Taliyah Gameplay and Thematics
Is it just me, or does Taliyah seem to be a bit misunderstood by alot of players? I've played the hell out of her since release, finding success in top and mid lane as well as a bully support, and am at Mastery 7 as soon as I score some blue dust.
People seem to play and build her as a burst mage and then seem underwhelmed when her damage doesn't live up to their expectations. I see people rushing Morello's, maxing q, chasing kills and regretting it. Taliyah is a control mage first and foremost, meaning she creates a zone where she wants to engage and if the opponent is caught in it, she will win the trade. She's alot like Zyra in that sense. Also while her low cooldowns allow her to regularly pump out some damage, she does the most when her spells are working together, giving her a decent amount of burst.
When I play her I max E, which confuses alot of people, but i feel like her best source of damage early on is her E+W combo, while her Q does hurt quite a bit and proc TL easily, unless your opponent is constantly out of position you can't use it as a regular harass tool, and if somehow you do, the ground beneath you is worked for some time and lowers your potential damage, that's why I max E, it does a good bit of damage and a good knockback weaved in with it does quite a bit of damage, Q is a good ability but I feel that is becomes much more effective once you've finished your Rylai's, so maxing it second put it at about rank 2 or three by the time you've completed your core item.
Laning with her is relatively easy, i find her best matchups to be vs immobile mages, your zoning becoming alot more potent when they have no escape, but because of the damage her E does in contact with dashes, she still performs well in the current meta. She for sure struggles against any sort of blink mobility though, since it won't pop her E, so Zed and champs with similar movement can be a challenge, but she still has tools to keep her relatively safe in these matchups if you know what you're doing.
I've heard two main arguments about Taliyah recently though, first off is that she's clunky when playing her, which I understand to some extent, but it just takes some getting used to on the player's part and also, thinking about it, she is essentially an earth bender, abilities like that should not feel quick and fluid, so i think the slow cast times and delay on her abilities fit fine thematically. Also the her "Worked Ground" interactions have been getting some shade. The mid patch fix that lowered its duration was definitely needed, but people still seem to be pushing for more. I don't think it needs any reduction as far as the amount of time ground stays worked. Her q is literally tearing up ground beneath her, it wouldn't fit thematically for the ground to reset in 30 seconds. People are starting to understand her and how she works, but not completely, they're getting a sense for Taliyah and her abilities but not seeing the whole picture of what her playstyle is about.
Maybe I caught on faster because it's somewhat similar to Zyra, but Taliyah players need to consider the ground they are fighting on at all times, this is their weapon, the use of it determines how well she can fight and how potent her abilities will be. People get stuck looking at just Taliyah while playing and then when an opportunity presents itself, try to go for a kill and can't secure it because they look down and realize half their lane is full of worked ground, that's something that should be taken into consideration before a trade even starts.
Also, as far as changes to Taliyah, I feel like she has been one of the smoothest releases every, maybe slightly underpowered upon release, but still in a decent spot, the only change I could see for her is the worked ground and Q interaction. Like I said, I max q second I don't rely on it for trades or damage, so when I'm farming on worked ground, I use the single stone it produces just to aid in my last hitting or just to boop the enemy when they give me a window. It currently refunds half its mana, which is nice, but I throw one stone out that does shit damage, has a small hitbox and AoE, I don't feel like that small impact of an ability should be put on an 8 second cooldown. A regular Q gives 5 stones for 60 mana, worked ground Q gives 20% the number of projectiles for 30 mana. Some would say that the mana refund is reward enough, but I feel like the cooldown should be reduced as well. Her auto attack animation and missle speed are wonderful for farming as is, so it's not like you NEED Q to be on CD more often, but it just seems like one of those little quality of life fixes.
Overall, i think Taliyah is in a great spot and she's quickly become a personal favorite, Riot did a great job and I can't wait to see what's in store for her in professional play, in the meantime, I think average players just need to open their mind a bit to how her playstyle is slightly different than other mages, and takes more micromanagement with her abilities to find success.
