Beat Assassination Rogue

What they want to do

Garrote your healer, Kidney Shot the kill target, then Deathmark into Envenom while poisons tick. They win long Solo Shuffle rounds if the healer stays silenced and you never get a clean dispel on the dots.

Main danger

Poison pressure plus Kidney Shot. You die to Envenom even when the stun windows look short. Cloak of Shadows turns your magic peel into nothing, and Garrote silence means your healer cannot answer on time.

Interrupt priority

1. 1 Their healer, not the rogue

   Do not interrupt the Assassination rogue. Kick their healer — yours is silenced by Garrote. Every kick goes there unless Blind is already on them.

2. 1 Your magic crowd control into Cloak of Shadows

   Throw a junk spell first. Real crowd control after Cloak of Shadows drops. They cloak the first magic spell every round.

3. 2 Nothing they channel

   Envenom and Shiv are instants. Do not waste a kick on the rogue. Look at their healer.

Watch for

• Garrote silence on your healer as Kidney Shot lands on you — that is the setup. Peel the rogue off the healer; you cannot purge the silence.
• Deathmark overlapping that stun with Shiv healing reduction. Envenom kills here; wall before the second Envenom.
• Cloak of Shadows eating your first magic crowd control, then a restun. Throw a cheap magic spell first.
• Rupture already ticking on the kill target before Kidney Shot. The bleed keeps leaking through your walls after the stun ends.

Offensive cooldowns

• Deathmark. Major damage window. Poisons and Envenom actually kill here. Use a defensive before the second Envenom, not after the stun drops.
• Garrote. Silence on your healer is the setup. You cannot purge it. Peel the rogue off them so the healer can cast again.
• Envenom. Poison dump inside Deathmark. This is the execute, not the opener. Wall before it, not after the third tick.
• Rupture. Bleed engine. Long rounds leak if this sits through your defensives. Dispel poisons around it; the bleed itself is not a magic you can strip.
• Shiv. Healing reduction plus a poison proc. Treat a Shiv'd healer like Mortal Strike is on them — peels and heals both fail until it drops.

Defensive cooldowns

• Cloak of Shadows. Magic immunity. Stop casting at them. Swap to physical damage or wait it out.
• Evasion. Physical dodge. Melee stop hitting. Casters keep going.
• Feint. Area-of-effect damage reduction, not a full wall. Chip is fine; do not dump a cleave cooldown into it.
• Vanish. Combat reset and a second opener. Do not instantly AoE; they can re-stealth and Garrote the healer again.
• Crimson Vial. Self-heal. Keep pressure unless Cloak of Shadows or Evasion is also up.

Crowd control

• Kidney Shot
• Cheap Shot
• Blind
• Gouge
• Sap
• Garrote silence

Dispels

• Blind is magic — dispel it. Poisons on your healer are the other dispel; Wound Poison and Crippling Poison are how the round goes long.
• Garrote's silence is not magic you can purge. Kick their healer and peel the rogue off yours. Do not waste a dispel on the bleed.

Mobility

Shadowstep, Sprint, and Vanish. They choose when combat starts and they re-enter for free. Face the opener angle at the gates. Do not stand in a line from your healer to a pillar — that is the Garrote path. Smoke Bomb is isolation, not a speed boost; step out of the cloud to peel.

Kill windows

• Cloak of Shadows is down and Kidney Shot is already spent.
• After they Cheap Shot the wrong target and Deathmark is still not out.
• Deathmark burned without a kill and Vanish is down.

When to run

When Kidney Shot plus Deathmark is up, your healer is silenced with Garrote, and you have no trinket. Line. Do not stay in melee inside Smoke Bomb.

When to attack

Out of stealth with Cloak of Shadows down and Kidney Shot already spent. After Deathmark burns without a kill and Vanish is down. When Evasion is up you still spell them.

Common tricks

• Cheap Shot is there to steal your trinket. Kidney Shot is the one that kills. Hold the trinket.
• They Garrote your healer first so your peel looks late even when you pressed on time. Kick their healer and drag the rogue off yours.
• They Cloak of Shadows the first magic crowd control every round. Throw a junk spell, then Blind or the real stun.

Common mistakes against them

• Trinketing Cheap Shot instead of holding it for Kidney Shot.
• Casting a big spell into Cloak of Shadows.
• Meleeing Evasion.
• Ignoring Garrote on your healer while you tunnel the rogue.