Playing against Tahm Kench: what to respect and when
What Tahm Kench threatens, which cooldowns open your safe window, and Riot's own notes on beating it.
What you are up against
Tahm Kench is a tank that wants to start the fight on your terms and be the most costly thing to ignore. At 175 attack range Tahm Kench has to walk into damage to deal it, so every trade begins with a decision about whether you can afford the walk.
That shapes the lane more than any item choice: you are deciding, every wave, whether to stand where it does its job.
The cooldowns that decide your safe window
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.
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.
Abyssal Dive
Dive down and then re-appear at target location, damaging and knocking up all enemies in an area.
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.
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.
The window is the cooldown
Each of those numbers is a window. With its defining ability down, Tahm Kench is a tank without the tool the whole kit is built around — that is when the lane is yours.
Tahm Kench is mana-gated, which is the real limit on how often you can contest a wave early.
Riot's own notes on playing against Tahm Kench
Worth reading even when you are the one playing Tahm Kench: it is the list of what your opponent is being told to do to you.
- When you see Tahm Kench use the shield from Thick Skin, remember that he just opted out of a good deal of healing. He will also not accumulate new gray health until Thick Skin comes off cooldown. Use this to your advantage!
- Watch out for Kench's Abyssal Dive - you can cancel it's channel with immobilizing crowd control effects.
Where Tahm Kench is strongest
| Stat | Level 1 | Level 18 |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 640 | 2391 |
| Attack damage | 56 | 56 |
| Armour | 39 | 118.9 |
| Magic resist | 32 | 66.9 |
Movement speed 335 and attack range 175 do not grow with levels — they are the two numbers that stay true all game.
Full TahmKench page — abilities, stats and every skin →