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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 20 Aug 2026 · 00:00

Tahm Kench

The River King

TankSupport

League of LegendsPatch 26.16TopRanked Solo/DuoEmerald+NA11,271 gamesSample data

Role snapshot (Top)

BTier
54.2%
Win Rate
2.2%
Pick Rate
0.4%
Ban Rate

11,271

Games

Moderate

Confidence

Matchup map (Top) — level 1–18

40%60%
≥ 60%
55 – 60%
50 – 55%
45 – 50%
40 – 45%
< 40%
Nobody in this lane sits here.

Conditional build matrix

vs AP Burstvs AD Assassinsvs Tanksvs Sustain
Mythic / Core
Core 2
Core 3
Boots
Situational

Popular build

5,185 games

54.6%Win Rate

FlashIgnite

Reliable build

3,719 games

53.3%Win Rate

FlashTeleport

High observed win rate

1,353 games

56.7%Win Rate

FlashExhaust

Runes

Primary: Precision

  • Press the Attack
  • Absorb Life
  • Legend: Alacrity
  • Coup de Grace

Secondary: Domination

  • Sudden Impact
  • Grisly Mementos

Shards

+9 Adaptive Force

+9 Adaptive Force

+10-180 Health (based on level)

Skill order

Skill order
Q123456789101112131415161718
W123456789101112131415161718
E123456789101112131415161718
R123456789101112131415161718

Ability details

  • An 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

  • Tongue 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

  • Abyssal 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

  • Thick 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.

    Cost 0 ManaCooldown 3sRange 2400

  • Devour

    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

Scaling — level 1–18

Tahm KenchTop average

Win Rate

1918

Damage / Min

1918

Gold / Min

1918

Counter plan — how to beat Tahm Kench

  • 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

ARAM performance

B
50.6%
Win Rate
▲ 1.1%
2.0%
Pick Rate
▼ 0.9%
6.6%
Ban Rate
▼ 1.8%
Damage dealt
102.8%
Damage taken
92.5%
Healing
103.8%
Shielding
106.3%
Ability Haste
+19

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

We hold the rates, not the balance log. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

  1. 26.16Live now+0.9
  2. 26.14Sample win rate across this patch+0.6
  3. 26.11Sample win rate across this patch+0.1
  4. 26.08Sample win rate across this patch+0.4
  5. 26.05Sample win rate across this patch+0.8

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Methodology

Data window
512,340 games on patch 26.16, Ranked Solo/Duo, NA. Last refreshed 20 Aug 2026.
Rank aggregation
Emerald+ and above, pooled. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment
A champion is filed under the lanes it actually plays, not the one class it belongs to — which is why several appear in two.
Counters
A matchup, not a tier gap: how this champion does into that one specifically, over that pairing’s own games.
Minimum sample
The confidence indicator beside every rate is driven by how much of the window this champion appears in. A low reading means read the figure loosely, not that it is wrong.
Why a build is not a cause
The best-scoring build is the one the best-placed players happened to take. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying those items caused the wins.
Where the numbers come from
Names, classes, lanes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates are derived samples — Riot publishes none of them, and nothing on this page presents one as measured.