FNC Selfmade has been spamming Talon Jungle in his solo queue matches since the release of Patch 11.5.
About 1 year ago, Riot Games had made several tweaks so that several Bruisers and Assassins, including Talon, so that they can be viable as a Jungle pick in order to expand the champion pool for this position. Unfortunately, Riot’s changes back then didn’t really mean much and the adjusted champions, weren’t able to play as effectively in the Jungle as original champions. However, this was changed in patch 11.5, when the Talon Jungle became much stronger and was fully utilized by Selfmade, Fnatic’s jungler.
It can be seen that Talon has been continuously buffed in recent patches, especially his W. This makes his early game in the jungle become much faster than before. Not stopping there, the change also enables him to deal damage even better in the early phase of the match.
Moreover, the fact that Riot has reduced the amount of gold and experience gained from the monster camps enables the champions who have the ability to gank in the very early stage become more popular. With his E, he can make unexpected ganks against enemy champions. Combined with a large amount of damage available from the skill set, the rate of his ganks to be success is relatively high. Talon, has thus proved his place in the current Jungle meta.
And to increase early game damage, it is possible to replace Flash with Ignite like Selfmade. With his E, Talon’s ability to reach targets is already good, you don’t have to use Flash for this champion. Besides, with the regeneration effect proving to be too strong right now, wielding Ignite is essential to make sure you take down the enemy champion.
One trick when using Talon Jungle is to always stay close to the monster when using his Q. The reason is that when Q is used at melee range, it will definitely be a critical strike which will improve the amount of damage deals on jungle monsters, speed up his camp-clearing speed.
In terms of Talon Jungle gameplay, Conquerors proved to be the best Rune for build. You can also use Electrocute if you feel you are too low on damage early in the game. Regardless of the runes you use, Sudden Attack is essential since it interacts so well with Talon’s skill set.
As far as items are concerned, Prowler’s Claw is the best item for him as it greatly increases his damage by stacking its passive ability. Youmuu’s Ghostblade is the second item you should aim for as it provides Talon with extremely good mobility. After that, items that increase armor penetration such as Lord Dominik’s Regards or Serylda’s Grudge are the choices you should consider.
In short, with Riot’s changes, both direct and indirect, Talon is appearing to be an extremely powerful Jungle champion. He possesses good ganking ability and can put a lot of pressure on the opponent’s lineup in the early game. If you are looking for a new way to enjoy the League then Talon Jungle is the first choice.