Pantheon

Master Tier Champion Guide

Identity

Pantheon is the embodiment of early-game agency, defined by his power to dominate his lane and extend that pressure across the entire map. His identity revolves around proactive, aggressive playmaking, using his strong skirmishing to secure leads. What makes him unique is his ultimate, Grand Starfall (R), which provides semi-global mobility to influence other lanes and objectives, ensuring he is never just a passive laner. He is the ideal champion for players with a killer instinct who want to dictate the tempo of the game from the very beginning.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

High Agency and Early Impact: Pantheon has immense control over the early game, allowing players to influence the entire map, not just their lane.
Extremely Powerful Laning Phase (Levels 1-5): His combat power is significantly higher than most opponents in the early stages, especially with Ignite, making it easy to gain leads.
Ultimate Global Mobility: His ultimate provides global threat, allowing him to push a side wave and quickly join skirmishes or team fights across the map.

Weaknesses

Vulnerability at Level 6: Pantheon doesn't gain as much 1v1 combat power from his ultimate compared to many opponents (like Jax or Ornn), making the Level 6 transition difficult.
Lack of Sustain: Pantheon has no inherent sustain from his kit, meaning he relies heavily on runes (like Second Wind) or defensive starting items in tough poke matchups.
Falls off Against Tanks/Neutralizers: It's hard for Pantheon to gain a significant advantage against champions who neutralize his early burst (like Ornn or Malphite), and many of these champions will outscale him.

Laning Phase

The laning phase on Pantheon is centered around aggression, resource management, and setting up kills through consistent burst trades.

Trading and Poking

Pantheon is the king of short trades. Your goal is to poke your opponent down with 100-to-zero trades, taking no damage in return, before looking for an extended all-in.
Q is Your Weapon: Use Comet Spear (Q) constantly to poke, especially when the enemy is going for a last hit, as they are less likely to dodge it.
Q Variations: You have two ways to use Q: tap Q (quick stab) returns 60% of the cooldown and avoids reduced damage through creeps; hold Q (fully ranged throw) has a significantly longer range but reduced damage if it passes through a target, and a longer cooldown. You should try to hold Q briefly before releasing it to aim more accurately, improving your success rate.
Level 1 Abuse: If you are stronger than your opponent at Level 1 (E.g., they take a weak rune like Fleet Footwork), you should look to abuse your strength immediately by trying to extend the trade and punish them hard.
Against Lane Bullies: Against champions with strong all-in potential (Darius, Olaf, Jax), you must prioritize laying the groundwork first by getting them low (around 40–50% HP) before attempting a full commit.

Volatility and Wave Management

In matchups where you struggle to poke them down (like against tanky champions or ranged champions), you may need to make the match up volatile by trading your HP bar for theirs and looking for early kill opportunities.
Wave Control: After winning a trade, you should prevent the enemy from crashing the wave and bouncing it back, which would allow them to base and undo your progress.
Base Timings: Because you take Ignite and not TP in most lanes, you dictate when you base. Build a big wave, crash it, and then recall, as you won't miss much farm.

Macro and Teamfights

Pantheon’s mid-game strategy revolves entirely around using his lead to influence the map, and his team fighting is about precise execution and positioning.

Macro Focus: Share Your Strength

You are NOT a Split Pusher: You will rarely win the game by splitting and breaking the Tier 2/Tier 3 tower through the side lane (unlike Fiora or Trundle).
Mid-Game Strategy: Get a lead in lane, and then share that strength. Push the side wave all the way to the enemy tower to keep your opponent pinned, and then immediately fog up and look to ulti mid.
Mid-Lane Priority: Ulti-ing mid is considered 'very free' because you can one-shot your wave, fog down, ulti mid, and run straight back top, losing very little. Constantly look to punish volatile mid-laners (Yasuo, Sylas, Qiyana) who rely on snowballing and playing aggressively.
Objective Focus: Look for ulti plays whenever your ultimate is up, especially when objectives like Dragon or Baron are spawning, ensuring you can quickly join the fight.

Teamfighting Execution

Pantheon excels in skirmishes and fights where he has a numbers advantage. In team fights, you need to weave in and out and play around your cooldowns.
CC Discipline: The biggest mistake top laners make is blowing their CC immediately. Hold your Aegis Assault (W) until a better opportunity presents itself, such as locking down a key carry (like Draven or a vulnerable Mage).
E Utility: Use Aegis Assault (E) to block incoming damage from the direction you are facing. The damage from E is extremely backloaded, with the burst hitting when the channel finishes. Use the E animation (blocking damage) to buy time until your other spells come back up.
Ultimate Engagement: When using R, try to predict the enemy’s movement. If the ultimate spear hits, it slows them, making it easier for you to follow up with W.

Key Combos

The Full Commit All-In (Empowered All-in)

Auto

This sequence stacks Conqueror/PTA almost instantly.

Quick Burst Combo (Less Sustained Damage)

Auto

Used when you need to burst someone before your stun wears off.

The Hardest (Maximized Damage Burst)

Auto

Requires perfect timing to cancel the auto-attack animation with W. If executed smoothly, this immediately applies your passive and maximizes burst during the W stun.

Tips & Tricks

Abilities

Pay attention to the 20% HP threshold; yourQ crits if the opponent is below this health point, providing significantly higher damage.

You can buffer yourW through stuns (like Jax E or Renekton W), allowing you to stun your opponent simultaneously.

When coming out of base, you are automatically put on 5 stacks. You can use the empowered E purely for the 60% movement speed boost to return to lane faster, but be mindful of the long cooldown.

Every point in Grand Starfall (R) grants 10% bonus armor penetration. Because of this, armor penetration items like Serylda's Grudge or Mortal Reminder are often inefficient unless you specifically need the healing cut.

General

Mandatory Summoners: Always run Flash and Ghost is not recommended; stick to Ignite and Flash in the majority of games for maximum early combat power. You only take TP and Flash into big tanks (like Ornn or Skarner) or neutralizers where Ignite is unlikely to secure a kill.

Item Synergies

Starting Item

Doran's Blade is strongly recommended in the majority of matchups for the best early game combat stats.

First Buy Priority

Generally, rush Eclipse as your first item, as it provides a strong spike and works well in his trading patterns. Only rush Black Cleaver if you are against a full tank champion (K'Sante, Ornn, Tom Kench).

Ability Haste Second

Focus on items that provide high Ability Haste for your second item, such as Spear of Shojin (vs. squishy comps) or Black Cleaver (vs. beefy comps), as weaving spells is crucial.

Survivability

If you need to be a front line for your team or didn't get a huge lead, items like Sterak's Gage can be a great pickup to soak up burst damage.

Anti-Shields

Pantheon can uniquely build Serpent's Fang when facing compositions with heavy shield users (like Lulu or Janna support), whereas many other top laners cannot afford to build this item.