How to beat assassins 101

I've been seeing quite a bit of fear mongering about the rise of the Assassin Meta returning. Here's how to cope with that without being a whiny little bitch.

Step 1; Teamcomp and champion select: Is their team looking something like ? Then your team shouldn't be all squishy damage dealers with no escapes. Consider tanks with instant CC to deal with the mobility of the first four like etc. Consider anti-assassin mages and supports like . Consider carries with escapes like etc. You get the idea.

Step 2; Wards and vision clearing: Warding will help all of your teammates avoid getting caught out, as you'll know exactly where the enemy team is. On the other side of that coin, clearing enemy wards will make the enemy team easier to catch out. As a rule of thumb, once level 9 hits jungle and support should have upgraded red trinket while mid and top should have yellow and bot lane carry blue. Obviously that's not 100% right every time, but unless the enemy team is heavy on stealth, you should keep it as 2-2-1. Pink wards should be bought by everyone at nearly all points of the game. If you have 75 gold after backing, you should have a pink ward in your inventory unless you're full build.

Step 3; Teamfighting and protecting your carries: The first thing you should know as the nonsquishy against assassin teams is that the carry dying is rarely just the carry's fault. If they have poor positioning and are getting caught out, yeah that's there fault. But if the enemy assassin is diving through your whole team to get to them, that's on you. Your job as the support/tank is to be the front line protector of squishies. That doesn't just mean your ADC, that means every squishy damage dealer on your team. So as much as we all like initiating teamfights as that beefy CC machine, maybe this game that's not the best course of action. Maybe this game you should save that CC for when their team initiates on you.

Now on to carries vs assassin teams. Y'all need to stay back. I mean waaaaay the fuck back. There's a reason you get blue wards, you don't want any part of going deep into the unwarded jungle to slap a ward down on baron. If you see an assassin on your screen, I don't want you to slap them with an auto for some poke, I want you to RUN. If you're in range to auto them, they're in range to kill your ass with a full combo. It ain't worth it. Assassins aren't your target in a teamfight unless you're one of those anti-assassin mages I was talking about before. Stick with your team, stick to the back. Easy peasy.

Step 4; Itemization for healthy living: Are you an ap champion that has mana? You might want to consider this build: fifth item and boots of your choice. I know what you're thinking, 'BUT BARD, WHAT ABOUT MY DAMAGES????' To which I respond, you won't have any damages if you're dead (karthus not included). This build provides plenty of damage against squishies and even some pretty solid damage vs tanks depending on what champion you're playing, but above all, it gives you 3k+ health, zhonyas, and crazy good utility with rylais. For a last item, I recommend depending on who you're playing and who you're playing against.

Are you an AD carry or Marksmen as the kids are calling it these days? Then you might wanna consider adding a few of these items to your build: .

Are you a tank or support whose job it is to keep these assassins off the squishies? Here's some items for you!

Step 5; Instinct: If you think any of the previous rules just don't apply to the situation you're in, for example the 2-2-1 trinket rule or the multiple item suggestions I've made, by all means don't do them. I'm no authority on beating assassins, I'm just a guy that plays this game a lot and tends to enjoy playing as and vs assassins. Do whatever you feel is necessary to survive. You got this, cupcake!

That's it for me friends, good luck out there!