The Best Tank Mythic Items in League of Legends Season 13

Tanks have received a lot of love in the upcoming Season 13 changes since they received new Mythic items that allow them to diverge from their usual build paths. After a few weeks of playing some of the new gear that Riot Games has given us, we’re ready to rank which tank items are the biggest winners in the current pre-season. We’ll be taking a look at the best tank mythic items in League of Legends Season 13.

The 5 Best Tank Mythic Items in Season 13

League of Legends’ pre-season patch has recently introduced 3 tank items for solo laners and support champions in the form of Jak’sho, the Protean, Heartsteel, and Radiant Virtue. In addition to these items existing mythics like Iceborne Gauntlet, Evenshroud, and Locket of the Iron Solari also received some changes that give more variety to the tank class. Finally, Sunfire Aegis, which was formerly the best tank mythic item in League of Legends, and Turbo Chemtank have been demoted to be legendary items instead.

It’s difficult to rank the best tank mythic item in season 13 as they are because their functionality mostly works better for specific champions and roles. However, in terms of their general function as a tank item, they are universal in how most champions would prefer them over the other mythics that exist in the game. Let’s rank them according to which item will tanks love to use in the upcoming season.

5. Radiant Virtue

Radiant Virtue seems like one of the most underrated items in this season as it is often described by average players as a support item. In fact, Radiant Virtue is a powerful offensive tank option that converts average bruisers into more bulky variants that can stay longer in fights. A champion that likes using Radiant Virtue is Illaoi, since it allows her to gain more survivability when trying to fight 3 or more champions alone.

Standard tanks still don’t like having the burst in survivability since they prefer doing damage as well to contribute more to the teamfight rather than just soaking damage. This is why powerful burst bruisers benefit from this tremendously but the trend is still not being picked up due to the average solo queue environment not willing to experiment more with the new items that might end up being the best tank mythic items they can build.

4. Iceborne Gauntlet

Iceborne Gauntlet is still one of the most reliable tank mythics in League of Legends that champions whose main job is to apply a layer of crowd control like to have in their arsenal. In the laning phase, Iceborne Gauntlet provides a powerful tool to bully the enemy laner into submission while being able to keep extended trades because it’s harder for them to run away after getting caught by an empowered auto-attack.

While Iceborne Gauntlet shines in giving a minor level of crowd control and damage output, it doesn’t provide a lot of tankiness that some tanks prefer. Other mythics excel at giving offensive and defensive bonuses to the champion so the gauntlet isn’t able to climb higher into the ranks. Iceborne Gauntlet also adds a way for tanks to have more waveclear, although it isn’t generally used for the purpose alone.

3. Jak’sho, the Protean

Jak’sho, the Protean is the ultimate defensive tank item that makes it almost impossible for the enemy team to take you down quickly and makes it even harder as the fight progresses. This mythic tank item has been seeing a lot of popularity among heavy tanks and a lot of bruisers because of it’s ability to give the champion so much resistances that they become a huge problem to deal with in a straight teamfight.

Jak’sho also deals a huge burst of damage upon engaging with the enemy. This is why tank champions with heavy burst potential like building this item as they are able to assassinate low HP targets like ADCs and mages. Jak’sho only places third because of its horrible mythic scaling, only being able to add 25 Magic Resist and Armor after filling up all 6 item slots. This isn’t really a huge bonus at all compared to the bonuses that other mythic items get.

2. Locket of the Iron Solari

Locket of the Iron Solari is by far the best tank mythic item for support tank champions like Leona and Nautilus. This mythic item provides everything that a team wants from their support included added suvivability and an AoE shield that helps the team take a little more damage that oftentimes becomes the difference between life and death in a very heated teamfight. There is no support item that currently tops this item in its value to a support champion and the entire team.

Many tank supports often opt to play other options before like Sunfire Aegis due to the added tenacity and better defensive stats. However, Locket of the Iron Solari is the uncontested king of the bottom lane tank mythic items due to the former being relegated to a legendary item whose tenacity bonus has been removed. A well-time locket proc can make it extremely difficult for the opponent to deal lethal damage.

1. Heartsteel

Heartsteel is the successor to Sunfire Aegis as the best tank mythic item in League of Legends and even though it doesn’t share the same stats and abilities as its predecessor, the items abilities are a welcome addition to all types of tanks in the top lane and jungle. It provides the best defensive and offensive bonus that is pretty much hard to ignore if you’re trying to check all the marks needed to be a relevant member of the team.

Most players think that a tanks’ only job is to soak damage but remember that in a teamfight, every bit of damage is important. Heartsteel provides good damage and defensive output in the laning phase, duels, and teamfights. Its mythic ability is also great as it allows the tank to soak more damage with HP and gaining more size, which is a relevant stat for tanks as their character models are easier to click for the enemy team subconsciously.