I haven't really read much about her since the Shurima event, but from what I can remember she's pretty up there in terms of what regular old mortals can do. She knocked out Yasuo by accidentally creating an avalanche, saved Nasus from Xerath while just sort of passing through an area, and was holding her own against Xerath in "The Climb" cinematic. How strong is she? Would she mop the floor with other elementalists like Qiyana, Lissandra and Brand?
I haven't really read much about her since the Shurima event,
Well, considering the fact that absolutely NOTHING has happened with Tali since that Shurima event (lore wise), I can safely say you haven't missed anything. Honestly, the same could be said for a number of Shuriman champs.
I dont think that Xerath was even fighting against her in the cinematic, it seemed that Xerath was fighting against someone else and she was caught in the middle of the fight.
Lissandra and Brand would be the ones mopping the floor with her. I think Qiyana is around her level Also The Climb isnt canon. Xerath can canonically melt rock very easly with his comets so she wouldnt realistically be able to block those shots with such a thin layer of stone (also Riot themselves stated The Climb isnt canon iirc)
Taliyah is very strong for a human, after all the noxians wanted her to use her powers to bury a village beneath the rocks, so depending on the area her powers can be devastating.
However that being said, she still has a human body, so one clear hit and she'd likely go down.
So all in all I'd say that under the right circumstances she could defeat a large part of the human/yordle roster, but the opposite is also true, as any clean hit would likely end her.
I guess she could even have a chance against some of the more powerful purely physical fighters, like Renekton, though it remains to be seen just how powerful Renekton is when it comes to physical combat and if Taliyah could bury him beneath her rocks before he could reach her. However the magic powers of all the other ascended would likely defeat Taliyah before she could do any harm to them(Nasus has been shown to be simply able to age a human to death and I don't think I have to explain Azir and Xerath)
I'm not sure how well she'd do against other elementalists. Lissandra is extremely old and experienced, while Brand is powered by a world rune(and I think he even melted rocks in the comic), so these 2 likely have the upper hand against taliyah. Heck it was implied that Brand even managed to fight Renekton and Nasus and survive, which is honestly a testament to his strenght (as Xeraths lore mentions Nasus and Renekton fighting a "beast of fire").
Qiyana is a bit more difficult, because even though her lore makes her out to be a prodigy in terms of elemental magic, she hasn't demonstrated as much raw power as Taliyah has, neither in the lore nor in the game. However I'd generally put Qiyana above Taliyah due to her experience, physical abilities and mastery over multiple elements. Though I'd say that these 2 are definitely closer in terms of power and it wouldn't be unsurprising if Taliyah could actually defeat Qiyana.(The terrain would likely also play a role in this, Taliyah would have the best chance if they fought in the desert where there are only rocks)
strong enough to play both sides of the fence (gender)
I have a theory she's a descendant from the mage kings of Icathia.
She almost killed Yasuo on accident so id say a solid 7/10
