Oh, how the mighty have fallen. another carry champion is being relegated from their primary role to that of the support. We only hope that it's temporary when it comes to Ashe.
In patch 12.10, the ratio of Ashe ADC to Ashe support was 65% to 35% play rate. Even this much was a lot of play rate for Ashe support, but it was to be expected with the buffs to marksmen given by the durability update.
However, in patch 12.11, the position is completely reversed. In Platinum and above, Ashe is being played 55% of her games as a support while her ADC role is sitting at a 43% play rate.
The trend continues even further, the higher elo you go, with 63% as a support in Diamond and above. Admittedly, in the high elo, the sample size is too small to be of any use. Even still, the fact that Diamond players play Ashe as a support far more than ADC speaks volumes.
Riot Games
Ashe's support pick rate skyrocketed as well, from a measly 1.5% in patch 12.9 to 7.5% in patch 12.11. An increase of a multiple of 5, in just two patches time.
The main reason for this, it seems, is the possibility of her ultimate baing on a 30-second cooldown, giving her team a powerful engage tool twice a minute.
Additionally, her hawkshot is a useful tool for vision control, as well as her slow being good for kiting and running down opponents in lane, while also being another source of consistent damage in a meta where that kind of damage is key.
