Free Agent - EU
So this is a general build for Strix and I found it all around to be rather effective in most situations(in my experience). For myself being a Strix main and mostly playing him as I find him to be one of the most annoying and frustrating characters to play against, this is my main build for him that I use almost every single game. Nocturnal while being underrated I found it to be my favorite, the stealth being his most prominent ability lasting longer can promise to be very effective and in result annoying to the enemy team as it forces them almost to buy illuminate. The most important thing to keep in mind when playing strix is your positioning as it can be the difference between life and death and trying your best to play around cover. He is also very map dependent, please do not ever pick him on bright marsh, for your sake and your teams.
So honestly everything here plays a role in this build and everything is rather important as well.
Grizzled- This is the most important card in this deck for him. Having more health can be your savior in almost every single engagement you get into. While playing Strix if the enemy flank is doing their job, they are going to be doing their best to annoy you but in this game you have to worry about tanks as well as they can bully you from high ground and in some situations, secure a kill on you. When you have more HP, this makes their job more difficult and some times you can kite them around forcing them away from point making it a 5v4 in your teams favor and you may be able to capitalize on this. Distracting people is sometimes just as good as killing as you are helping your team with the point fight. You are not squishy but you do not have an escape ability rendering you at a disadvantage when the enemy team puts pressure on you. This correlates well with your accuracy, if you can hit shots you will be fine in some scenarios forcing the other team to lay off on their pressure which gives you gaps to escape if you feel like you are at a disadvantage.
Tactical Retreat- This card goes hand in hand with Grizzled and I can iterate on your movement ability now. Tactical retreat at 4 gives you a great deal of movement speed and will allow to get away that much easier if you have someone helping you. If you are in a 2v1 situation on fish market for example and you are on your high ground and you are being pushed this will allow you to play the angles better and allow you to also fall back if you are being pinched. Movement speed is also just general really good with slow movement characters that have no ability, you can activate and deactivate it at times just to allow you to get around faster and to touch on it again, play your angles. Your positioning is key for you and your team. You want to be able to control what engagements to take and not to take while you are playing strix as you are very vulnerable at ALL times due to your lack of movement. Controlling your engagements not only favors you, but your team as well, allowing you to pressure everything from the tanks to even their back line if you have line of sight on them. However, if the enemy team has game sense they will realize where you can see them and where you cannot. They may be playing around your LOS however this gives your team and advantage I believe as it forces them to play in and out of cover allowing your team to push up further. You want to be able to assist your team in forcing the enemies to push back when you hit them. Keep in mind you hit for 1200hp per shot and that is nearly every single DPS and flanks health bar in a single shot. Forcing enemies out of play is bigger than killing sometimes because a few seconds can make a difference in a win or loss. Movement speed all around helps you play angles and cover allowing to successfully poke them for half of their hp, unless they have haven, of course.
Relentless- This card is general for the most part, it ties into TR in the respect of it allows you to play your cover and angles more efficiently while being scoped in. I found this card at 3 to be my sweet spot as I feel 4 and 5 do not make a big enough difference to warrant those two points into it.
Guerrilla Tactics- Seeing as we are playing nocturnal in this build, this card is a necessity. This card allows you to frag a lot more when you are getting picks. Since we have TR 4, when we get elimations and get 30 stealth back it allows you to be more mobile in your positioning on high ground, which If I did not say it already you ALWAYS want to be on high ground doing your poke damage and helping your team out on point and also dealing with their back line. Although 30 may not seem much if you are doing a lot of damage and helping your team secure kills if you are not yourself your stealth bar will ALWAYS be above half if not full if your team is capitalizing on your damage. Being able to constantly be in stealth allows you to be more sneaky in your positioning, sometimes allowing you to quickly get in and secure a kill and fall back to your team giving you a 5v4 advantage. It may also force the enemy team to buy illuminate making them focus more on your rather than your teammates. Yes it may sound bad for you, but this is a team game. If you are helping your team, your are doing something correct all around.
Infused Crystals- This card is also very important, even if it only has 2 points. 4 ammo going from 5>9. This equates out to 10,800 damage in just 9 shots(without any haven). That is a lot of damage. Those 4 shots can be the difference between life and death and I know I myself can vouch that this is true. You really in my opinion do not need it higher than this as sacrificing other cards for more ammo is not really needed. You may even be able to bring it down to 1 and put another point into Guerrilla Tactics if you see fit.
Nocturnal
Stealth
Reduce the rate of Stealth Energy consumption by 50% and increase your Movement Speed by 20% while in Stealth.
Level 1
Grizzled
Armor
Increase your maximum Health by 200.
Level 4
Tactical Retreat
Stealth
Increase your Movement Speed by 40% for 2s after entering Stealth.
Level 4
Relentless
Weapon
Reduce the Movement Speed penalty of Scope by 60%.
Level 3
Guerrilla Tactics
Stealth
Generate 30 Energy after getting an Elimination.
Level 2
Infused Crystals
Weapon
Increase the maximum Ammo count of both your weapons by 2.
Level 2
Level 3
Wrecker
Weapon
Your weapon attacks deal 90% increased Damage to Shields.
Level 3
Nimble
Armor
Gain 21% Movement Speed.
Level 3
Guardian
Armor
Increase the effectiveness of Shields you create by 30%. This does not affect most cards and passives.
Level 3
Haven
Armor
Reduce the Damage you take from Direct and Area of Effect attacks by 18%.
Level 3
Bulldozer
Weapon
Your weapon shots deal 75% increased damage to Deployables, Pets, and Illusions.
Level 3
This is where we will discuss which items to buy and why I believe each plays a role in achieving a chicken dinner. ( if you understand this, two slaps for you :])
Cauterize- I mean do I really need to explain this? Yes cauterize is essential no matter what. It should ALWAYS be the first item you buy and the first item you max out, it is the most overpowered and essential item this game has to offer, next to wrecker. Although strix is not a good cauterize spreader (someone who can spread cauterize quickly and efficiently) it is still a necessity. However, if you have a jenos on the opposing team I do not see a need for cauterize 3 as it basically nulls his healing once you get cauterize 2 online.
Wrecker- Now this is where strix makes big plays. Considering the fact he hits for 1200 this makes him a VERY effective wrecker and enables you to completely make shields a useless variable for the most part. Being able to quickly and efficiently make quick work of the enemy shields will help your team greatly, allowing you to ruin any shield without hp cards in about 2-4 shots max. Bariks ultimate I believe with wrecker 3 will be down in about 6 shots with wrecker 3. This item is just as important as cauterize when playing strix and in some cases should be prioritized over cauterize early game if you have a decent composition. Being Cassie, lian, Tyra, Viktor to play along side you to get cauterize instead of you first or any blaster Champs. (Feel free to disagree of course). Side note would be you also counter Torvalds shield with one wrecker not that anyone plays him anymore... right?
Nimble- This I believe should be an important item in your picks as movement speed is ALWAYS amazing with a champion without mobility or an easy escape. It goes hand in hand with our deck, to touch on it once again allowing you to play your angles and cover a lot more efficiently and to alter your positioning if need be around the map. It will also assist you in dealing with flanks or any off tanks that want to bully you because I promise you, off tanks are your worst nightmare when playing a sniper. Also hirez make nimble 3 base kit, pls.
Blast shields- These last two are very situational but never a bad decision as your 4th item. This will help you if you are dealing with an evie or an off tank ash that is bullying you. Evie will sometimes if not always be scared of you unless they are very bold as you can kill her in one shot if you land a headshot, however for this to actually work you will need to brush up your aim and experience with dealing with flanks by of course, playing the game. Evie will do her best to annoy you if she doesn't want to get flamed by her team the entire game but she will sometimes be afraid to challenge you 1v1 as you can kill her in 2 shots if you know where she blinked to you from.
Haven- This is for general direct attacks all around, from back lines to a kitten with daggers, this helps a lot. Maeve will probably be your worst nightmare (looking at you Hexiuu if you see this) as she has a beautiful thing called Sixth Sense which gives her Dr on her pounces. This will make your job very difficult when dealing with a flank efficiently as that DR can save her life, forcing you to hit 3 shots instead of 2 and if that kitten has good aim you will be dead and nearly punching your monitor because she lived with 100 health, we have all been there don't worry. But if you do not have any annoying blasters pestering you and you can spare the credits, haven is never a bad decision, ever. However with nimble 3 and your TR at 4 you may be able to get away to your healer and live, especially with haven.
Bulldozer- This is honestly situational and very optional but it will help your team deal with the IOS Luna a lost faster so they cannot have a 5 man zone on you.
This applies to whether or not they are playing off tank, NOT point tank. If they are playing point tank, just do poke damage to the best of your ability and do not push up to point if it is not safe unless you are zoning.
Ash- Ash in my opinion is the main counter to strix along with Fernando, due to her high sustainability and ability to get out of situations quickly if there is nobody there to assist you with her. Her shield which she can put in front of her and use to her advantage to shoot you through it, her ability to not need any aim, life steal and high sustain with a jenos pocket if she has one makes it very difficult for you to do anything to her if she is just sitting on top of you the entire game. You should definitely be scared of her if you do not have a line of sight advantage over her on some form of high ground or at least have someone with you if you want to make quick work of an ash.
Fernando- Nando is right next to ash in the no fun party. He is VERY annoying to Play against if he has any idea of what to do against you. considering wrecker exists he can be a little more manageable than an ash in this respect but nando can bully you all the way back to your spawn considering he does good dps and has a movement ability to get in front of you If he needs to.
Khan- Khan in my opinion if you can get high ground and seek him out before he gets to you, he can be very manageable. Yes he can bully you, just like any other front line but he is more manageable if you catch him using his dash before hand, you can handle his shield with wrecker and bait out his sustain ability and if you have caut on him he won't really gain anything from using it. Also if you have someone with you, Khan will most likely be too scared to push you. But I would never underestimate a khan, i would just play around his abilities and do poke damage to him before he can get to you in time to rain on your parade.
Terminus- Term can honestly be very scary idk why you guys always hate on a terminus. Terminus is pog, but anyways. Terminus with nimble 3 can be a living hell if you are not on high ground. If you have high ground on him, do not feed his power siphon and make him fall back if you cannot secure the kill on him. HE can be very troubling when you are playing strix due to his movement and his stun, especially if he has help you WILL get deleted. I would avoid terminus if you can and only fight him at a range, as you should any of these front lines because you will NOT win up close in an engagement because they have too much sustain and a lot of dps for a tank.
Atlas- I should not even have to explain this but I will. Any good atlas player, will bully you. There is no argument for it. He is the only tank who can bully snipers. Why is it this way? I don't know, honestly. But it is and we have to play around it. My advice, do poke damage to him to help out your team and that is it. Nothing more. If you can finish him, do it quickly before he gains all of his health back.
Ruckus- Ruckus can be scary because of his mobility, shield and his dps. if you are being pushed by a ruckus call it out if you can and do as much damage to him as possible so you can finish him off if you do not have range or an escape route to get away from him. He is pretty squishy to a strix at range and you will win every time in a range battle but up close you should not challenge him, just re position yourself.
Makoa- An off tank makoa can be pretty horrifying in almost every situation and you really need to play around your line of sight heavily when going against a makoa. His hook can and will be the death of you if he lands them because it puts you right into the center of him and you really do not have an escape in most scenarios. You can deal with him because he is pretty squishy for a tank but he has high mobility and dips so you need to try and stay away from him and fall back if you see him pushing up. If he is flanking you, predict the way he will come best of your ability and try and force him to fall back and keep him away from you.
Torvald- Torvald is very manageable in my experience and most times he will not be pushing you. His nullify can be an issue but if you have wrecker, he is at a huge disadvantage every time. You can easily deal with a torvald if you have range on him and if you know beforehand what side he is coming from you can play around it.
Barik- I do not see many flank bariks but it does happen and my advice with this would again, play your high ground. Force him to fall back and bait out his abilities as he will not have a way to get out with that & if you have cauterize 3, healing is not a factor and you will be able to secure the kill. However if he is pushing you I would make use of your stealth and movement speed and play around where he is as he does not have mobility besides his ability and once he uses it, there's no getting out for him. Keep that in mind if you encounter him. Just try and keep your distance.
Inara- I do not know why you would ever challenge an inara but if you do, bait out her cool downs the best you can and try and avoid her if she is cripple because you will die, do not underestimate the rock. inara is not squishy at all and will kill you if she is a decent player so I would try and avoid her at all costs unless she is on point. If she is on point she is in your world and you can free fire at her for the most part even with her DR she will still need to fall back off of point if she wants to live.
Bomb King- Bk is honestly pretty squishy if you come into an engagement with him because of his base 2200 hp, you can kill him in 2 shots if he falls back that is okay too. You take him out of Play allowing your team to push point as that is probably what he is doing, spamming point and spreading cauterize. If he has the hp cards at 4 he has 2400, if not 2450. You just need to land 2 shots and finish him with your pistol if not your auto attack. You do not want to get close range with him unless you are confident in your ability to land shots.
Cassie- Cassie is Cassie and she can and will delete you given she lands all of her autos and abilities on you. With Cassie you want to play at range against her and if you have the opportunity to, play around cover and control what engagements you encounter with her. You will win every single fight at long range if she does not have her dodge roll up to get around open line of sight. Close range you will have to not panic and land your shots on her and you will win every time due to her 2200 base health for the most part if it is a 1v1 scenario. If she has tumble 4 which I usually never see because her other cards are way too important just keep it long range in that case because you will lose the close range battle. If she has tumble 2, which makes it 2300, land a head shot because hit boxes are barely a thing.
Tyra- With Tyra you want to be careful because of her mark. If you have the chance I would keep it long range but you should be able to win close as well because she has no movement abilities. and her dps is not that prominent. In a 1v1 I would try not to panic but I would just do poke damage and allow your team to finish her off. In every scenario, i would prioritize her due to her mark because that reads your main ability ineffective.
Viktor- Viktor I would be careful with due to his ult. His ult for some reason tracks you around corners and if you are bullying him all game, he is going to focus you. I would be weary of his poke damage because it does hurt and i would advise you to never try and 1v1 him up close.
Lian- Lian can be very frustrating and also very easy to deal with. Due to her burst potential and abilities it makes her very frustrating to deal with up close but at long range she cannot do much. If you do happen to get into a 1v1 with her I would try and land 2 shots and be careful about her ult because she is going to use it almost every time to keep herself alive and get the reset. Overall i would keep it long range at all times if you can. As a side note, even at range Lian can delete you if she lands her autos and presence shot. Therefore I would heavily play around cover when you are engaging with a lian as her burst potential is too much.
Willo- You are a direct counter to willo in every scenario. If you land a head shot your team should be able to finish her off however I would be careful about getting close to her because she will most likely win the 1v1 due to her burst and her movement abilities and the fact she has DR on flutter. In most situations you will be able to win because she is not likely going to be pushing that far up into your team because she renders herself vulnerable by doing this.
Kinessa- Against a kinessa my best advice is to play corners. It is most likely going to be a battle of who shoots who first and who can peek better around corners. In close range you are going to win if you can land your shots because close range kinessa cannot do much she will have to distance herself to get picks on you.
Drogoz- The only time drogoz can be an issue for the most part is if he is being very aggressive and playing around objects extremely well and controlling when you can get a shot off on him. Overall you counter drogoz completely and he will be nothing but a distraction to you. Land your shots and he Is done for, and even up close he may have a difficult time but i would not underestimate him because he can dive you and kill you every time. keep your eyes in the sky and watch your flank routes for him.
Dredge- Usually dredge will not be engaging with you whatsoever because he will die 99% of the time. If you are long range, dredge will not win whatsoever, but his shield will save him if they have that in their loadout. If he is in the open I would poke him to keep him out of play for the most part and shoot him anytime he peeks out because he Is going to make capping the point very difficult but i would not engage in a close range combat with him if he is going scuttle because you most likely are going to die due to the fact that they are most likely using scuttle and they are going for reload cancer.
Imani- Imani Is a wild card for the most part I do not see her much but she cannot win long range due to her projectiles not being centered at all. She has movement which is slow but her fireball can be very very scary long range and I would be weary of that and take her out of Play as soon as you can. I would play angles against her and poke her to force her to not engage you but since you are running grizzled you may be able to get that last shot off to kill her and since she has 2200 hp she will die in 2 shots no matter what since ancient duty only gives her 200 extra and you do 1200 per shot. but if she is running elemental grace for the hp shield I would wait for it to go off and catch her if you can during out of combat healing to finish her off.
Sha Lin- The best advice for Sha lin would be to bait out his withdraw considering it is much slower time than yours and to keep the engagements medium to long range and force him out of play if you can't get sight on him. He will lost every fight for the most part if you hit your shots because he is very squishy.
Androxus- Androxus can be rather intimidating until your realize he relies souly on his aim and his ability to succeed in engagements. If you can bait out his dashes and his reversal, you will win the fight every single time. That is the best advice for him and if you can avoid his Los that is even better because it renders him useless for the most part and leaves him exposed if he cannot see you to your team.
Bucc- Bucc can be VERY annoying in close range especially if you have a bounce house bucc on your hands. In almost every situation where i have gone against a good bounce house bucc I have lost because bounce house is very frustrating and basically renders your aiming unless because you can't land a shot on him. If need be, buy resilience due to his net shot and his talent and try and keep every engagement in your favor otherwise you will most likely be killed for being overly aggressive.
Evie- Evie is honestly more manageable than you may think if you can land shots on her. Your best bet is to keep an eye on where she blinks from if you can't land a head shot on her and if she realizes that you are not missing shots she will most likely resort to doing poke damage and annoying you rather than feeding and getting herself killed for trying to engage. considering she shoots slower than you and is projectile, if you get into a close range combat situation with her, all you need to do is land 2 shots and if not try and maneuver around her and bait out the ice block and then kill her.
Koga- Koga is also very manageable if you can bait out the abilities and if you have a wrist and good tracking you will be able to make quick work of him. Just try and keep your eye on him and if he is far away force him to fall back and use his abilities to keep him out of play. In close range he does not do that much and has a base health of 1900 and with cards, 2200 either way if you land 2 shots he Is dead every time because he has no DR cards.
Lex- Lex as well is manageable close range if you don't panic and hit your shots, you will be fine. Seeing as his fire rate is very slow with his only good talent, you will be able to win most engagements due to that fact. With a base health of 2200 and with cards 2400 you win every engagement with 2 shots, however do not underestimate him at long range. If you find yourself in that scenario play corners and force him into the open if you can.
Maeve- Maeve is a very slippery character and also very very frustrating to deal with especially if they are cat burglar seeing as she can delete you in seconds given that she lands all 4 of her daggers and a pounce. With Maeve you want to play at a distance most of the times if they are a good player, if they fall on the other side of the spectrum if you land both shots and get your pistol out because she is 99% of the time running sixth sense, you will be alright. But for the most part I would play passive and keep her at a distance best to your ability and if you see her in the open try and land a shot on her to force her abilities out because without her abilities she is useless in close range and long because she has no escape. Overall, Maeve is not someone you want to be bold against because you will get punished most of the time for doing so.
Moji- She can be pretty scary when you really consider how powerful moji can be. But up close and at range if you bait out her shield and do NOT feed the healing you will win guarantee 99% of the time because she cannot do much in that few seconds, especially if you land a head shot on her. With 2200 base health and 2400 with cards if you land 2 shots you will win every time, especially with cauterize applied to her she will not be able to heal. But i would always Play around her shield because if she catches you off guard she will kill you.
Skye- Skye can be a very tilting character because of her mobility and percentage based damage. If you have illuminate you should be fine but I would be cautious against her in close range because of that percentage based damage and mobility. But if you have someone with you or even illuminate online with a little aim and game sense you should be able to make use of your auto attack because she only has 2000 hp and no hp cards because she has so much mobility. However I would keep engagements with her at range if you can and if you see she doesn't have her stealth up try your best to land shots on her whenever you get the chance to to help out your tanks on point.
Talus- Talus can be very slippery due to his high mobility and ability to delete you up close. However he has only 1900 health and no cards because of this factor, if you are able to land a headshot and then finish him with your pistol up close you will be okay. But if he ults you, I would try and land a shot on him to make him fall back to his rune if not I would try and finish him off as quickly as possible with your autos if you have the chance to but if you have someone with you which if you are going against a talus I recommend playing closer to your teammates because he is most likely going to try and focus you heavily, he will think twice before pushing you. But if you get the chance, try your best to land any free dmg if you can get the chance to force his cooldowns out of him.
Zhin- Zhin can be very very frustrating to play against due to his damage and abilities that he is given. Your best bet is to bait out of all his cool downs but if the player is good I would keep pushing backwards to try and force the whirl out of him and land shots on him. If he is smolder he relies on his billow so bait it out of him at all costs. Do NOT let him get close to you because you will not have a good time if the player is any good at managing his cool downs. You want to keep your encounters with him at range and try your best to keep him from pushing up to your backline, especially if he is yomi. With yomi you want to avoid his range if you can and again keep him from pushing up to you or your support. He will rely on his mobility and if you know anything about zhin you know not to shoot his counter because you will be deleted if you do.
My discord is Tenor#1060
Feel free to message me if you need any help or want any further tips from me! I am happy to assist anyone.