The Problem with the Assassin Class

RIOT has placed various champions into "classes". One of those classes is the assassin class. But what champions are actually in the Assassin class? According to RIOT's recent update assassins include:

Leblanc, Talon, Rengar, Katarina, Fizz, Kha'Zix, Ekko, Shaco, Akali, and Zed

and also according to RIOT, the theme of assassins is the skill fantasy (outplaying opponents). and in terms of game health, "in some cases you need to be able to see an assassin coming and try to escape them".

But the traditional assassin - as well as the traditional video game assassin isn't about a skill fantasy, it's about 1v1 and surprise attack.

Some of the champions RIOT has listed as assassins don't have a kit that enables surprise attacks. This is the fundamental problem with how RIOT currently classifies assassins. For example, Zed is considered to be an assassin, but why is that? Is it because of Zed's kit?

Well... no actually it isn't. Because if you look at Zed's kit he doesn't have any tools whatsoever to enable a surprise attack. But Zed is mobile, but Zed's job is to remove a priority target, but - but nothing, Zed's kit doesn't have anything that enables surprise attacks against his opponents. Zed is an assassin in name only (really being an AD caster with good 1v1). The only reason Zed is in the assassin class is because RIOT says so.

Look, RIOT can call their champions assassins if they want, but that doesn't actually make them assassins. The common them in assassinations is surprise attack. If you deliver an attack, but don't use the element of surprise, then you didn't really assassinate them.... you just walked up and killed them. "Surprise"

Another example is Fizz. Does Fizz have anything in his kit that enables a surprise attack? No. So what does Fizz actually do? Well, Fizz walks up to you casts a "skill shot" and then uses mobility to follow up on a kill and escape. RIOT thinks of this pattern as being the pattern of an assassin in the game. But the reality is that most champions actually work this way. Most champions involve walking up to your opponent landing a key ability in them and then following up for the kill. There isn't anything about that pattern that is different for Fizz except that Fizz is more mobile then others at getting close to his target and escaping.

To understand this a bit more deeply consider some of the champions in the game that aren't considered to be assassins but benefit from the same style of play. Lee Sin is not an assassin (he is a "Fighter" "Slayer" w/e that means), but what makes his kit that different from Fizz or Zed? Lee Sin is mobile and has the tools to get in on a target eliminate him and get out. Lee Sin's classification as a Fighter Slayer has little to do with Lee Sin's kit. Just like Zed's classification as an Assassin has little to do with Zed's kit.

Let's look at Wukong. Wukong has something in his kit that enables surprise attacks: stealth. Wukong can actually sneak in and surprise a target and eliminate it, but Wukong is classified as a "Fighter" "Tank". This is because Wukong has a passive that gives him bonus armor and magic resistance and an AoE CC. The fact that Wukong has a kit that enables surprise attacks apparently doesn't make Wukong an "assassin" even though Wukong can actually uses his kit to pull off assassinations in game!

Let's look at Twitch. Twitch is classified as a "Marksman" "Slayer". But Twitch is really most effective when he uses his stealth to deliver a surprise attack against opponents. I mean the optimal way to use Twitch in a fight is practically the definition of assassination.

There are many many more examples of the failure of "classes" in LoL. I'm only picking on assassins because they had a relatively recent update and there is apparently some major confusion about what an assassin actually does in a video game. RIOT did a good job with the stealth changes in their recent assassin update, but there are still problems with their understanding of what an assassin does. The classification of champions into classes has been very bad for League over the past two years or more because it has created misconceptions about how some champions actually operate in the game and led to some game design where even if a certain champion doesn't really fit the mold in a technical sort of way, RIOT tries to force them to fit it. Like what it means to be an assassin... RIOT wants Zed to be an assassin. So Zed is forced into the assassin mold even though his kit has nothing that enables surprise attacks (an essential prerequisite to any traditional sense of what an assassin is both historically and in video games). Even though his kit is that of an AD caster, RIOT wants him to be an assassin and therefore, like other champions that don't fit the mold, he gets stuffed in there as if that's what he is...

So then we can have posts where players talk about "Assassin Jarvan" because Jarvan is mobile and can blow up a target even though Jarvan doesn't have anything in his kit to enable surprise attacks, because the understanding of what an assassin is is so far from what an assassin actually does!

In conclusion, I'd like to say that it isn't just the "assassin" class that suffers, but the entire class system RIOT uses is actually really messed up and always has been. If you use this system for trying to decide what your champion does. Stop immediately. RIOT only has it right for a minority of champions in the game and you shouldn't rely on those classifications anymore than you should rely on the recommended item sets RIOT gives you.