Overview
One of the original hard engage supports, Alistar is one of League of Legends’ forefathers when it comes to just going in. He’s a menace when played properly and can absorb a ton of pressure and damage him thanks to his ultimate. He’s a great pick for all cow lovers and tank lovers alike. Click here for the latest data on his best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Alistar
Just commit to the fight. If you go in, be ready to fight to the death. That means you should think a little bit before committing, but once you commit, continue to disrupt the enemy as much as possible.
You don't have combo W -> Q every single time. It's okay to just use one or the other depending on the circumstances. W is especially versatile and should be used accordingly.
Strengths
Alistar has great playmaking capabilities thanks to his Q -> W combo, which allows him to jump right to an enemy and then immediately knock them up. The Headbutt is also versatile in that you can jump to minions or even over walls towards neutral objectives. You also don’t have to combo it with Pulverize if you simply just want to knock an enemy away from your carry. Unbreakable Will also makes it so that once you choose to commit to a fight, you can still stay alive long enough for your team to run your enemies over.
Weaknesses
The problem with being very good at going in on opponents is that it sometimes means you don’t have a reliable way of going out. That means Alistar players can sometimes find themselves surrounded by enemies without immediate follow up from his teammates if the enemies are able to kite away from him. This becomes exponentially worse if you mess up your Q -> W combo, as Alistar players do from time to time. He’s also a champion that can fall behind early because he lacks a reliable way of fighting back in lane outside of committing to a fight.
Game Plan
Early Game: You’ll want to look for opportunities to all-in the enemy squishy. Typically you want to jump on the enemy ADC but if the support is also squishy, you can also jump them. If lane becomes a struggle, look to purchase boots early and roam around the map to make plays for stronger allies.
Mid Game: You want to remain a roaming menace at this point. You have a lot of playmaking capability and should be very aggressive at looking for fights.
Late Game: You can excel at either engaging or disengaging depending on what your team needs. Be mindful of blowing your entire combo on an engagement as that opens up a window for your carries to be jumped on if the enemy team is mobile.
