Pros
Extremely strong early game
Competent Jungler
Funnest set of Skills IMO
Frequent Blocks
AMAZING Tower Diver
Grand Skyfall, Funniest Ultimate IN THE GAME

CONS
Requires practice to play well
Loses advantage late game
Grand Skyfall -
Hard to hit
Tempting to use incorrectly (see Skills section for more info)
No skill shots for bush-checking or added interest.

PASSIVE:

AEGIS PROTECTION

This skill is VERY handy. It allows Mantheon to stay in combat, tower dive, jungle strongly, and is the reason it is best to play him as an AD caster. Use Heartseeker Strike to stack Aegis Protection, remembering that Aegis of Zeonia refreshes your block. As such, if you already have stacked your Aegis Protection, save your Aegis of Zeonia till after your block has been negated to get that extremely powerful "double block".

SPEAR SHOT

A great spammable ability. Very powerful early game, but doesn't scale strongly into late game, so max it early. Spam with caution, however, as even with a reasonable mana cost, you still run the risk of becoming OOMed if you over-use this skill. Use Spear Shot to last hit, harass, deal damage, stack your Aegis Protection and most fun of all, KILL STEAL, or kill secure, as us perpetrators may wish to call it.

AEGIS OF ZEONIA

One of Mantheon's defining abilities. He leaps into the air, crashing down on his opponent with the all of his force, slamming his shield into his enemy's jellied face. This ability stuns them for 1 second, which does not increase when Aegis of Zeonia is levelled. This skill also refreshes your block, so you can confidently jump into team-fights or initiate with this ability. Costs significant mana early game, so use sparingly. Max it in sync with your Heartseeker Strike.

HEARTSEEKER STRIKE

PASSIVE:

CERTAIN DEATH

Very handy passive to Heartseeker Strike that means Mantheon has 100% crit-chance on enemies below 15% health. This makes last hitting, KSing and genrally destroying enemies 1v1 a breeze.

HEARTSEEKER STRIKE

Mantheon thrusts his crotch forwards in a cone, dealing 3 swift strikes to all enemies caught within its radius. This ability is a short-ranged skill shot. It is great for clearing minion waves, stacking your Aegis Protection, and dealing damage. It can be cancelled by right-clicking, so be wary when reverting to auto-attacking that you have deal all 3 strikes on your enemies. Doesn't deal significant damage until levelled, so max it second.

GRAND SKYFALL

Probably one of the most fun Ultis in the game. Mantheon flexes his luscious thighs and leaps into the air, where he chills for a moment, before crashing down on his enemies with balls of steel. This very skill differentiates good Mantheon players from the rest. This is due to the fact that Grand Skyfall is VERY hard to hit, and requires a lot of skill and practice to execute well. Grand Skyfall can do up to 1000 damage at level 3, so it is best utilised when it actually hits someone, however in certain cases, albeit less satisfying, it can also be used as a short-ranged teleport.

TIP: When Grand Skyfall is activated, there is a window where you can also choose to use Aegis of Zeonia on a nearby enemy champion. This window occurs when Mantheon has leapt and is about to fall. If you target an enemy champion with your Aegis of Zeonia, Mantheon will hit the ground and immediately jump to the champion, stunning them, and guaranteeing the damage from Grand Skyfall's shock-wave.


SKILL COMBO: (R), Q, W, E, Q

With Aegis Protection stacked - Q, (Auto Attacks), W (When block has been used), E, Q

Without Aegis Protection stacked - Standard

BOOTS AND 3X HEALTH POTS

A great starting pick on Mantheon. Boots improve his already formidable base movement speed, and also leave extra money to spend on pots, for survivability. This is MY starting pick. Best choice when solo top. I occasionally take a Mana Potion instead of the third health potion.

DORAN'S BLADE

A great value for money item. Gives health, AD and a small amount of life-steal. A good pick for the aggressive player, but then means you lose out on sustain in lane. A second Doran's could possibly be built depending on how well the player can farm. Works best when laning bot with a support.

MEKI PENDANT AND 2X HEALTH POTS

An item that is part of the Riot's suggested build. I personally never choose this item, but if you wish to build Manamune and plan to spam your Spear Shot immensely, then it may be a good choice. Unfortunately, I find Manamune ineffective unless I build Banshee's Veil as-well, which I simply do not have room for in my AD build.

CLOTH ARMOR AND 5X HEALTH POTS

Take this when jungling or then up against a tough, AD heavy top lane. You can also try mixing it up with some Mana Potions. When jungling, build this into Wriggle's Lantern.

TRINITY FORCE

A great item in general. Combines stats that are all handy to Pantheon. The increased move speed and crit-chance from Zeal, the attack buff from Sheen, and all aspects of Phage. Rush towards building this, taking Phage first and then Zeal. I have tried building Frozen Mallet and Phantom Dancer separately, but Trinity Force generally works better, being cheaper, taking less space, and also providing the added benefit of Sheen.

WARMOG'S ARMOR

An item that provides immense amounts of health and health regen, something that Mantheon needs mid-game as he is quite fragile or a melee champion. Gives him solid survivability allowing him to initiate and survive longer in team fights. Building Mantheon as an off-tank is reliable, but I find, not as fun as a FULL AD CASTER.

MAW OF MALMORTIUS

Probably one of my favourite items at the moment. Not particularly the best value for money, but none-the-less a very strong item. Gives you AD equivalent to a percentage of your missing health, similar to Dr. Mundo's Masochism. It also provides significant attack damage, and a spell shield that blocks 400 magic damage if it were to bring you to low health. The shield has a 60 second cool-down. This item allows Mantheon to stay in combat for longer, surprising the hell out of enemies as you constantly block and gain attack damage as they attack you, which can change the tide of a duel. It also allows you to enter team-fights with nowhere near full health, and when paired with Guardian Angel, becomes a spine-shivering combo, in which you will deal out far more than your fair share of damage. THIS COMBO WE WILL CALL GUALMAAWDIAN ANGELLL...

YOUMUU'S GHOSTBLADE

A solid item in theory, but does not fit in well with my version of Mantheon. Gives good attack-speed, and although provides good CDR and a bit of AD, the movement speed is somewhat wasted. Take this item if you wish, but keep in mind that late game you will not want it as part of your end build.

BLOODTHIRSTER

Gives good AD and lifesteal, and is very strong if stacked well, how-ever it is not a part of my build as it leans towards a more AD fighter approach, which I do not believe suits the way I play Mantheon. In all other cases I would take this item.

INFINITY EDGE

A great item on Mantheon, as it gives good crit-chance and crit-damage, as well as tonnes of AD. When coupled with Certain Death, most of your attacks will crit for significant damage. This item is my main source of damage, which I take most games.

ATMA'S IMPALER

A must-buy when building an off-tank Mantheon, as it gives good crit-chance, armor and AD, but not as necessary in my build. It is possible to replace the Maw of Malmortius with this item, depending on whether the other team is AD or AP heavy.

GUARDIAN ANGEL

A good item that probably should be built earlier on in the game, but is too tempting to build as a last item. Works splendidly on Mantheon, allowing him to jump fearlessly into, and stay in, team-fights, dealing damage till he is defeated... and then to rise and do it all over again. Also, as stated earlier, works very well with Maw of Malmortius, allowing Mantheon to fight (and kill) to the bitter end.