After a heavy nerf in patch 10.24, the Talon – Dawn composition fell into a “desperate” situation in the late stage of the first half of Set 4. Talon’s ability to “assassinate” was stripped away, leaving this composition lacking the damage needed to quickly finish off opponents. However, when Set 4.5 arrived in Teamfight Tactics, the Talon – Dawn team became significantly stronger with changes from Riot.
The biggest change to mention is the buff to energy regeneration for the Dawn trait. Now at the 6 champion threshold, the Dawn trait will gain up to 150% additional energy. This change allows champions of this trait to cast their abilities extremely frequently and deal significant damage. Talon also benefits from this buff as it resolves the issue of him no longer receiving energy regeneration when taking down enemy champions with his abilities.
This update also changes the way the Talon – Dawn team composition is built quite a bit compared to before. In Set 4, you would play a “hold-off” style with strong early game units and try to level up to 8 as quickly as possible. Then you would continuously roll to search for Talon or the Chosen Morgana to carry the team. At that time, you only needed to reach 4 Dawn to regenerate energy.
However, this playstyle is no longer suitable in Set 4.5 as you must possess the 6 Dawn threshold. Therefore, the best approach is to build around the Chosen Fiora at the start, even pushing this unit to 3 stars in some cases. At that point, you will use Duelist units as the main damage dealers to synergize best with Fiora.
By the mid-game, you will aim to achieve the 4 Dawn – 4 Duelist threshold to ensure the damage output for your composition. Units like Irelia and Janna become extremely important at this stage to help your team deal better damage and counter the enemy’s carries. Fiora will then take on the role of a “tank” with her damage immunity and continuous stun with her Counter ability.
Once you have crucial pieces like Talon and Morgana, transition to a 6 Dawn composition to ensure strength in the late game. For your 5-cost champions, you should choose Swain and Lee Sin to bolster your team’s power. With Swain, it will activate the Bloodsucker system and ensure survivability for your team’s carries. You should also select Lee Sin if facing tough opponents that are hard to take down, such as a 3-star Braum.
Regarding item builds, physical damage and critical strike items like Infinity Edge, Giant Slayer, and Bow of the Green are the most suitable for Talon. If you can assemble them early, it’s most effective to give them to Yasuo during the early to mid-game. Later, you can sell this unit to reclaim the items for Talon. For Fiora, you should also invest in tank items (Flame Cloak) and energy regeneration (Spear of Shojin) to fully unleash the power of her Counter ability.