Ashe's place in the meta

During the latter part of Season 4 Lucian hailed as the most dominant marksman, with Graves and Corki trailing behind him. After several patches many of Lucian's abilities had been nerfed until patch 4.19 when Riot decreased the damage on Lucian's passive, LightSlinger, during the early levels. Lucian was an incredibly strong laner who had a good transition into mid and late game along with being a strong duelist. Much the the Renekton of old, bottom lane became a question of "Will this marksman survive lane against Lucian?"

Following the nerf to Lucian's passive, Graves saw a lot of attention, although Graves received a buff in 4.15, the final nerf to Lucian brought more attention to the grizzly outlaw. The meta of strong laners in the bottom lane was quite present in solo queue during this time.

Then came Season 5, the most major change was to Baron Nashor and Dragon, which changed how defeating them influenced the game. Riot further emphasized the value of the two by placing a scuttle crab to provide vision. With this new value on objectives came a new meta game, initiation was more heavily valued due to the fact that dragon and Baron Nashor kills more directly translated into a team's chances of victory. The ability to stop dragon or catch a team taking dragon became more important. Junglers such as Jarvan IV, Rek'sai, Vi, and recently Sejuani show that initiation, objective control, and team fights are more frequent and more valued than previous patches.

This is where we talk about Ashe, like many marksman during Season 4 and early on in Season 5, Ashe lacks an escape. This made her vulnerable to assassins and users of DFG, both of which are less prevalent today or no longer exist. Think of this situation as assassins being the natural predators of marksman. Marksman with more mobility were able to shine in a meta heavily populated with assassins but once those predators were hunt down by Riot, less mobile marksman are able to thrive. Notable marksman such as this have seen more recent play such as Sivir, Jinx, and Kog'maw in some regions.

Ashe falls into both categories previously discussed. Her weaker landing phase is less prone to abuse from stronger laners and her presence in team fights is less prone to assassination due to the lower frequency of assassins in the game. This allows Ashe to thrive in a meta which emphasizes catching enemies and initiation.

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Due to the stats dragon buffs provides, stacks almost literally translate into a teams likelihood of winning a game. With that in mind, the lowest risks involved in taking dragon come from when the enemy is unaware of the attempt or when your team has an advantage in the form of numbers. With a higher member advantage one can discourage enemies from contesting a dragon kill or pressure enemies into fighting at a disadvantage. These reasons can be attributed to the increased rate of roaming involved in the current meta.

Roaming

When a player roams it is often to catch the enemy and obtain an advantage in the form of a kill or an objective. All lanes have seen an increase in roaming, top laners teleport onto the bottom half of the map and mid laners frequent the bottom lane. Any advantage obtained in the mid or bottom lane is a reason to go for a dragon kill.

This is where Ashe has an advantage over other marksman. Ashe's kit implies she is a more passive champion. Riot even tags her secondary role as a support. Other champions such as Lucian or Corki have a multitude of spells to lay damage on their enemies while Ashe has but two. While Ashe's lack of offensive abilities can be a weakness they also offer an advantage. Ashe does not possess the burden of "winning her lane". Where most marksman fall off when they fail to obtain kills or come out ahead of the enemy marksman, Ashe provides her trademark utility after the landing phase. Coupled with her Hawk Shot passive, playing safely and focusing on last hits can be enough to put Ashe ahead of the enemy marksman.

With more emphasis placed in the bottom half of the map, Ashe can set up gank superbly with her Enchanted Crystal Arrow, often dubbed "the arrow." Being able to provide strong, easy to land, CC as a marksman along side your teammates opens opportunities for kills in situations where other marksmen fall short. This also gives you the power to say when to go in as you yourself can start the gank off rather than your jungler or support.

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A Fallback Plan

When other marksman fall behind the enemy marksmen they are often forced to take a back seat, farm up, or fall behind. It is difficult for a marksman to be impactful once they fall behind as their main purpose on the team is to do damage. Ashe has the rare opportunity of ganking as a marksman if she falls behind. With the right timing Ashe can provide the CC necessary to roam into the mid lane for a kill or a tower.

Ashe also helps provide more vision in a meta which emphasizes vision and objective control. Scrying Orb is a popular trinket choice for marksmen at the end of the laning phase as it provides vision in cases where wards cannot or present too much risk to place down. Ashe's Hawk Shot replaces the scrying orb, allowing Ashe to buying a sweeping lense or an upgraded ward trinket to supplement her team's vision or assist in removing the enemies vision.

Conclusion

In conclusion with the removal of many of Ashe's predators she is able to have a safer laning phase and presence in team fights. Season 5's emphasis on objectives makes Ashe's utility more valuable as she can provide vision and initiation both in and out of lane. Finally, with the high value of dragon stacks this season, Ashe has the rare ability of ganking mid lane and providing more set up for ganks in her own lane which opens up more opportunities to take dragon.