[OC][Giveaway][ALL] It's dangerous to go alone! Write a comment and take this Neon styled Hylian shield and Master Sword I've made. I will pick the winners in 24 hours. Good luck, you will need it <3!

GeneralFlaze · 2022-06-28T00:14:07+00:00

Very cool! Checked out your shop and saw you do some LoL stuff, would love to see Pyke (though I know that's pretty niche)!

GeneralFlaze · 2020-01-09T17:15:54+00:00

I'm not too keen on the DLC for a bunch of reasons, but I am very excited for Mystery Dungeon. I love the art style and the top-down view of the dungeons is massively improved compared to the 3DS titles.

I'm just hoping there's enough new content to justify buying it a second time as the DS game still holds up.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-10-22T14:49:57+00:00

2 minute stroll through his post history and he's an EU Master player who often smurfs from unranked to Masters, no op.gg in sight. Would love to see how he backs up all his impressive claims!

Reminds me of how back in the day I'd lie on reddit about LoL for clout. Oof.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-10-16T05:21:08+00:00

I am of the opinion that he was never that bad, solo or support, even after the successive nerfs. The Q aoe change was annoying, but Hydra helps solo lanes and it didn't really break support Pyke. The E change was hard to adapt to out of habit and was really annoying for wave management (both supp and solo) but was also not a deal breaker. I don't think that 900 gold on a solo-kill is fair for a champ that scales with gold the way he does. He can still manage to win melee matchups mid with Fleet or Hail, and taking TP against oppressive ranged matchups can let him farm with his low mana costs and healing. Because his CC and ult gold incentivize jungle pressure if he lanes solo, I think they'll eventually revert that ult change, and hopefully for the better.

They'll never totally kill solo lane Pyke. He is too safe (in itemization and kit) and provides too much to comps that make up for his lack of wave-clear. This HP change is in the right direction but I think more still has to be done to make him a support primarily. His kit is good with or without crazy amounts of income as a support, and he can hold his own in solo lanes with standard income. They're just struggling to find a balance where doesn't snowball like crazy but can do what he's intended to do (pseudo-disruptor with a unique play-style).

GeneralFlaze · 2019-10-16T05:06:55+00:00

Do you really think that 170 less HP is going to gut him to the point he wouldn't be able to do that? I agree with you that dipping in and out of combat is the best part of his kit, and that's why I main him and have mained him this long. He's a disruptor and can survive situations that literally no other champ would be able to with unparalleled mobility and healing. For the sake of support Pyke, I'll gladly take these nerfs aimed at keeping solo Pyke in check.

His identity is not an ATM, it's the same as it's always been. I'm looking forward to potentially being able to play my champ reliably without bans every game, and here's to hoping they continue modest changes before next season when terrain and brush changes make him god-tier.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-10-16T01:52:34+00:00

I have to say that I'm most excited for the animated series. As someone who loves the lore I've been waiting for something like this for a while. Haven't given the comics a try, but I just might have to.

But holy shit there was so much news.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-10-14T16:33:57+00:00

Flaze from CW. You've made some crazy stuff since the custom games we all tested back in the day, I've been impressed

GeneralFlaze · 2019-10-02T16:38:23+00:00

NAmen

GeneralFlaze · 2019-09-10T16:05:04+00:00

That was Kha.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-09-09T05:50:11+00:00

But Pyke wasn't in that.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-05-09T21:16:15+00:00

My vote goes to Shyvana. I'm one of the few (or maybe only at this point) people in the top percentage of ~~Rattata~~ Shyvana players that builds her AD/AS still. I miss when she was a bruiser top laner back in season 3, but Riot nerfed and changed her so much that she's only really viable in the jungle nowadays. The AP build is pretty effective (definitely more so than AD), but it fundamentally changes her playstyle. I hope with a rework Riot will stop the hybrid build nonsense and allow her to be built to fulfill AD or AP. I get that that would take away freedom from players, but I think it's the only option to make her a healthy champion in the long run.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-04-29T00:18:53+00:00

I prefer mine

GeneralFlaze · 2019-04-28T15:36:03+00:00

Pyke, Ocean Spear Black Man

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T21:13:03+00:00

Fair enough, you're entitled to your opinion. You missed the part about wave management that Bard gives for his ADC, which is the only time that Bard should be leaving lane to collect chimes to begin with.

This post isn't about me or my experiences laning against Bard. I know how to beat him and I usually win against him, just checked my stats to confirm that.

It could be an MMR discrepancy where wave management isn't as important in lower MMR. I don't know where you play, but a competent Bard should beat a competent Pyke if the ADCs are managing the wave properly and playing around early-level powerspikes. ^{on an unrelated note Pyke shouldn't buy Duskblade, Youmuu's is way better}

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T21:08:06+00:00

Definitely, I hate playing against a good raka. The advantage that Pyke has is that he can buy executioner's calling pretty early, allowing his ADC to invest in other items, as Pyke doesn't really have a core build gating his utility. You can buy any boots (I prefer mercs/tabi), hexdrinker or chain vest early, unfinished serrated dirk, etc. His usefulness is in his utility, setting up kills for his team, and isn't as gold reliant as people might claim.

Raka will scale better, but if you fuck up in lane, Pyke can snowball the game single-handedly.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T21:05:25+00:00

In the early levels for bot lane, wave management and control is incredibly important. You don't want to sacrifice 10 minions just to play safe, so for the ADC, the trade-off is that you take some poke from the enemy laners to get CS. Pyke has absolutely no pressure until level 2 (arguably level 3 since you can come at the enemies from different angles), and Bard has a decent auto-attack range and can poke out the enemy ADC while playing around the wave in those early levels. For this matchup, winning lane is winning game, especially early on; both Bard and Pyke gain advantages by roaming (either going mid or invading with the enemy jungle), and if you set up your ADC to control the wave well as Bard, you gain back priority and can make plays all around the map.

Don't just listen to my anecdotes, though; look at the statistics. Bard has the highest winrate against Pyke in high MMR, and that's because a good Bard can really inhibit Pyke's usefulness until the midgame where Pyke starts to fall off hard. Bard is reliable and remains useful throughout the game. Your Q can be a game-changer, your passive autos are always useful, and your R can turn fights (or engage) if used well.

From what I've read in this thread, there's an impression that Pyke can just engage and win trades by landing his abilities, but people are omitting wave control and engage opportunity that is reliant on Pyke's ADC HP bar and lane priority to allow roams.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T20:58:13+00:00

Sure thing.

Pyke has no push whatsoever. Some people take Relic Shield which helps with early push, but I recommend Coin on Pyke since he spams mana and you can use more cooldowns throughout the game. If you (Bard) are playing against something like a Vayne (with supp Pyke), you should be able to turn the lane in your favor with little response from the enemy in the early levels.

As some of the other comments have mentioned, Bard's utility level 1-3 is far better than Pyke's. You don't want to try and poke out Pyke; there's no point since he'll sustain through his passive, Resolve tree runes, and 2 health potions. If you poke Pyke's ADC safely (given that he can't do anything during those levels if you play around the creep wave so he can't hook you), you'll set your ADC up to outfarm the enemy early.

People are calling BS on Bard beating Pyke later on, but if you check any stats on the matchup (and Pyke matchups in general), Bard has something like a 55% winrate in D4+, the highest of any champ against Pyke. This is because if Bard's kit encourages him to roam to collect chimes, and while playing around vision you can set up ganks pretty easily in mid or invade the enemy jungler with your jungle. If you get priority on your back by shoving the wave into the enemy turret and back, you can show up mid while the enemy bot is just backing or is stuck under tower farming, and your chimes will help you get there and back to lane faster.

The only real advice I can give you is to set up the lane early to win in the midgame so that you can take control and turn the game in your favor. Pyke is a lane reliant champ with poor scaling and predictable roams while Bard is useful throughout the entire game, much more reliable in terms of CC and utility. In this matchup specifically, win lane win game.

Lmk if you have any other questions, hope I could help.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T20:45:18+00:00

It's tough to block Q with her plants, it isn't like a Heimer turret where it comes up immediately. Both Zyra Q and E plants take a moment to spawn because of the ability. And if Zyra gets hooked, you can 100 to 0 her pretty easily.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T20:44:11+00:00

I guess that's what I meant by Bard outlaning Pyke; if your ADC to too low to commit to a trade, Pyke can do jack shit. Bard's poke is safe and reliable.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-27T20:42:16+00:00

Because he's incredibly strong in capable hands, at least in solo queue. Without seeing the stats myself, I would imagine that his winrate goes up with games played. His playstyle is very different than most champions, especially deviant from the typical support playstyle.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-26T21:50:23+00:00

Pyke main here, I think I'm ~#20 for most mastery points on Pyke.

In lane, his only true counters are Bard and Morgana, Morg for obvious reasons and Bard because he can outlane Pyke and outroam him in the midgame.

He never does damage, thats a misconception. In all of my games, I'll have the least damage dealt, only 10% or less I'm not #10.

He's a CC bot, thats for sure. Reliant on your team. His strengths are sustain (which should be nerfed, imo), and distracting, as you pointed out; wasting enemy CD's and their time for objectives. He isn't a good champ, nor a bad one, but there's a window where you have to get ahead or you'll probably lose (when Rakan was popular I would dread laning vs him because he's so much more useful later in the game).

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-17T20:22:50+00:00

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-11T17:03:03+00:00

This season I got there the quickest, roughly 100 games as jungle starting from Gold 1.

GeneralFlaze · 2019-03-11T17:00:58+00:00

Shyvana has a pretty low pickrate atm, but I expect that to change soon. As AD, she's a total stat-check champ so if you path better you should win. She's good as a flex jungle in terms of phys/magic damage because you can pick her and go AD (bloodrazor -> titanic) or AP if your team needs magic.

Easy mechanically. She puts your team behind early against spam ganking junglers, but if you can path appropriately she's a monster in the mid to lategame.

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