Assassins are meant to be a fast-paced class focused on jumping in, executing an enemy champion, and getting out in a matter of seconds. Their playstyle revolves around killing enemies more than anything else and it is the one job that they must perform to win their team the game.
Assassins are most suited for pushing their leads by picking off isolated targets where they lack vision. As late game teamfights approach, they become harder to play. An assassin player should be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to jump on a squishy target from a flank, bursting them and then getting out.
As the name implies, Assassins must burst their target as fast as possible to reduce the chances of outplay. Their kits contain little to no crowd control abilities and mainly focus on burst damage. This makes teamfighting with them much trickier than with other classes.
Positioning
Assassins are different in regards to their positioning from other classes. This is because Assassins are very squishy and depend on their mobility to go in and burst their target instead of relying on consistent DPS. For this reason, they don’t tend to join the group as their frontline or backline.
Instead, what an Assassin should aim for are flank angles. It is important that Assassins try to avoid direct contact with their opponents and instead try to approach the fight from unexpected angles. This will not only prevent them from getting blocked by the frontline but will also provide a shorter gap to close between them and their target.
Utilizing Vision
Vision, or lack thereof, is an Assassin’s best friend. Assassins rely on quick combos to finish their opponents and what better way to do that than by catching them off guard when they lack vision. For this reason, champions that are looking to one-shot squishy champions should buy a lot of control wards and constantly check for vision in brushes that they plan to camp.
Having a sweeper available also comes in handy but control wards allow you to set up kills much better and can allow you to move in position if an enemy is spotted some distance away from you. Nevertheless, Assassins should avoid trying to tackle an enemy champion head-on when they can be easily seen on vision.
Planning An Escape
As we mentioned before, Assassins aren’t the best option when it comes to teamfighting. Yet, they can still do as much as their kit allows before getting out of the scene. While you look for targets to take out in a teamfight, it is better to have an escape plan for various reasons.
If your target gets peeled for by their teammates or you are simply unable to burst them with your combo, then it is absolutely not worth dying for. For example, Zed players tend to use their W behind them before ulting an opponent. Then they dish out their whole combo for damage and recast their W which takes them back to safety. This allows them to at least save their own life even if their assassination ends up failing.
In some cases, dying is fine as long as you achieve your goal. We will discuss this scenario in a later segment.
Picking Off Isolated Targets
We already discussed how Assassins tend to avoid grouping up with their team. This is because it is very hard for them to get through the enemy frontline and reach their target in a 5v5 setting. For this reason, Assassins try to catch enemy champions off guard and burst them when they’re separated from the group.
As the late game approaches, these chances get fewer and fewer. Assassins must capitalize on them as much as possible so that they can turn the game in their favor. This is done by clearing vision and camping in a brush in either side of the jungle. This must be a path usually taken by the enemy so you can catch them when they’re coming back from a recall.
Since Assassins have kits that specialize in bursting a single champion, this playstyle allows them to gain an advantage in numbers before a teamfight begins.
Waiting For Engage
Unlike Toplaners and Supports, Assassins generally lack any tools of reliable engage and must depend on their team for this. Unless you are off to the side trying to fish for a free kill, DO NOT frontline for your team. You can not jump on a target 1v5 and expect to get away with it.
Wait for the engage champions on your team to start a fight and then capitalize on that opportunity and always be ready to follow up. Do not forget to plan an escape and judge whether an engage is good or not before you burn all your resources.
Patience
Patience is key when playing Assassins. There are a lot of factors that can prevent you from achieving your goal and you need to find the perfect timing to cross all those hurdles. When a fight breaks out, you need to wait for the enemy to use their important abilities (and hopefully summoner spells) before you strike.
A lot of players will instantly use their whole rotation of spells and leave themselves open. Once you see that your target lacks peeling tools, you can jump in and grab a quick kill. A good example would be Evelynn. While she can do a fine job of sticking to her target with her W and E, she would still prefer if her target didn’t have any escape. As soon as an Ezreal or a Caitlyn uses their E, she can jump on them and burst them before they can even react.
Target Priority
Assassins only have so much damage in their kits to burst down a squishy champion. They would be quite useless if they try to waste all their resources on a tanky champion, only to leave them at half HP.
Assassins have the potential to sneak their way into the backline so they should use this opportunity well and execute a squishy champion. Of course, the priority for their assassination should be the enemy carry champions such as Mages and Marksmen. However, not every situation is going to be as favorable as you expect.
There will be times when the enemy support is the only one you can kill and reaching the ADC or Mage is simply not possible. In such scenarios, it’s very simple to make your decision: Killing anyone is better than killing no one. If you feel like you can assassinate the enemy Soraka and get out, then doing so is better than trying to run around in circles just to find an opening on the Caitlyn.
Trading Kills
Trading ‘One For One’ with an enemy champion is usually discouraged. However, there are situations where your life is worth much less than the enemy’s life. So when is it worth trading 1 for 1? There is no clear answer to this question, you must judge it based on your own understanding of the game.
The answer can be reached by thinking about the value that the enemy champion will provide in the game (or specifically in the teamfight) compared to the value you can provide. This is why trading kills when you are behind is usually worth it because the enemy is much stronger than you are. So you are taking down a bigger portion of their firepower compared to what you are losing.
An Evelynn with 10 stacks of Dark Seal should not trade kills with a Ryze, but a Talon can trade his life for an Aphelios simply because of the difference in value the champions provide. It is also worth mentioning that when an Assassin kills a valuable enemy carry and then dies, they get gold from the kill but the gold from their death goes to someone other than the carry.
Conclusion
Assassins are trickier to make use of in a teamfight compared to any other class and therefore should be played with utmost care and responsibility. Patience is key and navigating in the fog of war is what makes them a real threat since they can burst their target and use their mobility to escape.
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