Pyke, and what's wrong with him (mostly from a support's perspective)

Unless it's thematic issues, like the Aatrox rework currently blowing things up, I think waiting to see how a champ plays after their introduction/reworks/etc is just good form. But I think most folks have a good feel for Pyke now, and honestly, I'm not a fan of him in his current state.

His passive is an issue for a champ designed to support, if I'm honest. He has a lot of sustain in lane, and can afford some pretty stupid trades because of it. Likewise, it turns support items into damage items, which sort of spits in the face of their utility-based nature. These abilities aren't an issue in the the jungle, but in lane they interact inconsistently with the rest of League's support dynamics.

His actual kit has some issues, though. I think one of the most obvious is his R. Now, I'm actually of the opinion that the gold-sharing dynamics aren't the issue. A decent support is getting that gold to their carry anyway, so really all it does is buoy Pyke himself up, and honestly it can be a real hard life being a support, so hey, whatever. The issue I have is that it has VERY limited interaction windows. It's a fairly fast-to-cast execute; getting out of it requires some damn fast reflexes due to it's AoE nature. And I could live with that... If it wasn't re-castable if it's successful.

Because again, this is inconsistent. Champs like Darius need to EARN their recasts, even if they're easier to get; you need to build stacks first, and then you still need stacks after (even though they're easy to get from there). Comparitively, champs with easy-to-get, melee-range executes like Garen, don't get recasts. Pyke is getting the best of both of these worlds, with base numbers superior (though with less ability scaling, if not by too much) in an AoE form that can help him set up more uses of his ult. Of course, we can compare him to Kat here, but Kat doesn't have a shield-ignoring execute and instant damage dump. Her ult provides windows of interaction, before and during.

From there, the rest of his kit isn't AS flawed. But it's still flawed enough. His W is a great positioning tool, and can also be a viable escape tool. His E is a great escape tool, and is a viable positioning tool. He has a way in AND a way out that also has hard CC attached, with no debuffs. Excuse me, but "Um, what?"

Honestly, examining his Q through E, you're looking at a variation on Blitzcrank's kit; a pull, a speed boost, a hard CC tool. He converts one stat to another stat. This is a pretty solid basis for comparison. And it reveals some inconsistencies. Pyke's Q may not pull as far, but it can de-position just as hard if it's short range; having to go around another champ makes distance-to-travel to safety about as far AND filled with more AA's. The fact that it has more versatility, with it's alternate cast, means it's arguably beefier. Pyke's W doesn't come with attack speed, but it comes with camouflage, which is a great positioning and escape tool. And it comes without a debuff. And Pyke's E, ho boy. You can throw overhead, dash to safety and hard CC. You can dash to engage, and body-block your target. You can dash to escape a bad pull during a gank.

This is what's wrong with Pyke to me; not that he's an effective "assassin support" (which, hey, not a fan. But damage supports are how some people like to play, so whatever.), but rather that he's DROWNING in utility as an assassin. And that isn't supposed to be how that works.

Yes he has weaknesses. He's fragile (but only if caught out) and extended fights can be his downfall. But that's the case for most non-tank supports, and they either don't get the same sustain, or the same damage.

He needs more metagame, as such. There needs to cost and benefit to using his kit in certain ways, either in variable cooldowns, or requiring stacks, or procs, or something. Because he's currently a very diverse champ with a low barrier of skill to be maximally effective. And again, that isn't supposed to be how it works.