Riot put together a “mechanics preview” for Talon, the upcoming melee assassin. I’m not sure why it’s a mechanics preview rather than just a skill preview. It seems to be his full skillset, but maybe they just don’t want people to think that the thing is set in stone. Tough to say.

Regardless, let’s take a look at his skills:

Cutthroat: An ability that allows Talon to catch his enemies by surprise. Talon leaps behind his target and silences them for a short duration, amplifying the damage of any of his follow up attacks and abilities.

Noxian Diplomacy: Talon viciously stabs his enemy, dealing heavy physical damage and causing them to leave a blood trail that Talon can use to track them.

Rake: Talon fans out three blades in front of him that quickly return to him, dealing damage and slowing any target hit in either direction.

Shadow Assault (Ultimate): Talon enters stealth for a short duration, gaining a movement speed boost and sending blades that deal damage to all enemies in their path flying in every direction. Once the blades reach a certain distance, they pause and form a circle. When Talon reappears from stealth, the blades return to him, once again dealing damage to any opponent they pass through.

Mercy (Passive): Talon’s auto-attacks deal additional damage to a target that is under the influence of any crowd control effect.

He seems to be Vayne’s brother or depraved uncle or some such thing, at least as far as his skills/flavor go. It’s tough to get a good feel for his skills, mostly because their so basic. I like the idea of a targeted leap plus a silence, but I can’t really say much about his other skills. Slows are always nice. I’m not sure why he has a tracking skill unless his dash is on a very short cooldown. His ultimate is something I’ll definitely have to see to really pass any sort of judgement on.

Phreak claims the Talon spotlight has neither jungling or a Trinity Force. I suppose we’ll see on Monday night. Are you excited for Talon?