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How does Pyke protect the ADC?

ChosenOne124·6/3/2018, 10:59:01 AM·1 votes·3,012 views

Firstly, I'm a support main.

I've been playing Pyke, and I have to say, he's awesome. His hook is intuitive, his ult is tricky but powerful once you get it, and his stun is an absolute blast to use.

But something bothers me. Pyke's kit seems to lack the tools do actually support. He can't protect the adc, since his utility is fairly limited against the threats adcs face like diving tanks and assassins. His support-ness is even more diminished by the fact that his most efficient items are things like Duskblade, Youmuu's Ghostblade, and Black Cleaver, only one of which actually helps your ADC.

I've been having good success with rushing Deadman's Plate and may experiment with Frozen Mallet at some point, but this isn't really the same level of protection a support with a Knight's Vow, Redemption, or Locket provide.

So here's my question: How the hell do I support, like actually support, with Pyke?

23 Comments

D357R0Y3R6/3/2018, 11:50:33 AM5 votes

by killing people

BLACK REALM GOD6/3/2018, 11:14:31 AM2 votes

item 3401 heals your bottom laner. item 3022 slows your opponent. item 3071 removes armor. item 3056 helps with dives. item 3109 you can heal for free. item 3143 reduces attack speed and slows enemies. item 3107 heals your team and damage enemies item 3075 applies grievous wounds item 3033 applies grievous wounds item 3091 removes magic resist item 3153 slows item 3001 (i dont know why you would buy this, but...) makes nearby enemies take more magic damage item 3147 grants vision control item 2138 grants allied movement speed. item 3110 reduces attack speed of nearby enemies item 3025 slows enemies movement item 3800 slows enemies movement summoner 3 cripple an opponent summoner 7 heal nearby allies and grant a burst of movement speed Q - force an opponent out of position. E - stun enemies. R - grant gold to your ally by marking a target for execution.

...what is there to not understand?

IP Masquerena6/3/2018, 11:15:09 AM2 votes

He supports the same way a Zyra, Brand, Vel'Koz and the like support. Making sure the enemy dies faster.

Not all supports have to be peel/shield bots like Janna, Lulu, Soraka, Rakan or Taric.

Khristophoros6/3/2018, 12:57:16 PM1 votes

Supports aren't necessarily supposed to protect people. They are supposed to be effective with less gold (well nowadays idk they just get free gold)

TheSeditionist6/3/2018, 1:03:33 PM1 votes

The same way blitzcrank does, using cc and repositioning to change which people are being focused and out of place. All his cc is still peel, and his regen allows him to absorb focus in short fights almost like a tahm kench so long as he's careful. Then factor that you can potentially add his kills to his number of assists and that's a lot of assistance.

Azadethe6/3/2018, 2:35:10 PM1 votes

Personally I only play him in jungle..... But I do play like a support.

When I have an opponent dueling someone like my mid..... I go in and E them into place. Usually saves my teammate while positioning for a takedown.

Jackom16/3/2018, 2:37:09 PM1 votes

How does leona protect the adc?

SuperCosmicHobo6/4/2018, 8:07:25 AM1 votes

Basically you Q the enemy to you back line and play aggressively. Pyke was made for aggressive support plays rather than defensive.

woodvsmurph6/4/2018, 10:17:58 PM1 votes

That's kinda what I thought first reading his kit. Like, he's gotta feel awesome if you're snowballing, but before you get all your abilities he must feel kinda like level 1 leona... hi I'm here, pls don't harass half my health bar away while I defend my adc from your poke. And If pyke is behind... engaging is kinda suicide in most cases so he's got almost nothing to offer 2v2 if you're losing lane by a significant margin. And his peeling - as you say - is probably worse or more difficult/unreliable than most other supports. Cool ideas in this champ's kit, but not the best overall design for a support. Seems very feast or famine with the almost need to overbuff him to make him playable at all elo - something they tried to fix with assassin midlaners when they reworked... only to introduce it in the support role lol.

Nanuk Pihoqahiak6/3/2018, 11:02:27 AM1 votes

I haven't personally tested it, but I theorize that Glacial Augment might actually be REALLY good on him. He doesn't make good use of a lot of the keystones. However, being able to cripple the enemy's movement speed with how easily he can get it on someone would be valuable in not only locking them down, but preventing them from catching anyone else.

Raoul6/4/2018, 10:18:57 PM1 votes

He kills the enemy^^

OurLestrade6/3/2018, 11:04:57 AM1 votes

The logic is that the best CC is death, but it's true that in terms of supporting he's not at all conventional. He's meant to be paired with heavy kill lanes with ADCs that can take care of themselves methinks, maybe he'll bring a resurgence of the bruiser bot lane?

Netorare6/3/2018, 11:48:35 AM1 votes

Playing Pyke and wanting to protect ur adc omegalul. Why would u want to protect ur adc while playing champs like pyke or vel'koz etc, YOU are the damage...