Hello! I am zam970poodle, Manager and Sub for Seven Storms Monsoon. I am a Vainglory enthusiast and am constantly thinking of new ways to play. If you have any questions, or want to join Seven Storms Esports, message me on Discord at #1568 and add me in-game on the NA server as zam970poodle.
Today, I am introducing you to my take on my favorite hero, Skye. Although she has been in the meta for quite a while now, I hope to offer my perspective on some concepts in her gameplay that can offer a fresh new look at such a fun hero. Let's jump into a breakdown of her abilities.

Target Lock
Skye locks onto and reveals the target she most recently basic attacked. Basic attacks and Forward Barrage on that locked target grant her bonus move speed. This speed bonus is dramatically reduced while moving backward. Target Lock is lost if the target moves too far away from Skye or if she doesn’t attack her target for too long.
This is the element of Skye's kit that defines her playstyle. This is what makes her WP path viable. The speed boost allows kiting to be quite easy with practice. Target Lock should be activated before using all abilities but is necessary for Suri Strike and Death from Above.

Forward Barrage
Skye fires her guns while strafing. (She can move freely but cannot change her facing direction.) Reactivating this ability will cancel it. Forward Barrage deals damage to her locked target (but less damage to non-heroes). The duration increases with Skye’s crystal power up to a max.
This is the main source of damage for both CP and WP Skye. I will breakdown the different uses of this ability in a separate section.

Suri Strike
Passive: Each ability point in Suri Strike increases the amount of time Skye can keep her target locked without attacking it.

Active: Skye dashes to a chosen location near her locked target. While dashing, she fires a volley of missiles that lead her target. This ability can only be activated when Skye has a locked target.
This ability is one of the most useful positioning abilities in the game. It can be used to dodge abilities, chase, and gain better angles to use your Forward Barrage.
Death from Above
Passive: Each ability point in Death from Above increases Skye’s target-lock range.

Active: Skye fires a salvo of missiles at a chosen location near her locked target. After a brief delay, the missiles rain down on that location, stunning enemies. Enemies still in the area afterward are slowed and take crystal damage. Aiming directly on your locked target rains down the missiles in a cluster. Aiming away from your locked target rains them down in a line across the target’s path. This ability can only be activated when Skye has a locked target.
Although many people find it more useful to overdrive this ability than to overdrive Forward Barrage, I find the extra damage from Forward Barrage more useful. This is on of the few abilities in the game that can visibly change the landscape of a fight. It is best used to block enemies from going a certain way, whether in chasing or fleeing. Also, when a hero is channeling, selecting that hero can stun them and do significant damage.

Crystal Skye is one of the most consistently meta heroes in the game. Although lately some players are opting for an earlier Broken Myth rather than a Frostburn, I think a Frostburn is necessary for her kit to work to the fullest extent. The slow from the Frostburn allows you to keep out of range of most melee heroes and be able to keep up with most ranged heroes.
Early Game
If you are playing Skye in Lane, I recommend picking up a weapon blade to make last hitting easier. If starting in jungle, a Crystal bit is probably the better pickup. The most important part of playing Skye in the early game is to deal poke damage to enemy carries from a distance. If you can get them low on health, you could even pick up a few early kills but it is important to focus on farm more than kills.
Mid Game
By this point in the game, both Frostburn and Eve of Harvest should be complete along with Travel Boots and some defense. With the right team, fights should be going your way. If your team gets an Ace, make sure to make the most out of it. Some teams make the mistake of just returning to their farming when an Ace is achieved. It is best for your team to split up, one pushing the turrent, one stealing the enemy jungle, and the Roamer possibly starting Gold Mine if at least 1/3 full. This is the part of the game where a team usually gains a lead. In the Gankstars Organization, it is said that kills are useless if an objective is not gained off of them (I'm paraphrasing). This is especially true with Gold bounties being high. Though many team fights will take place during the mid game, it is important to regularly clear the minion wave if playing lane or clear your jungle if playing jungle.
Late Game
By now, all of your core items should be complete. In the late game it is important to stay together as a team and the roamer should have vision with him at all times. Team fights will happen more frequently amdait is important to infuse regularly once you hit level 12. Infusions can decide many fights before they even begin. If an Ace is achieved, the jungler and roamer should capture Kraken and then infuse if possible while the laner pushes turrents. If the Kraken is released by your team, be sure to focus turrents not heroes when pushing with Kraken. If you do this, you can often get the win fairly easily via the infamous "TSM Express". If the enemy team unleashes Kraken, attack the enemy heroes instead of the Kraken initially. If the Ace is achieved, kill Kraken then push turrents unless the enemy has less turrents then you, in that case, ignore the Kraken and go for the win if you think your team can do it.

Coming soon

Aftershock - Useful against enemies with high health, the extra cooldown is useful also.
Atlas Pauldron - Only buy if a Melee hero with high attack speed is consistently getting on top of you (I.e. Krul, Rona, Blackfeather)
Shatterglass - Best choice for last offensive item.
Crucible and Fountain of Renewal - If your support does not pick up one of these items, or extra health/shield are needed.
Stormcrown -If extra cooldown, health and pushing power needed.
Breaking Point -If fights are prolonged when building WP
Bonesaw -If enemy building heavy armor.

Stutterstepping
Useful for kiting and keeping good positioning, especially with WP Skye. Here's a great video by the legend ShinKaigan: Stutterstepping Guide by ShinKaigan
Ganking and Preventing Ganks
A gank is when the jungler and support rotate up to lane and ambush the jungler. Skye is pretty good at ganking due to her ability to take down enemies from a distance. Do not be afraid to dive for a kill, but only if you know you can make it out alive. It is better to force the laner to teleport back home due to low health than to die for a kill. If you are the laner, only step over the half line of the compass if you have vision of the enemy bush or if your team is with you.
Skill Skipping
Although I do not recommend doing this with Skye, skill skipping can be very handy with heroes who have one ability that does not benefit much from being upgraded. This concept is outlined in detail in FlashX's guides. Basically, at level 5 you do not upgrade anything, instead waiting until level 6 where you can put an extra point into your main ability as well as your ultimate.
Hero Synergy
Skye does well with many heroes but there are a few that she does extraordinarily well with. For Roamers: Ardan, Lance, and roam Glaive. For the other carry: Blackfeather, Glaive, SAW, and Vox

June 29, 2016- Guide created
July 2, 2016- Situational items section finished