A Tank's ( solo top ) job is to have the enemy team focus their spells and attacks on them so their teammates can do what they need to do without getting utterly owned. Thus in team-battles, a Tank is often the one who is given the responsibility to initiate a favorable fight by going in head-first and disabling/singling out high priority, vulnerable targets. Knowing how and when to initiate is at the very core essence of being a Tank. Tanks often have a reliable crowd control of sorts to lead in with or a strong area-of-effect (AoE) ability saved for use at the beginning of large team fights that can make and break entire games. Tanks typically have abilities that force them to stay within the heat of the fight for prolonged periods of time. Tanks also typically have active or passive defenses that allow them to take the brunt of the damage without falling prey to it. A Tank should typically be the first into a battle and the last one out even if that means death. This is another reason why the terms tank and initiator often coincide as the first champion into the fight is usually the one that is initially focus-fired.