Talon vs Riven Counter Pick

Riven runs on no resource at all, so Valor, Ki Burst and each cast of Broken Wings come back on cooldown alone while Talon budgets mana for Rake and Noxian Diplomacy. Over 142 games on patch 16.13.1 that grinds him down to a 42.3% win rate, and the difficulty computes as Hard. Both are physical, both sit at 125 range, and both rate near the top for execution: Riven 8, Talon 7.

Her advantages in the duel:

• Valor steps forward and blocks incoming damage, absorbing the front of his burst rather than the tail of it.
• Ki Burst stuns at melee range, interrupting the attack that would detonate three stacks of Blade’s End.
• Blade of the Exile adds attack damage and attack range before finishing with Wind Slash, a window his 2,511 health at level 18 does not comfortably absorb.

Talon’s counter-argument is the opening statline: 68 base attack damage against 64, 658 health against 630, and 36 magic resistance he has little use for against a purely physical opponent. Her 33 base armour to his 30 is near enough level. The third cast of Broken Wings knocks back everything nearby, which breaks off a chase as easily as it begins one. Most games are decided by whether he can force the fight outside her cooldown window, and Assassin’s Path over terrain is what gives him that choice. See the Riven champion page.