How I normally play Taliyah. ( its not meta, but really fun to play)

Taliyah, to me is a really fun and easy to play. She offers quite a bit of utility, good wave clear, and multiple play styles.

One of my favorite play styles is tank Taliyah, its something I am surprised isn't in the meta right now. ( I am sure there are reasons... ) Its a pick that can be played in both top and mid lane should you get stuck with a team that doesn't have any true front-line tanks.

you start by rushing Rod of Ages, followed directly by another hp increasing ap item. My personal preference for second item is normally Rylai's crystal Scepter so during team-fights its easier to hold the squishies in place. (there is a chance you truly don't need the second ap item, but I don't normally run mathematical calculations for video games. But even if its not truly needed I still recommend it because you can still use that extra ap to effectively be considered a threat to the squishies even though you are tanking for the team.)

beyond those first two ap items you start building whatever tank items you might need for the situation of the game you are playing, and you can even buy warmog's armor should you need it. (quick tip on warmog's armor should you buy it for your third item and your farming is that of a high elo there is a chance that for whatever reason: levels, Ages hasn't stacked enough, whatever. there is a chance that you might fall slightly short of the necessary hp to activate Wargog's passive. Its not anything fatal but just keep it in mind because again, I don't bother with the exact math.)

mind you this isn't perfect and there are counters for this strategy, however your main issue will most likely be early game against champs like nassus or Garen and to a lesser extent Singed because they have gap closers that are not a form of dash and have great damage if you are in melee range. these can normally be hindered with a self cast W but if you miss you might be in trouble. (Mind you, I only have the potential counters for top lane because I don't truly play Taliyah mid very often so I don't have solid evidence on champs that counter her mid.)

I just wanted to share how I normally play her, because of how from a character standpoint that isn't what she is truly meant to do, Thank you for reading and should you try this out I hope you find this as fun and effective as I normally do. If nothing else, this is my sense of humor, and I hope you get a laugh out of it like I do.

ps: should for some reason this actually in the meta please do politely tell me, its one of those things I rarely see Taliyah players.