Quinn should have been the premiere Marksman-Assassin

https://i.imgur.com/GY5xl4u.jpg

Now, hear me out. I absolutely love the changes made to Twitch in the Preseason 2016 Marksman Update. Giving his stealth a reset mechanic so that he'd have a way to escape the backline after engaging was ingenious. The changes were elegant and successful at giving him a more Assassin-like playstyle while also preserving the Plague Rat's identity as a ranged damage-dealer with powerful basic attacks.

However, I have to wonder if Twitch was truly the best candidate to receive changes oriented at making him the most Assassin-like carry of his class.

---

https://i.imgur.com/IAP3VDy.jpg

By Riot's definition, Assassins are "mostly melee [characters that] must put them themselves into dangerous positions in order to execute their targets ... Luckily, they often have defensive tricks up their sleeves that, if used cleverly, allow them to effectively avoid incoming damage."

Who was the one AD carry in League that could become melee for a short time, was encouraged to vault into dangerous positions and had an execute to finish off her targets along with an AoE blind to avoid incoming damage? That's right, it was Quinn -- and to me, that was a dead-on indicator she should have been the Marksman to receive changes tailored towards making her the best hybrid Assassin in her class, rather than becoming the premiere roamer.

---

https://i.imgur.com/rI9gORr.jpg

So we've established that old Quinn fit the description of an Assassin really well. Now, what are some issues that have arisen as a result of turning her into the dedicated roaming Marksman?

1.) There is little reason to choose Talon over Quinn. While Quinn may not have been assigned to the niche of 'Assassin AD carry,' she still very much functions like one, to the point where Lethality items have become primary on her since they support her aggressively opportunistic, pick-making playstyle. In conjunction with her ability to roam the map at top speeds, I have to wonder if there exists any reason to choose Talon over Quinn now when she can move about the map faster and more consistently than him, while also sporting similar if not higher degrees of burst damage -- all from the safety of range. Sure, Talon has stealth and can occasionally escape a fight by jumping over walls, but Quinn has nearsight which functions as a single target pseudo-stealth and can activate her passive to swiftly escape a backline engagement. It's not quite as reliable an escape as a wall-jump, but who needs that when you can just instagib someone from 525 units and then run away with the increased movement speed?

2.) Quinn's theme suffered greatly as a result of the changes made to her ultimate. While I'm sure many people believed it may have been goofy for Quinn to have an ability that allowed Valor to take over as the Champion, "Tag Team" was the cornerstone of Quinn's kit that made her unique amongst Marksmen and gave her the 2-in-1 Champion / partnership identity Riot was going for when they released this duo. Now, Valor's been relegated to taxi duty, a far cry from the glorious Assassin he used to be -- the deadly eagle has become nothing more than a particle effect made to decorate Quinn's abilities and occasionally give her a lift, rather than being a separate entity that enemies need to watch out for in addition to the falconer herself. 'It was goofy' is no good argument to get rid of a characteristic move within a Champion's kit -- if that were the case, other fun yet whimsically nonsensical abilities would have been removed long ago, like Shen's taunt and Gangplank's oranges.

3.) Other Marksmen could have fit the roaming niche better. Corki was the prime candidate, in my view -- just imagine a package that spawns in base much more often than it does now while allowing the Daring Bombardier to fly over obstacles, for example. Having a powerful roaming tool with lots of uptime fits Corki's aviator theme without impeding upon another Champion's distinct strategic identity, like Quinn does to Talon whenever she has similar amounts of power.

---

https://i.imgur.com/FV6sJUZ.jpg

This is all well and good, but leaves us with a single question -- what about Twitch?

In my mind, Twitch's archetype as a plague-spreader is better-suited for a champion that focuses on inflicting entire enemy teams with DoT effects rather than someone who's required to zip in and out of the backline. He could have been the premiere DoT Marksman, chaining enemies with poisons that corrode them over time rather than finishing them off in swift blows. While he's not necessarily unfitting as an Assassin per se, I will reiterate that I think Quinn would have been a much better candidate for the position -- giving her the roaming Marksman identity simply introduces more problems than it solves.

---

Please leave any thoughts in the comments section below, would love to have a discussion about this regardless of what your stance is on the subject.