How to counter the current dominant tank meta in ranked PvP?
The current landscape of ranked PvP is heavily influenced by the “tank meta,” where resilient, high-health, and high-defense characters dominate team compositions and engagements. Players often find themselves struggling to burst down seemingly unkillable opponents, leading to frustrating losses. This guide will equip you with the knowledge and tactics to not just survive but thrive against this formidable challenge, turning the tide in your favor.
Understanding the Tank Meta’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Tanks excel at absorbing damage, initiating fights, and controlling critical areas. Their high defensive stats and often significant crowd control make them difficult to dislodge. However, they typically trade raw damage output for survivability. Recognizing this fundamental trade-off is the first step to exploiting their vulnerabilities.
Prioritize Penetration and True Damage
The most direct way to counter high defenses is to bypass them. Incorporate items and abilities that provide armor penetration, magic penetration, or deal true damage. These stats significantly reduce the effectiveness of a tank’s defensive build, allowing your damage dealers to actually make a dent.
- Armor/Magic Penetration Items: Look for items that grant flat or percentage penetration.
- True Damage Abilities: Prioritize champions or builds with abilities that deal true damage, as this completely ignores resistances.
- Defensive Reduction: Some abilities or items can temporarily reduce an enemy’s defenses, making them vulnerable for a short window.
Sustain Damage and Resource Management
Bursting down a tank is often a futile endeavor. Instead, focus on sustained damage over time. Characters with high consistent damage output, often known as “DPS” (Damage Per Second) roles, can slowly but surely wear down even the most formidable tanks. This strategy also requires careful resource management, ensuring you don’t run out of mana or ability cooldowns during prolonged fights.
The Power of Crowd Control and Kiting
While tanks often have their own CC, turning their strengths against them can be highly effective. Use your own crowd control to lock down key tanks, isolate them from their backline, or prevent them from reaching your squishier carries. Kiting, the art of maintaining distance while dealing damage, is crucial. Tanks are often slower and less mobile; exploit this by staying out of their effective range while chipping away at their health.
Strategic Team Composition and Focus Firing
Drafting a team composition specifically designed to counter tanks can significantly increase your chances of victory. Consider picks that offer high penetration, sustained damage, strong kiting potential, or abilities that disrupt tank engagements. Once in game, coordinated focus firing is paramount. Rather than everyone attacking different targets, communicate and focus your damage on one enemy at a time, ideally a priority target or the tank that is out of position.
Objective Control and Map Pressure
Sometimes, the best way to deal with tanks isn’t to fight them head-on. Tanks excel at holding chokepoints and frontline engagements. Instead, shift your focus to objective control and map pressure. While the enemy tanks are busy defending one area, you might be able to secure a crucial objective like a base, a tower, or a control point on the opposite side of the map. This forces the enemy to make difficult choices and potentially split their tank line.
Conclusion
The tank meta can be daunting, but it is far from unbeatable. By understanding their inherent weaknesses and adapting your builds, strategies, and team compositions, you can effectively dismantle even the sturdiest of opponents. Remember to prioritize penetration, apply sustained damage, utilize effective crowd control and kiting, and maintain strong objective pressure. With these tactics, you’ll be well-equipped to dominate ranked PvP and climb the ladder.
