If Cait needs a nerf, hitting her AS seems ill-advised (what I'd do instead)

People seem to think Cait needs a nerf (and there's another nerf coming in 7.14, so Riot seems to agree). I'd argue a nerf might not be necessary. And if it is, removing attack speed is—at best—a sloppy way to do it.

In normal play (non-professional), Cait can be annoying in lane and powerful in late game. And her win rate is a little above 50%. But is that because she's overpowered or because her range makes her a little easier to play than most other ADCs? At least in low ranks, the extra range makes a huge difference (IMHO).

In pro play, Cait's win rate is below 50% (according to Oracel's Elixir), so she hardly seems overpowered. That said, I understand the very high pick-ban rate isn't good. But as her win rate is already not out of control, I don't understand why an overall power reduction would make sense. It's likely to just make her not viable. Wouldn't it be better to create a clearer weakness?

Hit her W instead

Make the recharge time longer, make the traps last a shorter time, and/or increase the mana cost. She couldn't just set up a fortress whenever she wanted.

What if the traps lasted 30 seconds (instead of 90)? Wouldn't pro teams be able to break a siege much more easily if there wasn't a permanent trap line? And wouldn't even the normal player feel a lot less frustrated if the lane had more minions than traps?

The current 7.14 nerf (2% less AS per level = about a finished Zeal-item's worth of AS at level 18) seems quite drastic. And it seems like a sloppy solution. It just makes her weaker. It doesn't make her any less annoying in lane or have any less traps. So if the nerf is supposed to hit player frustration, I don't see how that would happen.

I think the AS nerf makes sense if (and only if) Cait is supposed to rely on a heavy snowball and is supposed to be clearly weaker than now at full build. To me, the mid-game slump is enough to compensate for dominant lane.

Alternatively (or additionally), if E cooldown was a little longer, she wouldn't be nearly as safe as she is now.