poke vs burst
The tempo. Poke wears down slowly, from range, without committing; burst kills in an instant, up close. Both are ways to deal damage, and they are not played at the same moment.
poke
Poke is ranged damage, repeated, that chips away at the enemy's health before the fight. You poke around an objective to force the enemy to back off or to fight weakened. A "poke comp" is built for that, and loses if forced into melee range. "poke them before baron".
open the page →burst
Burst is a large amount of damage in one second, often a full rotation of spells. It is the weapon of assassins and mages: find a squishy target, kill it before it reacts. "oneshot" is the extreme version. "they have burst" explains why the carry has to stay in the back.
open the page →Why they get mixed up
They get set against each other as team styles, but the trap is elsewhere: a player who pokes a burst team is exposed on every spell they throw, and ends up oneshot on the first step too far. The question is not which one is better, but which one the enemy has. Against burst, you do not poke alone.