If you’ve noticed, in the recent patch 12.1 of Teamfight Tactics, many units from the Empire faction have been buffed and have become significantly stronger. In fact, Talon receiving an increase in base attack speed has helped this unit emerge as a very powerful carry in the current meta. Combined with the buff to the damage increase effect for the Empire faction, this unit has even more damage to take down the enemy team’s carry.
To start with the Empire composition, having Talon early is a must. After that, you can combine with Twitch or Katarina to activate the 2 Assassin effect. For the frontline, you should choose tanky units like Darius, Poppy, or Blitzcrank to ensure durability and buy time for Talon to deal damage.
Moving into the mid-game, players will try to level up to 6 as quickly as possible and apply a slow roll strategy to obtain a 3-star Talon. During this reroll process, you should keep an eye out to buy units like Samira and Swain to activate the 3 Empire threshold as early as possible. Taric is also a valuable unit in this composition as both Samira and Talon can take full advantage of the Idol space created by this unit. You may also want to replace Twitch with Ekko to buff Talon’s attack speed.
After obtaining a 3-star Talon, you should aim to level up to 8 and bring Sion into play to ensure sturdiness for the frontline. This unit also possesses excellent crowd control capabilities, making Sion a top priority. Additionally, you can use units like Leona and Braum to increase the toughness of the frontline. This is crucial as it gives high-damage units like Talon, who lacks durability, more time to deal damage.
For technology core choices, the two upgrades “All For One” and “United Governance” are the strongest for this composition. They provide Talon with additional health in fights or increase the damage output significantly for your team. Additionally, the “Blade Sharpener” and “Smoke Bomb” cores are extremely strong if you can obtain them, as they help Talon deal damage and survive much better. Furthermore, cores that provide gold and items are always a good choice if you are lacking resources.
As for item building, Talon primarily needs Infinity Edge, Rapid Firecannon, and Quicksilver. As an Assassin, Infinity Edge helps Talon deal the highest possible damage. With Rapid Firecannon and Quicksilver, they allow this unit to deal damage in a much safer state. For Sion, traditional tank items like Thornmail, Dragon Claw, and Warmog’s Armor are always optimal choices.
