Best Pyke Build & Guide (2026) — League of Legends

Pyke is League of Legends' Bloodharbor Ripper — an assassin support who hooks enemies with Bone Skewer, vanishes into camouflage with Ghostwater Dive, stuns entire teams with Phantom Undertow, and executes low-health targets with Death from Below while sharing full kill gold with his allies. Pyke is played primarily in support (48.95% win rate on u.gg Patch 16.6 Emerald+, 50.52% on LoLalytics, A tier) with a niche mid lane presence (52.19% win rate on LoLalytics at extremely low pick rate). Whether you are an aggressive support who wants to roam and snowball kills across the map, a playmaker who thrives on catching enemies out of position, or a player who wants to play an assassin in the support role, this guide covers everything you need to dominate with Pyke in 2026.

Pyke Overview

Pyke operates as an assassin support whose power comes from his hook, camouflage, AoE stun, and an execute ultimate that shares full kill gold with the last assisting ally. He is played most in support (5.7% pick rate, 48.95% win rate on u.gg Emerald+, 50.52% on LoLalytics) with an extremely niche mid lane presence (0.06% pick rate, 52.19% win rate on LoLalytics — essentially one-tricks only). His ban rate sits around 24-28%, one of the highest in the game, reflecting how threatening Pyke feels to play against due to his roaming pressure and execute resets.

Unlike traditional supports who scale with utility or healing, Pyke's identity revolves around converting bonus health into bonus AD through Gift of the Drowned Ones, hooking targets with Bone Skewer to start picks, disappearing into camouflage with Ghostwater Dive for flanks and roams, dashing through enemies and stunning them with Phantom Undertow, and executing targets below a health threshold with Death from Below while generating bonus gold for his team through Your Cut.

Gift of the Drowned Ones (Passive) converts all bonus health from items, runes, and other sources into bonus AD at a rate of 1 AD per 14 bonus HP. Pyke's maximum health cannot increase except through leveling. Additionally, when Pyke takes damage from enemy champions, he stores a portion as Grey Health — 9% (+0.2% per 1 Lethality) of post-mitigation damage, increased to 40% (+0.4% per 1 Lethality) when 2 or more enemies are visible nearby. The Grey Health cap is 80 (+800% bonus AD), capped at 55% of max HP. When Pyke is unseen by enemies, he rapidly consumes Grey Health to heal. Pyke also gains 1 bonus movement speed while in the river.

Bone Skewer (Q) can be used in two ways. Tapping Q performs a short-range stab that deals 100/150/200/250/300 (+75% bonus AD) physical damage to all nearby enemies. Charging Q for up to 3 seconds throws a harpoon in a line with a range of 400-1100, dealing the same damage to the first enemy hit and pulling them a fixed distance toward Pyke. Bone Skewer has a cooldown of 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds and costs 70/75/80/85/90 mana. Hitting a champion refunds the full mana cost; missing refunds 75%.

Ghostwater Dive (W) grants Pyke camouflage and 45% (+2% per 1 Lethality) bonus movement speed that decays over 5 seconds. Enemies within 1500 units are alerted to Pyke's presence. Ghostwater Dive has a cooldown of 14/13/12/11/10 seconds and costs 65 mana. The camouflage allows Pyke to activate his Grey Health healing while also providing the movement speed needed for roams and flanks.

Phantom Undertow (E) causes Pyke to dash forward, leaving a phantom behind at his starting position. After 1 second, the phantom returns to Pyke's current location, dealing 100/150/200/250/300 (+100% bonus AD) physical damage and stunning all enemy champions in its path for 1.25 (+0.1 per 10 Lethality) seconds. Phantom Undertow has a cooldown of 15/14/13/12/11 seconds and costs 40 mana. The dash can cross terrain for extended range.

Death from Below (R) causes Pyke to blink to a target location and strike in an X-shaped area. Enemy champions below the execute threshold of 250-550 (scales by level) (+80% bonus AD)(+1.5 per 1 Lethality) are killed instantly. Enemies above the threshold take 125-275 (scales by level) (+40% bonus AD)(+0.75 per 1 Lethality) physical damage instead. On a successful execute, Death from Below can be recast within 20 seconds at no mana cost, and the last ally to assist receives full kill gold through Your Cut. Death from Below has a cooldown of 100/85/70 seconds and costs 100 mana.

Strengths

• Death from Below executes any champion below a scaling health threshold that increases with bonus AD and Lethality, resets on kill, and grants full kill gold to the last assisting ally — Pyke generates significantly more gold for his team than any other support through Your Cut, accelerating both himself and his carry — A single teamfight with 2-3 executes can generate thousands of bonus gold, turning even a close game into a massive gold lead
• Ghostwater Dive's camouflage and bonus movement speed make Pyke one of the most dangerous roaming supports in the game — he can leave lane invisibly, cross the map at high speed, and arrive in mid or jungle for unexpected flanks that the enemy cannot see coming — Pyke's roam pressure forces enemies to play defensively even when he is not visible, creating map-wide pressure from the support role
• Bone Skewer's charged harpoon pulls enemies out of position from up to 1100 range, setting up kills from fog of war, over walls, and through narrow corridors — a single hook on a priority target can win a teamfight before it starts — The short-range stab variant provides reliable close-range damage in skirmishes when the hook angle is unavailable
• Gift of the Drowned Ones' Grey Health mechanic allows Pyke to sustain through poke and trade damage by stepping out of vision to heal — this makes Pyke deceptively tanky in lane despite building full lethality, as he can recover a significant portion of damage taken simply by ducking into a bush — The Grey Health scaling with Lethality means Pyke heals more as he builds his core items

Weaknesses

• Pyke cannot build health — Gift of the Drowned Ones converts all bonus health into AD, meaning Pyke is permanently squishy with no ability to itemize defensively through HP stacking, making him extremely vulnerable to burst damage and focus fire in teamfights — A single crowd control chain into burst damage kills Pyke before he can activate Grey Health healing
• Death from Below deals reduced damage to targets above the execute threshold, making Pyke's ultimate a liability if enemies are not low enough — without execute resets, Pyke's teamfight contribution drops dramatically since his non-ultimate damage is limited for an assassin — Failed executes put Death from Below on full cooldown with no reset, leaving Pyke without his most impactful ability
• Pyke's base armor was reduced to 37 in Patch 16.6, making his early laning phase significantly more punishing — enemy bot lanes can trade aggressively into Pyke and chunk him before he can step out of vision to heal with Grey Health — The armor nerf specifically targets his ability to survive early trades, especially against AD-heavy bot lanes
• Bone Skewer's charged harpoon is telegraphed by the wind-up animation and can be sidestepped, blocked by minions, or interrupted by crowd control — missing the hook leaves Pyke without his primary engage tool for 8-10 seconds, during which he is a melee champion with limited contribution — Experienced players read the charge animation and position behind minions to deny hook angles

Recommended Runes

Support — Hail of Blades (Domination)

The recommended rune page for Pyke support is Hail of Blades, the dominant keystone with approximately 95% pick rate on OP.GG. Hail of Blades allows Pyke to burst targets during the stun window after a successful hook or Phantom Undertow.

• Hail of Blades — Gain 110% bonus attack speed for the first 3 attacks against enemy champions, with no attack speed cap. Hail of Blades is ideal for Pyke because after landing Bone Skewer hook or Phantom Undertow stun, the burst attack speed lets Pyke squeeze in 2-3 auto attacks during the crowd control window, maximizing damage before the target can react or escape.
• Cheap Shot — Deal 10-45 bonus true damage to enemy champions with impaired movement or actions. Cheap Shot procs on every Bone Skewer slow, Phantom Undertow stun, and any allied crowd control, providing consistent bonus damage throughout the game that adds up significantly given Pyke's frequent CC application.
• Sixth Sense — Gain additional vision-related benefits. Sixth Sense helps Pyke with his ward-clearing duties as a support and synergizes with his roaming playstyle by providing information advantages.
• Ultimate Hunter — Reduce your ultimate's cooldown by 6 (+5 per unique champion takedown), up to 31 seconds at max stacks. Ultimate Hunter is critical for Pyke because Death from Below is his most impactful ability — reducing its base cooldown means more execute opportunities, more Your Cut gold generation, and more playmaking potential throughout the game.

Secondary — Resolve

• Bone Plating — After taking damage from an enemy champion, the next 3 instances of damage from that champion within 1.5 seconds are reduced. Bone Plating is essential for Pyke's survivability in lane given his low base armor (37), protecting him during trades and all-in attempts when enemies focus him down.
• Unflinching — Gain tenacity and slow resistance that increases based on missing health. Unflinching helps Pyke escape after diving into enemy teams with Phantom Undertow and prevents crowd control chains from locking him down before he can activate Grey Health healing or recast Death from Below.

Stat Shards

• Adaptive Force — Extra AD increases Bone Skewer, Phantom Undertow, and Death from Below damage, maximizing Pyke's burst potential during engages.
• Adaptive Force — Double Adaptive Force provides the strongest possible early-game damage for level 2 all-ins and roaming kills.
• Health Scaling — Bonus health scaling is converted into bonus AD through Gift of the Drowned Ones, effectively giving Pyke free AD from a defensive stat shard.

Recommended Item Build

Based on data from ranked Pyke matches tracked across multiple stat sites on Patch 16.6, here are the highest winrate build paths.

Support Build

#### Early Game (0-10 min)

• World Atlas — The standard support starting item that generates gold through the Tribute passive when damaging enemy champions. World Atlas upgrades into Runic Compass and eventually into a completed support item that provides wards. Pyke takes World Atlas because he needs the gold generation to fund his lethality items.
• 2 Health Potions — Health Potions provide sustain for Pyke's aggressive trading pattern in lane, supplementing Grey Health healing when enemies zone him away from brush cover.

#### Core Build (10-20 min)

• Bloodsong — The support item upgrade that provides ability haste and a passive that amplifies damage dealt to champions Pyke has recently damaged. Bloodsong synergizes with Pyke's burst pattern by increasing the damage his allies deal to hooked or stunned targets.
• Boots of Swiftness — Grants bonus movement speed and slow resistance. Boots of Swiftness have a 54.98% win rate on Pyke because the enhanced movement speed amplifies his roaming speed and the slow resistance prevents enemies from kiting him after he dashes in with Phantom Undertow.
• Umbral Glaive — Grants attack damage, lethality, and ability haste, with a passive that reveals and instantly kills nearby wards. Umbral Glaive has a 53.87% win rate on Pyke because it provides lethality for damage scaling, ability haste for lower cooldowns, and the ward-clearing passive is invaluable for a roaming support who needs to deny enemy vision.

#### Late Game (25+ min)

• Youmuu's Ghostblade — Grants attack damage, lethality, and an active that provides bonus movement speed. Youmuu's Ghostblade amplifies Pyke's roaming speed and burst damage, with the active stacking on top of Ghostwater Dive's movement speed for extremely fast flanks and picks.
• Opportunity — Grants attack damage and lethality, with a passive that provides bonus movement speed out of combat and bonus damage against targets you haven't recently hit. Opportunity has a 57.17% win rate on Pyke because the out-of-combat movement speed enhances roaming and the bonus damage on first hit amplifies pick potential.
• Axiom Arc — Grants attack damage, lethality, and ability haste, with a passive that refunds a portion of your ultimate's remaining cooldown on champion takedowns. Axiom Arc has a 56.06% win rate on Pyke because it further reduces Death from Below's cooldown beyond Ultimate Hunter, enabling even more execute resets in extended teamfights.

Ability Priority

Support: Q > E > W (R at 6, 11, 16)

1. Bone Skewer (Q) — Max first. Levels at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. Each rank increases base damage from 100 to 300 while cooldown decreases from 10 to 8 seconds. Maxing Q first is essential because Bone Skewer is Pyke's primary engage and damage tool — the increasing base damage makes hooks and stabs hit significantly harder, and the decreasing cooldown provides more frequent hook attempts.
2. Death from Below (R) — Level at 6, 11, and 16. Each rank decreases cooldown from 100 to 70 seconds while the execute threshold scales with level. Level 6 is Pyke's biggest power spike because Death from Below enables kill confirmation, gold generation through Your Cut, and snowball potential.
3. Phantom Undertow (E) — Max second. Levels at 2, 8, 10, 12, 13. Each rank increases base damage from 100 to 300 and decreases cooldown from 15 to 11 seconds. Maxing E second provides more frequent stuns and higher burst damage during all-in combos.
4. Ghostwater Dive (W) — Max last. Levels at 4, 14, 15, 17, 18. Each rank decreases cooldown from 14 to 10 seconds. The movement speed stays at 45% (+2% per Lethality) and the camouflage duration stays at 5 seconds at all ranks, so W provides its core value at rank 1.

Summoner Spells

• Flash — Flash is essential for Pyke because it enables Flash-E combos that stun enemies from unexpected angles, Flash-Q hooks that catch targets off guard, and Flash-R executes that secure kills from positions enemies thought were safe. Flash also provides a critical escape tool when Pyke's E dash and W camouflage are on cooldown.
• Ignite — Ignite is the standard secondary summoner spell for Pyke support (95.6% pick rate) because it provides kill pressure in lane, Grievous Wounds to reduce healing during all-ins, and extra damage that helps bring targets into Death from Below's execute threshold. Ignite synergizes perfectly with Pyke's assassin playstyle of committing to kills.

Playstyle Tips

Early Game / Laning Phase (0-14 min)

Pyke's early game is about landing Bone Skewer hooks from fog of war, leveraging level 2 and level 3 power spikes for all-ins, and roaming mid with Ghostwater Dive to snowball kills across the map.

Start Bone Skewer at level 1 for hook pressure in lane. Position in the lane bush and charge Q from fog of war — enemies cannot see the wind-up animation from brush, making hooks significantly harder to dodge. A landed hook at level 1 forces summoner spells or chunks the enemy to half health with your ADC's follow-up. Take Phantom Undertow at level 2 for the devastating Q-E combo — hook a target with Q, then immediately E through them for the stun, letting your ADC unload free damage during the crowd control chain.

At level 3, take Ghostwater Dive for your first roam timing. After shoving the wave with your ADC, activate W and walk mid through the river — Pyke gains bonus movement speed in river from his passive, and the camouflage prevents the enemy from seeing you approach. A successful mid roam with Q hook into E stun almost guarantees a kill, especially if your midlaner has follow-up damage.

Grey Health is your sustain tool. After taking trade damage, step into a bush or behind your tower where enemies cannot see you. Gift of the Drowned Ones rapidly converts Grey Health into actual health, letting you return to lane healthy after trades that would force other supports to recall. With 2 or more enemies visible nearby, you store 40% of damage taken as Grey Health, making 2v2 trades surprisingly forgiving.

Mid Game & Teamfighting (14-25 min)

Mid-game Pyke with Umbral Glaive and Youmuu's Ghostblade is a roaming assassin who clears vision, picks off isolated targets with hook-stun combos, and executes low-health enemies in teamfights to generate massive gold advantages through Your Cut.

Pyke's mid-game revolves around vision control and picks. Use Umbral Glaive's passive to clear enemy wards aggressively, denying vision in the areas where you want to set up hooks. Activate Ghostwater Dive and position in flanking angles near choke points — river entrances, jungle corridors, and the areas behind dragon and baron pit are all prime hooking locations.

In teamfights, Pyke's role is not to frontline or initiate — he is an assassin who waits for targets to drop below the execute threshold. Start fights from a flank with E through the enemy backline for an AoE stun, follow up with Q stab for damage, then execute the lowest-health target with R. If the execute is successful, immediately recast R on the next low-health target. A Pyke who chains 2-3 Death from Below executes in a single teamfight generates thousands of bonus gold and swings the fight decisively.

Do not use Death from Below as an engage tool on full-health targets. The non-execute damage is significantly lower than the execute damage, and putting R on full cooldown without a reset wastes Pyke's most important ability. Always wait until targets are below the execute threshold before committing R.

Late Game (25+ min)

Late-game Pyke is a high-risk, high-reward assassin who lives and dies by execute chains — one successful Death from Below reset chain wins the teamfight, but getting caught out means instant death due to Pyke's inability to build health.

In the late game, Pyke's damage outside of Death from Below becomes less relevant as enemies build defensive items. Focus entirely on execute setups — use Ghostwater Dive to position behind the enemy team, dash through with Phantom Undertow for an AoE stun, and wait for your team's damage to bring targets into execute range before using R.

Death from Below's execute threshold scales with bonus AD and Lethality, so with a full lethality build the threshold reaches 700+ health. Combined with Axiom Arc's cooldown refund and Ultimate Hunter, Pyke can potentially execute every member of the enemy team in a single fight if the resets chain properly.

Ward clearing remains critical in the late game. Use Umbral Glaive to deny vision around baron and elder dragon, then set up picks from the blind spots you created. A single hook on an enemy carry near baron can win the game outright.

Matchups

Support

#### Favorable

• Lux — Pyke wins approximately 55.75% against Lux support. Lux is squishy and immobile — a single Bone Skewer hook pulls her into Pyke's kill range, and she lacks the tools to survive the burst combo. Ghostwater Dive lets Pyke dodge Light Binding and close the gap, and Death from Below executes Lux through her shield.
• Brand — Pyke wins approximately 53.75% against Brand support. Brand relies on landing skill shots to proc his passive, but Pyke's mobility with W and E makes him a difficult target. Pyke can hook Brand during his cast animations and burst him down before Brand's damage-over-time becomes relevant.
• Zyra — Pyke wins approximately 53.82% against Zyra support. Zyra is immobile and squishy, making her an easy hook target. Pyke can dash through her plant setup with Phantom Undertow and burst her before she can use Stranglethorns effectively.

#### Even

• Nautilus — Pyke wins approximately 48.73% against Nautilus support. Both champions are hook-based engage supports, but Nautilus is tankier and his Dredge Line hits harder in sustained trades. Nautilus's crowd control chain can lock Pyke down before he can escape with W. The matchup often comes down to who lands the first hook.
• Thresh — Pyke wins approximately 49.26% against Thresh support. Thresh's Flay can interrupt Pyke's E dash, and Death Sentence provides comparable pick potential. Thresh's lantern can save hooked allies, and his tankier build means Pyke cannot burst him down easily.
• Leona — Pyke wins approximately 48.67% against Leona support. Leona's all-in with Zenith Blade and Shield of Daybreak locks Pyke down with crowd control, and her natural tankiness makes her impossible to burst. Pyke can dodge Zenith Blade with W movement speed, but if Leona lands her combo, Pyke's low armor makes him melt.

#### Unfavorable

• Maokai — Pyke wins only approximately 45.74% against Maokai support. Maokai's Sapling Toss zones Pyke out of bushes where he wants to charge hooks from fog of war, and Nature's Grasp provides unavoidable engage. Maokai's tankiness means Pyke cannot burst him, and Twisted Advance point-and-click root catches Pyke even through camouflage.
• Milio — Pyke wins only approximately 47.02% against Milio support. Milio's Ultra Mega Fire Kick knocks Pyke away during his engage attempts, and Breath of Life's heal and attack range buff let the enemy ADC punish Pyke from distance. Milio's ultimate cleanses crowd control, removing Pyke's hook and stun, which nullifies his entire combo.
• Soraka — Pyke wins only approximately 47.33% against Soraka support. Soraka's Astral Infusion healing keeps allies above Death from Below's execute threshold, directly countering Pyke's kill condition. Equinox's silence zone prevents Pyke from using abilities during engages, and Wish heals the entire team globally, making roam kills harder to secure.

Recent Patch Changes

Patch 16.6 / 26.6 (March 2026) — Nerf

Riot targeted Pyke's lane survivability as he was overbearing at elite levels of play, making him too difficult to punish when he made mistakes.

• Base Stats: Base armor reduced from 43 to 37. This significant armor reduction makes Pyke considerably squishier in early trades, allowing enemy bot lanes to punish his aggressive positioning more effectively.

Patch 25.S1.1 (Season 2025 Start) — Nerf

• Death from Below (R): Your Cut no longer grants an additional 100 gold if awarded from First Blood. This reduces Pyke's early-game gold snowball potential from level 6 first bloods.

Season 15 — Lethality Scaling Rework

Pyke received significant changes that integrated Lethality scaling throughout his kit, tying his power more closely to his core stat.

• Gift of the Drowned Ones (Passive): Grey Health storage reworked to scale with Lethality — 9% (+0.2% per Lethality) base, increased to 40% (+0.4% per Lethality) with 2 or more enemies visible nearby.
• Ghostwater Dive (W): Movement speed now scales with Lethality — 45% (+2% per Lethality) bonus movement speed.
• Phantom Undertow (E): Stun duration now scales with Lethality — 1.25 (+0.1 per 10 Lethality) seconds.
• Death from Below (R): Execute threshold now scales with Lethality — (+1.5 per 1 Lethality) added to the base threshold.

These changes reward Pyke for building lethality by improving his sustain, mobility, crowd control, and execute power simultaneously.

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