League of Legends news » “I won’t miss” – The return of Ashe in pro play

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?