League of Legends - Alistar, The Minotaur

If you like playing a champion designed to withstand incredible amounts of damage who can provide team support and smashes down enemy defenses with ease, Alistar is a great champion to get started with. With his passive ability, Colossal Strength, Alistar easily beats down towers that would ordinarily put a hold on an assault, and can turn single out opponents who draw too close to the lines of battle and send them flying deep within your own territory, making them easy to pick off without the help of their allies.

When you play as Alistar you're going to want to be right in the thick of combat at all times, as his skills will devastate any opponent foolish enough to get in range of your powerful close-range abilities and skills. As a tank, you're going to want to focus on developing items that both improve your survivability and increase your allies' abilities, since you'll often be right on the front lines with your friends. Items like Soul Shroud, Innervating Locket, and Frozen Heart are great choices for Alistar to improve both himself and his teammates, and you'll want to have the fastest move speed around to keep him up close and personal, so you'll be getting Boots of Swiftness as well. Let's take a look at Alistar's abilities one by one.

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Alistar's smashing blow hits the entire area around his character, launching and stunning his foes while dealing a very reasonable amount of damage. However, you will probably be maxing this skill last as your other options tend to be more impressive.

This is a very powerful, often underestimated move. You'll have to practice it for a little bit before you get the hang of it, but this is one of Alistar's most rewarding attacks. You can use it to disable and shove unsuspecting enemies behind you, sending them into your minions, your allies, or one of your towers, and almost ensuring a painless kill for your side. This should be kept maxed, choose your opportunities carefully and capitalize on them.

A great skill to keep you and your friends healthy, Alistar lets loose a roar which heals the area around him. The more killing that goes on, the quicker the cooldown on the skill. Since there's always plenty of things dying around Alistar, you'll be able to use this often and it can keep your opponents frustrated as their attacks are made useless by constant healing. Keep the skill loaded with points to ensure HP remains high and deaths remain low.

Alistar's ultimate ability gives him a huge damage boost, removes any debuffs on him, and makes him impervious to 70% of all incoming damage, truly making him the hardest of tanks, This is a great skill to hit as you run up the ramp into the enemy base, where you're sure to be getting hammered from all sides as you attempt to bring down their inhibitors, or equally useful just for bringing down a stray tower.

Alistar is as close to a pure slab of beef you can select for a champion, and with his abilities he is a team-oriented monster at home deep in the heart of combat. He'll have your opponents saying "Moo!" as you crush towers and laugh off damage.

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