Preseason always brings some nice little treats for players to discover and potentially exploit, and this year's was no different. Here we look at the new Dragon and how you can get your team ahead from the very start!

How it works

Both Pantheon and Fiora are capable of this feat, yet we will look into predominantly Pantheon, who is considered the Jungler of the two. Firstly, let's look at the Spartan's skill set to see why he's best equipped to slay the Dragon.

Passive - Aegis of Protection
This is the reason it's all possible. Pantheon can block basic attacks, this includes Dragons attack meaning if you can keep proccing this passive, you can negate all Dragon damage. It requires 4 of Pantheon's basic attacks or spells to charge up.

Q - Spear shot
One of Pantheon's signature moves, you should take it first as it does the most damage with the lowest cool down of all Pantheon's abilities.

W - Aegis of Zeonia
This is primarily a gap closer and stun, a reason why early Pantheon ganks are truly terrifying. However, the reason to take it second here is because of its lesser known passive. Once Aegis of Zeona has been activated, it gives you a fully stacked Aegis of Protection, as well as keeping your original stacks.

E - Heartseeker Strike
Early on in the game, this does little damage and has a high cool down, so is not worth taking over Spear Shot. You should still take it third however.

R - Grand Skyfall
The legendary Sparta drop from the skies, unfortunately not needed and unavailable at level 2.

Youtuber LiKe BuTTeR shows us how it's done!

How it's done

There are two ways of doing this, usually depending on the side of the jungle that you start.

Blue side:

- You can start top side jungle, get Blue Buff and head straight to the Dragon, this is the easiest method without rune/mastery tampering.

- You can start top side, take Blue Buff and get level 3 with Red buff before doing Dragon. This makes it easier as you have two buffs and more spells.

- You can start bottom side, take Red buff and head straight for Dragon, but you will need Attack Speed Masteries and Runes to be able to proc Aegis of Protection often enough.

Purple side however is a lot easier. Starting Blue buff gives you quick access to the Dragon and you will be able to proc Aegis of Protection in time with the increased cooldown and mana by using spells.

How to not get caught

Although not widely known, this method of jungling is quickly becoming increasingly known. It is likely at least one person on the opposing team will notice Pantheon Jungle and suspect something.

Your runes should be AD and AS based for clear speed, so even if you are Blue Side it should not be that hard, aim for going Dragon level 2 as the opposing Jungler will be tied up at their own buffs.

Tell your Bottom and Middle lanes what you are doing and have them push hard early. This will prevent the enemy laners coming to help or even check on Dragon, and may force the enemy Jungler to go gank instead.

Take Sweeper, not Warding totem. People may know your plan and ward before hand, check with the sweeper in the dragon pit and try have vision of the outside at 1:30, this will prevent enemies warding near it early.

Save Smite till last! One of the worst mistakes is to panic smite. Save it until the Dragon has 400 health so you can confirm the kill, don't let someone steal your work!

Closing Remarks

Try to time your W for when you don't feel you will have 4 stacks in time, you will keep the original stacks and still have a block ready. Feel free to experiment in a custom before hand, after one or two attempts you will have mastered the art. The most difficult aspect of this is not getting caught and the risk may differ game to game, but the rewards are worth it. The new Dragon buff is a great way to snowball your team, and allows a ganking Jungler to secure objectives farming Junglers are more renowned for.

Now go slay some Dragons!