New Champion Taliyah: Preview and Predictions

New Champion Taliyah Looks to be a Shuriman Mage

A new champion looks to be making her way into the League of Legends! A short story has just hit the League of Legends website, previewing Taliyah. We learn over the course of the story that Taliyah is a young woman from Shurima with the power to “weave” rock. Taliyah was taken from her family by the Noxian military, with the promise that she would help build walls and protect cities, and learn to safely control her earth-bending powers. Instead, Noxus showed their trademark treachery and violence, putting Taliyah to work destroying their enemies. After escaping her nefarious Noxian overlords, Taliyah finds Yasuo in the snowy mountains. Yasuo helps Taliyah learn to control her powers, before running into a few angry Ionian guards hunting for his head. Together, Taliyah and Yasuo totally wreck the guard squad. Eventually, they part: Yasuo off to take care of unfinished framed-for-murder business, and Taliyah to the Freljord, from which she hopes to catch a ride back to Shurima.

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The story is pretty exciting all on its own, but mostly we’re busy combing over the gravel for clues about the new champion. Taliyah uses a sling several times throughout the story, implying that she is likely a ranged champion. She is shown heating up small rocks over time, which could indicate a skill or passive that enhances the stones slung in her auto-attacks. We get a couple good glimpses of prospective skills: When fighting a large Ionian snow lion, Taliyah dissolves the ground beneath her attacker to escape, indicating a likely disable or displacement, possible in an area of effect. Surrounded by guards with Yasuo, Taliyah raises a “field of sharp stone” to keep their attackers back. This could be an AOE DPS ability (like Ziggs’ minefield), or something more like Braum’s ult or Anivia’s wall that physically controls an area with terrain. The guard captain sneaks behind Yasuo, and Taliyah knocks him up with a swell of the ground, allowing Yasuo to seal the deal with his ultimate. This has pretty clear implications, and synergy with Yasuo makes sense based on their pairing in the story. Finally, Taliyah makes her escape: “stone columns threaded themselves in and out of the ground like a wave. Taliyah felt the earth rise, carrying her out into the dark night…” This sounds like both a mobility skill and an area of effect damage or disable. I’m not sure how this last one will manifest, but it sounds like it could make for a powerful teamfight ultimate.

There are a few other details that may or may not be clues that give insight to how Taliyah works in game. The preview image (at the top of this article) shows a distant portrait of Taliyah equipped with wings of rock. Taliyah certainly wouldn’t be the first champion to have purely cosmetic wings if they have no effect on her gameplay, but it’s possible that these rock wings could play a part in a mobility skill or unique mode of movement. In the story, a merchant mentions the rise of an old God in Shurima, seeking to enslave the Shuriman tribes. Could this indicate a rivalry with Azir? My best guess is that Taliyah will be a mage with a large amount of area of effect and crowd control skills. This means we could see her facing off against Azir in the midlane, competing to control teamfights.

We can’t wait to find out more about Taliyah, and we’ll have any new news and insight we learn for you right here on Blog of Legends!

Are you already planning your career as a Challenger Taliyah main? Tell us how excited you are in the comments!

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