How should a tank adapt their playstyle when their team's damage output is significantly lower than the enemy's?

When a tank's team damage output is significantly lower than the enemy's, the tank must adapt their playstyle by prioritizing protection, disruption, and strategic initiation rather than aggressive playmaking. Their primary focus shifts to enabling their damage dealers to survive and deal whatever damage they can, while disrupting the enemy's ability to focus them down. This means playing further back, closer to their damage dealers, and using their crowd control abilities to peel for them. Peeling involves using stuns, slows, and knock-ups to keep enemy assassins and divers away from their teammates, giving them time to deal damage. The tank should also prioritize vision control, placing wards in key locations to track enemy movements and prevent ganks, especially on their damage dealers. Strategic initiation becomes crucial. Instead of forcing engages, the tank should wait for the enemy to make a mistake or overextend, then capitalize on that opportunity with a well-timed initiation. When initiating, the tank should focus on disrupting the enemy's backline, making it harder for them to deal damage, rather than trying to kill them directly. For example, a tank may utilize Flicker to quickly reach the enemy backline and knock up the damage dealer, disrupting their positioning and giving their team an opportunity to focus them down. This requires a more calculated and patient approach, focusing on creating opportunities for their team to deal damage rather than trying to force the issue.