Smite Item: Sands of Time

This is actually a pretty incredible starter right now (as of Patch 4.10). It's already been observed and used commonly in Conquest with good results, but seems to be a solid choice in other modes as well.

In Joust / Clash / Arena / Assault, the question is always, "do I get a starter, or just move ASAP into my first main item?" To that, I'll say that for the price, the 10% cooldown is one big key, but the sustain from the MP5 is significant, especially at lower levels when mana pools are still small.

It's also the best magical offensive/sustain starter option in any teamfight mode...when multiple people are splitting the minion waves, you aren't guaranteed to get the last hit, making Vampiric Shroud an unreliable sustain source. At the same time, Soul Stone gives back 40 mana when stacks are built and you activate an ability...but it's situational and isn't constantly working to regen mana.