How to Counter Talon

How to Counter Talon

Talon is a very annoying mid laner to play against. He has great kill pressure early and insane roaming potential. When playing against Talon , you need to avoid dying to him and ensure that you ping whenever he goes missing. However, you can make laning against him a lot easier by picking one of these 5 champions.

In this guide, we’ll discuss 5 tips and tricks and 5 champions that we recommend you pick into Talon to make the laning phase much more manageable. These champions consist of champions that can prevent him from roaming, preventing him from getting kills, and champs with good survivability. Let’s get started.

If you’re interested in learning how to play as Talon, check out Talon’s Champion Page. You’ll find their latest builds, runes, combos and much much more. Sign up to Mobalytics for more tips to improve your climb!

• Play safe early
• Ping when he roams
• Push him into his tower
• Avoid walking around Summoners Rift alone
• Place vision
• 5 Champions That Counter Talon
  1. Sett
  2. Veigar
  3. Annie
  4. Neeko
  5. Lux

1. Play safe early

Talon is one of the strongest early game champions in League of Legends. He will often get the first kill for his team and quickly snowball with that slight advantage. Understanding how strong he is in the early game and respecting his all-in potential will make the laning phase much more manageable.

Expect him to go for a kill at level 2 or level 3 and play safe if you are not in a position to trade back with him. Suppose he gets the level up before you, back off slightly so he can’t all in you or go for a favourable trade. Giving him even one kill could be enough for him to take over the map.

2. Ping when he roams

Talon is very good at roaming and will try to roam as often as possible to get himself and his allies ahead. He can roam and move around the map quickly thanks to his basic abilities which allow him to jump over walls and terrain. You should try to match his roams if you can, or if you can’t, you should look at the very least ping that he is missing and warn your teammates.

Pinging in League of Legends is a very underrated strategy. Most people use the pinging system to spam their allies when they do something stupid. However, pinging when Talon is missing could provide enough time for your allies to back out and escape. If Talon roams and doesn’t get anything out of it, it will benefit you and your team.

3. Push him into his tower

On the other hand, if you are in a position to do so, you could try and keep him pushed into his tower so he cannot roam and help his allies. Although, you may not be able to do this until you’ve completed your first item and have some levels under your belt. As long as you position safely, this is a good strategy against Talon.

Push the wave into his tower and walk back and out of range of him. Standing outside of his dash range is very important when pushing him into his tower. If you keep the wave pushed into his tower it is unlikely that he will roam. If he does roam, you will be able to secure tower plates and an early tower.

4. Avoid walking around Summoners Rift alone

During the mid-game, make sure you stay as a team and avoid moving around Summoners Rift on your own. If you walk around the Rift alone, you will be an easy target for Talon.

There is safety in numbers, and it is relatively risky for him to jump in on multiple enemies unless he is extremely ahead. By grouping, you will severely decrease his ability to get kills and picks.

If you are the Support, do not go and ward major objectives unless you know where he is- otherwise, he will easily kill you.

5. Place vision

Vision is a very good tool to help deal with Talon. If you know where he is at any given time, it will be very difficult for him to get kills on you or your allies. Make sure you use your trinket and purchasing control wards throughout the game to protect you and your allies lives.

During the early laning phase, place wards around your lane to spot him if he leaves the mid-lane. Vision in these parts of the lane/river will also tell you if the enemy Jungler ganks your lane.

Once the laning phase has ended, placing wards in the river or inside the enemy’s jungle (depending on the game state) will help you spot a flanking talon. Placing vision, in general, is an essential thing you need to be doing regardless of whether the enemy has a Talon or not.

If you want to learn where to ward, make sure you check out our in-depth warding guide which has a dedicated section to help to deal with assassins!

5 Champions That Counter Talon

The best champions that counter Talon are Sett, Veigar, Annie, Neeko and Lux. You can find all the matchup tips we use in this guide on the Mobalytics App. For plus members, you can get specific matchup tips for the champion you’re playing versus the enemy laner at your fingertips while you load into the game. We have tens of thousands of different, highly specific matchups curated by our challenger level players to help you lane against the enemy champion.

1. Talon vs Sett

Sett is quite good into Talon because he can trade back with him during the early game. He also has a shield with his W that can protect him. His E can counter his Q, and his roaming potential is also pretty good.

4 tips to counter Talon as Sett

• Try to E Talon whenever he tries to Q you. Go for regular short burst trades against him to ensure that he is losing the trades.
• Unlocking your Ultimate will be really helpful for you. You can now suplex Talon into your tower, which can increase the chances of you killing him.
• Proper usage of your W will dictate how this lane turns out. This is especially true at level two, where Talon will try to get First Blood off on you.
• Keep the wave on your side of the lane for as long as possible. This will prevent Talon all-ins but ensure that you warn your teammates if Talon roams. Try to follow him if possible.

2. Talon vs Veigar

Veigar is a safe pick into Talon. His cage can stop him from playing aggressive, and his Ultimate offers him a lot of burst damage. After his first item, he can keep him pushed in while staying safe so Talon cannot roam around the map.

4 tips to counter Talon as Veigar

• If you E>W melee minions, and then back off and CS with Q, it becomes difficult for Talon to fight you. After level six always shove lane, since Talon can roam very easily, and it’s the best way to stop him from doing so.
• Talon has a level two power spike, and when combined with Ignite, he can kill you very early if you aren’t careful. Make sure you never get hit by his W twice, and poke with Q when he uses W on the wave.
• If Talon uses R near you, you’re almost certainly dead. Place your E on yourself, and wait for him to reappear before you Q and R. If he uses R from a distance, get inside your W as quickly as possible since his R doesn’t last long enough to wait for your W to dissipate.
• If you do manage to catch Talon in your E, unless he Flashes out, there isn’t much he can do. But if you don’t manage to kill him, it’s safest to back off until your E is ready again.

3. Talon vs Annie

This matchup is simple. Annie needs to position away from Talon, and save her stun. Whenever she is holding her stun, Talon can not play aggressive as you can just stun him.

4 tips to counter Talon as Annie

• Once Talon hits level 6, his all in potential and kill potential increases. Beware of this and keep an eye on his Ultimates cooldown. It’s not too long, so expect it to be up frequently. Continue to position where he cannot all in you.
• Frequent trades work in Talon’s favour as long as he can get on to you or land his W. Try your very hardest to stand outside range by keeping your distance at all times. Stand close enough to land autos and poke, but not close enough that he can jump on you.
• Use your range advantage to poke Talon as much as possible with your basic attacks and abilities. Getting his health low will make it harder for him to trade or roam. But, do not over commit to poking him as he has great turn around potential.
• Talon is very strong at level 2 and 3 and will look for an all in if you’re low on health. Make sure you hit level 2 at the same time as him (first 7 minions) to reduce his chances of looking for an engage.

4. Talon vs Neeko

Talon’s Q and play style is very scripted. Neeko can counter his engage with her E and Ultimate. Furthermore, once she has a few points in her Q, and some damage, she can easily push the wave and keep him pushed under his Tower.

4 tips to counter Talon as Neeko

• Try to E Talon when he is trying to get a minion. It will allow you to go for short burst trades on him, which will reduce his all-in potential.
• Your Ultimate should help you a lot in this lane. It can completely interrupt Talon’s Q and Ultimate, which will let you lock Talon down under your tower if he decides to all-in you.
• Your W will be pretty handy during the laning phase. Sometimes, you can completely bamboozle enemies by W’ing your clone away from the enemy (pretending to escape) while you are getting close to Talon (or his team) for your combo.
• Keep the wave on your side of the lane for as long as possible. This will prevent Talon all-ins but ensure that you warn your teammates if Talon roams. Never roam blindly.

5. Talon vs Lux

Lux is a safe pick into Talon, but one mistake can cost you it all. Reserve your Q in this matchup for Talon’s engage. Avoid using it unless you’re 100% sure you can land it because Talons will use the cooldown to their advantage to go for kills.

4 tips to counter Talon as Lux

• Keep poking Talon with your E in this lane. Only go for your Passive procs when Talon is busy trying to hit a minion.
• Your W will come in handy when dealing with Talon’s level two all-in. Later on, during the game, you can use this ability to save yourself and your carries.
• You will need to play a bit more carefully once Talon gets his Ultimate. Just ensure that you keep your Q on hold for dire situations where immediate action is required (like if you get caught out pushing).
• Keep the wave on your side of the lane. This is important, else Talon will abuse your immobility and will completely let him take over the game. Never follow him blindly into the river, either.

Conclusion

Talon has the highest first blood secured by any champion in the game. You can prevent him from making you another statistic by picking one of these champions against him the next time you find yourself facing him.

For more tips and tricks for Talon, check out Talon’s champion page on Mobalytics!

If you have any questions or want to learn more, check out PicklePants’s stream.

Watch live video from PicklePantsLOL on www.twitch.tv