Support

Tahm Kench Build 26.21

Tahm Kench's whole appeal is his ult, Devour: he can swallow an ally out of danger or eat an enemy whole to haul them out of a fight. Playable but nothing scary at 50.2% and stable this patch, he stacks his passive with Q hits and autos until the third one lands a long stun, and his grey-health shield lets him shrug off poke and heal it back. Everything he does leans on that bulk and the constant threat of a Devour rather than on raw burst.

#29 of 119 support this patch · 3.1k games

Win rate50.2%—Games3.1kPick rate2.1%Ban rate2.0%Last 8 patches+0.2 since 26.14Damage profilei

AP 74%AD 21%True 5%DifficultyiModerateRewards fundamentals

The 10-second answer standard · 50.2% WR

Plated Steelcaps SkillsQ›W›E Runes

Shards

ModernARAM Counter

173 champions

AatroxTopB49.4%AhriMidA50.9%AkaliMidC49.0%AkshanMidA51.2%AlistarSupportS52.7%AmbessaTopD46.8%AmumuJungleA51.2%AniviaMidB50.2%AnnieMidA51.9%ApheliosAD CarryB50.0%AsheAD CarryB49.8%Aurelion SolMidB50.6%AuroraMidB50.3%AzirMidD46.8%BardSupportC48.9%Bel'VethJungleA51.7%BlitzcrankSupportA51.7%BrandSupportB50.0%BraumSupportB50.0%BriarJungleA51.9%CaitlynAD CarryC48.2%CamilleTopB50.7%CassiopeiaMidC49.1%Cho'GathJungleS52.5%CorkiAD CarryB49.4%DariusTopB50.7%DianaJungleC49.2%Dr. MundoTopA51.1%DravenAD CarryB50.5%EkkoMidA51.7%EliseJungleA51.5%EvelynnJungleB50.5%EzrealAD CarryD47.3%FiddlesticksJungleA51.3%FioraTopA51.9%FizzMidS52.5%GalioMidC49.3%GangplankTopB50.7%GarenTopA52.3%GnarTopC49.2%GragasTopB49.8%GravesJungleC49.0%GwenTopB50.2%HecarimJungleB50.1%HeimerdingerTopB50.2%HweiMidA51.1%IllaoiTopA51.0%IreliaTopB50.4%IvernJungleA52.5%JannaSupportA51.4%Jarvan IVJungleC49.3%JaxTopB50.0%JayceTopC48.5%JhinAD CarryB49.3%JinxAD CarryB50.4%K'SanteTopD46.7%Kai'SaAD CarryB50.7%KalistaAD CarryB49.7%KarmaSupportC48.3%KarthusJungleB50.7%KassadinMidC48.7%KatarinaMidA52.1%KayleTopA51.9%KaynJungleA51.0%KennenTopB50.5%Kha'ZixJungleB50.1%KindredJungleA52.0%KledTopB50.5%Kog'MawAD CarryA50.9%LeBlancMidB50.4%Lee SinJungleC48.0%LeonaSupportA51.7%LilliaJungleA51.5%LissandraMidA51.2%LockeMidB49.2%LucianAD CarryC48.5%LuluSupportB49.4%LuxSupportB49.4%MalphiteTopA51.2%MalzaharMidB50.2%MaokaiSupportB49.6%Master YiJungleB50.2%MelMidD46.2%MilioSupportB49.6%Miss FortuneAD CarryA51.1%MordekaiserTopA50.9%MorganaSupportB50.5%NaafiriJungleC48.4%NamiSupportB50.2%NasusTopB50.5%NautilusSupportB50.0%NeekoSupportC48.1%NidaleeJungleA51.3%NilahAD CarryB50.2%NocturneJungleC48.0%Nunu & WillumpJungleB50.3%OlafTopA51.1%OriannaMidD47.7%OrnnTopA51.1%PantheonTopB49.6%PoppySupportA51.7%PykeSupportB50.0%QiyanaJungleD47.1%QuinnJungleB49.5%RakanSupportB50.8%RammusJungleC48.8%Rek'SaiJungleB50.7%RellSupportS53.1%Renata GlascSupportC48.3%RenektonTopB50.0%RengarJungleB49.3%RivenTopB49.5%RumbleTopD46.0%RyzeMidD46.4%SamiraAD CarryB50.2%SejuaniJungleA51.4%SennaSupportB50.8%SeraphineSupportB49.9%SettTopA51.5%ShacoJungleA52.3%ShenTopA51.4%ShyvanaJungleB50.1%SingedTopA51.1%SionTopB50.3%SivirAD CarryA51.2%SkarnerJungleS53.2%SmolderAD CarryB49.8%SonaSupportA51.8%SorakaSupportB50.1%SwainSupportC48.9%SylasMidB49.3%SyndraMidB50.4%Tahm KenchSupportB50.2%TaliyahJungleS+54.4%TalonJungleB49.6%TaricSupportA51.9%TeemoTopA50.8%ThreshSupportA51.8%TristanaAD CarryB50.6%TrundleTopB50.2%TryndamereTopA51.3%Twisted FateMidA51.8%TwitchAD CarryA52.0%UdyrJungleA51.7%UrgotTopB50.6%VarusAD CarryB49.7%VayneAD CarryC48.1%VeigarMidB50.5%Vel'KozSupportB50.2%VexMidS52.7%ViJungleC49.3%ViegoJungleB49.3%ViktorMidD47.5%VladimirMidB50.1%VolibearTopD47.7%WarwickJungleA52.2%WukongJungleB50.2%XayahAD CarryB50.8%XerathMidA51.2%Xin ZhaoJungleA52.3%YasuoMidA50.9%YoneMidB49.4%YorickTopC49.3%YunaraAD CarryB49.5%YuumiSupportC49.0%ZaahenTopA51.1%ZacJungleB49.7%ZedMidC48.5%ZeriAD CarryA51.8%ZiggsAD CarryB50.8%ZileanSupportA51.7%ZoeMidA51.6%ZyraSupportA52.0%

When Is Tahm Kench Strongest?

The front half of the game is the strong stretch, and games at this rank average around 28 minutes. Tahm Kench wins by turning one greedy step into a kill and by keeping his carry alive through the fight, so use the window to punish overextensions and body-block the dives that would end your backline.

Game timeline · Tahm Kench drag or hover to scrub · space plays · ←/→ step

your power minute by minute · gold = item spikes · small = components · dashed = objectives

Camps1:30Drake / Grubs5:00Herald14:00Baron20:00Avg end28:28

Ambush zone5:42–7:12 Power spike 14:06

15:41

14:06

15:41

24:26

0:00 10:00 20:00 30:00 40:00

At 12:00

Power 55/100 · Even

Core 0/3 items

Gold ~3.9k

Phase Lvl-6 window

Next spike Plated Steelcaps · 15:41

Tahm Kench Item Build

Tahm Kench is a health-stacking tank who protects a carry and swallows anyone who overreaches. The build piles on health, armor, and magic resist so his shield holds, his tongue hits harder off his own bulk, and he can body-block for the people he is babysitting.

Standard loadout · Tahm Kench The consensus path — reliable spikes, no dead time.

Starting items 100g

Health Potion×2

Stealth Ward×1 Core path · click an item for its recipe ›› Boots

Plated Steelcaps65% · 50.7%

Mercury's Treads35% · 51.3%

Situational items pick an opponent in the bar above — the right swaps light up

vs AP threatsTheir damage is mostly magic — stack magic resist before their second item.K

Kaenic Rookern5860.3%B

Bandlepipes18853.7%S

Spirit Visage74351.7%

vs AD threatsPhysical threats spike with lethality — armor answers buy the mid game back.K

Knight's Vow26459.5%U

Unending Despair25755.6%B

Bandlepipes18853.7%

vision controlFights are decided a minute earlier by the team that sees first.S

Stealth Ward9754.6%O

Oracle Lens3.0k50.1%

Best Tahm Kench Runes

Grasp of the Undying matches his lane pattern perfectly, since every basic attack it procs adds permanent health and chips the enemy at the same time. It rewards him for walking up and trading, which his tankiness already lets him do. Take the rest for durability and health scaling so his shield and his stun both hit harder.

The pre-game page Grasp of the Undying · Resolve + Precision · keystone + 5 runes + 3 shards

Resolve Primary

Grasp of the UndyingEvery 4s your next attack on a champion deals bonus magic damage, heals you, and permanently increases your health.

Shield Bash67% · 50.6%

Second Wind70% · 51.4%

Unflinching67% · 49.7%

Keystone plus three minors from Resolve, two from Precision, then three shards — no runebook, no masteries.

Precision Secondary

Legend: Alacrity52% · 51.3%

Triumph52% · 51.5%

Stat shards Offense

Attack Speed+10% Attack Speed

Flex

Health Scaling+10–180 Health (by level)

Defense

Health Scaling+10–180 Health (by level)

Shards give +10%Attack Speed+20–180 Health (by level)

Build toward Heartsteel and commit to a health-stacking frontline. The power is up front, so snowball while the lead is fresh. The item that locks it in is Thornmail, and once it comes online by roughly 24 minutes his shield and devour peel make him near impossible to burn down. Soak damage for your carry and keep building the bulk his kit leans on.

Tahm Kench Skill Order

Tongue Lash owns 1, 4, 5, 7 and 9, with the 4 and 5 pair landing back to back, so its slow and self heal scale fastest. Abyssal Dive takes 2, 8, 10, 12 and 13, and Thick Skin gets a lone point at level 3.

Skill order · Tahm Kench R at 6 / 11 / 16 — always

PriorityR

R›Q

Q›W

W›E

EMax Q first; W at level 2.

Lv 123456789101112131415161718

Q14579max 9

W28101213max 13

E3max 3

R611max 11

Tahm Kench Abilities

Abyssal Dive is the engage tool that gets left out, a plunge that resurfaces wherever he aims it and knocks up everyone there. It pairs with An Acquired Taste, whose three stacks are what unlock Devour on an enemy in the first place, so the mark chase is really ult setup.

Abilities · Tahm Kenchpatch 26.21 base numbers · click an ability · all ranks shown

An Acquired TastePassiveP

Tongue LashMax 1stQ

Abyssal DiveMax 2ndW

Thick SkinMax lastE

DevourUltRRank-up levels here match the skill order below.

Tongue LashMagic damageMax 1stStatLV 1rank 1LV 4rank 2LV 5rank 3LV 7rank 4LV 9MAXBase Damage+45 per rank+100% APlv 175lv 4120lv 5165lv 7210lv 9255Cost-4 per ranklv 150lv 446lv 542lv 738lv 934Cooldown-0.5 per ranklv 17slv 46.5slv 56slv 75.5slv 95s

Tahm Kench Base Stats

Base stats · Tahm KenchPatch 26.21

Base statslevel 1 · +per levelAD56+3.2AS0.658+2.5%MS335Range175HP640+103HP56.5+0.55Armor39+4.7MR32+2.05MP325+50MP58+1

Tahm Kench Matchups

Tahm Kench wants the enemy to step too far forward so he can tongue them, stack the mark, and swallow them whole. Slippery, ranged opponents who poke from a distance and never commit are frustrating, while immobile targets who walk into his range hand him the pick.

Lane matchups · Tahm Kench click any opponent to retune the console

Hardest lanes · click to tune

Best hunting

How to lane vs supports 01Poke with Q to whittle before their shields and heals reset.02Roam with grey health full; enchanters lack tools to punish absence.03Fight around your carry; Devour them with R to escape focus. Win rate by game lengthTahm Kench overall · all matchupsUnder 20 min52.4%20–28 min51.8%28–35 min47.9%Over 35 min50.7%

Mind Renata Glasc, Amumu, and Zyra, ranged lanes that poke from outside his Q range and never let him walk up to trade, so respect their reach and farm behind the shield. He eats up Ashe, Sona, and Shaco by contrast, melee and short-range foes he can stack his passive on and stun, so lock those down and let your carry follow up.

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