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Vampiric Shroud
Lost Artifact
Mana Potion
Ward
Book of Thoth
Shoes of Focus
Chronos' Pendant
Obsidian Shard
Rod of Tahuti
Bancroft's Talon
Divine Ruin
Ethereal Staff
Gem of Isolation
Soul Reaver
Warlock's Staff
Weakening Curse
Greater Purification
Heavenly Agility
Aegis Pendant
Greater Aegis
Potion of Magical Might
Elixir of Power
Elixir of Defense
Mana Potion
Healing Potion
Ward
Sentry Ward
Y
B
A
X
Janus, The god of utility and Portals. Janus is considered one of the best mages, Maybe even the best mage because he is just perfect, Really great utility, Speedy, Bursty, and he can also provide all that for his team, which makes him a great addition and an outstanding asset to the team. Portal or Through Space and Time badly, It will have no use and you may have just wasted the cd.
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Pros Tons Of Utility. Lots Of Burst. Fantastic Team Asset. Has Portals. Period. |
Cons Mana Reliant. Hard to master. Cripples Counter Him. No Sense Of Style. |
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 Passages |
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Portal |
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Unstable Vortex |
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Threshold |
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Through Space And Time |
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Shoes Of Focus |
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Chronos's Pendant |
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Book Of Thoth |
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Obsidian Shard |
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Bancroft's Talon |
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Divine Ruin |
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Ethereal staff |
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Gem Of Isolation |
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Soul Reaver |
| warlock's sash |
Warlock's Sash |
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Rod Of Tahuti |
Early Game
In the early game, Janus is kind of weak, Like every mage.
Start by picking up Unstable Vortex and buying Vampiric Shroud and Lost Artifact, a Mana Potion and a Ward.
Than, Go to the dou laners to take the red buff, And then take it and head to your lane.
You should clear with Unstable Vortex, And don't forget to kill what's left of the minions with your basics so you can get Vampiric Shroud's passive.
In level 2 pick up Portal so you can punish the enemy if he gets too close to you.
In level 5 mid camps should spawn And you should call your jungler to help you get them, And trust me, You don't want your enemy to take the mid camps before you do, He will outfeed you.
Once you kill the enemy, Use Through Space and Time to gank an unsuccessful lane and you might get some kills and help them push and survive the lane.
Don't forget about the minions, There very important for your feed and you don't want the enemy god to out-feed you.
Once you get Book of Thoth you get way more bursty and you get the ability to spam abilities without the fear of losing all the mana, Which will help you a lot and will force the enemy to recall before you do so you can do more ganking.
Don't take too much risk, And if you do, Always plan an escape route.
Mid Game
By this point, You should have all Book of Thoth stacks, Chronos' Pendant and maybe Obsidian Shard.
teamfights should start here, Meaning your team will need your rotating more then ever, And you need to be really active her so you can give your team a lot of utility.
You need Through Space and Time more then anything here, Since you constantly need to move with your team and always be one step further then he enemy team.
Ward! You constantly need to know where the enemy team is so you can plan your movement and your use of Through Space and Time.
If you see that the enemy team is taking gold fury/fire giant, Use Through Space and Time and go there with your team and steal them, Then burst down the enemy. Beware of baits.
You can bait the enemy team by standing near the gold fury/fire giant and when you see that the enemy team is coming, Use Through Space and Time to bring your team there and shut them down.
Late Game
By this point, You should have a full core build and the other items, Meaning that you will be able to burst enemies down fast.
In this point of the game, You should always move in groups and use Through Space and Time to move around the conquest map fast.
In this point of the game, Objectives should be your top priority, Meaning you gotta start pushing hard, And Janus can use his ult to help his team split-push.
Janus can backdoor the titan with Through Space and Time and then finish it in times of need.
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Agni DIFFICULTY MEDIUM
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 Agni is a very bursty god that just has it all. An escape, Burst, And cc. He will most likely clear with  Flame Wave. And if he wants to kill you, he will most likely use  Path of Flames on the minions and surprise you, Then use  Noxious Fumes to stun, 3 rain fires and then he will probably finish you up with Flame Wave.The reason hes included in here is that when you use Portal he can use Noxious Fumes and then 3 rain fires and finish you off, Which completely counters your Portaling system.
Tips and Tricks
Stay behind your minions, And expect Agni to use Path of Flames on the minions, And when you see hes approaching the minions, Use Portal so the dash will be canceled and then use Unstable Vortex to clear the minions and poke Agni.Try to not use Portal when Agni is present, And if you do, Use it behind the tower or in a place he couldent get to you.
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Loki DIFFICULTY MEDIUM
DecoyAimed strike
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Loki is a high damage sneaky ability based assasin. He will most likly clear with decoy. To attack he will probably distract the minions with decoy and  Vanish, Then, sneak up behind you and start attacking and after that he will use aimed strike to slow you down.If he has his ulti up, He will probably Vanish and use aimed strike and then use  Assassinate and keep basic attacking you from behind.
Tips and Tricks
1.5s after  Loki uses Vanish he will most likely attack, When a second passes, Portal yourself and then loki will be caught in it two, Put down a threshould and run for it, Then, After Loki got slowed from it, Turn around and cast Unstable Vortex and then escape.If he has his ulti, Portal yourself after your hear aimed strike's sound and he will be banished as well, And then do the rest mentioned above.
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In conclusion, Janus is a very bursty mage that also provides utilities for his team and supports it.
he is very fun but he is really hard to master and you need to time things right.
Wow Janice, You sure have changed since Friends!
Credits:
TormentedTurnip and Jordenito's BBCoding guide.
Anyone that will help this guide improve.
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09/07/15: Guide Released.
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Passages
Shoes of the Magi
Spear of the Magus
-1 dont like the first part
Like, The introduction? Elaborate please.
I would have coloured him Editor orange XD
XD
Also I forgot one thing in your matchup sections you have color coded agni as hard but stated him medium.
And for breastplate I wonder what happened to the item in total for mages As I don't see it a lot (and in assault well the MP5 is more useful so I'm used to it) but against a heavy physical I still find it a usefull item
Hes Medium +, Thats why i colored him red.
And for breastplate I wonder what happened to the item in total for mages As I don't see it a lot (and in assault well the MP5 is more useful so I'm used to it) but against a heavy physical I still find it a usefull item
I like a HP pot myself because normally it will help you stay a bit longer in lane and if you just focus on mostly farming and poking (not pushing) you aren't in grave danger of getting ganked. The extra bit of survivability can help you force your opponent back out of the lane and then you can clear his wave and back yourself if you need to this will give you a slight advantage.
(also Ducks I like boots start because well that's what you get with a
Also your description on warlocks sash is meh for an adc it's more risky to double stack but for a mage it isn't that much especcially since warlocks gives a nice 400 mana and 300 hp with 50 MP (which is more then certain support items or the same amount of HP the mp may be a bit underwelming at first but well it's end on a 62 MP total with thoth's passive)
Only thing I don't like about the double stacking build is having no lifesteal (as boots CDR tahuti and pen are something that is core)
The thing is,
I have absolutely no idea why did i suggest double stacking, I guess it was because i rushed the item explanation there, Will fix it shortly.
Also, People have diffrent playstyles and it comes around in diffrent builds, You and i seem to have a diffrent playstyle, Since i like a more Offence is the best defense kind of playstyle with
Removing the ward can be good in some situations, Like when your a begginer in the early game it's just better to stay in tower, Making the word not so valuable until your first back.
I like a HP pot myself because normally it will help you stay a bit longer in lane and if you just focus on mostly farming and poking (not pushing) you aren't in grave danger of getting ganked. The extra bit of survivability can help you force your opponent back out of the lane and then you can clear his wave and back yourself if you need to this will give you a slight advantage.
(also Ducks I like boots start because well that's what you get with a
Also your description on warlocks sash is meh for an adc it's more risky to double stack but for a mage it isn't that much especcially since warlocks gives a nice 400 mana and 300 hp with 50 MP (which is more then certain support items or the same amount of HP the mp may be a bit underwelming at first but well it's end on a 62 MP total with thoth's passive)
Only thing I don't like about the double stacking build is having no lifesteal (as boots CDR tahuti and pen are something that is core)
alright, thanks for the advices! still learnin janus but i think he means tons of fun and i really like his abilitys. im mainly supporter / solo lane / jungle, but with him i also like to go mid :) but i think its a bad idea to switch the ward. i try to play safe and always ward, thats what you should do. but i see the point. the main problem is that i didnt play mages yet, so often i dont know their abilitys
Removing the ward can be good in some situations, Like when your a begginer in the early game it's just better to stay in tower, Making the word not so valuable until your first back.
You could trade the ward for a heal potion, And if your good at mana saving, You could try to sell teh mana potion if you want to, Selling lost artifact is kind of a bad thing, Since Janus also has that poking potential, And lost artifact grants mp5 meaning that it's much easier to watch your mana with it.
Although, If you know that god's playstyle and if they outpoke you, You could stay in tower and watch for the poke.
You could also try to avoid their gods, In most cases, It's really easy to avoid the poke if you know the god's playstyle.
I wouldn't recommend buying boots since it dosen't really contribute to your playstyle before you back, And Lost Artifact will be much more useful.
alright, thanks for the advices! still learnin janus but i think he means tons of fun and i really like his abilitys. im mainly supporter / solo lane / jungle, but with him i also like to go mid :) but i think its a bad idea to switch the ward. i try to play safe and always ward, thats what you should do. but i see the point. the main problem is that i didnt play mages yet, so often i dont know their abilitys
really good guide +1! just one question: i started with lost artifact aswell, but i realised that some gods just poke me too hard in the early game and sometime force me to back already before i have like 600 gold. what about vampiric shroud, boots, 2 wards and a few heal potions? i know janus is really mana hungry early, but if you focus on lane clearing and last hitting it should work that you back the first time to fully build your shoes. what do you think?
You could trade the ward for a heal potion, And if your good at mana saving, You could try to sell teh mana potion if you want to, Selling lost artifact is kind of a bad thing, Since Janus also has that poking potential, And lost artifact grants mp5 meaning that it's much easier to watch your mana with it.
Although, If you know that god's playstyle and if they outpoke you, You could stay in tower and watch for the poke.
You could also try to avoid their gods, In most cases, It's really easy to avoid the poke if you know the god's playstyle.
I wouldn't recommend buying boots since it dosen't really contribute to your playstyle before you back, And Lost Artifact will be much more useful.