About the Assassin Class Update
This will be an opinion post. Basicly what I'd have enjoyed to see, rather than what happened.
Let's start with what happened and why it isn't cool.
Assassin had one clear goal before the ClassUp: To eliminate high priority targets as quickly as possible and get out alive. This lead to very frustrating scenarios to the enemy players, as they would get deleted with nothing they could do. Once a Fizz was at the unwarded bush, you were already dead, your screen just wasn't grey yet. The ClassUp aimed at increasing their burst windows, so enough counterplay could be had AFTER the assassin engaged.
This led to two problems: 1- Assassins already had to deal with pre-engage problems: Wards, Supports, Tanks, Exhaust, Mobility, and such. Having to deal with mechanics that are (at the very best) a coin toss after already beating the enemy in game knowledge is not fun. 2- Assassin's goals are still the same, but acomplishing it is much harder. In other words, it was a general nerf.
I honestly think that the biggest reason why this ClassUp was pretty much a fail is due to how small it was. Or rather not ambitious enough for it's given proposal.
Yes, it was about as big as the other ones, but the other ones had a core difference: the classes targeted were already in a solid state and the goal of the ClassUp was just to make their core characteristics even more pronounced. With the Assassin's ClassUp (ACU, from now on. Yes, I'm lazy), the goal was to make a whole class' goal more subtle.
So, what I think it would have been a better option? A complete overhaul of the Assassin class. Not just increasing their burst window and giving them some gimmicks, but rather reinventing what an Assassin should be all about. Maybe even renaming the class.
Here's a quick brainstorm:
** Infiltrator Class Update**
Goal: To change the assassin's "I 100-0 you in half a second" playstyle into a slippery skirmisher's one. Granting them a respectable burst in the early game that scales very poorly into the late game, but compensating them with ways to avoid damage and stay in the fight for a very long time.
For example:
Now, instead of their full combo being able to 100-0 someone, it will only be able to 30-0, forcing them to land multiple rotations to get their targets. As a compensation, they are given powerful tools to be used in team fights.
Quick Shaco rework:
Q damage cut by a lot. E damage cut by a lot. W cast range is now 2000 units, it stealths after 1 second and has a 3-hit health bar. Consumes stacks when placing, similar to Teemo's Ult. R now creates 5/7/10 clones of Shaco in a 2000 area that last for 5/7.5/10 seconds. The clones will move randomly and occasionally throw Phantom Daggers, similar to the real ones, that deal no damage to enemy champions. Shaco can press R to change positions with the clone who's closest to his cursor. Changing positions can only happen every 2 seconds. All clones still alive by the end of the duration will explode into a laugh gas, that deals moderate AoE damage and forces enemies to laught (stunned) for 1/1.25/1.5 second. Clones take 5 times more damage from all sources. Health bars are not visible.
This would drastically change Shaco's playstyle. Turning him into much more of a prankster than he is now. Ulting into a team fight would not only grant him the chance to take down his target through some careful juking and acting (looking like a clone making random movements), but would also force the enemy team to take down the clones or risk suffering the AoE stun.
For Kha'Zix, little to no changes would have to be done. Cutting his QWE damage and drastically increasing his stealth duration and ult charges would do the job.
Ekko could have his E turned into a LeBlanc's Dash, but with a forced return function that is automatically activated after a set amount of time + a bigger range and a much shorter CD. His W could also become bigger and have a shorter CD as a compensation.
All in all, this is just an example of a possible route that could have been taken. Turning assassins into infiltrators, champions that survive amidst battle by trickery and wits, while causing enough problems and damage to force the enemy team to deal with them.
Of course, taking such a drastic measure would not please Assassin's mains, but IMO, it would have been better than just nerfing them when it comes to doing their job.
PS: Can't stress this enough: I'm not saying that this brainfart of a change that I've had is the best solution to assassins, what I'm saying is that the ACU had a different goal than the other ClassUps and could have benefited quite a lot from some drastic changes into the class' strenghts and weaknesses.
