Ashe is slowly seeing more play in the LCS due to the fact that she has high damage potential and a great Ult. However, as it currently stands, Ashe's Build is very expensive, meaning Ashe has a middle-to-late game powerspike for those who are good at farming and getting kills. For average players (Gold 4 - Gold 1), this spike is crucial, but usually comes late due to their inability to powerfarm or obtain kills. This buildpath is great for both average players and those of higher elos, as it is designed for maximum damage output while still being cheaper and easier to obtain than Ashe's other builds.

Runes:

*Main Tree - Precision*

Lethal Tempo: 1.5s after damaging a champion gain 40 - 110% Attack Speed (based on level) for 3s. Attacking a Champion extends the effect to 6s. - Attack speed is everything on Ashe, as it's her primary way of damaging her opponents, which puts Lethal Tempo miles above the other primary keystone choices.

Presence of Mind: Takedowns restore 20% of your maximum Mana or Energy and increase your maximum Mana by 100 (up to 500) or your maximum Energy by 10 (up to 50). - Pairs well with Manamune. - Presence of Mind synergises with Manamune/Muramana since it allows you to gain more max Mana. Having more Mana means two things. First, you can fire off your W for an extended period of time since the Mana you receive from Tear and Presence of Mind alone is enough to keep your Mana bar healthy for an extreme period of time. Second, Muramana deals a percentage of your max Mana as on-hit damage, meaning the more Mana you have, the more that on-hit damage from Muramana

Legend: Bloodline: Gain 0.6% lifesteal for every Legend stack (max 20 stacks). Earn progress toward Legend stacks for every Champion takedown, Epic Monster takedown, Large Monster kill, and Minion kill. - Pairs well with Bloodthirster - ADCs lack survival skills, and since we are getting rid of Blade of the Ruined King with this build, Ashe needs to get her lifesteal somewhere. Lifesteal is essential to ADCs especially during the laning phase, since it gives you the opportunity to take favorable trades with the opposing laner and then lifesteal off minions.

Coup de Grace: Deal 8% more damage to Champions who have less than 40% health. The only other rune that I'd go over Coup de Grace is Cut Down and that's only when the opposing team has multiple enemies who have more base max health than me. And even then, it's still a hard decision since Coup de Grace is so good on Ashe since it allows her to burst lower Health enemies with a simple R - W - Auto - Auto - Q combo.

*Second Tree - Inspiration*

Magical Footwear: You get free Slightly Magical Boots at 12 min, but you cannot buy Boots before then. For each takedown you acquire the Boots 45s sooner. Slightly Magical Boots give you an additional +10 Movement speed. - Magical Footwear can be substituted for Biscuits, if you are up against a heavy poke Lane, but I still like to run Magical Footwear, simply because of how cheap it makes Ashe's early game build, and because it allows me to focus on building more offensive items early instead of boots.

Appraoch Velocity: Gain 7.5% Movement Speed towards nearby enemy Champions that are Movement Impaired. This bonus is increased to 15% Movement Speed for any enemy Champion that you Impair. Activation Range for CC from Allies: 1000. - Every aspect of Ashe's kit impairs the movement of her opponents (besides E), which means this Rune is extremely easy to proc and use effectively. Especially in lower Elos, as many will try and run away while you are constantly harassing them with poke and auto-attacks. Going this keystone, also means those long range Ults are actually going to do something as you can now get to your stunned opponents faster.

Why these Runes?

Ashe is a Champion that has a very specific role in League of Legends, especially for an ADC; as her Kit is specifically designed to initiate fights and chase down enemies. The Runes listed above are then the perfect Runes for an ADC who is engaging and setting up teamfights, especially Approach Velocity, as it gives Ashe 15% Movement Speed towards enemies whom she impairs. An area where Approach Velocity's effects and importance can be felt heavily is during the early Laning Phase. Since Ashe is a "lane bully", her constant poke (W) with Approach Velocity, almost guarantees, that once a favourable fight breaks out between you and the opposing Bot Lane, there will be no escaping, and they will have to at least burn Summoners or risk death.

Items:

Manamune (Cost: 2,400): One of the cheapest and yet best items in the game, Manamune will allow Ashe to become the poke machine she was designed to be. Do not go Tear first item if you die early. It's okay to buy the items leading up to Tear, but do not finish Tear first - for this build to work you must buy Pickaxe first. Without the damage from Pickaxe, Ashe is totally useless (unless the enemy team all decides to not buy items).

Berserker's Greaves (Cost: 800): Although there are a variety of boots in League of Legends, as an ADC nothing feels better than being able to buy attack-speed boots. However, if you are behind or if the enemy team has an abundance of damage, don't hesitate to buy defensive boots as your attack speed won't mean anything if you are dead.

Runaan's Hurricane (Cost: 2,600): Runaan's Hurricane is a great item on Ashe since her wave clear is somewhat lacking. Hurricane completely changes that, however, as its passive allows you to be one of the best wave clearers in the game. Another cool thing is that Runaan's Hurricane applies on-hit effects, which means that Ashe's slow now can hit up to 3 enemies in front of you, making that teamfight and chase down much easier. It also means that Ashe's Muramana on-hit damage gets utilized on multiple targets.

Bloodthirster (Cost: 3,500): Personally, I believe Bloodthirster is better than Death's Dance for survivability ever since Death's Dance was nerfed for ranged attackers and, to be honest, survivability is everything for ADCs in the current meta. If you can survive the inital burst damage from the opposing team, it's almost impossible to lose a fight as Ashe with Bloodthirster. The lifesteal is insanely overpowered when using your Q and the 350 hit point shield that this item gives you means that you have enough effective health to survive that all-in from Zed.

Phantom Dancer (Cost: 2,600): As mentioned above, survivability is everything. Adding a Phantom Dancer to your build as an ADC is an obvious choice, as now you can take even more initial damage from the enemy team. Phantom Dancer paired with Bloodthirster means that you can take an additional 950 damage from the enemy team in the late game.

Optional Final Items - Rapid Firecannon (Cost: 2,600) (+30% Attack Speed, +25% Critical Strike Chance, +7% Movement Speed) or Wit's End (Cost: 2,900) (+50% Attack Speed, +50 Magic Resist, +5% Movement Speed)

Why these Items?

The original build for Ashe is Blade of the Ruined King into Berserker's Greaves and then Runaan's Hurricane. The build being offered here switches out Blade of the Ruined King for a cheaper item, Manamune. So why do this switch? The simple answer is because it's infinitely cheaper than the former, making Ashe's powerspike come earlier. However, there is another answer as well, which is that Manamune (once transformed) actually gives you better stats than that of Blade of the Ruined King. Along with better *Base* Stats, Manamune also provides on-hit Damage. Furtheremore, if you need more convincing, Blade of the Ruined King only gives +5 more AD directly to Ashe while Manamune is Manamune and not Muramana. Meaning, the damage that Ashe is able to output early game is no different; the only difference is instead of having Bilgewater Cutlass and Blade's Passive, you have infinite W Poke and Lane Sustain, meaning you will be able to constantly Poke down your enemies until a favorable fight occurs.

Besides Manamune and Runaan's Hurricane, the other items mentioned above are my perosnal preference. I have tested a variety of builds and this is my personal favorite as it gives Ashe sustain and insane attack speed. This build is not a "one size fits all" build, and I encourage you to build the first three items mentioned in this guide and then evaluate what the opposing team's strengths and weaknesses are. However as I just noted, for this build to work you must build Manamune and Runaan's Hurricane, as they provide Ashe with infinite lane sustain and infinite wave clear. As she can now shoot off unlimited Ws and use Hurricane's passive to clear waves more effectively.

Lane Synergies & Counters:

Strong Synergies:

1. Lulu: Lulu goes well with Ashe because of the buffs she is able to give Ashe. Lulu is able to speed Ashe up, give her shields, and give her attack speed; along with buffs, Lulu also has a life saving ultimate that is perfect for 2 v 2's in the bot lane.

2. Rakan: Rakan was just buffed on patch 10.16, which means, watch out for this duo in solo-queue as players tend to play champions who get buffed. Now, Rakan and Ashe may seem like a weird combination, but in reality, they are perfect together. Ashe and Rakan pair well together since Ashe puts her opponents on a platter for Rakan to either Ult or to W. Along with a stunning Ult, Ashe can also slow her enemies, which should make it exponentially easier for Rakan to land his W or catch up to opponents with his Ult.

3. Thresh: I mean, what low-mobility ADC doesn't pair well with Thresh? Thresh is able to initiate fights, follow up on Ashe Ult and is even able to save Ashe from instant death with his lantern.

Counters:

1. Lucian: Lucian is another ADC who received a buff on patch 10.16, which means he should also see more play time in solo-queue. And while technically Ashe can counter everyone she plays against and win fights, since Lucian is a champion with such a strong early game, he is more than likely to outplay the bot lane fight and win 2v2. This is due to the fact that Lucian's kit is designed for fights, and if Ashe messes up once in the fight (i.e. missing an Ult), Lucian should win the early game fights 9 times out of 10.

2. Caitlyn: Caitlyn was buffed on patch 10.15. Caitlyn counters Ashe due to her insane auto-attack range and her ability to sustain in lane, since her main damage source is autos. Overall, Caitlyn is an ADC who can win most 2 v 2's in bot-lane due to the fact that she can outdamage her opponents and outrange them. - TIP; to beat Caitlyn, begin fighting her right after she uses her 6th shot (Headshot), as well as timing the fight, make sure to wait until LVL 6 (if you can). Waiting until LVL 6 means that you can just Ult Caitlyn with Ashe R and get a healthy health advantage on her before she is able to attack back.

3. Xayah: Xayah counters Ashe due to her ability to dodge Ashe ult with her own Ult. And since Ashe is "heavily" dependent on her Ult to win early fights/duels, Xayah's ability to dodge the Ult shouldn't be overlooked when in champ select. Xayah also fairs well against Ashe due to the fact that Xayah enjoys being chased down by opponents. Xayah likes being chased because it means she can easily set up a root combo. And as we know from the guide, this build allows you to run down opponents, especially in the early game and punish them. However, against Xayah, running her down isn't that easy as you will have to be aware of your surroundings and the possibility of being rooted by her E.

Conclusion:

With this build; Ashe has high damage, high mana sustain and high mobility, making her one of the best carries currently in the Meta. I suggest every ADC who reads this article to go out and try this buildpath as it will greatly change the way you play Ashe. Oh and a simple tip to actually playing Ashe well is to try and always have your Q ready for teamfights, as it's better to have it instantly ready than to try and stack it during the fight.