Zeus- Joust 0-100 Real Quick

Hello to all you Zeus players (beginning or advanced). With the new Season 4 update, I really felt as if Zeus was finally getting his spotlight in the SPL, sadly he isn't noticed in Joust that often, and when he is its not that great.

My qualifications?
* 9k Mastery Zeus
* Plat I in S4 Ranked Joust (Placed in Gold III won all but one of my matches and went to Plat I)
* Diamond Border in joust and Conquest (Ranked); Ranked in the better half of top 100 (from 22-70 usually) Zeus players for Ranked Joust.
* I like Zeus :)

NOTE:
According to some people this is the worst build possible and anyone that plays 1 god is **** soo...let me make it clear. This isn't the only Zeus build, but this is my favorite and it has won me 80% of my matches. If you don't like it fine, enjoy your day!

In Joust, as Zeus (not most other mages), you have to be aggressive and constantly poking the enemy team to hell and back. For this reason I like to have an adc/support that have really fast clear (I.e: Ymir and AMC) this way I can focus on killing the gods without having to worry about minions.

With the way Zeus works his 2-1-3 combo is very deadly, but has ONE major weakness. MINIONS! If minions are nearby they will soak up all of the charges from Chain Lightning and you will be 100% useless to fight the enemy team. On the other hand if your ADC clears the wave (preferably before the enemy team does) you can focus 100% of you damage to the enemy team.

STARTING:
At the beginning be semi aggressive; TAKE THE RED BUFF SOLO. Nobody ever expects someone to solo red buff the second they spawn; especially when their team is in mid. With Zeus you can 2-1-auto-auto-auto-3 the camp for a secured camp. (Save detonate for the buff holding monster when he/she's low). After you want to clear the wave, and do blue buff. (Give this to your support if you are feeling generous, you won't need it too much)

As soon as you are able to get your 2nd item (Spear of magus) GO ALL IN!!! With just Shoes of Focus and Spear of Magus you will be able to hit the entire enemy team for 50% of ALL their HPs in one combo. This will force them to play even more defensively (thats good :D)

Shoes of Focus:
I prefer mana boots over pen boots for two reasons, CDR and mana (of course). Additionally, not having T3 boots at the start can make you VERY VERY easy to kill!! Zeus with T3 boots has 419 movement speed.

Spear of Magus:
This item essentially gives your detonate TRUE damage for the first 10 mins (At which point they surrender). This item is very cheap and synergizes very well with Zeus! A must have item.

Rod of Tahuti:
Yes, I do realize that Rod's passive isn't amazing early game and book of thoth or bancrofts talons gives you a better power / gold ratio. SO WHY DO I ALWAYS GET IT 3RD on ZEUS??? Because I can, and while it is an expensive item, it ALWAYS leads to enough power to 1 shot the mage and ADC. I have tried every item you could imagine and nothing has worked better (at least for me) than tahuti 3rd item.

Bulwark of Hope???:
Yes, defense items are necessary! If you are facing a double magical team comp, pick bulwark first, if you are facing double physical go with Dynasty (or even Breastplate if you want- its not that good anymore). This item alone has allowed me to win TWO of my qualifying matches with our support disconnecting 5 minutes in.

Dynasty Plate helm:
Simple, you get more pen, defense and power for 1700 gold.

Obsidian Shard:
At this point in the game the tank is probably not dying fast enough, so get this sonuva***** and BAM continue one shotting their team and objectives.

Pros:
Very powerful early/mid/late game
AoE damage that takes up the entire lane
Easy to confirm damage
Counters Aegis; Un-tagetable gods; gods with escape

Cons:
Squishy-ish? (Just get 2 defense items)
Low mobility (Take your time they're all dead [and I feel nothing])
No CC (Death is the best CC)
No escape (Get blink or something)

Level your 1-2-3 first, prioritize 3 (Level ultimate whenever you can) then 1 and 2.

If you have enough pressure, and the enemy team is not leaving tower/pheonix, go for Fire giant. Zeus (and an adc) can easily take FG as soon as it spawns. (5 seconds max)