By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026
The River King
Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (1,140 games).
Tahm Kench, The River King, swallows a champion with Devour — damaging an enemy or shielding an ally inside him — and dives across walls with Abyssal Dive. He was a support first and a top laner second in the Master+ count, mostly on Grasp of the Undying, and Heartsteel opened both his leading paths. As a support, Nautilus, Alistar and Rell were his toughest lanes, on small samples.
TankSupport
Patch 26.18 · Support · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 1,140 games · Preview sample
1,140
Games
Moderate
Confidence
Win rate by lane
51.1%Win Rate
Flash
Ignite85.7%Win Rate
FlashIgnite20.0%Win Rate
Flash
Heal
This exact page: taken in 12.6% of games·47.9% win rate over 144 games.
Every 4s your next attack on a champion deals bonus magic damage, heals you, and permanently increases your health.
Whenever you gain a shield, your next basic attack against a champion deals bonus adaptive damage.
After taking damage from an enemy champion heal back some missing health over time.
Gain Armor and Magic Resist when receiving crowd control.
Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Attack Speed.
Takedowns restore 5% of your missing health and grant an additional 20 gold.
Guardian21.4% taken · 50.8% win244 games
Hail of Blades1.9% taken · 40.9% win22 games
Unsealed Spellbook1.5% taken · 52.9% win17 gamesResolve + Precision45.6% taken · 46.7% win520 games
Resolve + Inspiration39.6% taken · 49.7% win451 games
Resolve + Domination9.5% taken · 49.1% win108 gamesWhich ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Tahm Kench's most common path.
QTahm Kench lashes out with his tongue, damaging and slowing the first unit hit and healing himself if he strikes an enemy champion.
Cooldown 7/6.5/6/5.5/5s · 50/46/42/38/34 Mana
WDive down and then re-appear at target location, damaging and knocking up all enemies in an area.
Cooldown 21/20/19/18/17s · 60/75/90/105/120 Mana
EPassive: Tahm Kench stores a percent of the damage he takes and heals based on it while out of combat.
Cooldown 3s · No cost
RTahm Kench devours a champion for a few seconds, dealing magic damage if they are an enemy, or shielding them if they are an ally.
Cooldown 0s · 100 ManaMax Q first, then W, then E. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).
| Ability | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QTongue Lash | Q | Q | Q | Q | Q | |||||||||||||
| WAbyssal Dive | W | W | W | W | W | |||||||||||||
| EThick Skin | E | E | E | E | E | |||||||||||||
| RDevour | R | R | R |
How Tahm Kench performs against enemy support laners
Recommended items by enemy team composition
Tahm KenchSupport average
102030
102030
102030
Build percentage damage — flat penetration falls off against the stats it stacks
Track the roam — it is strongest where the enemy jungler already is
Punish the cooldown — Tahm Kench is exposed while its rotation is down
Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one
Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 5/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average
PAn Acquired Taste
Tahm Kench puts the heft of his immense body behind his attacks, gaining extra damage based on his total health. Damaging enemy champions builds stacks of An Acquired Taste. At three stacks, he can use Devour on an enemy champion.
Passive — never cast
QTongue Lash
Tahm Kench lashes out with his tongue, damaging and slowing the first unit hit and healing himself if he strikes an enemy champion.Applies a stack of An Acquired Taste to enemy champions. If the champion already has 3 stacks of An Acquired Taste, they are stunned and the stacks are consumed.
Cost 50/46/42/38/34 ManaCooldown 7/6.5/6/5.5/5sRange 900
WAbyssal Dive
Dive down and then re-appear at target location, damaging and knocking up all enemies in an area.
Cost 60/75/90/105/120 ManaCooldown 21/20/19/18/17sRange 1000/1050/1100/1150/1200
EThick Skin
Passive: Tahm Kench stores a percent of the damage he takes and heals based on it while out of combat.Active: Convert all stored damage into a temporary shield.
No costCooldown 3sRange 2400
RDevour
Tahm Kench devours a champion for a few seconds, dealing magic damage if they are an enemy, or shielding them if they are an ally.
Cost 100 ManaCooldown 0sRange 25000
Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Tahm Kench in 4 patches. The latest is patch 26.20, published 2026-10-06.
QTongue Lash
As one of the tank supports with the lowest health regen, and many health scaling values on his abilities, Tahm Kench lost out on the recent adjustments to the support item. We're giving him compensation for that.
EThick Skin
RDevour
Last patch's adjustment last patch ended up a very slight nerf (less than .5%) for both top and support. So we're making some support-focused improvements to compensate.
PAn Acquired Taste
As a champ in both Top and Support, Tahm Kench requires periodic maintenance as the meta shifts to ensure both roles of his roles are equally supported. In this case, Dusk and Dawn's addition to the game this season has shifted this balance in favor of top lane, so we’re adjusting how his passive scales to help balance him out.
QTongue Lash
Tahm Kench is overperforming in both top lane and support. We like that he's tanky and can sustain himself back up if his opponents can't drag him down but he's overall too deadly, so we're delivering a straightforward damage nerf to his bread and butter ability.
Riot's data lists 8 looks for Tahm Kench with their own art, the base skin included and 39 chroma variants.
Best ARAM build
This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.
| Stat | Tahm Kench | Rank | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base health | 640 | =48th | 620 |
| Health per level | 103 | =102nd | 104 |
| Base armor | 39 | =6th | 30 |
| Armor per level | 4.7 | =42nd | 4.6 |
| Base magic resist | 32 | =32nd | 32 |
| Magic resist per level | 2.05 | =4th | 1.55 |
| Base attack damage | 56 | =113th | 59 |
| Base attack speed | 0.658 | =54th | 0.656 |
| Attack speed per level | 2.5% | =75th | 2.5% |
| Move speed | 335 | =74th | 335 |
| Attack range | 175 | =87th | 175 |
| Stat | Level 1 | Per level | Level 18 | Rank at 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 640 | +103 | 2391 | =88th of 173 |
| Mana | 325 | +50 | 1175 | 47th of 145 |
| Armor | 39 | +4.7 | 118.9 | 24th of 173 |
| Magic resist | 32 | +2.05 | 66.85 | =5th of 173 |
Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.
Tahm Kench, The River King, is a Tank and Support champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 5/10 for difficulty, 3/10 for attack, 9/10 for defense and 6/10 for magic. Tahm Kench spends Mana and has 8 skins with their own art. Tahm Kench's base armor of 39 is the 6th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 2 others).
Known by many names throughout history, the demon Tahm Kench travels the waterways of Runeterra, feeding his insatiable appetite with the misery of others. Though he may appear singularly charming and proud, he swaggers through the physical realm like a vagabond in search of unsuspecting prey. His lashing tongue can stun even a heavily armored warrior from a dozen paces, and to fall into his rumbling belly is to tumble into an abyss from which there is little hope of return.
