How to Play Galio Pantheon
Hey guys NicMakesPlays here.
Today I’m going to go over my Galio Pantheon deck!
This deck is a ton of fun to play and it plays to Galio’s strengths, so check it out if you want to play around with Demacia and Targon.
For more decks, head to the Deck Library! To build your own, head to the Deck Builder.
Deck Code: CECQEAIABEGQIBIABEGBEFADAMERWIZTAEBQADQCAUEQGBQCAEBQSXABAEABUAA
[See NicMakesPlays Galio Pantheon v2 deck details]
Goal of Deck and Mulligans
The goal of this deck is to put up a strong board and hold down the field while leveling Pantheon.
On turn 7 you can play Galio with a wide board and win with his level up. This deck wins turn 7+ with a leveled Galio or Pantheon.
In this deck, you want to mulligan for cheap units that are good targets to be buffed such as Pretricite Broadwing, Mountain Goat, and Wounded Whiteflame.
You also want to mulligan for cheap buff spells such as Chain Vest, Pale Cascade, and Sharpsight. These allow you to hold down the early game while also leveling Pantheon.
Petricite Hound / Petricite Broadwing
Petricite Hound and Petricite Broadwing are your low-cost Formidable units of the deck.
Petricite Hound is a cheap and easy target to start racking up Pantheon triggers on stacking with buffs.
Petricite Broadwing has 3 health and Challenger making it an amazing unit to start gaining board control with.
Both of these cards make great use of Chain Vest, Shield of Durand, Guiding Touch, and other buffs due to their Formidable keyword.
Mountain Goat / Chain Vest
Mountain Goat’s Gems and Chain Vest are both amazing cheap combat tricks. Mountain Goat is a 2 drop that gives you Gems to help level Pantheon quickly. Having a card that is both a unit + gives you buff spells helps the consistency of the deck.
Chain Vest is a cheap 1 mana buff spell as well. You can pass turn 1 to bank spell mana, then use Chain Vest of Broadwing Petricite next turn.
This is particularly strong due to his Formidable keyword so his retained health is also retained attack.
Galio / Pantheon
Galio and Pantheon are your champions of the deck. The goal of this deck is to hold down the field and create a wide board for Galio.
You want to play defensively and block with your units + use combat tricks to win your combat trades.
After, you’ll have a strong board on turn 7 for when you play Galio. You can buff your entire board and then win through his leveled-up form.
Also throughout the game, while you are buffing your units with combat tricks, you are leveling Pantheon as an alt win con. You can summon him when leveled and win via his keyword combination.
Shield of Durand / Guiding Touch
Shield of Durand is an amazing combat trick and one of the best cards of the new expansion. Shield of Durand helps you win any combat trade by giving your units a ton of health.
This card is particularly strong with Formidable units since their health is also their attack, so it can bring their power to insane levels. Guiding Touch has a plethora of uses in this deck.
You can use Guiding Touch on a damaged Formidable unit to give it both health and attack back simultaneously. Guiding Touch also helps level Pantheon and can heal your nexus against the Aggro matchup.
Zenith Blade / Single Combat
Zenith Blade is an amazing card in this deck to give you yet another win condition. You can put Zenith Blade on a unit that is buffed to put on major damage.
Zenith Blade is particularly strong with Formidable units because it gives +1|+2 and it also combos well with Shield of Durand.
Single Combat is your interaction with the deck. This deck already holds down the board well, so all you need is a Single Combat for their one threat and then they can’t deal with your field.
Good Matchups
This deck is amazing against any combat-based deck and control. Against combat-based decks, you can hold down the board with your bigger units + combat tricks. The Formidable keyword + Shield of Durand will win most combat trades and then you can close games out with Galio. Against control, you have tons of combat tricks to help keep your units alive.
You can use Chain Vest, Pale Cascade, and Sharpsight to force them to use extra removal spells to kill your units. You can even use Guiding Touch on your units to heal back their health. Against control, you can easily finish a game with leveled Galio or Pantheon.
Bad Matchups
This deck has a weak matchup against Aggro. Having your early game blockers such as Petricite Hound and Petricite Broadwing to win the early game is huge.
You can use Guiding Touch to heal your nexus in the late game to stay out of burn reach. You can also hold Single Combat to counter their Noxian Fervor and then take over the board from there.
Tech Choices
If you want to tech in cards you can cut copies of Mountain Goat, Pale Cascade, or Zenith Blade.
Concerted Strike: This card is a great way to have answers against bigger units without having to trade yours in return.
Hush: Hush is well-rounded into the meta to nullify the opponent’s key effects and buffs.
Screeching Dragon: This card is great at holding down the mid-game with its Challenger and Fury. You can use this card + combat tricks to smoothly transition into Galio turns.
For more decks, head to the Deck Library! To build your own, head to the Deck Builder.
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