[Sombre]

Well the idea is that assassins generally suck, which I believe they do, and improving them would be a good thing.

Magical remote assassins are a bit different though. Making earth attack et al more powerful is probably not a good idea. Then again the gem cost could always be hiked, or magical assassinations could have a different rule.

While regular assassins could be kitted or scripted to deal a horrible amount of damage on that first turn, the fact is you can always patrol against them, you can employ bodyguards and because the assassin can't pick his target, they can still be stopped with decoy commanders or the presence of a thug or two that can beat them. Then there's mind hunt and various other spells and tactics you can use against them.

You might even see use of boots of long strides. Madness.