Pyke, the Bloodharbor Ripper Joins the Rift
Move over, Kai’Sa, because there’s a new champion coming to Summoner’s Rift! This week, Riot Games officially showed us the newest League of Legends champion: Pyke, The Bloodharbor Ripper. This bloodthirsty murderer doesn’t sound like someone you’d want to be in lane with, but he is technically a support champion. However, we’ll have to wait and see how players use him in-game—who knows, he may be more powerful in other positions.
Abilities
Pyke’s passive is called Gift of the Drowned Ones. While that may sound like an ominous name, it’s actually awesome. He’s able to regain health when enemy champions can’t see him. Ducking into a bush will bring back health, and have him ready for battle.
His Q has another creepy name: Bone Skewer. If you tap Q, Pyke will slow enemies within range. Holding down Q, though, will grab an enemy champion, and pull them in closer. This would be great for grabbing low-health enemies and bringing them in to finish off a kill.
When the first teaser for Pyke came out, before we really knew much about him, my boyfriend and I debated whether or not he would have special abilities in the river (since, you know, he drowned). We were kind of right, because Pyke’s W—Ghostwater Dive—is an ability based on his water-themed lore. It allows him to “dive” (anywhere on the map), camouflage himself, and gain increased movement speed. However, attacking an enemy will disable the camouflage and make Pyke visible.
Pyke’s E, Phantom Undertow, allows him to dash forward while leaving behind what Riot has called a “drowned phantom.” These phantoms follow Pyke forward, deal damage to any enemies they come in contact with and leave them stunned. Spooky!
Finally, his Ultimate—Death from Below—places an X on the map. Any enemies below a certain amount of health (we only know stats on PBE right now) are executed. Nearby enemies who don’t die also take physical damage. What makes this move extra scary is that it gives any ally champions who assisted Pyke the full gold value for the kill, rather than the typical assist value.
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In-Game Play
Pyke definitely looks like a fast-paced champion. His W-E-Q combo seems deadly: go invisible, surprise attack with extra phantom damage, and then drag them back in for the final blow. He is not the type of champion I would want to find myself up against while roaming through the jungle.
That being said, while he is deemed a support champion, his moves and playstyle remind me of AD Evelynn (because of his assassin-like abilities), which is why I wouldn’t be surprised to see him played in the jungle in solo-queue games. With the right items, he could be able to get picks off very well; however, he does have low health, which is not ideal for being alone on the map.
As an ADC-main, though, I can’t wait to play a game with a Pyke support. His mobility will allow him to roam and place deep wards, which is always a good thing, and his crowd control and stuns will likely help dominate in lane.
He seems like the type of champion that will be great at catching enemies out of position, or going for a deadly all-in, but will need backup from teammates to secure kills. And with that full kill gold from his Ultimate, who wouldn’t mind letting their support take kills in lane?
