Virtually everyone plays Hail of Blades, Ignite, and Serraated Dirk lots of lethality items. This makes Pyke very feast or famine, as everyone knows too well, and it doesn't scale into late game, so you are pressured into ending early.

Then why not break the rules?



Why not build a Pyke which can remain effective at all stages of the game, win games consistently, and still be scary and get the highest kill participation in the team? Make your games more stable and consistent, take off the pressure, and just chill?


Please disregard those Kayn jungle games, and yes, that is Sylas support.

Without further ado let's dive into it.

Why Glacial Augment?

Hail of Blades deals consistent damage but it restricts you into building damage only. On the other hand, the slow from Glacial Augment can be used to initiate an all-in after Q or E, or escape ganks. It provides CC and damage reduction during teamfights. Its power scales with both the enemy's damage and movement speed so it remains useful regardless of game length.

Another important reason is a particular rune in the Inspiration tree: Hextech Flashtraption.

Why Hextech Flashtraption?

Basically this is a minor rune which can provide the value of a whole keystone.

• Makes bushes even scarier for enemies in bot lane.
• You can flash more aggressively, thus using it more often than the enemy and gaining tempo.
• Shortens reaction time to ganks from out of a bush, particularly mid lane bushes.
• Reduces travel time through the jungle.
• When traveling to a skirmish, you can save your E for enemies instead of going through a wall.
• And much more. Simply having the option enables you to do things. Go and limit test.

More on Runes

The rest of the rune choices are fairly straightforward.

• Triple Tonic gives some gold, and a skill point which you can put in E for a 50 damage boost.
• Jack of all Trades gives extra stats for free, and you can stack it easily as support.
• Ghost Poro is stacked more quickly than Zombie Ward if you're deep warding, which you should be doing. The automatic pings force people to look at the map at the right times. Having lots of vision and knowing where the enemy isn't is also valuable information.
• Naturally Pyke likes more roaming.

Why Exhaust?

Ignite can be used for guaranteed damage, but the damage doesn't scale well and it can occasionally steal kills. The healing reduction is highly situational, and Exhaust does the job better in most situations. Some examples of where Ignite works well would be against Zac, Nunu & Willump, or Sylas.

Exhaust reduces both enemy damage and movement speed, which gives you a huge advantage in early trades. Later in the game, the value of Exhaust increases as the enemy deals more damage.

For Pyke, Exhaust can be used to set up hooks or stuns. Or you can use it to trade for the enemy's Flash, which has compounding benefit due to Hexflash.

Why the lack of damage?

It might seem like this guide intentionally avoids damage, and that is uncomfortable for assassin players. But that's not the case. Pyke's damage abilities benefit from champion level more than items. Death from Below increases by 40 per champion level, which requires spending 800-1750 gold on items to achieve the equivalent. The extra 50 damage in E from Elixir of Skill also adds up.

Besides, Pyke's personal damage as support is usually among the lowest in a game even when building damage. Therefore, enabling your teammates increases your overall team damage more than maximizing your own damage.

Why only one point in R?

Additional points only reduce the cooldown, and does not increase the damage. You get enough haste from items to reduce the cooldown to a reasonable amount. With just one point, you will always have R available for a teamfight. You can spend the extra skill point to improve E.

The only reason for reducing the cooldown further is so that you can use it more often as a gap closer to set up your other abilities. But there will be very few opportunities to do this, so reducing your cooldown doesn't make much of a difference.

About Jack of All Trades

Getting those extra stats is worth the trouble. World Atlas gives 3 stacks. On your first back, getting Boots and either a Long Sword or Glowing Mote gets you to 5 stacks. It's fine to hold on to unfinished components because you get free stats to compensate for it.

In most games, you will benefit from building Mercury's Treads for the tenacity. Since it gives 3 stacks, it makes it easier to complete Jack. You can fully stack Jack early-mid game as follows:

• 

Unfortunately, if you need to build Plated Steelcaps, it becomes more difficult to complete Jack. You may need to grab Rectrix or Sapphire Crystal. On the bright side, if the enemy is all AD, your team gains more value from armor items. Hence fully stacked Jack may look like this:

• 

Don't forget that Youmuu's Ghostblade loses the % movement speed! And don't forget to leave room for your Elixir of Skill.

About core items

Here are the items which are most relevant to the success of this build.

• Celestial Opposition: makes you harder to kill, simple. It synergizes with your passive because you can heal a % of the damage back. Since this is front-loaded defensive ability, you can use it to tank important abilities or CC. Of course try to dodge them anyway - every ability you dodge also increases the value of this item.
• Mercury's Treads: also makes you harder to kill, and synergizes with Celestial Opposition.
• Plated Steelcaps: your other option, if you're up against full AD teams, or you're targeting specific carries.
• Youmuu's Ghostblade: excellent choice for a rush item. Good stats, and allows you to be everywhere at once when combined with Relentless Hunter - no need for mobis. The active can be used to catch someone out of position or reach teamfights faster.
• Umbral Glaive: said to be Pyke's favorite item, but in S14 it's no longer a good rush item because it's expensive and delays your Ghostblade. It's NOT a substitute for smart use of your sweeper. Nonetheless good for vision control. Rush only if you chose Zombie Ward.
• Locket of the Iron Solari: all valuable stats for Pyke, and very cheap. The shield is useful for teammates, and you can apply it more effectively than other supports with your movement speed.
• Guardian Angel: if you need extra armor after building everything else, this is your best choice. Wasting enemy abilities is a great way to enable your team to do damage, plus set up some executes for yourself. Just don't get killed in a dumb spot...

More situational items

Items which are useful but less so in general situations.

• Edge of Night: lethality items have diminishing return, and Pyke has Ghostblade and Umbral. While those two are generally useful, Edge of Night is situational because you need to have a specific champion and their specific ability or combo in mind - hence it's better for picks than for teamfighting.
• Death's Dance: synergizes with your other items very well, and protects against mixed damage. However, it's expensive and does not provide utility.
• Maw of Malmortius: in the rare case of mostly magic damage, this is the best MR choice for Pyke.
• Knight's Vow: if you need an armor item but are short on gold. Synergizes with Locket, turning you into a sort of enchanter. The main challenge is choosing the correct ally.
• Frozen Heart: it needs to be noted that this item is often a trap. It's highly situational and very good in said situations... and bad otherwise. Unlike Nasus, Pyke doesn't survive long against late game carries with attack speed. Its primary use is to be built early (first or second item) and stacked with Exhaust to shut down carries during mid game.

What about Control Wards?

Should you always buy a Control Ward on every back? NO - that is bad advice. If you buy too many, you will waste your money and delay your important items. Control Wards are NOT a substitute for good ward placement and sweeping, which don't cost gold.

Then what kind of a situation is a Control Ward best suited for? The only unique property it has is that it always continues to work until it is destroyed. You should place it where you can either defend it or punish the enemy for attacking it. Therefore, it is best for defending important objectives and choke points, or for placing it during a teamfight to gain a quick advantage. You can also use it as an "instant" sweeper because you don't need to destroy any revealed enemy wards right away.

As for when to buy, when in doubt you should prioritize your items and Jack of all Trades first.

This plays similarly to other Pyke builds. You can still dominate lane early, roam a lot, and get some extra gold from executes. However, this build potentially gives you more playmaking opportunities due to your survivability and ability to help allies. If you're reading this guide you've probably already played some Pyke, so we'll just go over what makes this build different.

Laning phase

Instead of Ignite you have Exhaust. This means if you manage to land a hook at level 1 and your ADC follows up, you can Exhaust that enemy and force them to flash away. Trading Exhaust for flash is advantageous in general early game.

You'll still try to get level 2 before the enemy by using your support item charges on the melee minions in the second wave. If you get level 2 first and they are out of position, you can E -> Flash past them. If you still have Exhaust the kill is pretty much secured.

Now even if your Flash is down, you still have Hexflash. Get Oracle Lens on your first back and use the bushes to your advantage. Hexflash extends your engage range (remember to be careful of minions). You can also use it to flash from one bush to another without being seen.

Roaming

As Pyke, you should be roaming as often as possible, and part of your job is to know when that is possible. With Hexflash, you can go through a wall without using E, which gives you an advantage in jungle skirmishes.

Mid ganks also become more effective with Hexflash because you can flash out of the bush and shorten enemy reaction time. Exhaust works well against high mobility champions common in mid lane.

Place wards in the enemy jungle. When in doubt, simply placing them at jungle camps works, because the automatic pings from Ghost Poro help your jungler track the enemy.

Teamfighting

Come mid game, you will start fighting over objectives. Not a whole lot is different from playing other builds, except Exhaust scales noticeably better than Ignite, and Ghost Poro can be used to set up extra vision well in advance.

As Pyke, you should try and bait some enemy abilities by dancing around them and fishing for hooks. If you do end up getting hit, Celestial Opposition and Mercury's Treads help you absorb damage and CC. You often act as the initiator for your team, usually with W to get close, then Q -> E backwards into your allies.

Once you have Locket of the Iron Solari, you become a lot harder to kill due to the resistances, and can shield a dying teammate in a pinch with your superior movement speed.

A note about R

Pyke's R is considered to be the powerhouse of his kit. Is that really true? He seemingly gives an extra kill worth of gold for a successful execute, which is 300 gold, without accounting for reduced gold.

However, the true value is closer to 150 gold, because either Pyke or his ally would have gotten an assist anyway. Since Pyke is the one who always gets a cut, it always works out to a net gain of 150 for Pyke himself. And he doesn't really depend on items beyond the first 2 lethality items. It also may have the unfortunate effect of stealing shutdown gold from an ally.

So you don't need to believe that Pyke's kit revolves around his R. You should try to land it anyway to get resets though.

Late game tips

Pyke's late game is widely considered to be bad. Luckily this build is designed to mitigate Pyke's late game weaknesses.

• Collect XP from minion waves when nothing is going on. Minimize downtime and travel time with your roaming abilities.
• As always, look for a pick to reduce enemy numbers. Even if you hook a tank, you have Glacial Augment so your allies might follow up with enough damage to cripple them.
• Exhaust is OP. Identify the damage threats in a teamfight and pick the right time to use it on them. For example, use it on Yasuo or Zed when they use their ultimate, or on a ranged enemy before an ally jumps on them.
• Locket of the Iron Solari can save a dying ally, but in late game fights you might not have time to react. Try using it proactively like you would a Taric ult except with a shorter delay.
• Before teamfights, place wards slightly behind or around where the fight will likely occur so that you can safely approach from behind or from the sides.
• There's little you can do against a death ball. All else fails, E -> Flash through as many enemies as possible followed by a hook on a carry, then pray that your allies do enough damage and maybe revive with Guardian Angel.
• Elixirs exist. Either one works. Buy when you anticipate an important teamfight and you don't have enough gold for a good item or component.

Thanks for reading through this guide. Enjoy all the benefits of regular Pyke - with a better late game, less pressure to end games early, while having all the fun of slaughtering enemies and being every bit of a menace as the champion we know and love.