Hi everyone, and welcome to my first guide. Now I have only played this game for one year, but I believe I can give a detailed guide on Talon. I mained Talon ever since I started, and I have about 160,000 mastery points on him, with a 70 percent winrate in ranked. I am only Gold so this guide will be targeted towards lower elo players.

Pros + High burst damage + Strong level 2 all-in potential + Insane Roam capability + Good escape with Shadow Assaultand Assassin's Path + Good early-mid game + Amazing waveclear Talon is a high burst assassin champion with a strong level 2 all-in potential in lane. Even with his nerfs to Rake, his waveclear is still strong and he is able to shove in many other laners with ease and then look to roam with his Assassin's Path. With unpredictable roaming paths, he can really punish other lanes for pushing, even if they have warded.

Cons - Falls off late game - Squishy - No engage in teamfights without terrain - Needs to get ahead - Vulnerable without Shadow Assault - No CC However, Talon really needs to get ahead in the early game for him to be useful, either by roaming or killing his laner. Being an assassin, he is also very squishy and is even more vulnerable without his ultimate. For this reason you want to avoid fighting in open areas (enemy base, middle of lanes)as the enemy will be able to easily see you coming if you try to engage.

Flash This is the must-go best summoner spell on Talon. Its pretty much everything you need on Talon. Engage, escape, combos.

Ignite The next best summoner on Talon. Helps secure the first bloods early on and is honestly just free damage for Talon.

Cleanse An option for talon against Twisted Fate or Zoe, but even against them I still take ignite. It will be hard to get an early kill, but most Tfs at silver/gold aren't very good and will generally waste their card on the minion wave. You can also probably bait zoe's sleep as well.

The other summoner spells are pretty useless on Talon. If you are playing Talon top, do not take Teleport for any reason. If you are playing Talon Top you just want an early first blood with Ignite, then look to shove and roam. Talon Top is kinda like an high-risk, high reward. If you can get your roams off, you will end up winning, but if you can't you give up too much cs for nothing and end up letting your top laner outscale you.

This is the Main Rune Page I run with almost every game.
EDIT: LOOK AT RUNE NOTES FOR UPDATED RUNES

Electrocute Gives Talon more free damage and works well with burst combos. Do not take Predator or Dark Harvest they are not worth it and you will miss out on early kills without the electrocute damage.

Sudden Impact This is another must-take rune. Free damage and lethality.Can be swapped for Taste of Blood in poke matchups like Azir

Eyeball Collection I know I sound like a broken record but again its all about getting the free damage. This can be swapped for Ghost Poro with the recent changes it also gives you some early damage. It really is personal preference.

Ultimate Hunter With the removal of ultimate hat, they added this rune which is of course worse, but still solid on Talon. WIth max CDR and 5 bounties, your ult cd is about 30 seconds which means you can use Shadow Assault for free, and still have it up in an upcoming teamfight in the lategame. This can be swapped for Relentless Hunter. The extra mobility really helps roaming and you can go duskblade first item for more damage but it is again, personal preference.

Absolute Focus With the nerfs to time warp tonic and celerity no longer giving ad, I went back to old talon runes with absolute focus. It gives more ad than celerity did in the past and helps with early shoves as well as first bloods.

Waterwalking I would run this everygame. Free movement speed and works well with talon's kit to shove and roam. Also helps win those early 2v2s over scuttle crabs. I usually swap this with Nullifying Orb when against ap match ups like fizz or kat.

With this setup, you want to start Long Sword and Refillable Potion and look for an early first blood. The 3 flex picks i usually go are double adaptive dmg and one defensive armor or magic resist (based on laner). It helps with your trades and lets you win those 1v1 matchups against fizz or zed where the first kill pretty much decides the rest of the laning phase.

Corrupting Potion:This used to be the best start for every mid laner, but the nerfs to Time Warp Tonic made it more of a situational start. Only take in poke heavy matchups like liss or vladimir as it gives you extra health and mana in lane and helps you spam your Rake for poking or farming.

Long Sword Refillable Potion: The preffered start on Talon. Take this start if you even think you can kill your laner. It helps with the early first blood and waveclear.

Standard early game items. These build into your core items Duskblade of Draktharr and Youmuu's Ghostblade. Don't forget to spend you spare gold on Control Ward.

Tiamat is a must buy with the nerfts to talon's rake a few patches ago as you cannot kill the caster minions with 1 Rake.

Self-explanatory. MR Boots against AP teams and Armour boots against AD teams. Mobility boots are also an option when ahead but I usually go defensive due to Talon's squishyness.

The first 2 items bought used to be duskblade and ghostblade. With recent changes, edge of night can be your second buy against CC ability champions like Ryze, Vayne or Morgana. Your first item depends on your runes. If you are running a mobility rune such as Waterwalking or Relentless Hunter, then you can go duskblade first. Otherwise go ghostblade. Black Cleaver can be delayed to a fourth item if you decide to go these 3 items first. Usually, my purchase order goes Duskblade of Draktharr, then Youmuu's Ghostblade and finally Edge of Night.






Trinity Force- Only really ever bought in 40 min games and when the enemy team has no tanks as it gives you a lot of raw damage. ANother reason to buy this is when your playing splitpush talon as it helps you melt turrets in late game.

Sterak's Gage- Buy this if you are getting blown up by other assassins/mages or if the enemy team has a lot of cc as the passive is a real-life saver.

Mortal Reminder Lord Dominik's Regards Choose one of these items almost every game. Even with no tanks, the armor pen lets you do true damage against other champions. Mortal is preferred obviously against champs like Vladimir or Soraka.

Guardian Angel- Solid item on Talon against heavy ad team comps. However it is also good if your sole purpose in teamfights is to sacrifice your life to kill a high priority targt (like the adc). It allows you to engage and instantly make the fight a 4v5 without dying when the GA passive is up.

Maw of Malmortius- Build this against heavy ap teams. Nothing more to be said really. Just dont build Steraks with this because the passive wont proc for both of these items as it is a unique passive.

Black Cleaver- Used to be the go-to item for assassins with good health, damage and armor reduction. But now Edge of nigh and Last Whisper are so good, this item is situational against tank team comps.

Zed Maybe not a hard matchup, but definitely skill oriented. Really depends on how good you are as Talon and how good they are but there are few tricks. Zed's W CD is almost 13 seconds at level 1 so if he wastes it, call your jungler to gank or engage on him. If he engages with his w Living Shadowmake sure your Rake is aimed so that it hits him twice even if he swaps with the shadow. This lane snowballs hard so try not to push the wave with Rake otherwise you will get ganked and probably die. To do this, stand on the sides of the lane and throw the rake at the front minions without hitting the casters. Don't try to ult onto him first, as he can dodge the second ult damage with his ult. If he ults you, then ult yourself to go invisible and wait out the mark before re-engaging. Ninja Tabi should be bought


Yasuo Again a skill matchup. Depends on how good he is at timing his wind wall, and how good you are at predicting his dashes. Be careful as he can dash through you to dodge the second W hit. When he goes in for a trade, try side-stepping his Q as one missed Q generally means you win the fight. That being said, look for short-trades as he will out damage you after your combo if he does not die. Ninja Tabi should be bought.


Fizz This is a easy matchup if you are good. The only way you lose these trades is if he dodges both parts of your W with his e, and then lands his E on you. This is very difficult for the fizz to do, but even if you land one part of your W, you win the trade. If you manage to land both parts of the Rake, be careful because his E can still cancel your Q animation and stop your passive from activating. Good Fizz players may try to bait you with this trick, however in low ELO they are probably unaware that they can do this. Bait out his E before you ult and all-in him. Hexdrinker should be bought.


Akali is a hard matchup. She can outsustain you with her Q so I recommend to not trade until you think you can one-shot her. Play to shove and roam and try get other lanes ahead. Akali also out scales you with her zoning shroud and survavibility with hourglass so try to end the game quickly. The best win condition is probably to get other lanes ahead Hexdrinker should be bought


Diana is also a hard matchup. The problem is her W Pale Cascade. If she fights you with her W up, she will win. It is on a high CD so trade with her when it is down. If you can't get a solo kill on her, again, play to roam. Her waveclear is bad so shove her in and roam. Hexdrinker should be bought


LeBlanc is a skill matchup. Stand in the minion wave to dodge her chain when she goes in. Throw your Rake so that it hits her twice even if she teleports back. If you are quick enough, when she jumps onto, you can Auto, Q, Auto very quickly to activate Electrocute. Ignite her in all-ins so that you can see the real one when she activates her clone. Hexdrinker should be bought


Katarina is generally an easy matchup. The only way you lose trades is if she manages to blink behind you and dodge the second part of your Rake. To avoid this, stand far back and throw out your W when she goes to last hit. Then as you throw it out, walk backwards so that she can't Shunpo behind you. If she doesn't do anything, its free damage. If she tries to blink behind you but fails, she is dead. Most kats don't know this in low elo, but if you can't get a solo kill, buy an early Tiamat and roam. Hexdrinker is recommended


Kassadin is actually a bad matchup for Talon. He outscales hard, and out pokes you with his Q. If the kass is bad and constantly gets hit with 2 parts of the Rake, then its free kills, but if he is good, then I suggest playing to shove and roam. His waveclear at almost all stages of the game isn't great, so he really can't stop you from roaming. If the game goes late, say, past 30 minutes, he will eventually start solo carrying the game with his 2 second ult CD.




Syndra Hard matchup. Her waveclear is solid and her e cancels your Q jump even if you lane both parts of Rake. I recommend to take Corrupting Potion and Time Warp Tonic and farm till level 6. Once you hit 6, you can probably kill her depending on her reaction time. You can flash Q then instantly ult to dodge her E. Or, Rake then instantly ult, then run beside her and Q, aa + ignite. If you can't solo kill her, play to roam. Buy an early tiamat and shove her in. If she tries to match your waveclear she will go oom then you can kill her. Hexdrinker should be bought


Annie is a hard matchup, her combo post 6 can easily one shot you without hexdrinker. Play safe and ask for early ganks as she has no escape. Take Corrupting Potion and trade with Rake when she goes in to harrass. If the annie is bad this isn't a hard matchup but if she is good then again, play to roam. Hexdrinker should be bought.


Anivia players in ranked will either be smurfs in low elo, or absolute trash. If they are smurfs then your chances of winning are slim, but there are a few tricks. She has no escape early so ask for ganks often. Take corrupting potions and farm with Rake. If the anivia player is bad, they will often waste their stun, in which case they are dead almost every time they waste it. Her waveclear pre-6 is not good so shove her in as Csing under turret is hard, and look to 4 man bot or 3 man top with your jungler. Hexdrinker is not essential here]]


Ahri is a skill matchup. If you can sidestep her Q and Charm, it should be an easy lane. Stand behind the wave to dodge the charm. To land both Rake parts, throw it out when she goes to last hit a minion. If she walks beyond the wave to try land a charm, she is either bad and you can kill her, or her jungler is coming to gank. Hexdrinker should be bought.


Twisted Fate is an easy matchup for talon. Especially in low ELO, twisted fate players will always waste their card on the minion wave. Every time he does this, you can Q straight onto him and then throw out your Rake for almost a guaranteed passive proc. Try get a kill pre-6, then shove him in so that he is unable to ult without at least losing a lot of CS. Tell your team when he is Lvl 6 and deep ward his jungle to see where he is going to ult. Cleanse is an option but I think Ignite is best. Hexdrinker is not necessary.


Zoe in low ELO generally means they are bad. If she wastes her bubble at any time you have to jump onter her and punish. When she goes to harass, trade with W and back off. I recommend Hexdrinker but it depends on your ability to sidestep and the zoe's ability to hit her bubble. At level 6 you can probably solo-kill her with a full combo but after that try to just shove and roam.

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Karthus is about side-stepping. Low ELO karthus players will generally not be good and will be easy to side-step their Q Lay Waste. If you cannot sidestep, then at least get hit with the minions, as the ability does double damage if it only hit a single target. If the minions are hit, the wave is also pushed so then he has to overextend. Thats when your jungler should come as he has no escape apart from flash. Whenever he wastes his wall of pain, engage straight onto him and burst him down. Hexdrinker is not necessary.

Other matchups

Matchups includeing: Malzahar, Lissandra, Orianna, Viktor, Lux, Azir, Ryze, Ziggs, Cassiopeia and Heimerdinger are very similar in the laning phase. Generally, take Corrupting Potion and farm with Rake. Then buy an early tiamat and shove then in as these champs cannot match your waveclear early on. Look to roam with your jungler and get your team ahead. Once your level 6, you should try to one-shot them with your combo. Don't take too much poke in the early game and be prepared to give up CS. Also be aware of Lissandra and Malzahar as junglers love to gank these guys with point and click CC ults. If you want, you can get an early Quicksilver Sash

As a final point, if you struggle to get solo-kills in lane, an easy thing to do is to pretend to roam right in front of their face so they think you have left. Then let them push, or if they follow you, engage onto them and kill them.

These are a some of the best roaming paths as Talon from mid to either topside or botside.
Green = Roam Pathway
Red = Possible Wards to avoid
Blue = Alternative route
One thing I do want to mention, is to never use your E on a wall for the sake of it. You never know when you are going to need to use it later.

Roaming Topside- Blue Side

Most players at low ELO will not deep ward the baron pit and will simply ward Tri-bush or river bush, so these paths should work most of the time.

Roaming Topside- Red Side

This path is very effective as you completely avoid the wards in the river bushes. When the green pathway splits, the pathway to the left is very unsuspecting as you can gank even when they aren't even pushed past river. At most you will only take one turret shot, but there is a technique to not get hit if you use your Assassin's Path in the perfect spot.

Roaming Botside- Red Side

Again, low elo players do not deep ward near dragon pits, so this one should work. They do ward tri-bush, however this should not matter if they in the middle of the lane. And you should end up double killing them, or at least burn their sums. The blue path avoids this tri-bush ward, but is more appropriate if you are planning on tower diving.


Roaming Botside- Blue Side


The green pathway is the best gank route. Dodges all wards apart from the purple one, (which is a rare ward placement in low ELO)and like topside, can kill them even when they are not pushed up.
1. Blue- This pathway is also viable if they have not warded Tri-bush and is also unsuspecting if they are pushed up.
2. I rarely use this route, but is an option if they have not warded or if the other walls are on cooldown from you Assassin's Path.

Hopefully the game will never go late as Talon as he falls off pretty hard. Nevertheless, if the game does go late, there are 2 ways to play teamfighting:

1. Assassin Role- This seems obvious, as talon is an assassin. Basically, you want to just delete a certain champion from the game as they are the ones carrying, usually the adc, but this can also mean a jungler like Master Yi or a support like Soraka.
Guardian Angel and either Mortal Reminder or Lord Dominik's Regards is advised

2. DPS role- If the team in general is doing even, or there is no one to assassinate, for example like a Swain adc, tank jungler, top laner and support, well then you have to try to land as much damage on every champion as possible. You should still prioritise certain champions, but your main goal should be to land your Shadow Assault and Rake on every champion in a team fight. To do this, wait for someone else to initiate, then follow them into the middle of the fight, then Rake and then Shadow Assault immediately. This should do massive AOE damage in a teamfight. When they are busy focusing your team, sneak up to a squishy target, or the least tankiest and try to burst them down. Or Alternatively, you can activate your passive on as many opponents to deal even more damage. But even if your play teamfights correctly, don't be surprised if you still lose. Talon is just not good in late games, and in Low ELO other players may not be able to teamfight effectively either.
Guardian Angel, Sterak's Gage or Lord Dominik's Regards is advised

Well I hoped you enjoyed my first guide on Talon. This was targeted to lower ELO players, as I cannot say from experience what high ELO talon players would do differently.
Takeaway points
- Get a lead early and end the game quickly
- Once you have a lead, use this to snowball other lanes as well
- Always look to roam, even if that means just applying vision
Anyway, thanks for making it this far I hope the information was useful.