Legends of Runeterra | Pyke Officially Revealed!

Pyke, the “Bloodharbor Ripper” will finally be joining the ever-growing Legends of Runeterra champion roster! And, frankly, we’ve been blown away with what Riot has been able to pull off! Pyke, like so many other LoL champions, doesn’t really seem like a good fit for a card-based game. And yet you’d never be able to tell based on how well his transition was handled!

By the looks of it, Lurkers are all but guaranteed to upend the current meta once they are released on June 30th! It goes without saying, but we’re truly hyped beyond measure! There’s not a whole lot to break down here in terms of sheer volume, but the importance of these cards cannot be overstated. They’re the ones that will truly tie it all together, and give the whole Lurk-based mechanic a shot at viability!

So, with that little introduction out of the way, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!

Legends of Runeterra | Pyke Joins the Fray!

Pyke is a 4 mana champion (Lurker) with 2 | 3 along with the Quick Attack and Lurk keywords. Whenever he lurks, he’ll transform into Death From Below. To level him up, allied Pykes will have to deal 15+ damage.

Once leveled up, he’ll grow to 3 | 4, retain his previous passive, but also get a new one — whenever he kills an opposing unit, he’ll also strike the weakest enemy as well.

Death From Below is a 4 mana Fast spell with Lurk. Once activated, it’ll summon a Pyke who will then, in turn, strike an enemy unit.

Pyke’s Bone Skewer is a 2 mana fast spell. An allied unit will strike an enemy and then move to the top of your deck (basically a fodder for the whole Lurk mechanic). It’ll also create an additional Pyke in your deck.

Jaull-Fish is an 8 mana unit (Lurker) with 2 | 7 and the Lurk keyword. The real kicker here is its Play effect: each lurker ally will strike a random enemy. This is quite a potent late-game monstrosity. Heck, we’re putting it mildly here! It’s a legitimate way to end the game, and it’s just eight mana, too. It does, of course, require some set-up (board-wise), but it’s still obscenely powerful.

There are also two somewhat strange reveals, one from Demacia and another from Ionia. Not exactly tied to Pyke or anything else of importance, but they’re definitely deserve a bit of our attention!

Swiftwing Flight is a 4 mana unit from Demacia (Elite) with 3 | 2 and the Challenger keyword. It also comes equipped with two very interesting effect. Once played, it’ll create a Fleetfeather Tracker, Blinding Assult, or Silverwing Vanguard in hand. Once it attacks, however, it’ll grant all other Challenging allies with +1 | +1 for the remainder of the round.

Sacred Protector is a 7 mana unit from Ionia with 8 | 6. Once played, you’ll draw a Shen. Its passive, though, is what’s most spectacular: all allies with Barrier will also get Double Attack. Talk about a potent two-for-one deal!

Closing Remarks

All in all, Pyke is about as spectacular as most of us had hoped for! You can see hit kit in action in the video above and, frankly, it’s a thing of beauty! Lurk-based decks will surely skyrocket in popularity upon release — there’s just so much potential, and it’s also a breath of fresh air.

In any case, there’s only Ekko left, so stay tuned for more coverage!