"Why would you want this? Why trade Hail of Blades for Unsealed Spellbook? Is it even viable / good?"

Short answer? Yes. Yes it definitely is. You should test it just to see that You don't need Hail of Blades to do what pyke does.

As for an actual answer for those who are genuinely curious:

It might seem like trolling at first, but I can tell you from my testing and experience with Hail of Blades, it's actually just a bit of a different lvl 1-3 early game playstyle.

Here's how it works: You partially trade your early pressure, however you can be more of a support thanks to Unsealed Spellbook (you're still Pyke after all so you don't suddenly lose your early pressure due to lack of Hail of Blades. You just have to have a different mindset as you don't have 3 quick AA to combo with your abilities).

I go over what each summoner spell does and which spells to pick when in summoner spells section.

Pros + High mobility with Ghostwater Dive & Phantom Undertow + Strong early game especially with Hail of Blades + Easily kill squishy targets + High skill ceiling + Can change teamfight outcome with Death from Below + Doubles gold from kills with Your Cut if ally assists in Death from Below's execution + The only Assassin support + Great ganking & roaming potential

Cons - Very squishy & can't gain bonus health due to Gift of the Drowned Ones - Skillshots only that can be very punishing if missed - Death from Below can be easily avoided with Flash, Zhonya's Hourglass or outhealed which can cost you a whole teamfight - Gift of the Drowned Ones is much weaker in solo lane/against one enemy - Can feel much weaker when behind - Whole kit heavily relies on Lethality & AD - Weaker early against poke champions due to being melee

PASSIVE ABILITY

Gift of the Drowned Ones How does your passive work? Pyke's maximum health cannot increase except through growth (per level), instead he gains 1 bonus attack damage per 14 bonus health. Pyke gains 1 bonus movement speed while in the river. (game changing passive) Pyke stores 9% (+ 0.2% per 1 Lethality) of the post-mitigation damage he takes from enemy champions as grey health on his health bar, increased to 40% (+ 0.4% per 1 Lethality) while there are two or more visible enemy champions nearby. He can store up to 80 (+ 800% bonus Attack Damage) grey health, with an upper cap of 55% of his maximum health. While not visible to enemies, he rapidly consumes his grey health to heal for the same amount. IMPORTANT TIP You can (and should as it can be really helpful for making efficient use of Oracle Lens) use it to check for wards in brushes as it won't regenerate health if there is a vision nearby.

Q

Bone Skewer How does your Q work? Tap: Pyke stabs the first enemy hit (prioritizing enemy champions) dealing physical damage and slowing them by 90% for 1 second. Hold: Pyke charges while being slowed by 20% for up to 3 seconds to increase Bone Skewer's range over the first second of the channel. Bone Skewer can be recast within the duration. Dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit and pulling them, during which they are also revealed, then slowed by 90% for 1 second. If the charge is interrupted or completes without being thrown, Bone Skewer is cancelled and the ability is put on full cooldown but refunds 75% of the mana cost. Bone Skewer's mana cost is also refunded if it hits an enemy champion. IMPORTANT TIP Bone Skewer ALWAYS pulls people towards you at the same distance, thanks to which you can pull people over the walls if they're close to them or even throw someone over the wall behind you if you're both close enough to it. Example Play Video

W

Ghostwater Dive How does your W work? Pyke submerges into water for 5 seconds, entering camouflage and gaining 45% (+ 2% per 1 Lethality) bonus movement speed that decays over the duration. IMPORTANT TIP Attacking or casting abilities ends Ghostwater Dive immediately. Try to use Ghostwater Dive mainly for escaping after you engage with Phantom Undertow as using both will leave you with no means of escaping other than having to burn Flash. If you are in the middle of a fight you can use Ghostwater Dive to quickly regenerate health as long as no enemy is within your Ghostwater Dive range.

E

Phantom Undertow How does your E work? Pyke dashes in the target direction, leaving behind a Phantom. After 1 second, the Phantom homes back to Pyke to stun enemies around it and those it passes through along the way for 1.25 (+ 0.1 per 10 Lethality) seconds. Enemy champions hit also take physical damage. IMPORTANT TIP You can use it to go through walls where Phantom Undertow is over half their length. Example Play Video

R

Death From Below How does your R work? ⦾ Pyke marks the target location with an X before striking it, executing enemy champions within the area that are below 250 − 550 (based on level) (+ 80% bonus Attack Damage) (+ 1.5 per 1 Lethality) health. Other enemies hit and enemy champions above the threshold are instead dealt 50% of the amount as physical damage. ⦾ If Death from Below hits an enemy champion or at least one is killed inside the X by the execution or an ally, Pyke will blink to the center of the X. For the latter case Pyke can also recast the ability within 20 seconds at no cost. ⦾ Each successful execution grants one Your Cut to the last assisting ally, instead of its natural assist gold. Otherwise, Pyke is granted Your Cut for each enemy champion killed inside the X by an ally during Death from Below's cast time. IMPORTANT TIP Be sure to aim Death from Below in a way that predicts where enemies may flash (usually back to their team so just have ult behind them) away from it, while keeping them in it in case they don't flash away. Death from Below can be a game changer, although not purely just due to executing someone with it. You can also just use it to close gaps or extend Phantom Undertow's length, especially when it's a recast (it'll end up going on cooldown anyways so why not make use of it?). The cooldown can sometimes bug out due to runes so remember: If it shows you threshold on enemies it means your R is ready, don't believe the cooldown!

DOMINATION

Electrocute Can be used, however it requires you to hit enemy champion with 3 separate attacks or abilities and is generally more useful for finishing off enemies / putting them in Death from Below's threshold and cannot help you out as much in early game. Be sure to take attack speed in runes with it as it makes procing Electrocute easier. Hail of Blades is your best friend in early game due to the 160% increased attack speed on the next 3 basic attacks. Be sure to abuse it in early game if possible as auto attacks can be quite devastating.

Cheap Shot provides 10-45 true damage on stunned / impaired targets if you're fast enough (Can be proc'd with your AA or ability). Sudden Impact Used to give you lethality after using any ability except for Bone Skewer (Yes, that includes even Death from Below but now it provides your next AA or ability for 4 seconds to deal 20-80 True damage (which scales better into late game than Cheap Shot, however it's cooldown is 2.5 times longer, which makes it worse as you get less use out of it, but only if you can consistently proc Cheap Shot in the first place.

Unless you're (somehow) not building Umbral Glaive you should never take Sixth Sense. Even Grisly Mementos is way better and could be used (if you REALLY wanted to), however I'd still prefer Deep Ward over it. Deep Ward is the best rune for supports, thanks to it increasing World Atlas's ward time by 30-45 seconds (or 45 up to 150 seconds for Stealth Ward) and giving them 1 extra health (as long as they are in enemy jungle, or river after lvl 9).

Relentless Hunter for when you want even more out of combat movespeed (47 at 5 stacks with Celerity and no boots) (Best taken with Synchronized Souls / Forever Forward.) If you don't plan on building Axiom Arc I'd suggest taking Ultimate Hunter, otherwise there's no reason to do so as you'll easily have 25% total cooldown reduction per takedown from Axiom Arc.

INSPIRATION

Unsealed Spellbook grants you access to ALL summoner spells and you can pick one starting 6:00 You should swap them when possible to reduce the cooldown of Unsealed Spellbook down to 2 minutes (120 seconds) asap. If you want to read more regarding summoner spells and when to use them there's a part written in summoner spells section of the guide.

Magical Footwear grants you free boots at 12:00 (45 seconds sooner per takedown) that have +10 movespeed, which is great for when you're getting Symbiotic Soles, as it makes the movespeed during combat downside less noticeable AND once they upgrade into Synchronized Souls there is no difference between them and (non-magical footwear) Boots of Swiftness, but it prevents you from buying boots yourself. You will also not obtain them if your inventory is full so be sure to keep a free slot for them.

Biscuit Delivery provides you with free healing (that is doubled at 30% max hp) that scales with your level (as that is the only way for you to increase your max health). And each consumed biscuit provides you with 30 max health or 2 AD (6 AD total which is equal to Adaptive Force in rune shards!.

Cosmic Insight is basically the only option in inspiration runes when you need something else to pick up with Magical Footwear, however it is a great one at that. It lowers both your items and summoner spells cooldowns by 10 and 18 respectively (makes items such as Umbral Glaive and Maw of Malmortius better, and reduces Flash cooldown from 300 seconds to 254 which can certainly make a difference).

SORCERY (Secondary)

Axiom Arcanist is just worse Axiom Arc (Decreases your Current cooldown by 7%) but as a rune which frees up item slot, keep in mind it does not increase Death from Below damage, unless enemy is over execute threshold. Nimbus Cloak is great on it's own, but amazing pairing with Unsealed Spellbook. Providing free % Movement Speed (amount depends on summoner spell cooldown) each time you use a summoner spell (which you'll be using a lot with spellbook after all).

Celerity gives you free movespeed while also increasing all movespeed you get by 7% which works with your Ghostwater Dive, Opportunity and boots which can help you close gaps easier.

RESOLVE (Secondary)

Conditioning is useless as you're not going to be build tank items (that was funny and more useful a few years ago when you only scaled with AD). Second Wind won't be of much use since your max health is static and only increases from level instead of items. Bone Plating is the best choice here since it reduces the damage you take from next 3 spells/attacks within 1,5 second and given you can't gain bonus health (which leaves you very squishy) it can be very helpful.

Overgrowth gives you free AD from soaking up minions, which is always going to help you stay relative in the game, especially if you aren't building Hubris for that extra stacking AD. Revitalize Is the rune you should go with if you're taking Resolve to begin with, as it will add extra healing. It's going to be only really noticeable later in the game once you have items as your gray health scales with lethality. Unflinching works on Every type of crowd control, this includes something as simple as slow and not just stun and such. This might seem great, but given that it's flat and does not scale with level or anything. It's main use will be in early game as it falls off rather quickly.

Stat shards

I'd suggest picking either 10% Attack Speed over 5 AD, as attack speed helps you clear 2 wards with one use of Oracle Lens if you're quick enough.

You should always pick Health Scaling as it provides you with 12 attack damage (1 AD per 14 extra health) instead of just 5 AD like Adaptive Force.

I prefer to take 15% Tenacity and Slow Resist over 12 AD from the Health Scaling one as 15% shorter CC duration can be a difference between you dying or living a teamfight.

Hubris

Best 1st item if you know how to play pyke. It lets you infinitely stack 2 AD per takedown, which is easy to do, especially with Death from Below.

Umbral Glaive

The Vision Denier that despite it's massive nerfs (Used to be way better due to Zombie Ward and half the cooldown it now has) is still a good choice, just not as 1st item anymore. Reveals nearby wards and let's you oneshot them (as long as they have 3 health or less as it can't 1-shot wards placed with Deep Ward or Control Ward) You can even destroy placed wards without having to use Oracle Lens nor Umbral Glaive if you're fast enough.

Axiom Arc

Easily best way to reduce your Death from Below cooldown as it not only reduces Total cooldown PER takedown, but also scales with lethality. Giving you 23% cooldown reduction by the time you buy it.

Death's dance

This is what you want when it comes to getting tankier against AD teams but also anyone in general as it turns 30% of total dmg you take into Damage over time, which gives you more time to score takedown, which in turn cleanses the remaining damage over time while regaining some health at the same time.

Serpent's Fang

Perfect item against teams with lots of shielding. You'll most likely need this if you're up against enchanters such as Lulu or Yuumi.

Edge of Night

Best item for when enemy team has a lot of CC, especially due to being an assassin item (providing both AD and lethality).

Maw of Malmortius

Pretty much the only option you have when facing AP heavy teams, or champions as the shield scales with AD and not health.

Bloodsong

Great support item if you're ahead and just need more damage. It gives you spellblade effect which enchances your AA (after using any ability) to deal more damage and mark enemy you attack with it to take more damage, it's only 8% more dmg, but it's for your WHOLE team, and not just you.

Celestial Opposition

Currently my go-to support item. It's a great anti-burst item and does basically what Death's dance but with cooldown and AOE slow on nearby enemies when it breaks.

Synchronized Souls

My go-to boots as they have higher move speed out of combat in comparison to Boots of Swiftness (5 less | 35 more ) which let's you roam and get back to lane faster, however You do lose a bit of Movement Speed during combat in comparison to Boots of Swiftness ( 15 less | 10 less) You also gain 50% faster recall (from 8 seconds to just 4), but only once you complete Synchronized Souls! P.S You should get them after getting Serrated Dirk for Hubris (or 1st item in general if you chose a different one), so that you can finish their quest asap, because You can only get feats of strength upgrade once it's finished! Their feats of strength upgraded version Forever Forward grant you: the same as during combat | 45 more out of combat And that's without including the total 8% Movement Speed which adds up to a total of 122 out of combat movespeed, and that's just while walking. Just like Celerity it increases during your Ghostwater Dive as long as you are out of combat.

Boots of Swiftness

Should really only get them if enemy team has champions with strong / a lot of slows (i.e Crippling Strike, Wither, etc.) Swiftmarch grant 5% of your total Movement Speed as Adaptive Force (20 Adaptive Force (or in pyke terms 12 AD) while simply walking (this includes my runes and items), basically granting as much as Health Scaling does at max lvl). P.S The AD can increase during Ghostwater Dive, but it doesn't do much since it'll disappear as soon as you exit it, so don't get thrown off by it when looking for Death from Below thresholds.

Youmuu's Ghostblade

Get this only if you want to replace boots Passively provides you with 20 Out of combat movespeed. If the game has been going on for too long this is a great boots replacement, otherwise it's not worth trading any of the standard build items as you already have movespeed thanks to boots.

As a support, providing and denying vision is one of the key elements of your gameplay (you get 4 free wards each recall with your support item, letting you pick Oracle Lens instead of Stealth Ward as your trinket). You are expected to set-up vision for objectives and deny enemies vision of said objective, in case they have it in the first place.

Here are some best/most important warding spots for both sides. (green is Stealth Ward spots and red is Control Ward spots, however keep in mind that some spots can be useful as either one.)

P.S If you need warding spots for baron pit simply use the other warding map, the map is symetrical so they are the same.

1. Best warding spot to spot out any ganks, especially from behind you. If possible, ask ADC to use Control Ward on this spot as it's less likely to be destroyed unless enemy team is fighting for control of this bush.

2. Most common ward spot, gives you vision of the river and the bush itself. Expect this to be warded with either Control Ward or Stealth Ward.

3. Gives vision of dragon pit as well as river, giving you more time to react in case of any incoming ganks from river.

4. Similarily to 3rd, it gives you more time to react to ganks, it's also a good spot for Control Ward.

5. Primarily used for vision of enemy bot-side jungle while you're doing objective (if placed correctly you'll have vision of all four sides from there).

6. Similarily to 5th Stealth Ward, it's mainly use is setting up for objective, and covers the other side of bot-side jungle, including entrance from mid-lane.

7. Perfect in case of no vision on midlane. Will let you know if anybody is coming from it to gank your lane or simply contest objective, so that you can prepare or have more time to escape.

8. Ward here if you're expecting enemy midlaner or jungler to try stealing objective from your own jungle side, or you simply need that extra safety from ganks (in which case this ward does what 1st one does but even sooner).

9. Perfect for spotting out potential tower dives, or someone camping the bush while you're coming back to lane from base.


1. You can use it to safely ward drake pit from your side of the jungle/bush. Stealth Ward works as well

2. I prefer to place Stealth Ward in this place (and save Control Ward for the 3rd spot) as enemy is less likely to check for control ward if you "needed" to ward in this bush.

3. My go-to spot for Control Ward. It gives you vision of enemy blue buff and possibly ganks from that side of the jungle. It's also likely to stay up sometimes even whole game since it's not directly in the path towards your lane, letting you abuse the vision from it.


1. Most common ward spot, gives you vision of the river and the bush itself. Expect this to be warded with either Control Ward or Stealth Ward.

2. Just like 1st on blue-side, it's the best warding for ganks from your own jungle. Ask ADC to use Control Ward on this spot as it's less likely to be destroyed unless enemy team is fighting for control of this bush.

3. Ward for extra safety, in case someone plans to dive you, or camps the bush while you're coming back to lane from base.

4. Gives vision of dragon pit as well as river, giving you more time to react in case of any incoming ganks from river.

5. Use it for vision on the other side of the wall while you're doing objective, so that you can see if anybody is going to try and steal it.

6. Pairs nicely with 7th ward spot as it covers the other side towards the objective.

7. A common warding spot to set up for objectives as it covers a lot of jungle area.

8. Just like on blue-side, it's a perfect ward spot in case of no vision on midlane. Will let you know if anybody is coming from it to gank your lane or simply contest objective, so that you can prepare or have more time to escape.

9. Very deep ward for vision in enemy jungle when setting up for objective, if you have the possibility, be sure to ward here, as it's as good, if not better than 6th ward.

10. Same as 9th , another ward spot deep in enemy jungle, this one covers raptors and the bush near them.

1. Enemy jungler will tend to come from their jungle, so it's a very good spot for vision. Better used as a Stealth Ward spot as it'll be contested by the enemy botlane, if they don't then it's a free Control Ward spot.

2. Perma vision of objective, let's you deny vision from any ward placed by enemy team unless they go in to destroy it, however you won't see river unless you want to expose it to being easily spotted by anyone that crosses river from mid.

3. Similarily to 4th, it gives you more time to react to ganks, it's also a good spot for Control Ward

4. Gives vision in enemy jungle, if you can't place Control Ward in 1st, be sure to place it here, or objective pit. More useful for objectives than laning phase.