Tank

Tahm Kench

The River King

Known by many names throughout history, the demon Tahm Kench travels the waterways of Runeterra, feeding his insatiable appetite with the misery of others. Though he may appear singularly charming and proud, he swaggers through the physical realm like a vagabond in search of unsuspecting prey.Read the full story on Riot's Universe site

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P
An Acquired Taste
Q
Tongue Lash
W
Abyssal Dive
E
Thick Skin
R
Devour

Tahm Kench

Overview

On patch 16.21, Tahm Kench is rated B tier in the support role, winning 50% of 6,011 ranked games with a 6.2% pick rate. The most successful build this patch runs Grasp of the Undying with Exhaust and Flash and builds Heartsteel, Thornmail, Spirit Visage, and Plated Steelcaps.

Tahm Kench struggles most against Zyra (34.8%), Poppy (38.5%), and Milio (41.5%) and does best against Bard (66.7%), Renata Glasc (60.9%), and Sylas (60%).

Ranked solo/duo · patch 16.21 · 6,011 games · updated Nov 1, 2026 · How we calculate

50%

Win rate

6.2%

Pick rate

Games

16.21

Patch

Playing as Tahm Kench

Your most important function as a support is to keep fragile allies safe. Keep Devour's range and cooldown in mind and position accordingly!
Consider carefully when to use Thick Skin's active. Sometimes shielding early to avoid further damage is good, but sometimes the healing is more beneficial.

Playing against Tahm Kench

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.

Guides

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Matchups

All Tahm Kench matchups

Strong against

Bard66.7%45
Renata Glasc60.9%23
Sylas60.0%20
Veigar59.3%27
Senna57.7%111

Weak against

Zyra34.8%89
Poppy38.5%26
Milio41.5%65
Rell42.0%69
Janna42.6%47

Abilities

P
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.
Q
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.
Cooldown: 7/6.5/6/5.5/5Cost: 50/46/42/38/34Range: 900
W
Abyssal Dive
Dive down and then re-appear at target location, damaging and knocking up all enemies in an area.
Cooldown: 21/20/19/18/17Cost: 60/75/90/105/120Range: 1000/1050/1100/1150/1200
E
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.
Cooldown: 3Cost: 0Range: 2400
R
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.
Cooldown: 0Cost: 100Range: 25000