After her brilliant performance as an AP jungler in several patches, Taliyah found herself struggling to find her place in the League’s current meta.
Taliyah has remained on the outside of the League of Legends meta since her release in 2016. The Stoneweaver has always had a tiny but devoted fan base, but several modifications have gradually reduced it.
She’s bounced from role to role, first as a mid laner before becoming popular in the jungle — and even have some viability as a bot lane or support pick — but her identity hasn’t truly connected with players. Taliyah’s win rate is decent — hanging just below 50% — but her pick rate is terrible. Taliyah has the lowest pick rate of any champion in the jungle, where she plays her major role.
Riot recognizes the issue, but their options are limited even after buffs as recent as LoL patch 11.3, due to her win rate.
“Taliyah’s win rate is already in a spot where there is not a lot we can do with her to give her satisfaction without giving her power,” developer ‘GalaxySmash’ explained to players on Reddit.
“We did the closest we could in opening her back up to being a jungler earlier this year, whereas before, she was only a mid laner and even more unpopular than she is now. Opening her up to jungler gave her a boost in playrate, and it seems Taliyah players overall enjoy her more in the jungle for a variety of reasons.” – he continued.
However, with the champ being “genuinely unpopular” and minor adjustments not having much of an impact, Riot has one ace up its sleeve – a bigger mini-rework.
Riot might experiment with her Worked Ground mechanic, as well as the rest of her kit, in order to carve out a new niche for the Stonewalker, similar to the modifications made for Irelia, Tahm Kench, Lucian, and Gangplank in Season 11. However, there is one major hindrance: time.
“I think at this point it’s clear to get a big increase in pick rate she would require some large-scale work which is difficult to find time for, but not out of the question,” GalaxySmash said. “We have tried small changes to solve it but couldn’t get anything to stick.”
There are no changes planned for Taliyah in the forthcoming LoL patch 11.17 release, but as preseason 12 approaches, Stoneweaver mains may be in luck.