User blog comment:Aphostropils/Questions from a beginner/@comment-5256197-20160404104415

I don't see why there wouldn't be a marksman/tank or support combo sometime in the future. Some characters are played sometimes outside of their meant roles, they are not the best, but can benefit from some weird gimmick in their kits. AD Malzahar, AD LeBlanc, AD Lulu. Malza has his which deal huge amounts of damage with his pets, and LB & Lulu have safety built in their kits.

Tanks are usually melee range, and marksmen rarely have any good lockdown so that combination might not match so easily.

Adapting your build path is always better. Full damage dealers have less adpating to do than bruisers and tanks, it's usually "can I forgo Zhonya, and how long can I postpone my Void Staff"", and "Do I need a Quicksilver Sash, and Guardian Angel last slot?" for AP and AD respectively, depending of course how much damage the enemy has, and how well can they get to you.

For tankier melee type champs you kinda need to watch the overall status of the game. If the enemy has gained an advantage you need to go defense first, and if you and your team are winning, offense. The short reasoning being, that you do nothing with your damage items if you are one-shotted before you can even use them.