Overcoming losers queue with pyke support
Intro
I am DDOSS. I have 560k mastery on pyke and I am grandmaster on the NA server. Pyke is great for when you want to feel like you have more agency in the result of your game. Winning and losing on your terms makes losers queue easier on the mind.
Win Con
Your win con on pyke is to snowball the game out of control. You do not scale into late game very well because your enemies will have defensive items (hourglass, ga, etc) and you cant build health. You also cannot solo carry very easily so you have to be very proactive around the map.
Runes
- Rune Page
Hail of blades is the best option. Lethality mixed with high attack speed is insane burst. It also allows you to weave in auto's when you usually couldn't during combos, ill explain later. Cheap shot helps burst after you hook. Zombie ward is up to you, but since pyke loves clearing wards so that he can be a better assassin, I like it. Pyke is very very way more stronger when his ultimate is up, so we want ultimate hunter. Pyke cannot build health so he is very vulnerable to being one-shot, but he is also insanely mobile so the only way you should die is if you get cc'd. To help with this we take legend: tenacity. Triumph helps you get that next ulti reset mid fight.
Skill Path
- Skill Path
Pyke
Items
- Item Set 1
Early game - if you get a lead and want to snowball the lane, serrated dirk is great. If you need to roam and mid is vulnerable to ganks or your jg wants to invade, mobis are better first.
Boots - you have a lot of valid options for boots, if they are extremely heavy ap or have a ton of stuns merc treads are great. swifties help you land E better and makes repositioning easier. mobies for roaming. tabis if they are extremely heavy ad. cd boots if nothing above applies.
If you are stomping lane go axiom after duskblade, if you are a roaming monster go ghostblade after duskblade.
playing into a blitz or likewise, edge of night is huge as one hook will claim your shutdown. playing into teemo, shaco, or other trappers umbral glave is extra good. If you are struggling for gold I sometimes rush umbral just because its a cheap power spike. Umbral also helps you gain pressure denying vision and also is easier to clear dangerous pinks (can't heal with w)
GA/hexdrinker/deaths dance/qss all help with survivability
Matchups and Synergies
Synergies - You want two things from your allies as pyke: poke/dps to get below your ult threshold and CC so they cant dash or flash out of your ult. You don't want other assassins on your team, it makes your "finish them off" mechanic useless if they are either full hp or dead. ADC's that can self peel or having peel in other lanes is good because peeling with pyke can be difficult sometimes. Pyke is good with ADCs that are safe farming under tower and can easily shove so you can roam.
Matchups - Pyke hates mobility and CC. If you are playing against an immobile mid and the enemy adc is mobile, that's a good sign to play the roam game. If your mid has point and click CC it also makes roaming more worthwhile. Pyke also isn't great into burst cause he cant utilize his grey health.
- Syngergies
- Matchups
Tips
- When you are charging q don't feel the need to throw it as soon as you can, often times they will juke themselves into you trying to dodge.
- pay close attention to which enemies have flash, heal, or hourglass up when looking to ult.
- make sure to clear wards in river because if you w even if you don't roam, nobody knows and you can force pressure on two lanes at once.
- clear pinks before teamfights if you can, you cant heal with w if there is any.
- If the enemy is likely going to die regardless try to use ulti right before they die instead of using it to kill them, this still gives gold and reset, but they are less likely to flash away if they are dead anyways, this also gives shutdown gold to laners instead of pyke.
- If you are charging your q and realize you are in a pickle DO NOT THROW just admit defeat and w or e away. throwing q adds vulnerability.
Combos
beginner
q into e - slows them so they cant run out of your stun (can be tap q or hook)
e stun into ult - they cant dodge your ulti if they are stunned!
e gapclose into ult - hard to react to a pyke ulti when he's not even on your screen
e into w - gives you more speed then them to land stun easier
e into flash - bread and butter of pyke, try to flash last second so if they flash away you can either flash after them or dissengage. look to hook them backwards after landing this.
e gapclose into q - sometimes you need to get closer to throw hook
intermediate
q into ulti - they cant dodge your ulti if they are knocked up!
ulti gapclose into q - if you need to use ulti to gapclose or the reset is about to run out its largely underated
e into aa (if your flash is up) - in lane sometimes you can e up to the adc and start autoing, he might get scared that you are looking to flash after him that he will blow his sums, can follow up with a hook or just disengage
e into ulti gapclose - you can e and then ult to reposition your stun
advanced
e (duskblade/hob auto) then w behind them while they are slowed - this saves flash or q cd if done right
q (hob auto) ulti - when hail of blade is up you can weave an auto in before ulting while they are airborne
duskblade auto into q,e, or ulti - the brief slow is hard to utilize but it is great if you can
My (mostly) pyke montage!
Outdated, but still relevant (sorry for getting kind of dark at the end)