Dealing with Assassin NPC Gankers, Changes to GvG Tactics

After seeing the effectiveness of War Machine and Black Widow in the playoffs, I'm sure many teams are ready to throw Assassins into their build to kill NPC's in the Enemy Base. Amazingly, the Assassins are effective even on the "non-splitting" maps like Burning Isle.

This means that every team should have a plan before battle on how to handle such a situation.

One option is to ignore the Assassin, and press your 8 vs 7 advantage at the flag stand. It is very hard for an Assassin to solo the Guildlord especially before the 15 minute mark.

I really don't like this option. It may work if you are crushing the other team, but in a close match you will want your NPC's.

Another option is to send one person to engage the Assassin. I think a good choice here is to use a Flagger Runner. The Flag Runner is already built to be self sufficient and is ready for 1 on 1 encounters with Cripple, Blind, or Water Hexes.

I don't think most Ranger runners match-up well with an Assassin because their Shadow Stepping abilities ignore the effects of Cripple. An Air Runner works nicely, with frequent blinding flashes to shut down the Assassin. An E/Mo can also carry Healing Breeze to help your Body Guards survive a poison/bleeding combo.

Here are some ideas for this situation:
1) Designate a back-up flag runner before battle. If you are going to keep your flag runner by your base to defend, then you will need someone else running the flag.

2) Use relay flag running tactics. Your primary flag runner will have opportunities to run your flag from its spawn point to your front gate. This allows the back-up flag runner to run a shorter distance and fight with the main team more often.

3) Be ready for more splits. If a team's plan is to kill your NPC's with an Assassin and they are not getting it done, 1vs1, then they will often send a second person to help. An E/Mo may be able to hold off two attackers in the Guild Lord area, but the outside archers will not survive.

4) For the person defending vs the Assassin, be aware of where the Assassin uses Aura of Displacement. This is their "mark" that they can return to at any point. Don't go outside your base, if they have left a "mark" inside your base. If you have enchantment removal, you can strip Aura of Displacement and force an Assassin back to their "mark".
http://www.theamazonbasin.com/gw/forums/index.php?showtopic=5792
Any other ideas for dealing with Assassin gankers?