Pyke

Abilities Overview

Pyke's passive, Gift of the Drowned Ones, converts bonus HP into AD, and also allows him to store damage taken from champions as grey health that regenerates when out of enemy vision. This makes Pyke naturally tanky despite building no HP items, and rewards roaming and repositioning.

Q (Bone Skewer) can be tapped for a quick stab or charged for a hook that pulls enemies toward Pyke — the longer the charge, the further the pull. E (Phantom Undertow) dashes forward leaving a ghost behind that stuns all enemies it passes through. W (Ghostwater Dive) grants camouflage and bonus movespeed. R (Death From Below) executes enemies below a HP threshold and grants a reset.

Laning Phase

Pyke is an aggressive roam support. At level 2, look for an E engage to stun — if you land the stun, it's almost always a kill with Ignite. Level 3 (Q+W+E) enables the full combo: W to approach, E to stun, Q to pull them back. Pyke's base damage is among the highest of all supports early game.

Roaming is Pyke's biggest strength. Use W to cover distance between lanes — post-6, a Pyke mid roam with R can easily secure a kill. The R execute grants the kill gold to the last assisting ally, making Pyke the best support for funneling gold to carries. Don't stay in lane — look for plays around the map.

Teamfighting

Pyke is a cleanup assassin in teamfights. He does not initiate — wait for the enemy to use key CC and damage, then look for R executes on low-HP targets. Each R kill resets and creates massive gold swing for the team. Pyke's role is to lurk on the flank and clean up kills.

Use E defensively to stun divers and escape. W to reposition if you get caught. Pyke falls off hard late game — his damage doesn't scale well and he provides no defensive utility. End the game before 30 minutes or you'll struggle. Pyke's R can steal objectives — the execute threshold is 500-1100 HP based on level.

Build Path

Start Shoulderguards. Rush Umbral Glaive for vision control and damage. Duskblade of Draktharr for burst and the invisibility on kill. The Collector for execute synergy.

Edge of Night for the spell shield. Guardian Angel for insurance. Youmuu's Ghostblade for roaming speed. Boots are Plated Steelcaps, Mercury Treads, or Mobility Boots.

Matchups

Pyke excels against immobile ADCs and squishy supports. He struggles against tank supports (Leona, Nautilus, Alistar) who can survive his burst and CC him back. Against tank supports, focus on roaming rather than laning. Pyke is terrible against Lulu — polymorph denies his engage completely.

For more details, check the League of Legends Wikipedia page and the Pyke page on League of Legends Wiki.