Talon is an assassin, his job is to go in, kill, something, and then get the hell out.

Many people don't really know how to play with assassins, so they end up going in and getting a kill then dying, or dying without getting the kill at all.

This build is designed to teach you how to carry like a pro, but it does require a certain skill level (like all good builds) that will come with practice.

Marks: I usually take flat armor penetration runes with talon because it gives you an advantage early game, which is the most crucial phase for an assassin. The extra armor penetration will allow you to kill sturdy champions like garren and ammumu early and without dying.

Seals: I like having armor seals with squishy champions like talon. It helps with durability and you don't have to waste money on armor items during the game.

Glyphs: Cdr glyphs help enormously with talon, he already has tiny cooldowns (especialy on his ultimate), but the cdr runes allow him to cast his two key abilities, cutthroat and shadow assault much more often.

Quintessences: Taking movement speed quintessences helps talon to gank more often, as a good assassin should. They also help him to escape other champions that are chasing him, especialy early game.

The masteries i use for Talon are 21/9/0

Talon's lifeblood is attack damage, so in offense I get as much extra damage and crit chance as i can, with some cdr and armor pen.

I then gab a few points in defense, to give him a little more durability and save some gold in game.

Now for the fun part. Items:

I start with a dorans blade, then teir one boots, this gives me mobility damage and a little hp, everything a good assassin needs. after you have both these items you should be getting a huge amount of gold from kills.

Now lets put all that gold to work. After teir one boots, your going to want to buy straight ad, usually two long swords, with the extra ad you should have some insane damage with rake, and be able to take most people down with a combo of all your skills and ignite, try and stay in lane until you have enough gold for a bf sword once you have the long swords, with all three of these items you'll have more ad than most people, giving you a large advantage.

Next grab berserker's greaves so u have some attack speed to kill champions that manage to survive your burst damage. then you'll want to get youmummu's ghostblade and a bloodthirster, these items should get you somewhere around 150-200 ad depending on how full bloodthirster is.

Then buy infinity edge, to give you even more ad and bigger crits. This is where you need to get some hp. By now people will notice that your carrying and target you whenever they can, and if the other team has oracles elixirs, your ultimate is useless as an escape mechanism. so to add some durability and still pump your damage, get a frozen mallet, it gives ad, health, and it has a passive that sinergises incredibly well with talon's passive.

Now its lategame, and your last item really isn't crucial. I usually take bloodthirster just for the extra damage, but by then i have enough damage to take out almost anyone. You could buy a gaurdian angel so you can keep your killing spree going forever, or u might want a banshees veil or a black cleaver. The point is that by now, your too fed for anyone to give you a problem, so you can really do whatever u want.

At level 1 i take a point in rake because it is Talon's most reliable damage source and the only ability that allows him to deal ranged damage without endangering himself. At level 2 you should take noxian diplomacy because its a great farming tool and it allows you to get in an extra attack if you time it right, unless your laning against champions that are ability reliant. if you are laning against a champion like this it may be helpful to take cutthroat second so that you can silence the enemy and deal some quick damage before they can hurt you.

I max rake first because of the slow and the large amount of damage, then i max noxian diplomacy and take a point in cutthroat at level 3(normally).

Flash: Flash is the always necessary escape and a good way to catch up to enemies.

Ignite: ignite is a good way to finish off low health enemies and is especially good because it can be cast from a distance.

Generally with talon you want to spend most some time harassing before you go in for a kill. Don't go for a champion with more than 75% hp unless you have an advantage, like the enemy is oom or you have an extra player backing you up. Be especially aggressive early so you get the feed talon needs, but be careful not to overextend.

Once you get a few kills you should start ganking, look for a good opportunity, like a champ with low health or a lane where the enemy is pushing you turret very hard and you can come in behind them. If you find yourself without any gank opportunities then lane and try to get a kill or kill a turret.

Now that its late game you should be ganking or going for kills all the time, communicate with your team and set up huge ganks, it helps to have a designated ward dropper so that you have better map control. The best areas to drop wards are in front of monster camps, especially barron and dragon, its alos a good idea to put some in more common areas to gank form so that your team doesn't get ganked.

Now you know how to play Talon, the blades shadow, he's a bursty melee assassin that can potentially carry a team to heaven and beyond, i put a little bit about playing mid talon at the end of this guide for those of you that have the skill level to play Talon in mid. And now i have one last peace of advice for you:


Every champion is op, it just takes a good player to play like it.

I decided to try playing talon mid because I saw how often squishy caster like brand and morgana rape mid and get fed, and I knew that cutthroat eats champions like this for breakfast.

Mid talon is played exactly the same at normal talon, with the exception that you should always take cutthroat second. The first few time you go mid you'll want to go against a caster so you get good at talon's mid game play, then you can take on dps champs like vayne or ashe.

Oops, I lied, one more exception. You should be ganking from minute one. Any time the opposing champion goes b or dies, go gank whatever lane needs it. This will give you a huge amount of gold and kills very early.

That's really all there is, id love to here some feedback guys so please leave a comment once you try the build.