5 Things To Know About New Champion Taliyah

Taliyah Works to Give Her Team the High Ground

We know that Taliyah is a mage who manipulates terrain and enemy positioning to control fights and give her team a rock solid advantage. Taliyah’s kit was outlined in her Reveal last week. Her earth weaving theme is sewn throughout her kit, as Taliyah rides rock and raises the ground to move herself and her enemies around.

Taliyah’s passive, Rock Surfing, gives her increased movement speed out of combat when walking near a wall. This means Taliyah can get to the action around the map quicker to shake things up. Taliyah’s passive makes her a strong roamer from mid, and extra slippery in a side lane. Her Q, Threaded Volley, is a directional nuke that fires 5 stones. After the initial cast, Taliyah is able to move as the stones fly, like a small, gravelly version of Lucian’s Culling. Threaded Volley has an additional quirk, as casting marks the ground in an AOE around Taliyah as “worked ground.” Using Q on an area already marked as worked ground makes the spell much weaker, but as a trade off Taliyah gains increased movement speed over the marked area. This means that Taliyah will have to reposition to get the most out of her spells while laning and fighting, and will have strategic considerations about where she might later need an extra mobility boost.

Taliyah wouldn’t be much of a control mage without some disables and area control skills, which she brings to the table with her W, E, and ultimate. Her W, Seismic Shove, is a knock-up that allows Taliyah to shift enemies in a small AOE towards any direction of her choosing. Unraveled Earth, Talyiah’s E, lays out a field of jagged rocks in a cone-like pattern, damaging enemies caught in the field on cast and then again after a delay. Unraveled Earth also deals additional damage to any enemy that dashes or is forcibly knocked through its AOE while dormant on the ground, giving it synergy with Seismic Shove. Finally, Taliyah’s ultimate is Weaver’s Wall, which summons a wall of terrain in a line along a huge distance. Talyiah can hop on the wall as it rises to catch a speedy lift across the Rift.

It looks like Taliyah will primarily be living life in the mid lane, but top and support are potential possibilities, and apparently she’s capable of clearing the jungle.

Next: Taliyah Is On a Mission Back to Shurima