As of January 2017, Artanis' rework has brought him to the top of the food chain and made him a prime example of a must ban/must pick hero in both solo queue HL and PRO tournaments level. The key change that made Artanis explode in power level is the added functionality on his Blade dash, that allows the hero to use his Phase prism during the 'journey' of his Dash ability. It's hard to hit, hard to learn to use well, but once you get to learn the ropes, every E hit equals one or more opposing hero deaths.

The amazing point of the Q+E synergy from Artanis is that it's useful from early game to late game, since you can either isolate someone on lane and make him get some tower shots while bodyblocking and killing him, or at big-level teamfights, engage,swap one (or two) heroes and serve them to your team for breakfast.

To top it off, Artanis is one of the best counters to AA based heroes that are very popular right now, due to the Suppression Pulse heroic, which is an effective 4 seconds of blind that can be cast from anywhere in the battlefield at a stunning 40 seconds cooldown. Couple this with his shields and tankiness, and he makes an amazing frontline off-tank hero with assassin damage and a unique engage that can lead to a short teamfight.

Right now, Artanis has no real counter. Probably that is the reason why he is on the strong guys tier. Given he can displace enemies for easy kills and take a beating while dishing out damage, makes him a good first pick.

However, be warned. Artanis is not a solo tank. He can't replace Diablo, Johanna, ETC, Muradin or Dehaka, because he is easily killable for a solo frontliner. Treat Artanis as a second tank (bruiser) or even a sturdy assassin like Sonya or Thrall. He has the initialisation needed for tanks, but he has no way to move out of harm and he has not way to help his teammates do their job better, because he completely lacks peels once the engage is on.

So, TLDR: Pick anytime you are certain someone else is going to get another warrior.

This may take a while to learn but it's worth it, so get yourself in QM and try mode and practice it. Here's the different uses of Q/E combo

a) The forward charge: Press Q, and before the peak of the trajectory, hit E. If you hit the target you will charge to him and slow him (due to level 4 talent) and bodyblock him because you will be on his back.

b) The god swap: Use just after the peak point of Q's trajectory (milliseconds after Artanis is returning). This will throw a Prism very far away while you are travelling backwards. If the Prism connects the unlucky opponent will get back A HUGE distance where your towers or team awaits him. You also get in front of him so you have a free shot on killing the hero. Best used against casters and no-easy escape heroes (Gul'dan, Kael'thas, Thrall etc)

c) The back swap: Less useful than (b) but still worth mentioning. This is used when the enemy is in front of you (almost melee range) and you need to replace yourself and him. Q backwards and immediately throw an E. If it hits, the opponent moves to the peak of your backward Q and you are in front of him.

Remember, friendly obstacles stop enemy movement, while enemy obstacles DO NOT stop Artanis movement. I.e. if you swap someone from inside a fort's gate, you will end up trapped inside the fort and the enemy outside.

Level 1: Two choices here. Either go Seasoned Marksman or Reactive Parry. Check your teams damage, and the opposing team composition and see what fits best. Usually Seasoned Marksman is better due to Twin blades.

Level 4: Shield surge is amazing here. I've never used something else. You get a nice shield when low, that usually ends up helping get the killing blow even if you are at 1hp. Keep in mind that this gets crazy with level 20 Force of Will.

Level 7: Warp Sickness all day. Remember that the bread and butter of Artanis is learning how to hit your Prisms while dashing. This adds up a 4 second slow to the opponent, which is more than enough for your teammates or towers to chunk a lot of health out of the hero.

Level 10: Suppression pulse is so good, that in 8/10 games it's a no brainer. Lots of AA heroes, unlimited range, even sometimes it can translate to a 4 second divine shield for your team (Tychus I am looking at you). Purifier beam is a choice ONLY if the opposing team is mage-happy or has a Morales. Beam on a mage will mean that the hero will need to walk back away from the team fight, so it can turn to an advantage. However, MOST of the times Pulse is the clear winner.

Level 13: I was a Triple Strike fan, while I was learning Artanis. When I got confident with my Prisms, I switched to Graviton Vortex and never looked back. There are two amazing parts in this talent. Firstly it pulls two heroes. Use the God swap on engage, and give your team two free kills. The second part is the cooldown reduction on E. It is so important that you will have your Q and E aligned timewise, that makes you more confident on using them.

Level 16: A direct damage buff, that goes over the top if the enemy team consists of more than one warriors, is Titan Killer. No hidden easter egg here, it's a bonus damage to the most common damage source, your auto attack. One can argue that charge distance is also nice, and I won't disagree, but damage is damage and I am sticking with it.

Level 20: Force of Will is simply ridiculous survivability. You can be in 1hp and still live if you are still attacking and don't get stunned. A simple W refreshes your shields and you become too tough to kill. There is some fun in taking double Pulse, but I'd only consider it if the bulk of the enemy damage is AA (meaning 3/5 heroes being AA).

a) Mana hungry. Q and E cost a lot of mana. Add to that the fact that you need to use them together most of the times and then notice that you almost always use W when off-cooldown (4 seconds) and you have a mana hungry beast. Don't be afraid to use your combo though, but keep in mind that you need frequent visits to the Hearth or fountains and never miss the opportunity to get some globes.

b) No escapes. Once you commit, you have started a teamfight. Know that and never go Q/E without someone to back it up if you see the opposing team together. Gather your team, set up and try for the engage.

c) Is no tank. Usually this is a problem in low ranks, where people think that if they play anything else than an assassin, a division with zero will occur and the world will perish. Picking Artanis does not mean you've picked a tank. If your draft doesn't contain a real tank or a second warrior, then you pretty much have no frontline.

Artanis is a typical bruiser that wants to be in the thick of the battle to get his trait's value. He is also able to sneak pull someone into his team leading to a early hero death and thus an disadvantageous team fight for the victim's side.

Like against most heroes, CC is god. A stunned Artanis can't attack, can't reset shields and will just die to damage. Strong kiters, are amazing against Artanis just like mages that will outrange him without walking on the trap of getting swapped. Also, frontliners with stuns are amazing against him, because they can interrupt his dash and make his Q/E combo turned against him by stunning him midway or even before casting E. Also keep in mind that a Muradin or ETC isn't exactly the guy that Artanis wants to swap into his team.

So, tanks that can actually stun/peel and protect the backline are a good counter to Artanis' sneaky engage, so if you are facing him, try to get a solid frontline and protect your valuable support and assassins. If you are an assassin or a support, try to keep good vision of what's going to happen and where Artanis can pop from, and try to make his E as hard to hit as possible (never stay steady).

Summing it up, as of Zul'jin's Patch (January 2017), Artanis is a first ban/first pick hero that you need to learn how to play and face if you are ranking up. He has no clear counter and he has a good set of answers to many different team compositions making him one of the best heroes to have in your team. Remember to help Artanis with waveclear, since he has a poor ability to clear minions quickly and if you manage to clear an enemy wave fast, you make room for Artanis to perform a good swap with the opposing laner, so that your towers will hit the hero and not the enemy minions.

Also as an Artanis, when reaching level 10, stick with your team because that way every successful Prism is translated to a hero death and an advantage for your team.

Be well and enjoy the game.