Hey guys, this is my first guide and it is on Pantheon. I enjoy playing Pantheon top because even when you play him top, you don't really need to stack health like a lot of tops do. His passive is the reason why, the fact that it blocks the next basic attack or physical damage ability makes it really strong against many Ad top laners like Vi and Gangplank. Also for those of you who didn't get the joke in the title of the build, its a play on the fact that Pantheon's joke is "What is my profession? Actually now I think of it, I always wanted to be a baker." Anyways, hope you enjoy the guide. :)

Basic Items
I'm sure many of you guys are wondering why I have a "Raw Core Items" section. This is because that is how you should build Pantheon. Pantheon is unique because of his double passives that both greatly increase his potential early to mid game (In late game you are either fed or you play as a disruptor). You should build a Vampiric Scepter, The Brutalizer, and a Phage without turning any of them into their upgraded versions because Pantheon's double passive makes him vary strong against champs that focus one discipline early. The wide range of bonus' you will receive from these items will let you bully people out of lane much easier.

Upgraded Items
After you have completed the "Raw Core Items", you should then proceed to start the "Core Items" part of the build. This part is to just beef you up even more. Build the Bloodthirster and the Infinity Edge as quickly as possible, then you should choose weather or not you want to upgrade the Phage or The Brutalizer next. To chose which one you would like to upgrade you have to determine what role you have to fill at this point in the game, if you have to initiate for your team, if so, then you should upgrade the Frozen Mallet. If you are playing more of an assassin role then you should go for the Black Cleaver. No matter how you are playing you should complete both these items, they are key to a strong late game.

Finishing off the Build
As you can all see I said to finish with a Sunfire Aegis, this however can really become any item you would like, i only have sunfire cape there because its nice for me to suggest a full build, I placed a sunfire cape their because it allows you to do more daring late game plays with him. You can replace this with any item you want though.

Spear Shot
Spear Shot is Pantheon's number one most useful ability. You will take this at level 1 and will max it by level 9. You should use this skill to attempt to poke your opponent out of lane. Whenever your lane opponent comes into range you should spear shot them. However do not drain yourself of mana, you have to control your self, so remember you can trade hits with many champions because of your passive, it will keep you at full health well they keep getting lower and lower.

Aegis of Zeonia
Aegis of Zeonia is your 'W' skill and will be used solely to secure the kill and to allow you to get off your combo (I will talk about the combo later). You should take this skill at level 3, then leave it alone until your other skills are maxed, and max it at level 18. The reason this move should be used solely for its stun is because you can't really even build damage on it unless you want to build Ap, which really isn't that effective on Pantheon

Heartseeker Strike
Pantheon's "E" is one of his best moves because it does damage and has a passive. This passive (which causes Pantheon to critical strike all enemy's with 15% or less health) helps with two main things, last hitting minions and last hitting champions. This passive is especially effective when paired with his "Q" because his "Q" can crit. This is good for killing champions who think they have put enough distance between themselves and the melee champion following them. You should take a point in this skill at level 2 and max it at level 13.

Grand Skyfall
Grand Skyfall is Pantheon's ultimate. Due to the time it takes for Pantheon to cast this ability and the huge amount of warning it gives, I suggest using this ability more as utility instead of for damage. Using this ability to get back to lane quicker when your opponent is about to destroy your tower is a great use for this ability, because it can generally save the tower and it may even get you a kill. If you try this and your opponent is one of those people who stays in the ultimate for a bit then decides to walk to the edges to avoid most of the damage then you should leap to them the second you land and follow up with all your ability's, this will put them on the run. Another use for the ulti as a utility is when there's a team fight you should place your ultimate either on top of the fight to disperse it and make your team the chasers, or place it in front of the enemy team so that they are then fighting a fight on two sides and have no where to run. As with all ultimate's you should get it at levels 6, 11, and 16.

Pantheon's combo is pretty simple, so many of you are probably wondering why I made it its own section, well that's simply because I will refer to it a lot. The Combo is quite simple on Pantheon. Get close enough to use your Q, then land your stun followed up by your E and and as many basic attacks as possible.

I chose these masteries because they really compliment the way I play Pantheon. I'm running mostly offensive masteries because like I said earlier, I prefer to play Pantheon with more damage because like I stated earlier, his passive gives you all the early game defense you will need, as long as you don't stay in prolonged combat. The critical strike bonus mastery is really useful on Pantheon because if you land a Spear Shot it will give you a a little more damage and your enemy will be slowed from your frozen mallet, allowing you to catch up. Getting the last offensive mastery Executioner will really help you finish off your pesky top lane opponent. The defensive masteries are really just for early game if your against a strong lane bully like Rumble you will need all the bonus defence you can get.

My seals and glyphs are basic top laner runes and my quints are just your everyday ad quints. These normal average runes are all you need on Pantheon because he is not a champion that focus' on an odd specialty. The armor pen marks are really helpful against many tops who stack a lot of armor early. The granted armor pen is exactly what Pantheon needs in the early lanning phase.

Gangplank: Pantheon can out play gangplank no matter how people play him. Gangplanks poke requires him to hit you with his Q Parrrley, denying him this poke and poking him away will also deny him a lot of early game farm. Well farming you will be gaining your shield back just from basic attacking minions every time he hits you with it will not only deny him early game farm, but will also keep you at full health well you slowly kill him with some Q's of your own. Once hes low all you have to do is leap in and land your combo.

Teemo: Pantheon is strong against Teemo because like Gangplank, when your playing in the top lane lane, Teemo relies a lot on harassing the other laner. Just like when playing against Gangplank you have to remember that you can trade a couple blows at the beginning but prolonged combat against Teemo is not advised, especially if you have no lifesteal. Something to watch out for when playing against Teemo is that he can kit really well, so never chase Teemo, especially so when hes level 6 (His annoying shrooms!). What you want to do against Teemo is trade some hits with your sheild up and if you need it again quickly, always remember that using your W will reset your passive.

Vi: Vi is one of the hardest people to against Pantheon with. Pantheon counters her like crazy. The reason, the only ability of hers that cannot be countered by Pantheon's passive is her ultimate, which last time everybody checked, is not exactly spammable. The only problem with this is that she is spammable, but she also has no range so as long as you play passively and pull off the combo you'll be fine.

Yorick: Yorick is the hardest champion to play against when playing as Pantheon. 2/3 of Yorick's ghouls can not be countered by your sheild, which you must rely on early. Yorick's poke is not countered by your sheild, and this can prove vary difficult. The only way to win your lane against a Yorick is to have a jungler that will help you and gank often, this won't be hard because chances are is that you will be stuck under the turret. DO NOT TRY AND ENGAGE HIM SOLO! This will not work unless he has no mana, if Yorick has enough mana to summon all his ghouls he can lifesteal his way to killing you, no problem. You have to watch out when your jungler ganks after level 6, you will have to be careful, because his ulti makes a second him, making a 1v1 a 2v1 or a 1v2 a 2v2.

Elise: Elise is also hard to play against because she can poke you down in her human form, then when you turn to run, she goes spider form and takes advantage of your lack of escapes and repels to you. Then she does her combo and goes back to human, stun W, Q, your dead. You most likely cannot survive against someone who uses Elise well. You need your jungler to camp top, so that Elise cannot play aggressively.

Rumble: Rumble is hard to play against because he almost never uses his basic attacks for damage, his main poke is his Q, Flamespitter, and this is a damage over time spell, which means it will not be blocked by his passive. This is a problem because this is Rumbles' main damage spell and it will do major damage once he puts a couple of points into it. When playing against Rumble you will wanna put on the harass early, when his Q doesn't do as much damage. Also, you will want to try and dodge behind minions when running because if Rumble can hit you with his E, Electro-Harpoon, you will not be going far before hes right behind you, you also have to remember that he can cast this ability twice in quick succession.

Well guys I hope you guys all liked this guide, if you guys like the guide please rate and leave comments on what you would like me to add to this guide or other guides in the future.