Ashe Pantheon to Top 40 Masters – Everything You Need To Know!

Introduction and Stats

Hey there, Raphterra here! Today, I’m sharing my guide on Targon Frostbite / Ashe Pantheon. This is the deck that I personally used to climb to Top 42 Masters at 76% Winrate (19 Wins, 6 Losses). After playing more games, my winrate stabilized at 70% (28 Wins, 12 Losses).

The current meta is dominated by two champions: Seraphine and Vayne. It should be common sense to try to counter these two champions, but if you look at the popular meta counters, you will find that you’ll be stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you try to counter Ezreal Seraphine, you will most likely lose to Vayne Demacia decks. If you try to counter Vayne Demacia, you will probably be destroyed by Ezreal Seraphine.

This is why I came up with this brew of combining Frostbite and Fated together. This is an ultra hard counter Vayne Demacia; I personally had a score of 14 wins and 2 losses against Demacia decks. The good thing is, this Vayne counter does not lose to Seraphine! My score against Seraphine decks is 5 wins and 5 losses. Balanced, as all things should be!

If you want to see the deck in action after reading this article, check out my full video guide!

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Ashe Pantheon Deck Build

Why Targon Over Noxus?

After seeing this deck, you’ll probably ask me, why am I running Frostbite with Targon instead of with Noxus? Traditionally, Ashe is paired with Noxus because the Reputation package gives this deck reliable card refill with Trifarian Assessor and Whispered Words. Ionian Hookmaster, arguably the best weaponmaster in the game, also happens to be a Noxus unit. Having weaponmasters is crucial to activate the latest support card for Frostbite, The Unforgiving Cold.

However, there’s a big problem with bringing Ashe Noxus to ranked ladder: it loses hard to aggro decks and removal-based decks like Ezreal Seraphine. This is where Targon comes in. Targon has a great weaponmaster / equipment package with The Darkin Lodestone and Wandering Shepherd. This makes it very easy to complete The Unforgiving Cold‘s requirement. You also get cheaper and more efficient card draw with Pale Cascade and Guiding Touch as replacements for Whispered Words and Trifarian Assessor.

Targon also covers Ashe Frostbite‘s weakness against removal-based decks. Pantheon‘s Fated package is even to slightly favored against Ezreal Seraphine because it can be hard for Seraphine decks to deal with multiple spellshield units like Pantheon, Camphor, the Doubt, and Horazi. These units are also alternative win conditions if your opponent is able to remove Ashe.

What Makes This Deck Great Against The Meta?

So if you’re going even against Seraphine decks, all that’s left to do is handle the second half of the meta: Demacia. Frostbite has always been a hard counter Demacia, but running Pantheon makes the matchup even easier. Fated units can outmuscle most Demacia boards, and we also happen to run a Freljord landmark that synergizes well with Fated: Ornn’s Forge. Ornn’s Forge allows your Fated units to grow bigger than any opposing Demacia units. It’s also the ultimate mirror breaker against other Pantheon decks.

By combining Ashe‘s Frostbite package with Pantheon‘s Fated package, you have the ultimate, perfect counter deck for the current meta.

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General Mulligan For Ashe Pantheon

For the mulligan, you’re always going to keep one to two copies of Saga Seeker, Mountain Goat, and Stalking Wolf. If you already have a few copies of your early units, you want to also keep Target / Fated activators like The Darkin Lodestone and Wandering Shepherd.

If you have a good hand of both early units and target activators, you can start keeping tech cards. Icevale Archer is great to keep against attack-centric combo decks (Vayne Zed / Vayne Rumble). Ashe is a solid on-curve play against Demacia decks, especially if you can back her up with Troll Chant, Pale Cascade, or Flash Freeze.

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General Gameplay Tips For Ashe Pantheon

• Protection is Perfection
  Your units are very important, and keeping up spell mana for protection spells is crucial for your gameplan. Make sure to always represent protection spells for your key units.

• Plan for Ashe’s Level up.
  Ashe levels up deceptively fast with The Unforgiving Cold. Make sure to track your Frostbite procs, check if you can level-up Ashe and threaten lethal damage on your next attack turn.

• Work to level up Pantheon
  From the start of the game, you should be thinking about how you can progress Pantheon and Camphor, the Doubt‘s level-up requirements. Spread out your target procs across multiple turns to make sure that your progressing your unit level ups.

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Meta Matchup Tips

Pantheon Fiora / Vayne

Mulligan: Saga Seeker, Mountain Goat, Stalking Wolf. If you have early units: The Darkin Lodestone, Wandering Shepherd. If you have a good hand: Ornn’s Forge, Icevale Archer, Ashe, Troll Chant, Pale Cascade.

Gameplan:

• Grow and scale your Fated units. The player who has the stronger Pantheon will have a big advantage.
• Ornn’s Forge is one of the mirror breaker cards for the matchup. This card will allow your units to grow larger than your opponent’s.
• Frostbite cards like Ashe, Icevale Archer, and The Unforgiving Cold also tip the matchup in your favor. These cards will allow you to shut down your opponent’s combat and strike capabilities.
• Watch out for Strike spells like Fish Fight, Concerted Strike, and Single Combat. Always represent mana for your counter protective spells.
• This matchup is heavily favored for Ashe Pantheon. Frostbite beats Demacia!

Decks that you can apply the same strategies: Vayne Fiora, Akshan Lee Sin, Vayne Rumble

Annie Jhin

Mulligan: Saga Seeker, Mountain Goat, Stalking Wolf, Icevale Archer. If you have early units: The Darkin Lodestone, Wandering Shepherd. If you have a good hand: Pantheon, Troll Chant, Guiding Touch.

Gameplan:

• Hard mulligan for early units, and try to survive the early aggression. Take care of your Nexus health at all costs!
• Icevale Archer is a key card in this matchup. You can use it to weaken their combo turns when they play multiple stun units like Solari Sunhawk and The Stagehand.
• Level 2 Pantheon getting Lifesteal will be your main way of stabilizing the game. Developing a wide board is your first priority, but make sure to work for Pantheon‘s level up too.
• Guiding Touch is another source of healing for the deck which can put you out of range of Decimate and Noxian Fervor.
• This matchup is unfavored, but not unwinnable. It will be difficult to survive if you cannot keep up with wide attacks, but winning is possible if you have a good hand with multiple early units.

Decks that you can apply the same strategies: Hecarim Zed, Pirate Aggro

Seraphine Ezreal

Mulligan: Saga Seeker, Mountain Goat, Stalking Wolf. If you have early units: The Darkin Lodestone, Wandering Shepherd. If you have a good hand: Troll Chant, Guiding Touch, Ashe.

Gameplan:

• Be the aggressor! You need to win before they can drop their Level 2 champions. Prioritize applying pressure and progressing Pantheon‘s level up.
• Beware of their multiple removal spells. They will try to remove your units and control your board, but you can force two-for-one trades by buffing up your units with Pale Cascade or The Darkin Lodestone. Guiding Touch and Gems are useful to protect your units from Ravenous Flock.
• If you can force out removal spells on your early units, your Pantheon and Camphor, the Doubt are more likely to be successful in closing out games.
• Developing the board to deal more damage is usually better over open attacking. Ezreal Seraphine‘s answers are usually fast/burst speed, so it’s much better to develop a stronger board instead of rushing attacks.
• This matchup is even. You will have Pantheon as a reliable win condition, but your opponent can generate enough counter spells. Sometimes, you will just die quickly to their Level 2 champions.

Decks that you can apply the same strategies: Seraphine Viktor Ionia, Seraphine Viktor Shadow Isles

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Closing Words

Ashe‘s Frostbite package has been receiving several buffs in the past patches. With the release of The Unforgiving Cold, I knew it was only a matter of time until a new competitive Frostbite archetype emerges. I think that the future is bright and Ashe will find new homes in other regions once the next expansion goes live. Right now, the archetype still needs to rely on Equipment and weaponmasters from other regions to activate The Unforgiving Cold reliably. However, this may all change once we get the final Darkin weapon for Freljord!

Good luck on your ladder climb! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me on YouTube, Discord, or Twitter!