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Vampiric Shroud
Lost Artifact
Healing Potion
Mana Potion
Doom Orb
Shoes of Focus
Rod of Tahuti
Chronos' Pendant
Obsidian Shard
Polynomicon
Bancroft's Talon
Bulwark of Hope
Breastplate of Valor
Void Stone
Combat Blink
Heavenly Agility
Purification Beads (Old)
Aegis Amulet (Old)
Spirit Robe
Divine Ruin
Magi's Cloak
Bancroft's Talon
Shoes of the Magi
Warlock's Staff
Rod of Tahuti
Obsidian Shard
Magi's Cloak
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Janus the Roman God of Portals and Transitions. Today I will give you a insight on how I play Janus, how to clear waves, how to build, and how to react in team fights. Lets get started shall we? Janus a fair bit. That's what encouraged me to make a build for him.
Portal is difficult to land (Walls get in the way in small areas) Unstable Vortex is the pure damage of Janus's kit (Important to land)
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You're picking this up for the sustain in lane. Since Janus has really good waveclear, it means you will be able to get the most out of this passive, and stay in lane longer.
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Pretty standard start, doing this allows you to build into Doom Orb straight away, or after your boots and as I mention below, Doom Orb is such a brilliant item right now on any mid, and its defiantly something you should pick up.
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Picking up these potions will allow you to take harass, and stay in lane longer. You could also opt for a  Ward over a Mana Potion but I'd base that decision on the enemy jungler. If the enemy jungler is a god like  Fenrir,  Loki, or  Mercury who can get a early gank on midlane which could result in a kill, then a ward or two might not be a bad idea.
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Most gods need boots, and it isn't different for Janus. Extra movement speed for rotating, extra power, and CDR or More power. The question is, which do I get? The power boots or the CDR boots? You can choose. It normally depends on your team set up. A majority of Janus's cooldown's are long, but do you want to get some more power early for more damage? Or be able to use your abilities more? Normally I'd pick CDR over power boots as its so useful to have lower cooldowns over a extra bit of power, but it's your choice.
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This is such a strong item right now. With it's cost being lowered, it is so efficient with even little stacks. Like if you have more than around 15 stacks then Doom Orb is worth the money. The extra stacks on top just help you get even more bang for your buck, and if you're in a winning situation can help you snowball/stay ahead. So don't worry when you lose half your stacks, it's worth it anyway. Make sure to pick this item up. |
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This item is necessary on most mages, and it defiantly is on Janus. 25% more magical power, more MP5 and a LOT of power. Pick this up, defiantly.
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Remember when I said I you should pick up some cdr later if you take pen boots? Well this is the item to get. Offers a decent amount of power, high cooldown reduction and a large amount of MP5. You could pick up Breastplate of Valor over this, but it depends on the situation. Are you behind in experience? You could pick Breastplate of Valor up. Three physicals destroying you? You could pick Breastplate of Valor up.
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Ah... Poly. Even after its nerf it is still a decent on most mages, and good on a few. Janus, is one of those few. Considering Janus's abilities all lead up to one massive combo, having poly can really increase his burst for the better.
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I consider this a must for most mages, and Janus is no exception. That extra pen will get you through enemy protections in a second. I'd only not pick this up if your team consists of 1 magicial. Otherwise, pick this up. You may also be wondering, what about  Spear of the Magus? Yeah he does have a really strong combo, but the thing is late game you most likely wont be doing that combo. Landing Janus's Portal is hard enough by itself, but to do it successfully in a team fight isn't easy. Hence why I get Obsidian Shard over Spear of the Magus. If you insist on picking it up though I wont complain, since it is viable early-mid.
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This is only something I'd pick up if the enemy has 3-5 high damaging mages, and that is a very rare occurance. But if it does happen, don't be afraid to pick this up as the passive may save you from the burst. |
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This item is sort of dependent on what the enemy team has, if they have like 3-5 physical gods I'd pick this up over Chronos' Pendant. Its gives you a large amount of mana, good protections and a large chunk of cdr.
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Are 2-3 mages on the enemy team dealing a lot of damage to you? Then picking up this item may be worth while. It'll give you some power, some protection and some penetration. |
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Ah... This item. A love of mine, even before the buffs. This item is good against any type of cc comp, and with magi's blessing being much weaker, I really prefer this item over magi's. Its so good for its cost, offering cdr and defence and it's defiantly always a option. |
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Does the enemy have a decent amount of healing on their team? Like a  Hercules and  Aphrodite? They do? Then yeah, pick this up. You already have a large amount of burst, but having this item will make sure they can't heal up much after you have delivered it to them.
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| Magi's blessing | Don't you just hate it when the enemy team has a high amount of cc and you can't do anything? That's why magi's blessing is there. I'd only pick this up against a high CC team, as this will allow you to go in a teamfight and deliver your combo without being CCed for a duration. Its only works once every 45s though, so be careful. |
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This is probably the active which I've least bought because of its 3 minute cooldown. Yeah, it could save you. But so could  Purification Beads, or  Greater Sprint. There is just much better options for escapes, but if their team has large cc, this may be better than sprint overall, but not Purification Beads.
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Being able to make your entire team faster for 6s is a great thing. It can help in retreats, engaging and sometimes even healing. That's right, Heavenly Agility increases healing by 25%, making it great if you have a healer on your team such as  Hel or Aphrodite. In most cases I'd pick this up, 40% extra speed with slow immunity is just too good to pass up.
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Best active in the game. Completely remove cc? Check. Lower Cooldowns? Check. Annoying piece of ****? Check. This active has it all. It'll let you escape, survive a  Ullr combo, and lower your cooldowns for kills. A must have most of the time.
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This isn't a active I pick up on a regular basis, but is sometimes needed if the enemy team has  I'm a Monster,  Searing Pain and  Regurgitate. I'm pretty much trying to say if the enemy has a lot of burst, picking this up might just save your day.
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Portal. Levelling up portal only adds some damage, levelling up Threshold however will increase slow, speed, scaling and duration. Unstable Vortex and Threshold. This is because levelling this up only adds a small amount of damage, and most the time you won't actually hit a snipe anyway, and will be using it more or less for the portals themselves. However, getting the damage on this is more useful then getting the damage on portal.
Janus. As long as you hit your entire Unstable Vortex the waves should get damaged pretty heavily. Focus on clearing then poking. You should be safe to use your Portal for clearing the wave and poke while the jungler is in solo lane, but try to use it less when the jungler is missing. Through Space and Time is up. If you are pushing out the enemy, but other lanes are getting pushed in charge up that ultimate and prepare to rotate. Assuming your team know you are coming, you should be able to get a decent gank off and maybe a kill if you play it right. If you are the one getting pushed in, just farm. Wait for your laner to back/rotate then rotate if possible. Try and make advantage of your ultimate. Wards and 
Sentry Wards. Knowledge is power. Ward offensively if you have towers, and defensively if not. Sentries should be placed on in both defensive and offensive areas, as well as the gold fury. Portal to set up Unstable Vortex then you are left without your escape. Take this in mind when fighting, this is my main reason why I wait to level up my Through Space and Time 2nd last as I will mainly keep it for escapes and initiation, not the damage. Janus is the fact you can ultimate your entire team over 100 feet. What does this mean? This means your entire team can be in duo lane, make the enemy sit under phoenix/tower then ult over to the fire giant and take it, after all they cant go as fast as you. Or if the enemy is attacking it you can Through Space and Time your entire team to it. Portal for poke you are losing your escape, and that might be vital to the situation you are in. Make sure to keep spamming your Unstable Vortex though, just through it out when you can and don't focus too hard on hitting both vortexes.
Passages
My thoughts
Portal
My thoughts
Unstable Vortex
My thoughts
Threshold
MY THOUGHTS
Through space and time
MY THOUGHTS
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Agni DIFFICULTY HARD
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 Agni is a very hard god to lane to against in any match up. He has the early wave clear with the dash, allowing him to clear a wave and then harass you, then when he stops using his dash to clear he will clear the wave with his  Flame Wave and then harass you with his  Rain Fire. You have to try and play this lane safe early, and rotate a large a amount mid game.
Tips and Tricks
There is a few things you can do to make his life a bit harder. For instance, at the beginning of the game you can opt to pick up Portal over Unstable Vortex. Why? While it still is a hard thing to do, if you place a portal and he dashes over it, it'll end the dash. Destroying his early wave clear. You also have to try and farm from under tower, using your Unstable Vortex at max distance if possible.
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He bo DIFFICULTY MEDIUM
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 He Bo hits hard. He will harass you with  Water Cannon and  Waterspout, and can easily end a low health character with his combos. However, his wave clear is still weak early to mid game, with his Water Cannon not being able to hit a full wave.
Tips and Tricks
Use your wave clear to hit only the front wave, and hit He Bo you will still nearly outclear him. So really, don't be afraid to harass him back. If you use your combo on him most of his health will disappear, as he is quite squishy with barely any escape outside his  Crushing Wave. Try and focus on clearing the wave early then harassing him after, and when it comes to mid game straight up focus him down.
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Isis DIFFICULTY MEDIUM
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Early game harass.  Eset will harass you hard early. She does the same as Agni, she can damage a wave quite heavily early. Allowing for her to hit level 2 and get  Spirit Ball, throw it in your face, and then have  Wing Gust up to hurt you more. She'll mainly be clearing waves then trying to harass you, but if she does that she'll get hurt badly herself.
Tips and Tricks
Portal. Like with Agni if you use your Portal it can stop her wind gust, destroying her wave clear. Remember this is still hard to achieve however. Either way, try to keep the harass on her using your 1 2 combo. But remember, if you get  Dispel Magic'd, you'll then find yourself with a Spirit Ball and Wing Gust in your face. This is all the burst she can put out, so after she has achieved this combo you can actually try and aggress on her as she'll only have her ultimate up. Remember to take her cooldowns into mind when doing this.
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Kukulkan DIFFICULTY EASY
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 Kukulkan's playstyle is pretty simple. Place  Whirlwind on wave, done. When he clears he will be trying to aggress with his  Zephyr, of which he can spam a large amount. He won't be clearing much early, but level 6 up he will be clearing waveseasily.
Tips and Tricks
Try and be aggressive early. Your wave clear is stronger early, so try to take advantage of the low cdr on your Unstable Vortex and poke him when you cleared the wave. If you manage to keep on hitting your Portal Unstable Vortex combo he should be low and sat under tower. At this point you should take advantage of his tower hugging and rotate with your ultimate. Look for kills, anything to put you ahead more and more.
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Thanks to:
PiederMan - BBcoding
Sanguis - BBcoding
BestMinionEver - BBcoding
I will be coming back to this guide whenever I have time, so please do leave some feedback on what I can improve on and add! Thanks :D
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I studied this guide and went into practice mode with Janus to get a hang of the combos etc. i still need some more experience using his ult in different ways but let me tell you this...
1st game with him 10/1/7
2nd game with him 14/3/4
Janus is an absolute beast if you play smart. The only thing i struggle with ( as a player ) is how/when to engage in the team fights as Janus since i know im squishy but i do have the escape to use when ready. I tend to be slightly passive ( staying back and poking with vortex ) when engaging team fights but is it worth going aggressive on him, if so, what should i be doing when engaging in big team fights?
Thanks for the amazing guide
Glad to hear you like the guide! Thanks for the support.
Janus should always be poking in the fights, it depends on how you are playing him though as well. If you built him with cooldown for utility, then you want to make sure you're poking with
1st game with him 10/1/7
2nd game with him 14/3/4
Janus is an absolute beast if you play smart. The only thing i struggle with ( as a player ) is how/when to engage in the team fights as Janus since i know im squishy but i do have the escape to use when ready. I tend to be slightly passive ( staying back and poking with vortex ) when engaging team fights but is it worth going aggressive on him, if so, what should i be doing when engaging in big team fights?
Thanks for the amazing guide
1st game with him 10/1/7
2nd game with him 14/3/4
Janus is an absolute beast if you play smart. The only thing i struggle with ( as a player ) is how/when to engage in the team fights as Janus since i know im squishy but i do have the escape to use when ready. I tend to be slightly passive ( staying back and poking with vortex ) when engaging team fights but is it worth going aggressive on him, if so, what should i be doing when engaging in big team fights?
Thanks for the amazing guide
You gave me a lot of constructive criticism on my guides (definitely made some good points) so I was curious to see if you had any guides for yourself. This guide is pretty great though, I've been meaning to try
Only thing I will mention is that you did discuss
Really nice build though, +1.
Thanks, If I came off rude while writing my responses its because I was quite irritated during the day :P
You're right, I did forget to talk about what to do with tiny trinket, ill have to update that in my build. I will put it in short here though:
8/10 you will always build this into bancrofts because you don't benefit enough from anything else (except sometimes divine ruin). However, instead of finishing it first item which is what a few people do I'd say still build and finish boots first. Mobility is important. Its pretty much preference what you want to build after that, I still think you should always get warlock's sash next but you could always get
Only thing I will mention is that you did discuss
Really nice build though, +1.