away, they can knock them up if you cast the ultimate immediately.

According to Mobalyitics, Poppy as a 53% win rate in the top lane, which places her amongst the best champions in League of Legends, hence her S tier placement in the LoL tank tier list. Poppy also has a pretty solid laning phase that shouldn't have too much trouble against champions in the top lane. On top of that, she is proven to be a versatile champion in the sense she can be played as a top laner, jungler, and support.