Why Pyke Fails Fundamentally.

I know it is too early to really tell for sure, but there are some factors that might clue in on why Pyke has the lowest win rate in League right now that don't have anything to do with skill-curve.

1. Pyke has no escape. Aside from his stealth-dash engage pattern, which is his only reliable form of engaging. A successful assassin has a form of getting out once they are in. Zed can return to his shadow, Leblanc can distort out, Talon can parkour over terrain, and both Ekko and Evelynn can ult out of a bad situation. Pyke doesn't really have this option. Unlike those listed above, Pyke has to sacrifice part of his engage for dis-engage. Unless some really hard follow up is brought with it, Pyke needs to use his dash-stun in order to secure most kills.

2. Pyke Cannot build Tanky. Because of what is listed above, Pyke's kit functions more like the diver class of Champion. However, unlike Diana, Shyvanna, and so on, Pyke has no built-in survivability. Once champions like Vi are in, they are stuck there. But these champions have built-in resistances, sustain, and shields to help them survive. Not only that, most of these champions tend to build more bruiser. One or two damage items followed by tank (Diana an exception, AP scaling shield FTW). Pyke cannot build these items, as the HP will simply be converted into AD, and with no HP, resistances are rather underwhelming. Even Zed builds a Black Cleaver.

3. Feast or Famine, Mostly Famine. Pyke's inability to build tank items means when he falls behind, he falls very behind. There is no building to be a utility machine after losing the early game. There is no waiting for the late game. Pyke's ultimate has a very narrow window of usage, though it is strong, it doesn't leave him a lot of strategic options in team fights. The possibility for a chain ultimate for multiple kills is certainly there, but with him being so squishy, a single stun or snare is game over. Pyke from behind or late game Pyke, in general, is all but a kamikaze.

4. Compositional Failure. With Kha Zix, Rengar, and Xin Zou being incredibly popular in the jungle, utility ADC's being pretty solidly out of the meta, and bruisers like Irelia and Jax being common in the top lane, solid front-liners are rarely being played. Or at the very least, it is far more common then it has been in awhile to see a non-tank in the top lane, which isn't truly a bad thing. However, this typically means that a team comp is going to lack CC and tank outside of the support role. When you have Irelia, Leblanc, Kha-Zix, and a Draven, the last thing you need is more damage. You need utility, team fight, and frontline. While Pyke provides some CC, compared to an Alistar or a Braum, he leaves a lot to be desired.

So all in all, I think Pyke had potential, but in execution, his concept has a few fundamental flaws that prevent him from being truly viable.

So, some proposed solutions. A) Give Pyke a reset on his stealth after a kill. This will give Pyke the option to attempt to exit the fight, instead of ulting further in. A reset on his E would provide too much damage and CC.

And/Or

B) Increase HP and resistance scaling into the mid-game. Pyke should be able to take a hit or two while diving in. He HAS to get into melee range to do damage, and currently gets obliterated by most AoE spells by the mid game. Nothing too crazy, but enough to make him feel more like an assassin, and less like a water baloon filled with blood chucked at a brick wall.