Bringing Justice, Indiscriminately - A look at Tyr, The Lawgiver

Hello all, and welcome to my interpretations of Tyr, The Lawgiver. I will be going over his abilities and some item choices. I have been playing Tyr exclusively since the patch and have had mixed results with different builds. First off, Tyr seems to be an initiating bruiser that excels at separating teams and singling a carry out. The only fault I see in him is his lack of hard crowd control, but he makes up for that in his high mobility and sustain. Without further ado, let’s get into his kit.

 

Abilities

 

Unyielding

Stuns, Taunts, Fears, and Mesmerize cannot affect Tyr for longer than 1 second.

When I first saw this ability I thought to myself, oh my god that is way too strong. After testing, it is a very strong passive… late game. Early game this is very underwhelming, most stuns only last about 1 second. This passive, however, scales directly on the level of the opposing player's crowd control abilities. The longer the crowd control, the more you get out of the passive. It is pretty unique and very strong late game.

Fearless

Tyr charges forward, damaging enemies. Assault Stance: Tyr pushes all enemies along with him, hitting them 2 times and knocking them up in the air. Guard Stance: Tyr hits each enemy only once, passing through all enemies and knocking them away.
Ability: Line Attack Affects: Enemy Damage: Physical Radius: 12 Damage: 60/110/170/230/290 (+50% of your physical power) Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Cooldown: 15s

This spell right here is what gives him his mobility and soft cc. In aggressive stance it allows you to dash into enemies doing a lot of damage and pushing them with you. In defensive stance it allows you to plow through and knock away all enemies hit, effectively spreading them apart. The 50% physical damage ratio is not something to scoff at, in aggressive stance you hit them 2 times effectivly doing 100% of your physical power in damage.

Power Cleave

Tyr makes a massive melee attack, hitting all enemies within a 180 degree cone. Assault Stance: Enemies that are knocked up in the air are knocked away. Guard Stance: Heals Tyr for each enemy hit (max 3).
Ability: Cone Affects: Enemy Damage: Physical Cone: 180 Damage: 70/120/170/220/270 (+80% of your physical power) Healing: 30/45/60/75/90 (+15% of your physical power) Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8s

This spell in combination with Fearless puts out some great burst damage. In assault stance you can combo with Fearless into this to not only put out a quick 750~ damage at level 11. Wow, thats a lot of damage that early. In guard stance you heal yourself per enemy hit with a max of 3 enemies. Not only does this give him insane sustain in lane, but it scales fairly well with physical power. I love this spell, it gives you insane damage and sustain all in one.

Change Stance

Tyr changes between Assault and Guard stances. Changing stances refreshes the cooldown on Fearless and Power Cleave. Assault Stance: Gain Physical Power. Guard Stance: Gain Protections.
Ability: Stance Change Affects: Self Assault Stance: 10/20/30/40/50 Physical Power Defense Stance: 8/16/24/32/40 Protections Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11s

This right here is what brings Tyr's entire kit together. Change stance allows you to combo their squishies out of the fight faster than they can react, more on that later. Looking at just the numbers, its a fairly big self buff. 50 physical power along with 40 physical AND magical protection, all in one spell, that sounds good. Oh wait, there's more??? Refreshing the cooldown on your other two spells allows you to pull of some great combos and really screw with their backline.

Lawbringer

Tyr leaps through the air, bringing indiscriminate justice upon all enemies in the target area, and slowing them.
Ability: Ground Affects: Enemy Damage: Physical Radius: 30 Damage: 150/225/300/375/450 (120% of your physical power) Slow: 25% Slow Duration: 3s Cost: 80/90/100/110/120 Cooldown: 90/85/80/75/70

So, here it is, his ultimate. Counting this and Fearless he has 3 gap closers or escapes. I like using this in two ways. The first, and most common, is to initiate with this in guard stance and then use Fearless to separate the team. The second way is to use it during the fight, either on a second squishy after you’ve separated the first or to chase people down. You must remember though, you stop moving as you start to leap and their is a slight cast time to it. Other then that, this deals ridiculous damage and scales 120% with your power.

Skill Sequence

I recommend leveling your Power Cleave first and then putting one point Change Stance and Fearless. After that I recommend you prioritize Lawbringer > Power Cleave > Fearless > Change Stance. This will give you the most sustain in lane. If you are really just wanting to put out damage then I would prioritize Fearless over Power Cleave.

 

Gameplay

Laneing - Tyr's gameplay is a very up in your face style. He rushes in pulls groups of enemies apart and dispenses indiscriminant justice upon them. From my experience he is best suited in the solo side lane. His wave clear is phenomenal and he has great sustain. Often you can grab a double kill if you are against two players. Just sit back at your tower and farm the wave, you can easily Fearless (guard stance) in, Change Stance, Fearless (assault) into tower, and then Power Cleave for some easy kills.

Teamfighting - In a team fight your job is to separate the carries from the tanks. Your main combo will be to Lawbringer into their team, Fearless (guard), Power Cleave (guard), Change Stance, Fearless (assault) their carry, and Power Cleave (assault). This will effectively cut off the carry and usually kill them on the spot. If they don’t die from your initial damage, your team will usually be able to kill them quickly. After that you want to keep being as disruptive as possible, charging around the fight and cleaving every chance you get.

 

Items

For starting items as a solo I usually start with a Mark of the Vanguard, Hand of God, five Health Potions, and four Mana Postions.

Mark of the Vanguard – As a solo laner you need to be durable. This gives you 100 health and 5 of each protections along with all damage taken lowered by 5. This is essential for early game to allow you to run in and clear a wave quickly and get out.

 

Hand of God – Helps secure your first blue buff which will make laning against two people that much easier. This also allows you to Fearless (assault) a wave and Hand of God it then Fearless (guard) back out. This enables you to take out an entire wave with little to no harass from the lane.

Potions – Sustain, sustain, and sustain. Use these early when you’re taking a lot of damage and your Power Cleave isn’t leveled up enough to sustain you. Saves your life early game.

 

Warriors Tabi – These are your standard physical damage bruiser boots. Gives 30 physical damage along with 15 physical penetration. Great bang for your gold and should probably be your first item.

 

  or  

Bulwark of Hope or Voidblade – Dependent on your match up, I usually will get both of these by the end of the game but your first item should be used to counter the lane you’re in. If you’re up against a mixed lane, which will be usually, if you need to be tankier get a Bulwark, but if they are fairly squishy you can usually get a Voidblade and just kill them under tower.

 

Jotunn’s Wrath – I can’t say enough good things about this item, 40 physical power, 150 mana, 15 physical penetration, and 25% cooldown reduction. This will help you with your damage, with mana problems, and sustain. The 25% cooldown is insane, allowing you to combo more often and allowing you to heal yourself up more. This is always my third item completed.

 

  or  

Mystical Mark or Runic Shield – I get Mystical Mark for a physical heavy composition and Runic Shield for a magical heavy composition. I like having two different defensive items on my bruisers, allows you to stay in the longer teamfights and allows you to play more aggressively.

 

DeathBringer – Here is your big pure damage dealer. After your Fearless + Power Cleave combo if they aren’t dead just hit them with another auto attack and there you go, crit for 600. Deathdealer also gives you a lot of damage on your combo.

 

Those are my opinions on Tyr and his role in the game. I hope this allows you to win your solo lanes with ease. If you have any suggestions on his play style, item builds, or the article in general, leave them in the comment section bellow. All constructive criticism is welcome. Happy gaming.