Pyke is now the most-banned champion in League of Legends across all ranks, according to stats site OP.gg. This title was previously held by Yasuo.
Pyke is sitting at a 46.23 percent ban rate, according to OP.gg. Yasuo is right behind him at 45.57 percent. Pyke’s ban rate wasn’t always this high, though.
A Reddit post from yesterday sparked outrage about Pyke and some called for nerfs. In regards to Pyke’s ultimate, Death From Below, one user said “ignoring resists is one thing… but just ignoring shields is some extra topped bullshit.”
The concern about Pyke’s kit is warranted, especially considering he’s able to strike from range and has unbelievable sustain thanks to his W, Ghostwater Dive. His stats outside of his ban rate aren’t as intimidating, however.
Before changes to his ultimate in Patch 9.14, he was banned roughly 24 percent of the time. The change allowed Pyke to gain two stacks, instead of one, of his ultimate’s passive, Your Cut, when getting an assist with his ultimate. This means he’s able to accelerate faster and get damage items earlier. As an assassin, this is clearly a huge win. But this could be annoying to those on the opposing team, especially when Pyke pops out of nowhere to execute a player at low health.
Despite being banned in almost every other game, Pyke only has a 50.86 percent win rate. Additionally, he doesn’t come close to the highest-picked champion when he’s available. Right now, he has a pick rate of 13.73 percent. But the highest-picked champion is Kai’Sa, who has a 24.17 percent pick rate.
Although it seems like Pyke is feared in solo queue, there’s plenty of options to counter him. Champions like Leona and Nautilus are able to CC him before he uses his Q hook or E stun. Morgana can also negate all of his CC.
Despite what Pyke’s ban rate and Reddit says, it doesn’t seem like nerfs to him are necessary.
