Since Dominion launched I’ve found myself drawn more and more to Talon, the newest assassin to join the League. I had a hard time loving him when he first launched, but I’m really starting to understand his strengths, even in a duo lane, which can often be frustrating as a melee champion.

I’ve been playing him here and there, but mostly in solo queue ranked. As it currently stands, I’m 8-0 and headed into my 9th game. I’m not sure what to take away from the experience so far. Right now my ranking is somewhere around 1300, so it’s not like I’m playing a marginal champ and succeeding at high ELOs. Still, I am succeeding, and usually pretty wildly.

I think the bigger lesson for me has been that there are champions that just take a little time to learn, and when they click, they really click. I originally thought Talon was meant to be a highly mobile melee champion, using his ultimate for escaping teamfights or stealthing in for the attack. I’m actually having the most success playing him as an almost Akali-like teamfighter – running straight for targets, making them very dead, and then following up with a whole load of AoE damage. Talon isn’t particularly mobile or survivable, but he can easily kill a target before the target can kill him, and that’s what an assassin should be about.

I thought I might get a little inspiration for the Champ of the Week from last night’s Fearless Gamer League of Legends Monday and it turns out I was right. I had a lot of fun in a game with Akali, a champion I hadn’t spent much time with until burning through something like 18000 IP a couple weeks ago to buy a rune page specifically for her. Since that time I’ve started to really appreciate her playstyle a bit more and to see how much she can contribute to a team. I’m really excited to name Akali my Champ of the Week.

I’ve been screwing around with a few different builds as I’ve played her recently, but I’d really like to spend the week focusing on when a build works and doesn’t work, and how to stay viable if you get wedged into a duo lane. I think the obvious solution to that problem is to not play Akali if you’ll be in a duo lane, but Akali requires a lot of rune specialization. If players want to get serious about her, chances are she’ll be one of very few champions that player can afford for some time. I may spend a game or two playing with a basic mage rune setup, but frankly, I don’t think she fares very well in levels 1-5 without her own build.

Check back later in the week for epic tales of my leaps across Summoner’s Rift. Chances are good that I’ll get caught under a turret more often than anyone reasonably should.