Matchup

Heavy CCStrong engageVery tanky

Build vs Alistar

Build adapted to this matchup

Starting items

Doran's Blade
Health Potion

Core build

Black Cleaver
1vs Tank
Sundered Sky
2Bruiser
Eclipse
3DPS

Standard

Boots of Swiftness
4vs Slow
Executioner's Calling
5

Summoner spells

414100%

Anti AD

Plated Steelcaps
4vs AD
Death's Dance
5vs AD
Guardian Angel
vs AD

Anti Tank

Youmuu's Ghostblade
5vs Tank
Serpent's Fang
vs Tank

DPS

Spear of Shojin
Bruiser

Other options

Executioner's Calling
Sterak's Gage
Survival
100.0% WR1 games
PrecisionPrecision
Press the AttackPress the Attack
Presence of MindPresence of Mind
Legend: HasteLegend: Haste
Cut DownCut Down
SorcerySorcery
TranscendenceTranscendence
Axiom ArcanistAxiom Arcanist
Attack SpeedAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Early (0-15)
Mid (15-30)
Late (30+)
PantheonPantheon
AlistarAlistar
Aggressive
Careful
Careful

Alistar's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Triumphant Roar (P)

Alistar charges his roar by stunning or displacing enemy champions or when nearby enemies die. When fully charged he heals himself all nearby allied champions.

Cooldowns

Cooldowns by spell rank

LevelQWER
314s14s12s
612s14s12s2m
910s13s12s2m
1110s12s12s1m40
1610s10s11s1m20
1810s10s10s1m20

Playing against Alistar

How to counter and exploit weaknesses

1

Respect his level 2 (W+Q): it's one of the strongest engages in the game at that point. Stay at range.

2

His WQ combo has a long cooldown (~14s) — punish him aggressively after he uses it.

3

Alistar is useless if his ADC isn't there to follow up — provoke engages when the enemy ADC is busy farming.

4

His R reduces damage but not CC — keep CC-ing him even during his ult.

Source: op.gg + LTL Engine · Patch 16.9.1 · May 9, 2026