Alistar/Strategy

Recommended Items

Tips

Playing As Alistar

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

Playing 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.
• After the initial cleansing of  Unbreakable Will, Alistar will still be vulnerable to crowd control effect. Although not optimal, it should be considered as a last resort if necessary.

Tricks

Ability Usage

• Triumphant Roar is a passive self-targeted heal that heals Alistar for a moderate amount and all nearby allied champions for double that amount.
  • Triumphant Roar will proc every time 7 minions or small monsters die. This means that, when playing passively, it will proc on average just less than once every wave.
  • Triumphant Roar can help you win trades more often in lane, since hitting enemy champions with hard crowd control will proc the heal more often.
• Pulverize is a powerful point-blank area-of-effect Template:Cctip that can disable entire enemy teams if positioned well.
  • Since Pulverize has the longest rank 1 cooldown out of all of Alistar's basic abilities, it's typically a good idea to max it first.
  • Pulverize can be used both offensively (ex. to set up for Yasuo's Last Breath) or defensively (ex. to peel assassins off your carries).
• Headbutt is a targeted ability that knocks back one enemy, making it an effective peeling tool.
  • Alistar's famous Headbutt + Pulverize combo is one reason he's so strong, since he basically has a short-ranged Unstoppable Force on a ~10 second cooldown come late-game. The best way to pull off the combo is to press Q while Alistar is in the middle of his Headbutt dash.
  • The combo can also be reversed: if you can get in range, Pulverize can stop enemies long enough for Alistar to move behind them and Headbutt them into your team. Flash can help you close the gap.
  • Headbutt can also be used as a powerful stun, if you manage to knock the enemy into a thick enough wall. The targeted unit will still try to travel the full distance of the Template:Cctip but will be stopped by the wall, leaving them airborne for the duration. However, if the wall is too thin you might knock your target through it, allowing them to escape.
  • Headbutt's dash can also serve as an effective escape tool, as long as there are enemy champions, minions, or monsters around to target.
• Trample is a point-blank area-of-effect ability that damages enemies around Alistar and Template:Cctip him. It also allows you to Template:Cctip a single enemy.
  • Trample provides Alistar with some extra wave clear, allowing him to push waves if you use it.
  • Trample also allows Alistar to ignore unit collision, which can be useful in chasing or escaping enemies.
  • Cast Trample at the beginning of a teamfight to get your stun available quickly. Use it to peel for your carries or lock down an important target, especially when your other basic abilities are on cooldown.
• Unbreakable Will is a self-targeted active that removes all hostile crowd-control and gives Alistar significant damage reduction.
  • Unbreakable Will's damage reduction makes Alistar deceptively tanky, even when he doesn't have many items. This allows him to dive turrets very effectively once he hits level 6.
  • Remember that Unbreakable Will only removes existing crowd-control effects, not future ones. You should try to bait out crowd-control abilities before you activate Unbreakable Will.

Mastery Usage

• Alistar doesn't get much use out of the Ferocity tree, due to his low ratios and high cooldowns. An Alistar building for damage would be better off investing in the Cunning tree.
• The Cunning tree provides a good amount of utility for damage or tank-oriented players.
  •  Thunderlord's Decree can be a good choice for players looking to maximize damage. Alistar's combo combined with Trample allows for quick proccing of the mastery.
• The Resolve tree synergizes well with Alistar's inherent tankiness, and is recommended for most builds.
  •  Stoneborn Pact or  Courage of the Colossus are both good choices for a support Alistar.  Stoneborn Pact makes Alistar more tanky by giving him extra max health, and helps his teammates by healing them whenever they hit enemy champions he's stunned.  Courage of the Colossus gives Alistar a sizable shield when he initiates, especially into a full teamfight, increasing his tankiness temporarily and helping to survive longer until his spells come off cooldown.

Item Usage

• When playing Alistar as a support, building Face of the Mountain or Eye of the Equinox will provide extra gold generation along with other beneficial stats. Face of the Mountain also provides an extra shield for your carry, while purchasing Eye of the Equinox will free up inventory space for other items.
• If you're expecting a difficult lane matchup (i.e. against a ranged support like Janna or Morgana), buying Ancient Coin first instead of Relic Shield provides a safer method of gold generation. You can then trade it for a Relic Shield once laning phase ends or build it into a Talisman of Ascension or Eye of the Oasis.
• Alistar suffers from high mana costs and long cooldowns. Mitigate this by building items that provide mana and/or cooldown reduction, such as Frozen Heart or Redemption.
• Even though Unbreakable Will provides Alistar with a lot of tankiness, it has a short duration and a long cooldown, and enemies that deal true damage can still burst him down relatively quickly. Building items that provide health and resistances ( Warmog's Armor, Randuin's Omen, Banshee's Veil) help make Alistar even tankier.
• Items that enhance heals synergize well with Triumphant Roar. Build a Spirit Visage to maximize self-healing, and Forbidden Idol items (i.e. Redemption) to maximize all healing, since the extra healing you get from the Forbidden Idol items enhances both the self and ally heals from Triumphant Roar.

Countering

• Alistar has a low base movement speed and can be kited very easily.
• Avoid grouping up when facing an Alistar, especially during mid and late game. A 3-man Headbutt + Pulverize combo will often lead to a lost team fight.
• Alistar's basic combo has a very high cooldown; if you can bait it out or if he messes it up, that gives you a long window to harass or engage safely.
• Items or abilities that can apply Template:Cctip (ex. Morellonomicon, Mortal Reminder, Ignite) can counteract the heals from Triumphant Roar.
• Unbreakable Will is Alistar's main source of tankiness, especially in the early to mid game. Try to play around its cooldown.
• Unbreakable Will doesn't protect against crowd-control applied AFTER it's activated, so try to save your crowd-control abilities.
• Unbreakable Will only gives Alistar extra damage resistance. Champions that can deal true damage, such as Vayne or Darius, can bypass this easily.