Ashe got hit with yet another nerf

One of League of Legends’ starting characters, Ashe in previous seasons has not been a champion commonly seen in competitive play. But this year, with the meta shifted strongly towards utility AD Carries, she’s been arguably the most present mainstay in the bot lane this year, with a high play rate in competitive play (45 percent picked or banned) and ladder games (22.09 percent pick rate on Patch 6.16)

With Worlds coming up and the utility trio of Ashe, Jhin and Sivir holding a tight grip on the position’s S-tier, some nerfs have come out to each of those champions in the last two patches. Jhin’s Curtain Call no longer refunds part of the cooldown if you cancel it early, and Sivir’s AD ratio on her W was taken down a notch.

But Ashe is the AD Carry undoubtedly hit the hardest, as she received significant nerfs in two consecutive patches.

In Patch 6.17, Ashe’s two secondary damage abilities were nerfed. The duration of her Q was reduced by one second, and the base damage on her ultimate was reduced in the early game.

In Patch 6.18, her primary damage ability was targeted. Her W, Ashe’s only reliable form of damage in the early game, received a significant cooldown increase, especially in the early game.

COOLDOWN: 12/10/8/6/4 seconds ⇒ 15/12.5/10/7.5/5 seconds

Without a way to poke enemies early, will we still see Ashe in pro play? With an increased emphasis on standard lanes (and therefore winning matchups), it seems likely she could get bumped down the rotation come Worlds time.