Boards›Gameplay

An assassin does not have to one shot in order to be effective

kargish·1/22/2019, 12:01:13 AM·6 votes·3,113 views

TL;DR Assassins don't have to be only about burst damage, it's just as important to get better uptime on assassinations, mobility, utility and CC. Pyke fills these criterias and is also the only assassin in the game that isn't bound by feast or famine, which is arguably a much healthier playstyle for both sides.

Everyone knows that assassins excel at taking out priority target, and have the capability of ending someone's life before they even know it themselves, but honestly this isn't truly the only role an assassin has.

I've played assassins for as long as I can remember, and I have played them in more games than just League. For the most part their role remain a constant in most games, but in LoL it's different.

Assassins in LoL serve as the game's feast or famine roster. There are only 2 realities for assassins like Talon Zed Khazix Shaco, they either have the burst damage to instantly delete someone, or they don't have it and they're worthless to a team. In other games assassins serve as mobile distruptors with high burst damage and high uptime. An example could be the rogue of World of Warcraft, they can move around the map quickly, have high uptime on targets at all times, deals high burst damage and is packed with a ton of stuns, silences, interrupts, obscurity and blind. They basically control the flow of battle by always being able to hit their targets and forcing the enemy's actions with CC. In LoL the only champions who are considered assassins with CC are Evelynn Fizz Rengar Shaco, and you can try to ask yourself how effective they are in practical.

For the reasons listed above and what I am about to go into, the reality is that the best assassin ever designed in LoL is Pyke. His kit is perfect and he's the only assassin in the game that breaks the feast or famine playstyle. No matter how far behind Pyke is, he will always be relevant to a team. He can always contribute to his team by providing/clearing vision due to his easy escape mechanics, pick off enemies with his hook and provide hard CC. Pyke can actively provide utility to a team when he is not strong enough to provide enough burst damage. Even then, he is still better at being a kill assassin than almost every other assassin in the game. Now I there are some of you that will say:

What you say is dumb because Pyke needs to be like 15/0 before he can one shot someone!

And although I agree, burst damage is not the only thing that's important to an assassin. Ask yourself this, who is the better kill assassin between Pyke and Rengar? Most people will answer Rengar, as he possibly has the highest burst damage out of all assassins in the game. But truthfully, Pyke is better because Pyke has almost permanent uptime. Once Rengar has made his burst, he's as finished when you're done with your girl on a saturday night. Pyke on the other hand, is ready to go again straight after making the first kill. Uptime is important.

Assassins for the future needs to be more like Pyke, they should focus more on higher uptime, mobility, utility and vision control rather than only being the jack of burst.

17 Comments

ßurst1/22/2019, 12:07:37 AM4 votes

Pyke does not need to be 15-0 to one shot someone he can do so just fine early game. Midlane he can dominate early but he needs to finish the game fast or else all of his end the game early potential is gone.

ZephyrDrake1/22/2019, 12:11:28 AM4 votes

you do know that Pyke's lack of burst is due to him also being a support right? it's also due to everything he offers that people don't really like Pyke and have many issues with him. If anything assassins should be less like Pyke

iiGazeii1/22/2019, 12:09:43 AM3 votes

I agree. There certainly should be at least a few assassins that, with the right build, can one-shot somebody, but the majority should be focused on target access and burst damage, able to get in, deal a bunch of damage, and get out. They shouldn't be initiating on a full-health target; that's the job of the tanks and bruisers. An assassin should be able to go in when somebody is at like half health, take them out, and get out alive, not delete enemy squishies from the game.

Edge of Daybreak1/22/2019, 12:18:49 AM1 votes

It's easy to make assassins not feast or famine if you give them something else to do other than just kill you. Riot claimed to want to do this during the initial class rework but made no actual attempt to do so.

There are definitely more than 2 outcomes though. you die to their burst, you live through their burst, you use a zhonyas and live, use a zhonyas and still die. Your teammate saves you. You just kill the assassin because your kit is better or you are fed.

My issue with pyke is that Imo he only works because his numbers are crazy high not because it's a good design. like my god that ult damage is nuts for it to have an execute and reset on top of his other utility.

Syrile1/22/2019, 2:32:07 AM1 votes

I actually like Pyke. I do not think every assassin should be built like him. And I think he has issues (pushing R five times to get a penta kill is questionable...) like the sustain of making poke useless but you can all in him. The problem with assassins is overloading them with the insta-kill effects /and/ a million other things that protect them from harm and give them sooo much protection.