Tiefling Draconic sorcerer w/ Flames of Phlegethos as a tank?

[LudicSavant]

Thanks for the analysis.

I'm also wondering if such a build can actually tank; yeah, they might be tough, and they might punish attackers, but how do I actually get people to attack me in the first place?

The way you get attacked is generally by some combination of...
- Making yourself so impactful on the fight that they can't afford to ignore you.
- Punishing people for ignoring you (Warcaster, Concentration, etc).
- Positioning, positioning, positioning. It's important enough to say three times.

Tanking in human vs human games isn't just about pure personal durability, or even about "forcing" an enemy to attack you. It's about creating these sorts of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situations. This is why Sentinel is a good tanking ability (not specifically for this build, just like, in general). It punishes people for trying to move away, punishes them for attacking people next to you, and then the punishment for them attacking you is filled in by other features (like having a high AC/hp).

As long as you're effectively creating these kinds of forks, you're tanking.