Ashe is Perfect

In my humble, un-ranked opinion, I think that Riot nailed Ashe's kit/gameplay. Here are the main reasons why.

1. She is perfectly balanced From a power perspective, I think Ashe is the perfect balance for an ADC. Under the right scenarios, Ashe can become a monster. An ADC who can deal out tons of damage all the while slowing you, making it impossible to escape. And if you do pop an ability or spell to get good distance off of her, her ult can make sure you don't get far. However, she is also very easy to shut down. If prioritized early game, her lack of an escape makes her an easy target. In other words, she is not an insta-ban champion because she can be dealt with fairly easily, yet she is also highly dangerous on the rift and one ult can change the game.

2. She is not as un-predictable as other ADC's When Jinx crits a target, the damage is insane. I've seen a squishy get blown up by two crit rockets from a jinx. However, without a crit, those rockets probably wouldn't have taken half the health. It's very hard to determine your damage output. As a mage it's fairly simple as most of the time the damage output is the same. But an ADC has to wonder will I crit, how many times will I crit, will I crit early so he backs away, etc. But Ashe's passive allows for after the first auto attack, every auto attack after that does bonus damage. So similarly to a mage, an Ashe can go into a fight with a rough estimate of what her damage output will be on who.

3. She is a team ADC I know this is highly contested, but I believe that League is much more of a team game instead of it being a solo skill game. I also firmly believe that ADC's suffer the most when played or playing with people who consider the game to be a solo skill game. This is why I believe Ashe once again rises above the rest. Again, Ashe has no escape and can be very easily picked off. This forces her to play with the team. Unlike a Lucian who can occasionally dash to the front lines, deal an immense amount of burst and then retreat, Ashe stays in the back line, trusting in her teammates to protect her. When protected, the damage output is scary. When left vulnerable, she is easier to kill then a scuttle crab.

4. Her slow is again, perfectly balanced I've heard many players say that the Ashe slow is op. But here is why i don't think it is. It's not enough to be considered as an escape tool. Yes, kiting becomes infinitely easier with Ashe's slow and out-running an enemy is fairly easy. However, it is important to note that a Frozen Mallet on a melee deals more of a slow than Ashe's passive. And a Frozen Mallet on a ranged deals an equal slow to an Ashe passive. So if anyone on the enemy team has a Frozen Mallet and is able to hit Ashe, her passive is essentially negated. Also, a slow is not enough to defend against a Riven, or LeBlanc, or a Talon or really any other assassins for that matter. Ashe can still be bursted very easily. Lastly, her slow isn't that great of a defensive tool because unlike Lucian or Ezreal who can dash/teleport away from a Jinx ult for instance, Ashe's slow does squat against that. In other words, Ashe's slow is not a very effective "escape" passive as it is more of a "defensive" passive. Although, I agree. Running away from a level 18 Ashe is the most depressing thing ever...

5. She is not a failure in the laning phase Many people talk about how Ashe is the worst ADC in the laning phase because again, she has no escape. I disagree. If you fail in the laning phase as an ADC playing Ashe, consider changing your play style rather than your champion. I've seen many Ashe's fight as aggressively as a Lucian would in lane. Constantly trading and trying to poke and get kills. In my opinion, this is the easiest way to get killed as an Ashe in laning. You have to sit back and farm. Yes, due to her higherish range she has good poke potential, but this hardly means kill potential. And God forbid the enemy supp is anyone with a stun, knock-up, hook, or slow (Pretty much all supp right?). If Ashe over-extends in laning phase, a half health Lucian with the exact same items in my opinion can easily kill a full health Ashe. That being said, once Ashe hits level 6, her ult changes everything.

6. Her ult is amazing! I don't really know what to say here. I mean, the things you can do with Ashe's ult are limitless. Everyone talks about how Kalista has the best ADC initiation. I disagree. For a Kalista initiation to work, one must have a semi-tanky supp. Otherwise you are just feeding the enemy team your supp. But with Ashe, it doesn't matter who your supp is. Setting up teamfights, picks, saving an ally who is being chased, stopping an enemy from stealing baron by stopping him on his way down are all ways to use her ult, and are all ways I have seen the ult be used first hand.

7. Hawksot is as valuable as her ult Again, I don't really know what to say here. Her hawkshot is her only defensive item, but it has so many more uses. Sending out two hawkshots can usually cover all the eseential parts of the bottom jungle, or at least enough to know if the enemy is there or not. If you see him, then it's not a good time to initiate. If you don't, then fire off the ult! In the late game, sometimes a hawkshot is enough to scare the enemy team off of a baron or elder dragon. But if not, which is more often that not the case, it's still a valuable tool. If you see the enemy team just starting baron, your team has many options. Go for another objective, go try to steal baron, go try to stop baron, etc. If you see the baron is low health, then the priorities and options change. The best thing about her hawkshot? Nothing can stop it. I hate placing a ward only to have some lucky supp with oracle alteration stroll buy and destroy it. With hawkshot, granted the vision is only a few seconds vs. minutes, but nothing can stop the vision.

Those are just a couple of my thoughts. I got to point 7 and realized that it was way too long and if you read this all, you should get a medal or prize. :)

Again, I haven't even ranked so my stance on Ashe could be way off, please let me know if they are!

Edit: If you reply, I ask a lot of opposing questions to the points that you bring up. I am not trying to argue or debate, it's just that other people's analysis and opinions have always fascinated me and I want to know more. I don't know of any other way to learn more than to ask questions from the opposing viewpoint. So again, I'm not trying to argue or debate, I'm genuinely interested in what you have to say.