Ashe is one of the cornerstone attack damage carry champions in League of Legends. She has excellent laning and makes for a tremendous blind pick. However, it can be pretty tricky to pilot the champion in team fights. This is a very common issue for Ashe players.
She has very low mobility. This is one of the major reasons why teamfighting with Ashe is hard to pull off. Apart from being immobile, there are the frequently faced ADC issues of positioning and target selection in team fights.
Generally, ADCs have a target on their back for the duration of the game. This only intensifies in the team fights. Everyone knows that ADCs do the most consistent damage and thus are the biggest threats to your team in team fights.
While you can play safe in other parts of the game, the team fights are where you are at your most vulnerable as an ADC. This is because the enemy team knows exactly where you are. So how do you deal with all of the enemy team trying to kill you while also continuing to do damage, that is the question we have to answer.
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Positioning
The most integral part of an ADC’s gameplay is their positioning. How well you are able to position ultimately decides how effective you will be as an ADC. For an immobile champion such as Ashe, this is even more important.
The ADCs that have a dash in their kit have more leeway in positioning. If they are caught out of position they can dash back to safety. Low mobility champions do not have this luxury. Their positioning has to be pristine at all times.
Good positioning is a defensive as well as an offensive resource. Since Ashe is a ranged champion you should be looking to use your higher range to deal damage while not getting close to the enemy. This is the ideal scenario as you are able to deal damage to the enemy while staying safe yourself.
You should also notice your front-line champions positioning. This is important to keep track of as you have to stay behind them in the team fight. If they are able to push towards the enemy only then do you have the freedom to move forward. Similarly, if they are pushed back you have to move back as well. You can not be at the front line if your team has to stand a chance at winning the fight.
Target Selection
Ashe’s target selection in team fights is pretty simple and straightforward. You focus your damage on the enemy champion that is closest to you and your team. This is most often the enemy team’s most advanced champion or their front line.
This type of team fighting is called front-to-back. It is named as such because you first deal with the enemy front line and only then move on to their back line.
Your team should also focus their crowd control and their own damage on the enemy team’s champion that is positioned the closest to you. In this manner, they protect the ADC while also funneling their damage on one champion to kill him quickly.
Going for the enemy team’s backline when your own team is not advancing with you or in front of you is a fatal error. This will most often result in your team losing the fight. You should always look to hit the target that your team is focusing on.
Essentially, this is the way to play almost all ADC champions. This is also one of the reasons Ashe is the perfect ADC for beginners as it teaches you how to team fight. Front-to-back team fighting is the bread and butter for ADCs, especially immobile ADCs such as Ashe.
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Threat Evaluation
This is one of the more advanced teamfight techniques. To put it simply, you assess and analyze the enemy team’s champions and detect the threat they pose to you. You have to constantly be on the lookout for abilities that will be lethal to you and how to avoid them.
This can be tricky as a lot of these abilities depend on the enemy players and how efficient they are at the champs they are playing. Still, once you know the threat you are prepared for it and can respond quickly. Although, for the most part, you should just be looking for ways to not give them the opportunity to execute their plans.
When you get used to doing this analysis you can even evaluate if the enemy’s threat is real or just smoke to throw you off. For Ashe, an immobile champion, this can be even more useful as you do not have the mobility to escape once caught.
For example, Malphite’s ultimate is an extremely direct threat on the back line. How do you avoid it? You can either stay completely out of range of his ultimate which significantly hinders your damage output.
The other way is to stay far enough away from his team that when the Malphite hits you with his ultimate, there is no follow-up. You can also flash his ultimate to avoid it but that is not as reliable.
Kite and Chase
Knowing when to kite away from the enemy and when to chase after the enemy are key factors in a team fight. Ashe is one of the best ADC champions to have in both situations. She has an innate slowing ability which is highly useful when trying to run away or running towards an enemy.
You also have to know how to kite and chase the champion you are playing. Every champion is able to optimize their damage in their own way and this is no different. On Ashe, you need to be able to attack and reposition at the same time when kiting from the enemy.
Since Ashe has slows in each of her attacks it is difficult to run away from her as well as chase after her. The problem for Ashe is surviving the initial burst damage. This is primarily the reason why Immortal Shieldblow and other such defensive items are so popular on her.
Understanding Your Champions Kit
You have to be well versed in your champion’s abilities and how to maximize your usefulness. Ashe has no complicated abilities. This is a good thing as it makes the champion way more efficient.
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Basic Abilities
“Ranger’s Focus” is Ashe’s main DPS source in fights. This ability significantly increases your damage output in auto attacks once it is active. You can also use the abilities activation to reset your auto attack timer. You can dish out slightly more damage by using this mechanic which may be the deciding factor in a lost or a won fight.
“Volley”, Ashe’s W slows all targets in a cone and deals damage from quite far away. This is useful in both kiting and chasing scenarios and generally doing AOE damage in team fights. You can also land some decent poke with this spell.
“Hawkshot” has the ability to give you vision across the map in any direction you choose. This is excellent in spotting any enemy flanks or assassination attempts from the fog of war in a team fight.
Ultimate
The “Enchanted Crystal Arrow” stuns the first enemy champion hit. This is a global ultimate so it has a range of literally the entire map in whichever direction you shoot it. Thanks to this ability Ashe is one of the rare ADC champions that can engage in team fights.
Ashe players always need to be on the lookout for an ultimate onto a priority target of the enemy team. Even during a team fight, if you manage to land the ultimate onto a member of the enemy back line, your team can kill them during the stun duration and instantly win the team fight.
The ultimate can also be used for kiting or surviving from the enemy team. You can use it to stun the enemy champion that has gotten close to you and give yourself as well as your team time to react and deal with the intruder.
You can also use the Enchanted Crystal Arrow to stun the enemy front line if he is too far away from his team and quickly dispose of him. This also results in winning the team fight as the enemy team can no longer contest without a front line to protect their carries.
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Final Thoughts
To sum it up, Ashe is a top-notch ADC champion for all levels of play. She offers consistent damage, vision control, engaging options, and a built-in damage boost. Her laning is bulletproof and the team fight is easy to execute.
The only real problem for Ashe in the team fights is her low mobility and that she can take a little time to amp up on the damage. You need to survive for a bit before your champion really starts to dish out damage. Both of these issues are hurdles that are easily overcome by applying the tactics mentioned above.
The ADC play has shifted somewhat from the classic auto-attack style to a more caster-oriented approach in recent years. Champions like Jhin and Ezreal shine much more in such a meta than Ashe but despite that Ashe still sees regular play at all levels of the game.
