Pyke Build Guide by The Jhin Cena

Hello everyone, my name is Pyke Tyson and I'm Pyke mid main. Previously I mained Pyke support, however I then realized that when Pyke is banned or taken I am forced to play a normal support which isn't as fun, and so I went and continue to go Pyke mid. Additionally, Pyke Mid is an excellent roamer which is essential to ranking up as a mid laner, so his kit works surprisingly well in the mid lane. As you can tell by my MOBAfire Username, I haven't always been a Pyke main, and have mained several other champions throughout the course I've played League which dates back to 2013 when Jinx was released. Some of these include Jhin (obviously), Akali, Swain, Fizz, Urgot, and even Vladimir. After the Pyke nerf hit, I was tempted to switch mains (perhaps back to Akali which I mained just before Pyke) because Pyke solo lane was certainly not as easy as pre-nerf. I then realized that this is simply giving Rito a pat on the back for nerfing my champion, that they are getting what they hoped for. And so I desperately searched for a way to bring Pyke mid into viability again.



I then came across a video of a Chinese challenger who was messing around with Pyke mid, however his playstyle proved to be very efficient for post-nerf. He rushed Tiamat, something I was too stupid to even think of grabbing however once I discovered the Tiamat build, I realized there was hope. Not only that, but Hail of Blades never even came close to mind, and with good reason. It seemed quite counterproductive— Hail of Blades on a champion that doesn't fixate on auto attacking? Though after testing Hail of Blades out, the damage was far better than Electrocute which I previously used. To this day, I main Pyke mid and as of 10/27/2020 I have a 57% winrate, and I will continue to main Pyke until Riot nerfs him even more than they already have.

Tiamat, though no longer having an active, is still absolutely essential for Pyke mid, and most games should be prioritized as your first back item. Without Tiamat, Pyke will struggle quite a bit with wave clear meaning that he won't be able to leave the lane to go roam as much, as leaving to roam without first pushing will result in increased exposure of your turret. Tiamat when combined with Sanguine Blade will allow Pyke to effectively splitpush while also giving him a considerable boost in 1v1 damage and sustain.

Duskblade of Draktharr is overall the best mythic item for Pyke as of right now. Being that Pyke is extremely squishy and often gets tunneled in teamfights, he can benefit greatly from Duskblade of Draktharr's invisibility passive.

Youmuu's Ghostblade is the best non-mythic Lethality item on Pyke. With the movement speed it grants, this item works exceptionally well with Pyke mid's playstyle of roaming the map for kills. Additionally, it shares the most Lethality out of any non-mythic item alongside Serpent's Fang, all the while giving a much more useful passive. I always take Youmuu's Ghostblade as my second item.

Sanguine Blade was an item I basically took as first or second item every game before the item rework, though as of right now, I don't see it being as good (at least to rush as a first or second item) due to the necessity of rushing Duskblade of Draktharr and Youmuu's Ghostblade as your first and second. Though it can be a strong item, I'd recommend only taking Sanguine Blade if you find yourself spending too much time killing minions, in which case Sanguine Blade would drastically increase your wave clear potential and allow you to roam. You can however also take it if you are really fed and are against a comp that allows you to frequently land auto attacks as opposed to CC comps.