My path to Pantheon mastery in the Mid Lane was not an easy one, I had no fancy guide (like this one) to show me the way. It was a gruesome experience, but in the end I prevailed. If it gives the readers an edge, why not throw detailed matchups in, right? It's not like Pantheon plays clean. He's not supposed to. He'll crush you while you whine to Rito about his unfair kit and he's going to drink your tears after smashing the Nexus.

Thanks for the comment ^^ Now I feel like coming back to League.

Honestly, if I were Diamond III I'd also consider dodging a Pantheon Mid game. At that ELO, people will simply play safe and out-scale you. This guide wasn't really intended for High ELO, more around the Gold/Platinum tiers.

I have played Pantheon Top extensively and I felt like I couldn't really make a difference and it simply took too much time to close games. In Mid lane, although more of a gamble/risk, since like you say, the enemy has a range advantage and a shorter lane, I found the enemy to be way easier to kill and snowball off of (since they aren't able to sustain through my poke), allowing me to roam to Bot Lane faster and close games at around 25 minutes.

Thanks for your input!

LOL? League of Legends?

LOL

Thank you very much for your input! I have included some Mid Lane macro play/tips in the guide, because Pantheon isn't really a hard champion to pick up, but in order to play him to full effectiveness you must have a broad game knowledge. Anyone wishing to play Mid can learn something from the guide!

Be sure to check my other Mid Lane guide if you dislike Pantheon's playstyle! If not, go crush some skulls on the Rift ;)

Thank you very much, feel free to ask questions if you have any doubts regarding Pantheon! ;)

Copy/pasting comments doesn't count. I've answered these question below (which were originally asked by PepsiM4A1).

I used to love Pantheon jungle but I find it too unreliable now-a-days, since I can't get as ahead as if I were laning. The difference in gold and levels ends up being painful at times. Also, his ganks aren't really un-counterable since Pantheon has to walk up to the enemy and use W on them. After level 6 this is much easier with his ultimate, but there's plenty of time for the enemy to react.

As for your build, going Stalker's > BC is perfectly fine and works great. However, if you're feeling ballsy and really have the skill to snowball a game, Youmuu's is definitely the way to go as it gives you more utility.

Your last assessment is correct. This is a "early and mid game panth" build. You are not expected to go into late game at all and if that happens either you or your team failed miserably somewhere. You want to climb and you want to climb fast and the most reliable way to do so is to snowball your team and avalanche the enemy base.

First, I don't care what ELO boosters do or stop doing. Second, this is not a Top Lane guide, although the build and early game playstyle works for that lane as well.

Now... Pantheon is not a reliable split-pusher. His push is way too slow without Tiamat items, which are not ideal on him to begin with (except in rare situations where you're jungling). Although he can 1vs1 enemies that come to put a halt to his split-push, he can't escape if something goes wrong.

Sure, you can ditch your team and split-push all game, but the only thing that's going to accomplish you as Pantheon is you going into late game and your Victory chances dropping drastically. It is way more reliable to snowball yourself and snowball your team mates (preferably Bot Lane) in order to get a quick win around 20-25 minutes than spend valuable time *****ing around Top Lane trying to push that blasted Tier 2 tower.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that if you do reach late game, split-pushing is indeed the way to go, since you can afford to draw pressure to yourself and use your ultimate to 5vs4 the enemy team. It's just not an ideal mindset to go into a game as Pantheon. Your goal is not to split-push.

Terribly sorry for the late response, I haven't been around for a while. Swifties are definitely great on Pantheon if you can afford/are comfortable with trading off the utility of other boots, namely Ninja Tabi which is what I find myself building 80% of the games. They are simply too good at dealing with ADCs.

Let's deal with this in parts.

Part 1: Mana Issues
Yes, Pantheon suffers from mana issues. What most people fail to realise is that mana items are not ideal, however (although they might seem good on paper). Forget about the "falls off late game" part for a moment, since we are not planning on ever reaching that stage. Pantheon is a champion that burns fast and furiously early game and your job is to feed that bloody fire long enough until it consumes the enemy team. You have to feed it items that enhance his abilities, stuff like Youmuu's, Black Cleaver, et cetera. IBG is a terrible item and will hinder your progress. You will devolve into a late game stun bot instead of a mid game wildfire. Mana is simply not good enough of a trade-off for devolving into a monkey. Carefully manage it and you'll be fine.

Part 2: Something Stronger Than Black Cleaver
BC is core on Pantheon and no item can ever replace it. It is simply too good and your damage output won't be the same without it. It is not an auto-attack focused item, it works on abilities (which you'd have known if you had read my guide) like his Heartseeker Strike, applying immediately 3 stacks. If you're Mid, reducing enemy armor is super important because it allows you to deal quasi-true damage. So, your opinion is wrong.

Part 3: Runes
This is irrelevant with the upcoming rune rework, but for now either Lethality or AD is fine. Whatever works best for you.

Thanks for the +1, it is always appreciated.