Champion counters are not the end of all things
I keep seeing people on the boards like
"Oh well this champions is good at x but if you pick this other champion they get shit on!" or "Well you should never pick this champion if you see the enemy team has this other champion."
And many other examples.
To be honest few things annoy me more. Because I would rather my 5000 game Katarina main pick Kat into Malzahar than have her try Swain for the first time in Ranked just because he counters Malzahar.
I main Shyvana(if the boards haven't noticed yet). I will pick her against Yi, Xin Zhao and Shaco. Even though they counter her. Because I have more of a chance of beating them on Shyvana, than if I just decided to become a Jax jungler to counter Yi.
You can always play around a champion, you can always learn ways to counter build them, you can always rely on your team and play it out till late/mid game. Or roam and be of use elsewhere while avoiding them. And so forth. What you cannot do is magically gain hundreds of games of experience on a new champion just to counter pick another.
http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2332079241/48865711 http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2331807634/48865711 http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2332153510/48865711 http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/2319532010/48865711 I am better off picking the champion I know and am good at. Than some random counterpick. I say this specifically in response to comments like: "Why pick Shyvana into Vi?" "Why pick Shyvana into Shaco?" Among others. Simple, I and my team are better off with me playing a champion I am good at. Counters aren't the end of the world. Again, they can be built around and played around. Glad I got that off my chest. Now off to work.
which have very few direct counterpicks to being with, as she is literally designed to win lane. Her early game is so strong that unless you have something with an early game as strong as her, like 
or 
, you are not going to counterpick her.
against her not because I want to stomp her on lane, but because he has as much sustain as her, is ranged (can destroy her tentacles from a safe distance), is manaless (can win the attrition battle against her in the long run, as she has moderate mana costs) and his pool can be used both to dodge her Test of Spirit and to run away if she ults. It helps that I am very good with Vladimir.
. He is also know for being an early game god. Like Illaoi, he also lacks mobility. However, he also has much worse mana issues, lacks sustain, cannot build tanky (at least not if he wants to do damage by mid/late game) and falls off even harder. At least he is more reliable (no skillshots, so he is easier to use)
+ 4 
for example. This should reduce his damage early and allow you to better survive. Your goal is not to win this lane, but to survive until you can outscale Pantheon. If you can built tanky, buy a 
. This item is amazing against Pantheon, as it offers HP (Pantheon buys lot of armor penetration early, so HP is your best bet at countering him, but armor is still a good option against him). It also offers waveclear, as Pantheon's waveclear isn't that amazing early. Ganking Pantheon will reduce the amount of pressure he can put in lane, and unlike Illaoi, he has no 1x2 potential, so ganking will be his bane if he is not fed.
into 
