Who am I?

I am Fiora Cavazza, currently a Diamond 2 Talon player, who started playing in the end of Season 2. I started bronze at the start of S3, ending in high diamond thanks to this champion and the mechanincs I learnt. I play on EUNE.

Why should you try my build and playstyle?

I am currently one of the best Talon players on EUNE server and TOP15 Worldwide according to: Lolskill.net

I also have a 70% win ratio with him over 180 games and am climbing up fast on my account to Diamond 1.

And sorry for not going in details so much, but I rather spend my time with playing ranked ;)

PROS:

-High risk-high reward
-High burst if built properly
-Easy to snowball at lower tiers
-Doesn't require a lof of time to learn the basic mechanics
-Perfect split-pusher with Q and rake/hydra
-Assassin's creed-like skin

CONS:

-High risk-high reward
-Hard to play properly in high elo
-Extremely vulnerable in teamfigts
-Not that versatile/mobile
-Said not to be competitive
-Late game Talon is weaker than other assassins

-MERCY(PASSIVE)
Talon's autoattacks deal 10% additional damage to any target that is slowed, stunned, immobilized or suppressed.

A decent passive, some AA buff.

-NOXIAN DIPLOMACY (Q)
Talon's next autoattack within the next 6 seconds deals bonus physical damage. If the target is a champion they will also bleed for 6 seconds, granting sight of their location to Talon and taking additional physical damage each second for the duration.

Talon's Q is an auto-attack reset so use it right after you auto-attack. Mind that bleed will not reveal stealthed champions. Note that this is your true burst from the crit + aa reset.

-RAKE (W)
Talon sends out a volley of daggers in a cone that then quickly return back to him, dealing physical damage to any enemies it passes through. Each enemy can only be damaged once at the start of the ability and once at the end. Additionally the enemy is slowed for 2 seconds, refreshing the duration of the slow if they are hit twice.

This is your only spell to make use of the passive. You will farm with this ability early, and push with it later on. Pretty decent for harass.

-CUTTHROAT (E)
Talon instantly appears behind his target, silencing them for 1 second and amplifying his damage against that target for 3 seconds.

A pretty decent gap-closer, the amplifaction is only mentionable at later ranks though.

-SHADOW ASSAULT (R)
Talon disperses blades outwards in a 500-radius ring and gains stealth for up to 2.5 seconds while gaining 40% movement speed. When Talon emerges from stealth, the blades converge on his location. When the ring of blades expands and contracts, enemies hit receive physical damage. Each enemy can only be damaged once at the start of the ability and once at the end.

This is your only chance to get away from teamfigts, so use it wisely. You will learn when to use it offensively and when defensively. Basic thought is to try to kill anyone who is out of position.

Basic thoughts

My experience is that he is really rewarding especially in lower tiers since he can oneshot carries and can get away because of lack of being focused. Your opponents are not likely to take advantage of your early weaknesses, they can even die at level 6 if they are not good enough. You can make plays as they rarely expect you to make use of stealth and think you will use the second part of your ult instantly.

In higher diamond ranked, you will face experienced players who play with champions that are more versatile, therefore they will outplay you hard. I find Talon really hard to carry with the higher I get just because he lacks true escape and can just get outplayed.
There are certain match-ups where I never pick Talon:

Mordekaiser
He will outharass and outdamage you, there are much better picks versus him.
Fizz
He will dodge your W/R with no problem. His burst is even higher and his passive/W keeps early trade wins.
Yasuo
Currently he is a must ban in LCS and higher tiers too. His kit is really annoying and you will never beat a decently played yasuo.
Lee Sin
Even if he is a jungler, you will not be able to make use of your stealth, which will cause you to die more than usual. Also his kick and shield is pretty annoying, don't pick Talon if they picked Lee Sin
Riven
Despite the nerfs, her kit is really lane dominant and she will outharass you. Try to avoid picking him vs Riven.
Pantheon
His early game will hurt a lot. You can't kill him but he can kill you easily. You should ask for lane swap.
Kayle
Kayle is easier after the nerf, however her ult makes your job a lot harder. You will never outscale her. She will beat you early and late game too.
Gragas
He got a rework, currently he is the worst matchup for a Talon. Too tanky, too much burst, too fat to handle with. (Y)
Kha'Zix
It is hard to realize a bit, but since his ult changes, he is too tanky and he will beat you 1v1. If you ask for a jungler help, you can kill him :)

All in all:

High risk-high reward. That's all I can say about him. A lot of people think Talon is weak and shouldn't be played in ranked/comeptitive matches. It is a half-truth. There are champions that fit better the current meta, however some infamous Talon player(Insoy, Talon Bot, Abaria PL) prove that with him, you can even reach challenger.

If you are unsure this build could work, feel free to give it a shot.

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