Guide · Support

Alistar Guide

the Minotaur

Tank

Support

Tier B Support

Alistar, the Minotaur, is a tank and support champion that is demanding to master. Across our 1044 analysed ranked games, Alistar is mostly played as Support (100% of its games), with a 52.8% win rate in that role: tier B among Support champions (#14 of 39, ranked by win rate). Alistar's damage is mostly magic (79%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 54.0% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 561 games) versus 46.3% in long games (over 35 min).

Averages measured over 1044 Support games played with Alistar, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Alistar is an engage tank: Pulverize and Headbutt knock enemies up or down, Trample ignores unit collision and sets up a stun on his next attack, and his ultimate removes the crowd control on him while reducing the damage he takes. His passive charges a roar that heals the whole nearby team when he stuns or displaces enemies.

The engage combo

W › Q

When: An enemy is within Headbutt range.

Headbutt charges the target and knocks them back, Pulverize knocks nearby enemies into the air: the chain puts the whole enemy team under control.

The Trample stun

E › AA AA › Q

When: An enemy is in melee range.

Trample several times to reach the maximum stacks; your next attack against a champion deals bonus magic damage and stuns them.

The defensive ultimate

R › W › Q

When: You are caught in crowd control.

Unbreakable Will removes all the crowd control affecting you and reduces the damage you take: engage during its duration without fearing controls.

Laning phase

Stunning or displacing enemies charges your roar: every control counts, even in lane. Trample stacks when it hurts a champion: at max stacks, your next attack stuns.

Common mistakes

• Using Pulverize and Headbutt at the same time without coordination.
• Forgetting your roar: heal yourself and your team by chaining controls.
• Casting the ultimate too early: it is your best protection against a decisive control.

Riot's official tips for playing Alistar

• Using Pulverize can allow you to establish better positioning for Headbutt.
• Move Speed is very important on Alistar. Consider which boots to buy carefully.
• Using Flash can allow you catch your target off guard to knock them back into your allies with Pulverize and Headbutt.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Zeke's Convergence, Knight's Vow, and Locket of the Iron Solari (77 games, 61.0% win rate).

Zeke's Convergence+Knight's Vow+Locket of the Iron Solari

77 games · 61.0%

Protoplasm Harness+Zeke's Convergence+Locket of the Iron Solari

24 games · 62.5%

Zeke's Convergence+Thornmail+Locket of the Iron Solari

18 games · 50.0%

Summoner spells

Flash + Heal52.5% · 659 games

Flash + Ignite52.0% · 298 games

Exhaust + Flash57.6% · 85 games

Most-played runes

Aftershock + Inspiration

50.2% · 412 games

Primary tree · Resolve

Font of Life100%

Bone Plating88%

Unflinching92%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cosmic Insight97%

Hextech Flashtraption94%

Shards

Ability haste94%

Health scaling58%

Health scaling57%

Unsealed Spellbook + Sorcery

55.8% · 303 games

Primary tree · Inspiration

Hextech Flashtraption89%

Biscuit Delivery92%

Cosmic Insight100%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Nimbus Cloak100%

Celerity97%

Shards

Ability haste96%

Movement speed94%

Health91%

Aftershock + Sorcery

49.5% · 95 games

Primary tree · Resolve

Font of Life100%

Bone Plating90%

Unflinching95%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Nimbus Cloak98%

Waterwalking62%

Shards

Ability haste97%

Health scaling59%

Health scaling61%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Alistar's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team53.2% · 284 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Zeke's Convergence 55.5%

Locket of the Iron Solari 53.6%

Knight's Vow 56.2% ▼

Protoplasm Harness 67.7% ▲

Bandlepipes 58.3%

Abyssal Mask 42.1%

The item that stands out most is Protoplasm Harness: 67.7% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team55.1% · 265 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Zeke's Convergence 57.5% ▲

Locket of the Iron Solari 57.6%

Knight's Vow 67.4% ▲

Protoplasm Harness 53.8% ▼

Bandlepipes 72.7%

Thornmail 60.0%

The item that stands out most is Knight's Vow: 67.4% win rate, +8 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team51.3% · 495 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Zeke's Convergence 51.2%

Locket of the Iron Solari 54.1%

Knight's Vow 57.4%

Protoplasm Harness 59.7%

Bandlepipes 57.9% ▼

Thornmail 50.0% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Alistar as Support

Pyke Alistar: 41.2%17 games

Pyke has the edge in 59% of the 17 Support duels against Alistar. See the Pyke guide.

Senna Alistar: 42.9%21 games

Senna has the edge in 57% of the 21 Support duels against Alistar. See the Senna guide.

Lulu Alistar: 43.3%30 games

Lulu has the edge in 57% of the 30 Support duels against Alistar. See the Lulu guide.

Bard Alistar: 50.0%26 games

Bard has the edge in 50% of the 26 Support duels against Alistar. See the Bard guide.

Nami Alistar: 50.0%20 games

Nami has the edge in 50% of the 20 Support duels against Alistar. See the Nami guide.

Who Alistar is strong against

Nautilus57.4% · 54 games

Pantheon56.2% · 16 games

Rell54.4% · 46 games

Janna52.2% · 23 games

Rakan52.2% · 23 games

How to play against Alistar

• Alistar is very disruptive but very tough - try to target more fragile damage dealers.
• Watch out for the Pulverize-Headbutt combo when around turrets.
• When Alistar uses his ultimate, it's often better to move back and wait until the effect wears off before attacking him.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Alistar's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveTriumphant Roar

Alistar charges his roar by stunning or displacing enemy champions or when nearby enemies die. When fully charged he heals himself all nearby allied champions.

QPulverize

Alistar smashes the ground, dealing damage to nearby enemies and tossing them into the air.

WHeadbutt

Alistar rams a target with his head, dealing damage and knocking the target back.

ETrample

Alistar tramples nearby enemy units, ignoring unit collision and gaining stacks if he damages an enemy champion. At full stacks Alistar's next basic attack against an enemy champion deals additional magic damage and stuns them.

RUnbreakable Will

Alistar lets out a wild roar, removing all crowd control effects on himself, and reducing incoming physical and magical damage for the duration.

Frequently asked questions

Full Alistar page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides