Guide to Joust League/Joust 1v1 (updated for Alien patch)

Hey there! I'm Tsjawatnu and this is my first guide on SmiteFire. This guide is, as you have undoubtedly noticed, about one of my favorite gamemodes: Joust 1v1. I decided to make this guide because when I started to play joust, I kept searching the internet for good Joust guides but couldn't find any apart from DMbrandon's short but useful guide. Like many other players, I have learnt the ways of playing joust all by myself, and now I will be sharing what I've learned with anyone who is either new to this gamemode or feels like (s)he hasn't quite mastered the ways of joust yet.

In this guide, I will explain the basics and general joust strategies in hopes of helping you push through to that one tier you always wanted to reach. I also plan on adding some videos to illustrate the things that I write in this guide.
Without further ado, let's get started!

In this guide, I will be using a few terms that are used in MOBAs. I will explain these terms here for players who don't know them yet.

• AA: Auto Attack, this is the attack you use when you press your left mouse button.
• Backdooring: The act of attacking one of the opponent's objectives (Tower, Phoenix or Titan) without the help of minions. This is normally done while the opponent is not near that objective.
• CC: Crowd Control; this refers to all stuns, taunts, mesmerizes, fears, silences, knockups etc. They make you unable to do certain things like moving or using abilities for a certain amount of time.
• CDR:CoolDown Reduction, some items give you a certain % of CDR. This enables you to use abilities again faster after you use them (= it reduces their cooldown).
• Magical gods: Mages and Guardians
• Physical Gods: Assassins, Hunters and Warriors
• Penetration: Penetration allows you to ignore some of your enemy's protections.
• Poking: Dealing (a small amount of) damage to the enemy while maintaining a safe distance from said enemy
• Sustain: The ability to stay in the lane for a longer period of time because of your health and/or mana regeneration.
• Turtling: Staying within the range of one of your objectives to farm on your opponent's minions while it's hard for him to kill you

Tier list

OP:

Ah Muzen Cab

Chronos

Freya

SS:

Apollo

Hades

Hel

Hou Yi

Poseidon

S:

Anhur

Aphrodite

Bakasura

Bastet

He Bo

Eset

Kali

Medusa

Mercury

Ullr

Vulcan

A:

Anubis

Ao Kuang

Artemis

Bellona

Chang'e

Cupid

Fenrir

Guan Yu

Janus

Loki

Vamana

Xbalanque

B:

Arachne

Awilix

Cabrakan

Chaac

Hercules

Hun Batz

Neith

Nemesis

Nu Wa

Osiris

Ra

Rama

Scylla

Thor

Zhong Kui

C:

Agni

Khepri

Kukulkan

Ne Zha

Nox

Ratatoskr

Serqet

Tyr

Zeus

D:

Ares

Athena

Bacchus

Guan Yu

Odin

Ravana

Sun Wukong

Thanatos

Ymir

Zeus

F:

Geb

Kumbhakarna

Sobek

Sylvanus

What defines a good jouster?

• The ability to clear minion waves relatively fast
• A moveset that is not easily countered by items and/or actives (example: Poseidon's Release The Kraken! is easily countered with Greater Aegis)
• The ability to beat other gods in a 1v1 situation without minions
• Decent sustain
• The ability to poke opponents while pushing the lane
• Some form of CC available to him
• The ability to clear jungle camps relatively fast

Which god should I take?

Which gods should I ban?

Bellona

A small banning strategy

I have not yet found a picture of the updated map with purple buffs instead of orange ones. Use your imagination!

There are three different ways you can start your joust match:

Strategy number 1: the buff strategy

Potion of Magical Might

Hand of the Gods

Potion of Magical Might

Hand of the Gods

Strategy number 3: Invading

Here, I will cover all the things you have to know when you're going to play joust. This is mostly a part beginners should read, but if you have already played some joust matches and feel like you have to rehearse the basics, then the following information can be useful for you too.

1 - Always do something!

Light Blade

2 - Farming

3 - Trapping your opponent

4 - Warding

5 - Destroying a tower isn't important early in the game

• Firstly: the only reward a tower gives you is 250 gold. This is a disappointingly small amount of gold compared to what clearing one jungle camp provides you (105 gold and 229 EXP) if you take the time it takes to destroy a tower and the time it takes to clear a jungle camp into account.
• Secondly: a tower can deny your opponent gold if your minions get in its range. If you destroy your enemy's tower, his phoenix will become the objective that denies your enemy gold. The problem here is that your opponent's phoenix is closer to his base than his tower was, so he can afford to take more damage than he could at his tower since he can heal up at his base and then return to the lane very fast. You, on the contrary, will spend more time getting to the wave than before (assuming that you're forcing your opponent to turtle at his phoenix).

6 - Backdooring

Anubis

Chronos

Freya

Poseidon

7 - Your build

• Starter items are good for improving your sustain early-game, but at the cost of some damage you could have gotten by immediately buying offensive items. They also gradually become less useful throughout the game.
• Stacking items are very useful in joust since you're all alone in your team and have to push a lane continuously. Most stacking items that are meant for mages greatly increase their hard-needed sustain, so be sure to get one of them when you're using a mage. Similiarly, Devourer's Gauntlet is a great item for all hunters.
• Buying defensive items that give both physical and magical protection isn't a good idea because you're facing only one opponent who uses only magical or physical damage to hit you.
• In terms of actives, it's best to buy one active to counter your enemy with (mostly Greater Aegis, Greater Purification, Combat Blink, Enfeebling Curse or Weakening Curse) and one active to enhance your 1v1 fighting capabilities with ( Greater Sprint, Girdle of Inner Power, Shield of the Underworld, Achilles' Spear, Greater Blink or Fist of the Gods).
• Since joust is a 1v1 game mode, you have to know which items counter certain gods and builds and buy some of these items. It's preferable that you invent a build to use in joust 1v1 with 1 or 2 empty slots to fill in with counter-items. I will list the best items and actives to counter certain gods and builds with in the next chapter.

As I wrote in the last chapter, counterbuilding is very important in joust matches. Here, I will show you the best counterbuild items to use against certain kinds of gods/builds.

Note: When I refer to mages in this section, I'm talking about both mages and guardians

Items to counter physical gods

general counter-items

These are items that can generally be used against physical gods. They can be an addition to the more specific counter items in the next spoilers.

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As a physical or magical god

Even if your enemy doesn't use an AA-based physical god, this item is great to use when you are using an AA-based god since it boosts your attack speed, making you able to dish out more damage over a certain period of time than you could before. The protection Witchblade gives is great, and is close to 60 when you take its passive into account.

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As a physical god

I strongly advise against using Mystical Mail when you're using a hunter or an assassin because it doesn't increase your damage and its passive isn't good on them. On the other hand, Mystical Mail is a great item to use on warriors and guardians since it gives a lot of health and good physical protection. Its passive makes it easier for you to kill a fleeing enemy who is close to dying and it's also great to poke and zone enemies when you're pushing the lane

---

This is yet another item that is best used on a warrior, but it can serve well when you're using a tanky assassin too ( Fenrir or Thor). It gives quite some health and decent protections, but it's its passive that makes Runeforged Hammer so good. It gives you the ability to build multiple (say, 3) defensive items and still have a lot of physical power. This makes you very hard to kill for your opponent while you're still able to hit hard

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As a mage

This item is amazingly good! It gives you a lot of tankiness because of the amount of protection it gives. On top of that, it gives you a high amount of mana too, which comes in very handy since you're an ability-spamming mage. As if that wasn't enough, Breastplate of Valor also reduces all your cooldowns by 25% (yay! More ability spamming!) and is therefore a must-have item when you're fighting physical gods as a mage, and a great replacement for Chronos' Pendant. The effectiveness of Breastplate of Valor can be maximized by also buying Book of Thoth. Keep in mind though: you don't need this item if you're not having trouble with the damage your opponent deals to you

Countering AA-based physical gods

Witchblade is a must-have item when you're fighting against any Auto Attack based physical god, no matter who your god is. Its passive is AMAZING! Not only does it reduce your enemy's attack speed, it also reduces their physical power! That's just awesome! On top of having this close to overpowered passive, it gives you 45 hard-needed protections. Witchblade is also surprisingly cheap and the attack speed it gives comes in handy on any god.

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Midgardian Mail can drastically reduce your enemy's attack and movement speed when they hit you with a basic attack, which is great. It also gives good defense and health. Since you have to be able to take some hits before the passive is activated, this item is best used on warriors and not so useful on squishy gods. Witchblade is generally better than Midgardian Mail though.

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Hide of the Nemean Lion isn't as good as Witchblade is, but it's a good item nonetheless. It gives you an outrageous amount of physical protection and a good amount of health. Its passive makes it a great item to fight AA-based gods. Like Witchblade, Hide of the Nemean Lion is a cheap item. This item works best on warriors, but any other class can benefit from it too. Witchblade still has priority over Hide of the Nemean Lion though.

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Enfeebling Curse can be very useful when fighting AA-based gods since it not only reduces their movement speed by a whole 40%, but also reduces their attack speed by 30%. Bear in mind that the movement speed reduction is easily countered by your enemy because most AA-based gods buy Greater Sprint. Also, Enfeebling Curse takes up an active slot. Witchblade remains, without a doubt, the best item to counter AA-based physical gods with.

Items to counter mages

General counter-items

These are items that can generally be used against mages. They can be an addition to the more specific counter items in the next spoilers.

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As a physical or magical god

This item gives a lot of health and defense and, taking its passive into account as well, is only meant to make you able to take more hits from your opponent. It only contributes to your tankiness, so only use it if you're having serious trouble with your opponent's damage.

---

Stone of Gaia is a great item to improve your sustain with, should you lack it. The health and protection it provides you isn't as good as that of Bulwark of Hope, but if you really are lacking sustain compared to your opponent, you can consider choosing this item over Bulwark of Hope.

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As a physical god

As i mentioned before, stacking items come in very handy in joust, and this is one of them. With full stacks, it gives you 25 physical power, 40 magical protection, 250 health and 15% CDR, making this a good item to use on any physical god that relies on the use of abilities.

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As a mage

This item gives you decent protections and some magical power. Its passive also allows you to ignore 15 of your enemy's protections, making Void Stone contribute a bit to your penetration as well. This is a great item all-around, but it doesn't seriously enhance one of your stats.

Countering AA-based mages

This item is the mage-countering equivalent of Witchblade, and if you've read what I've written about Witchblade, you now know how amazing I think this item is. It's a must-buy when you're fighting Chronos or Freya because of its awesome passive. The 25 physical power this item gives is a nice extra on top of the good 50 magical protections. This item obviously has one huge downside though: it can only be bought on physical gods.

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Enfeebling Curse isn't only a good item to use against AA-based physical gods, but also against AA-based magical gods. Sadly, the only thing that is good about this active is how it reduces your enemy's attack speed since most AA-based mage players buy Greater Sprint, which nullifies the slow Enfeebling Curse gives them. Enfeebling Curse sadly is the only counter-item to use against AA-based mages when you are using a mage, this is one of the reasons why Freya and Chronos are both great jousters.

Countering gods with specific kinds of abilities

Countering gods who can heal themselves a lot (e.g. through lifesteal)

When you're having trouble fighting gods who can heal up, whether it's with abilities or with lifesteal items, you should seriously consider buying one of these items.

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Naturally, when you're using a magical god and are having trouble fighting self-healing gods you buy this. Divine Ruin is very cheap, has a passive that'll help you a lot and gives decent lifesteal and magical power, considering its cost. It also gives some mana to increase your sustain (and maybe your damage too, if you're using Book of Thoth).

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When you're using a physical god, you can buy Brawler's Beat Stick to counter self-healing gods. It gives quite some physical power and decent penetration. Consider replacing (one of) the penetration item(s) you normally use with this item.

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Pestilence's passive doesn't reduce your opponent's healing as much as the passives of the previous items, but it's good nonetheless. This item is best used on warriors, mages and ability-based assassins to increase their tankiness while reducing their opponent's healing. This goes without saying, but you must only use this when your opponent uses a magical god. Buying this when you're fighting a physical god is a really bad move.

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This is another good item to counter self-healing gods with. It reduces their healing more than any of the items mentioned above, but for only 5 seconds. Other than that, Weakening Curse reduces the enemy's movement speed by 40%, making it virtually impossible for them to escape for the next 5 seconds if they don't have Greater Sprint , Heavenly Agility or Winged Blade! One very important thing to keep in mind is that this item's effect is completely nullified by Heavenly Agility, so try to make your opponent activate that before you use Weakening Curse. This item takes up an active slot, but that's totally worth it.

Countering gods with hard CC

Magi's Blessing

Magi's Blessing is the only good non-active item to counter CC with. Its passive is good and your opponent will HATE it. Magi's Blessing also grants you a good amount of health to improve your sustain with, but the protections it gives are close to negligible. Still, the only reason to buy this item is for its passive because there are way better items to improve your sustain with.

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This item is better to use against CC than Magi's Blessing is if you can time its activation right because it doesn't take the place of a potentially better item. It does, however, take up an active slot, but that's not a problem at all.

Countering gods who slow you... a lot

Some gods or items (like Ah Puch, Zhong Kui, Frostbound Hammer, Gem of Isolation or Enfeebling Curse) can greatly slow you, making it impossible for you to run away from them when you want to. If these slows are giving you trouble, you can buy one of the items listed here.

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Winged Blade is an item that gives pretty neutral stats. Every single god benefits from the Health, CDR, Movement Speed and Attack Speed it gives. These stats are not why you want to buy Winged Blade though; you buy it for its great passive. The passive makes you immune to slows when you are hit by them while also making you move 20% faster than before. The passive can be activated every 30 seconds, so it will almost always be ready to be activated when you start a fight with your enemy.

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This active has an effect that is better than Winged Blade's passive in every way (it grants you more speed and lasts longer), but it has a 60-second cooldown. It can also be activated whenever you want, while Winged Blade's passive will activate automatically when you're hit by a slow. Most of the time, you will have to choose between this item or Winged Blade when you want to counter a god that slows you.

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This item is worse than Greater Sprint in every way because its effect lasts for a shorter time than Greater Sprint's and it has a 30-second longer cooldown. The only reason to choose Heavenly Agility over Greater Sprint is that it increases your healing by 25% for 5 seconds. In most cases, Greater Sprint is a better item to buy than this one

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If your opponent uses both CC and slows on you, you can buy this item to counter both at the same time. Using it even reduces your ability cooldowns by 3 seconds! Greater Purification has a 90-second cooldown and it lasts for only 3 seconds though.

Well, that's it! Thanks for reading my guide, I hope that it has been helpful to you! I appreciate all feedback to help improve the guide and like upvotes a lot (wink, wink). Corrections concerning grammatical errors I've made (English isn't my native language) are also very welcome. I also feel like the counterbuilding section is pretty short, so tell me if you think that I missed a certain type of god to counter.

Now go crush some jousters!

Tsjawatnu

So you want to learn to joust by watching the best play? Sure thing. Here are the Twitch and YouTube channels of some good jousters.

SamDaDude: YouTube - Twitch

Nshadow: YouTube - Twitch
note: Nshadow does not only play, he also makes joust tier lists.

TydeTyme: YouTube - Twitch
note: TydeTyme has a couple of guides on his YouTube channel. Most of them are about joust 1v1

Multiboxology: Twitch

Bennna: YouTube - Twitch

Updates

• 23/01/2015 - Started making this guide
• 16/02/2015 - Published the guide
• 01/06/2015 - Minor edits, including update of tier list
• 21/06/2015 - The tier list is definitely out of date, so there's a link to a better one now
• 18/07/2015 - Updated the tier list and reformulated some things. Rewrote the sub-section "which god should I take?" and added the sub-section "What defines a good jouster?". Also fixed broken links.
• 20/08/2015 - Updated the tier list and some items in the Counterbuilding section.
• 22/08/2015 - Reformulated some things and added the "Countering gods who slow you... a lot" spoiler to the counterbuilding section. Also tried to upvote my own guide. It didn't work.
• 25/09/2015 - Added Khepri to the tier list. Also updated some item descriptions in the Counterbuilding section and added the "Backdooring" section
• 30/09/2015 - Added the "Joust Youtubers and Streamers" section

Thanks to...

• jhoijhoi, Matt and Bryun from MobaFire for their guide on BBCoding
• TormentedTurnip and Jordenito from SmiteFire, also for their guide on BBCoding
• Nshadow for his well thought-out tier list
  
  
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