Pyke
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Good (6/10)
High Investment Required
Epic Relics
Pyke is a high-investment champion who struggles significantly at lower star levels due to the inherent inconsistency of the Lurk mechanic. However, once he reaches his 4-star and 6-star constellation upgrades, he transforms into a highly aggressive and powerful threat capable of overwhelming opponents.
Lurk Rush
Provides essential Overwhelm to Pyke and his Lurker units, allowing their massive stats to translate directly into Nexus damage.
Offers consistent deck-wide stat scaling, ensuring that every unit drawn is a significant threat.
Allows Pyke to be deployed early at a massive discount. On a full board, this can instantly fulfill his level-up condition.
Strategy
This build maximizes Pyke's board presence and Lurk scaling. The strategy focuses on buffing followers and overwhelming the opponent with raw stats. Pyke himself acts as a secondary win condition or a targeted removal tool, dropping onto the board at a discount to clear remaining threats.
Board Clear Assassin
Generates additional copies of Pyke in the deck, increasing the frequency of drawing his champion spell, Death From Below.
Causes Pyke to strike an enemy upon summon, accelerating his level-up condition.- A second copy ensures Pyke strikes twice upon summon, often guaranteeing an immediate level-up and subsequent board clear.
Strategy
This build focuses entirely on Pyke's champion spell, Death From Below. By utilizing Echoing Spirit to consistently draw the spell, Pyke can be summoned directly into combat. The dual Stalker's Blades ensure he strikes multiple times upon entering the board, instantly leveling him up and triggering his chain-strike board clear.
Rare Relic Aggro
- Provides an immediate strike upon summon, synergizing with Death From Below.
- A second copy maximizes his burst damage and level-up progression.
Grants Spellshield, protecting Pyke from enemy removal once he hits the board.
Strategy
A standard setup for newer accounts. The goal is to use Death From Below to summon Pyke, utilizing the Stalker's Blades to eliminate key enemy threats and progress his level-up. Banshee's Veil ensures he survives long enough to execute his chain strikes.
Other Relic Options
Pyke's signature relic. Players disagree about its effectiveness. Some consider it a core piece of his kit that enables crucial kills for his level-up. While others view it as a trap that is entirely outclassed by passive stat-boosting relics, especially at higher constellation levels.
Highly effective at 4-stars and above. It consistently tutors his 4-cost unit, which gains a free attack from his constellation upgrades, providing immediate early-game pressure.
Useful for consistently drawing his 2-cost unit, enabling early free attacks and Lurk triggers.
A solid alternative to Stacked Deck for a passive playstyle, providing valuable rerolls to curate a unit-heavy draft.
Constellation
Pyke's constellation tree is heavily focused on fixing the inherent inconsistency of the Lurk mechanic. Because of this, he feels incomplete and frustrating to play at 3 stars. He requires significant investment to reach his 4-star and 6-star nodes, which transform him into a reliable and powerful champion.
Abyssal Might
Lurking grants an extra +0|+1.
Phantom Haul
+1 Starting Mana. Round Start: If you have the attack token, summon an ephemeral Sharkling.Review
The free lurking attacker can be risky, as it may trigger Lurk prematurely and cause a whiff if the top card of your deck is a spell.
Abyssal Might II
Lurking grants an extra +1|+1.Review
Provides a baseline of consistency by granting Lurker to small units, but still leaves the deck vulnerable to bad draws.
Lie in Wait
Allies everywhere that cost 3 or less are Lurkers and have Lurk.Review
This is the critical breakpoint for Pyke. By granting Lurker to average and big units, it drastically improves drafting flexibility and Lurk reliability.
Manaflow
Game Start: Get a mana gem.Review
The additional reroll is valuable for curating a unit-heavy deck and avoiding unwanted spells.
Death From Everywhere
Your spells everywhere have Lurk. When a card Lurks, if it's a follower, summon it attacking; otherwise, draw it.Review
A massive power spike that grants Lurk to all spells and summons a random Lurker from your deck on attack. This completely alters his playstyle, allowing for overwhelming early-game board states and mitigating the penalty of drafting spells.
Gameplay Tips
- Prioritize Unit Drafting
To maximize Lurk consistency, aggressively cut spells from your deck at healer nodes. When drafting, prioritize units over spells, as whiffing a Lurk trigger can severely stall your momentum.
- Support Champion Selection
When choosing a support champion, prioritize those with few or no spells in their package to avoid diluting your Lurk pool. Rek'Sai is the optimal choice, but swarm-focused champions like Azir, Miss Fortune, or Elder Dragon are also highly effective.
- Aggressive Mulligan Strategy
Mulligan aggressively for small Lurk units or Pyke's champion spell (Bone Skewer) to ensure you can trigger Lurk on your first attacking turn.
- Cost Modifiers Disrupt Synergy
Be cautious in adventures with cost-increasing modifiers (such as the Elder Dragon campaign). Pyke's constellation powers rely on specific mana costs to grant the Lurker subtype. Cost increases can push units out of these brackets, breaking your synergy.
- The C6 Playstyle Shift
At 6 stars, Pyke's optimal strategy shifts from relying on Pyke himself to a 'Lurk rush' approach. Focus on drafting big units, as his C6 power will summon them for free during attacks, often winning the game before Pyke is even played.