"I won't miss" -- Ashe returns to pro play

Riot·6/1/2015, 12:41:34 AM·4 votes·60,889 views
Why go Ashe when you could opt for the much more powerful Kog’Maw? All the Frost Archer brought was that fancy arrow before she got owned in a firefight. She wasn’t mobile enough to avoid Lissandra’s icicles and didn’t have the damage to dent Sejuani’s armor. This was the old Ashe, but the queen has had her coronation and she’s raining furious frost arrows down on the Rift. After her re-work, Ashe is finally a capable fighter with enough control to feel like a great leader. She has everything AD carries dream of: utility, damage, and strength in every part of the game. “Ashe is just good at everything,” Counter Logic Gaming's AD carry Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng tells us. “I'd say that she's amazing in lane. She's amazing mid-game because she can set up great picks and set up vision. She's amazing late game because she's a high-range AD carry with a lot of steroid potential. There's not really any point where Ashe is bad.”

Right between the eyes

It’s hard to argue Doublelift's results; he went 5/1/9 with Ashe in his first match vs. Team Dignitas (check out his build, as well as Runes and Masteries right here). With her Frost Shot passive giving her more damage per crit chance, she’s difficult to duel in-lane once she acquires an Infinity Edge. “Now, Ashe with just Infinity Edge knows when she can win a duel,” says Cloud9's AD carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi. “That's an advantage that other AD carries don't have.“ One such example is Lucian, says Sneaky. "He won't know how many times he's going to crit when he goes into a fight," he says. "He'll do a bunch of damage if he does crit a few times, but if he happens to not crit, he's not going to do any damage. Ashe will do consistent damage the entire time.” The only thing the Queen of Freljord lacks in heated combat is an innate dash which enemies can still take advantage of. But now that every one of her auto-attacks applies a potent slow naturally, kiting is made easy. Poking aside, unless you count the unlimited range initiation of course, Ashe has become the love child of Kog’Maws strength and Caitlyn’s bullying. But much like Doublelift said, damage is not the only thing keeping Ashe in the game.

Show me a path

Utilizing two hawk charges and global range to provide your team with tons of intel, Ashe now provides incredible vision control with her new Hawkshot. “You can set the Hawkshot so it scouts four or five camps in the enemy jungle just from bottom lane,” Doublelift says. “This allows you to see where their jungler is and tells your laners where they are. It's basically a maphack.” If you’re smart about your charges, even the most tactical of junglers have no where to hide. Remember, Hawkshot is now global and grants vision as it passes by so always shoot it across the map. “The second you get Hawkshot, just try to throw it at [the] jungle,” Sneaky says. “Take a guess where he is. If you find him, you can go aggressive, you'll know where he is.” The simple act of firing a hawk and seeing the enemy jungler three camps away provides your team with peace of mind. It’s like peeking over the wall in a game of Battleship -- basically cheating. This opens up a ton of pressure for your team and opportunity for your own jungler to disrupt.

United, we are stronger!

“Ashe brings initiation and disengage,” Doublelift tells us. “If someone is out of position, it's a free kill. If somebody's clearing your wards, it's a free kill. In lane, it's most of the time a free kill if they don't blow Flash to dodge the Arrow. Her ult is so powerful, because you're locked in one of two situations. You either dodge it, or you just Flash it. Otherwise, you're dead.” If you’re the type of player that likes to take advantage of slight misplays, you’ll have a field day with Ashe’s ultimate. Sometimes, it can also be used as a back-up plan, but Doublelift suggests you always take the first shot, “I rarely use her ulti to peel back, unless I'm in a desperate situation. Mostly I use it to create picks.” With a powerful initiation spell, it’s good to pick her into supports that can follow up. Sneaky says she’s great with lockdown supports like Alistar or Thresh because of the ability to set-up kills and apply pressure to the lane. Once that Arrow lands, there really is no escaping a Nautilus running full speed ahead. Like Doublelift mentioned earlier, Flash or die. Having more opportunities to initiate on the opposition and then controlling the ensuing fight with perma-slow makes the new Ashe all the more powerful. But remember, with great power comes greater responsibility. Her lack of mobility makes her a little trickier to play. But it’s alright, she makes everyone else easier to dodge. How about all of you readers? Are you enjoying the new Ashe? And what supports do you feel are just too good with the fresh frost queen?

Related Articles

157 Comments

5OShades0fTrey6/1/2015, 2:06:25 AM32 votes

I personally think the new Ashe kicks some Ashe . Sorry but I just don`t think there is Annie other adc better than her. Update: (I just wanted to get top comment so I made a pun, but apparently it sparked something within you guys, I dont even play adc) You guys are just too Talon ted

My Anime Waifu6/1/2015, 1:42:30 AM26 votes

Riot Logic: Buffs Ashe really hard, then makes article about Ashe returning into pro play

Svaboda6/1/2015, 9:07:02 AM20 votes

Wait a god damn minute. You know why China and Korea do so much better? It's cause they play more. In the lcs, teams play 2 overhyped matches a week for a total of 18 best of ones. In china, edg plays 40 games a split. All in series. No wonder na and eu with some exceptions gets rocked, China and Korea just have way more competitive experience. Either we make the lcs like that or we keep on with the pretty presentation of a crappy product. We can't expect players to be conformable in competative situations coming from the lcs.

TrollFan016/1/2015, 1:46:29 AM9 votes

The queen of the Frejord has returned! All hail Queen Ashe !

Dhanesh6/2/2015, 12:20:57 AM6 votes

Ashe is much much MUCH better due to the rework, I can definitely see her coming back to the lcs, on a huge note... FIX YOUR SERVER RIOT

Also... dat Ashe ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Ulthanne6/1/2015, 10:00:19 PM5 votes

New ashe just makes "Frenzy" mastery broken. She can be utilized with some great Movement . With this build she gets more mobility than kalista while shooting. Now Ashe gives hard time to all big and small champions across Fields of Justice.

item 3153 item 3009 item 3071 item 3172 item 3031 item 3172 item 2140

Eleshakai6/1/2015, 3:44:27 AM5 votes

Dat Ashe

Code Red136/3/2015, 12:12:23 AM3 votes

If people would just learn to play Veigar they would understand that nothing is hard to kill

Wind Savage6/1/2015, 11:15:55 PM3 votes

Didn't like the old Ashe..... still don't like the new Ashe

Freekosuave6/2/2015, 1:50:49 AM3 votes

Hawkshot needs a nerf to be in line with everything else imho. May as well allow TF to warp across the map at will and a few other things that were nerfed from being global to something less so.

derekthedog246/2/2015, 2:13:32 PM3 votes

Riot just get the new zac skin and the game will be a pool party

xxxToiletSeat6/2/2015, 7:10:36 PM3 votes

I always went legendary with her before her re-work. Now I'm just not interested in playing her.

Praise The I Am6/1/2015, 10:24:45 PM2 votes

The new Ashe is the perfect example of how Riot doesn't understand balance. Now her passive makes her AA slow without the drain of mana and replaces that ability with an AS boost that still slows you. Volly now shoots more so guess what most def going to hit you. Her ult now has an AOE that guess what also slows nearby enemies... So now you have an ultimate CC champ with amazing range. Please Riot just try to learn how the game that you make works because you keep just breaking Champs and leaving under powered champs in the dust because they're not popular.

TheGrandAlliance6/2/2015, 1:17:00 AM2 votes

Why go Ashe when you could opt for the much more powerful Kog’Maw? All the Frost Archer brought was that fancy arrow before she got owned in a firefight. She wasn’t mobile enough to avoid Lissandra’s icicles and didn’t have the damage to dent Sejuani’s armor. This was the old Ashe, but the queen has had her coronation and she’s raining furious frost arrows down on the Rift.

LoL the premise of this is post of the year worthy...

FIrst of all Ashe was fine until RIOT ADDED MOBILTY TO EVERYONE ELSE. Last time I checked she was just fine for Seasons 1-2. KogMaw sucks and doesn't scale well (requires AP and not only AD; no crits therefore and no Stuns).

Clearly Whomever wrote that first line forgets Jinx ; and of course a build (that works on old Ashe too) item 3031 +item 3046 +item 3046 .

...and forgets that Ashe's problem isn't Ashe's Problem... rather RIOTs continuous reworks of game meta... Sejuani wasn't always that strong until item 3709 + New summoner 11 meta came around.

The RIOT noobs who write these articles are fascinating nonetheless...

Indeed it is so...

Briañ6/2/2015, 6:40:45 PM2 votes

AHEM- Kappa

Father Cthulhu6/2/2015, 12:43:15 PM2 votes

Lol Doublelift has a point in Frenzy on his masteries when he can't crit..?