Pantheon vs Riven TOP Matchup Guide | LaneStomp

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Riven

Pantheon vs Riven

Updated Jun 3, 2026

Overview

Pantheon is a strong early lane bully who must pressure Riven to deny her cooldown advantage and scaling potential.
Prioritize early empowered trades and wave control to prevent Riven from freely using her mobility and combo resets.
This is a snowball matchup where Pantheon must leverage early lane pressure and roam impact before Riven's mid game power spikes.

Trading pattern

Start trades with (W) stun when empowered and follow up with empowered (Q) for burst, then block Riven's retaliation with (E).
Punish Riven immediately after she uses (Q) and (E) mobility cooldowns or misses her (W) stun.
Avoid extended trades when (E) is down, as Riven can outlast your burst and punish your cooldowns.

Danger windows

Be cautious when Riven has all her cooldowns available, especially (W) stun and third (Q) knockup, as she can chain burst combos.
Avoid engaging when your (W) or (E) is on cooldown since Riven can punish predictable engages or block timings.
After using (R) to roam, hard push the wave to deny Riven plates and warn teammates of potential counterplay.

Early game

Use level 2-3 empowered (Q), (W), and (E) to force short trades and build a health lead before Riven can chain her cooldowns.
Avoid using (W) to engage into bad wave states where Riven can punish your cooldowns.
Crash waves aggressively to create roam opportunities with (R) once level 6 is reached.

Power spikes

At level 2-3, use empowered (Q), (W), and (E) to force lane dominance and build early leads; crash waves to enable roams.
Respect Riven's level 6 spike when (R) is active; avoid extended trades and bait her cooldowns before committing.
Watch for Riven's first haste/damage item timing to contest wave control and punish cooldown windows aggressively.

Win conditions

Use early empowered trades with (W) stun and (E) damage block to establish lane control and deny Riven's scaling.
Crash waves before level 6 to create roam pressure with (R), forcing Riven to miss farm or tower plates.
Maintain lane pressure and cooldown discipline to snowball early leads into map impact before Riven's mid game power spikes.