Tarzan’s tank Rengar build will let you dominate LoL solo queue

Tarzan, one of the best junglers in China, gave his tank Rengar build a trial run during the Weibo cup. What started as a weird draft choice might just change the League of Legends jungle meta.

Going bruiser/tank builds on assassin champions isn’t a new concept, and has been a meta-defining strategy a number of times in League of Legends’ long history.

Even patch 13.1’s sidegrade to Jak’Sho has been pointed at stopping champions like Diana from abusing its bonus protections. But now, Tarzan has refined his tank Rengar build enough to make it worth using in pro play and could push him into being one of the best junglers in League of Legends.

Rengar is normally considered a glass cannon champion, but Tarzan’s build takes away the risks that come with trying to one-shot someone with a Duskblade/Essence Reaver build and gives Rengar some insanely strong survivability.

Tarzan’s Regnar build can dominate LoL solo queue

Swim Q Rengar aside, this champion has always been about one-shotting someone in the backline and ruining their day. His passive leap mechanic has made him one of the most one-trick heavy champions in League of Legends due to how high the skill floor is for properly positioning around his bush-related mechanics.

However, Tarzan’s build does 2 things. It not only makes Rengar near-unkillable even in the early stages of the game, it drastically widens his margin for error. And, while Tarzan may not have invented this strategy, he’s been one of the first to try it in a pro game.

He didn’t just do well: He dominated.

Granted, this was Tarzan playing from a position where he was extremely far ahead and had a dominant early game, but being able to 1v3 in this fashion is something very few champions can pull off under any conditions.

But how can you carry like this in your solo queue games, and what makes this build so strong in Season 13?

Tank Rengar build and runes

One crucial part of Rengar’s power in Season 13 is Gustwalker.

While the vast majority of jungle champions are much better off with the other two jungle companions, Gustwalker feels like it was custom-built for Rengar. It takes a while to fully evolve this pet, but that bonus movement speed makes him almost impossible to nail down if he’s playing correctly.

For runes, Conquerer is a crucial part of this Rengar build’s drain tank playstyle. He’s going to want to be in the fight for as long as he can, and Conquerer is heavily favored on champions who want to draw out engagements. Triumph and Coup de Grace are standard fare Precision runes, but Tarzan often runs Legend: Tenacity to keep himself mobile in fights.

Domination is the ideal secondary setup. Sudden Impact pairs incredibly well with Rengar’s passive, and Treasure Hunter helps with his ability to snowball.

Tarzan has a variety of builds and playstyles for his tank Rengar build, with the first one being the one he uses most often in solo queue games.

This playstyle requires you to rush Goredrinker ASAP, and is followed by building into either Death’s Dance or Maw of Malmortius depending on whether or not the enemy team has more magical damage or physical damage threats. That said, Death’s Dance tends to get more value in most situations.

Spear of Shojin pairs incredibly well with Rengar’s ultimate, as well as the high amount of ability haste that this build has in general. Spamming W for the heal and CC immunity when empowered is a huge part of what gives Rengar so much staying power in fights, and what elevates him from being a standard bruiser and into being a full-on drain tank.

That said, if you’re really snowballing, this rune page and overall setup can be converted into a full-lethality build to dominate the competition.

Youmuu’s is the ultimate snowball item on Rengar, and it allows for him to chase down his competition with unrivaled fervor. When a Rengar has you in their sights and you hear Youmuu’s get popped, there isn’t much you can do as a squishy backline carry. However, Tarzan still opts to forego the typical Rengar crit build and sticks to a build that prioritizes ability haste and utility.

For most games, the first build is the more well-rounded option.

Rengar is all about pressuring the opponent and hitting the backline hard, and, with a build that allows for much more safety and requires a bit less skill than the glass cannon build to pull off, the barrier for entry on this hard-carry jungler has never been lower.

While it’s recommended to play a normal game or two with him before hitting ranked queues, this Rengar build will give you the opportunity to dominate in solo queue.

For more League of Legends guides, tips and tricks, check out some more of our content:

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