A strategy guide in perfecting “The Tankmo”

Can Teemo, the Swift Scout, be a viable tank in League of Legends? Here’s how to perfect “The Tankmo” and turn this yordle into an actual tank.

Teemo: the deadliest yordle machine in the game. He’s the champion that makes a living terrorizing enemy top-laners – or if you’re like me, bot lane ADCs. His shrooms lay out a battlefield of mines that can change the course of a group fight or initiate engages in League of Legends.

Beyond that, he’s just really, really annoying. And I love him.

Most League of Legends gamers that have played Teemo are aware of the glass-castle AP/attack-speed build that most commonly suits him. However, few have heard of Teemo as a tank. And even if you have, I’ve come across a crowd-control “Tankmo” that opponents hate facing.

And like the former AP-build Teemo, this new Tankmo can also alter the course of a group fight, simply in a much different capacity.

First, when to use it:

I rely on using Tankmo based on the enemy composition. If their team has a lot of AP champs with crowd control, or they’re the opposite and have a huge tank team-makeup, Tankmo can provide an interesting choice. Alternatively, if your team has very little tank capacity – which sometimes happens with a Teemo top – this can be a last resort.

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There are a few champions that I run Tankmo against as well, namely Pantheon, Ryze, and Poppy. These champions usually have too much cc and sustain to out-damage as a Teemo top.

Now, onto the build:

You’ll have three key items here that make up the core of your crowd control: frozen mallet, rylai’s crystal scepter, and ruunan’s hurricane.

The explanation here is the significant, consistent slowing effect combination brought on by the items working together. The frozen mallet applies an on-hit slow for Teemo’s basics and the rylai’s scepter’s slowing effects apply on the poison for Teemo’s passive “E.” The ruunan’s hurricane tops it off by applying these effects to up to three champions with each basic.

While this is your core for crowd-control Tankmo, the additions you make should always be based on both teams’ compositions and needs – as well as who is fed and who is not. That being said, you absolutely want to build at least some sustain with this build. The mallet and scepter both add decent health, but you want to grab armor or magic items that double up on cooldown reduction. The frozen heart is usually a nice addition.

You may also want to build on the attack speed provided by runaans. Remember that the more attack speed you have (not damage here, but speed), the more frequently the frozen mallet passive triggers. Berserker’s greaves (as opposed to mercury’s treads, which is also an option) and wit’s end can also give this a nice boost.

Some example builds I’ve run that have worked:

1. Frozen mallet, berserker’s greaves, rylai’s crystal scepter, runaan’s hurricane, frozen heart, thornmail. (The thornmail was because they had three ADC-role champions.)
2. Frozen mallet, berserker’s greaves, rylai’s crystal scepter, runaan’s hurricane, spirit visage, wit’s end. (This was a heavy AP team.)
3. Frozen mallet, mercury’s treads, rylai’s crystal scepter, runaan’s hurricane, frozen heart, wit’s end. (This was a more mixed team, something I would expect to be more normal.)

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And that’s it. With a tanky build combined with all of the added crowd-control, you can literally sit in a kiting position and keep enemy champions from escaping the area of a group fight. Although you lose a lot of the damage of the shrooms, they still serve their purpose in slowing entrances and exits. Blind the ADC; slow the others. With good communication, this can be a very fun tactic.

And nobody expects Teemo to tank. If they focus you, well, all for the better. Your teammates will thank you later.