Although Pyke is probably best known for his “Death from the Deep” (R), his most important ability is his “Bone Skewer” (Q), which is why this is the ability to start with. His “Bone Skewer” has two modes: tap and hold. If you tap his button only briefly, Pyke pushes his skewer in a small area in front of him, making a pity and slowing down the next target. If you hold down the button again, Pyke starts charging his spear after a short delay, then throws it when you let go and pulls the target he has hit a fixed distance towards him, after which it is also slowed down. The damage and slowing caused by the ability is the same in both cases, but the hold variant has the ability to bring distant enemies closer to you and your team to inflict further damage. The combination of damage, pulling in and slowing down is so strong that you can put your opponent in an awkward position or even kill them with this alone. However, this ability does not come without its drawbacks – the spike pulls the first target it hits towards itself, and this can also be a stun that is between you and your opponent – and the ability also slows you down while charging, making you an easy target. Pyke isn’t just level 1 strong though: with the unlocking of his “Phantom Suck” (E), he has a very deadly combination with level 2. This ability allows Pyke to jump a fixed distance, leaving his phantom at the starting point. After a short delay, he pulls his phantom towards him and stuns all enemies touched by it – champions also take damage. This ability has two main benefits: on the one hand, it is good for escaping, as anyone who runs after you directly will be stunned. On the other hand, it is very good at stunning enemies that have previously been pulled by the “Bone Spike” (Q). It should be noted here that targets are also briefly slowed by the bone spear after being pulled in and can therefore only escape the phantom with difficulty, unless – and this is where particular attention should be paid – they have an ability that lets them sprint or jump, or still have their lightning summon spell available. Carelessness here can lead to your own death even after a good hit with the Knockback Spear, as you have used your ability that you can use to escape in the hope of a kill and therefore can no longer get out of the situation.

Level 3 then unlocks “Ghostly Dive” (W), which gives Pyke increased movement speed for a while and makes him invisible as long as you don’t get close to an enemy or control eye. As a non-damaging ability, it’s hard to get kills in your lane, but it’s by no means an unimportant part of his arsenal. The ability to become invisible has two different advantages for Pyke. Firstly, it activates his passive “Gift of the Drowned” (P), which heals some of the damage taken when you are not seen by your opponent, and secondly, it helps you to get within range of an opponent where you have a chance of hitting their knockback spike (Q). Enemies are not completely clueless, however, as you alert them when you approach – they just don’t know from where. This ability is therefore very good for getting from lane to lane unseen or for appearing unexpectedly in a lane – i.e. not just bot lane.

From here on, you spend your ability points on the Bone Spike (Q) first so that you can use it more often and cause more damage. The same applies to “Phantomsog” (E) later in the game if no more skill points can be invested in the “Bone Spike”.

At level 6, you will unlock Pyke’s most famous ability – “Death from the Deep” (R). When you unlock it for the first time, you will notice a white line in the life meter of all enemies. This indicates how much (or rather how little) life the enemies must have for this ability to kill them directly on successful hit – no ifs, ands or buts. The only thing that can save them besides “dodge the ability” is to bring their life over the threshold of death or to become invulnerable in some way. The important point here is that shields are of course not part of life and therefore even the largest shield does not protect against “death from the depths” as long as the lives are below the respective threshold. To return to the ability itself: Pyke teleports to the enemy champion on a successful hit, and if they have lives below the respective threshold, they are killed outright (- targets that are not below the threshold take damage instead). Last but not least, if you send (kill) someone directly to the base with this ability, you can use “Death from the Depths” (R) again for a while, until you fail to kill someone with it or the time for reactivation runs out. “Death from the depths”? – More likely pentakiller. As a small bonus for each kill obtained with this ability, a fellow player also receives 300 gold, i.e. as much as a regular kill is worth.

As much as “Death from the Depths” (R) is made for getting as many kills as possible, you shouldn’t forget that the teleport can also have other uses, such as getting closer to an opponent and then throwing them back into your team with the bone spear (Q). And please make sure that, if possible, you don’t collect all the enemies’ bounties, as these will always end up in your pocket despite the bonuses, and your items are rather cheap in comparison, which is why your team can usually do more with them.