Ashe
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Excellent (8.5/10)
High Investment Required
Rare Relics OK
Ashe is widely considered the strongest Freljord champion, capable of trivializing the hardest content in the game (Nightmares, Lissandra, Aurelion Sol). However, her power comes with a caveat: her optimal playstyle at 6 stars is frequently described as 'boring', 'uninteractive', and 'sleep-inducing'. While she scales infinitely with enemy strength, the gameplay loop often involves stalling until you can one-shot the Nexus or controlling the board until the opponent cannot act.
The Frostbite Cannon (C6 Speedrun)
Essential for the strategy. Allows Ashe to strike the Nexus immediately upon being played.- Redundant copies multiply the strike effect, often resulting in a One-Turn Kill (OTK).
- Maximizes the burst damage. If you lack a third, 'The Chameleon's Necklace' can help find her, though it risks diluting buffs.
Strategy
This build relies entirely on Ashe's 6-star power, which transfers the Attack of frostbitten enemies to units in your hand.
Strategy:
- Draft Spells: Prioritize drafting Frostbite spells and cutting units. You want Ashe to be the only unit in your hand so she absorbs all the stolen stats.
- Stall & Freeze: Use your powers and spells to freeze enemies. Each freeze pumps Ashe's stats while she sits in your hand.
- The Drop: Once Ashe has accumulated lethal damage (often by Turn 2 or 3), play her. The Gatebreakers will strike the Nexus instantly for massive damage.
Note: Do not use Echoing Spirit with this build, as it creates too many copies of Ashe in hand, diluting the stat buffs.
Perma-Freeze Control
Creates copies of 'Flash Freeze' (Ashe's Champion Spell) in your deck and reduces their cost, ensuring you never run out of freezes.
Generates a fleeting 'Flash Freeze' every round, providing consistent board control.
Summons a Frozen Tomb that revives Ashe after a delay. This provides a backup champion and triggers summon effects again, effectively doubling your board presence.
Strategy
This is the preferred build for players who want a more interactive, control-oriented playstyle or lack the 6-star power. It focuses on locking down the entire enemy board every turn.
Strategy:
- Use the constant supply of 'Flash Freeze' to neutralize the strongest threats.
- This build is extremely safe but slower than the Gatebreaker variant.
- Alternative Relic: 'The Beast Within' can replace Frozen Tomb to provide Overwhelm, ensuring your high-stat units can close out the game through chump blockers.
Budget Control (Rare Relics)
- Provides the engine for her control gameplan by generating Flash Freezes.
Refills mana to cast the generated Flash Freezes.
Stuns an enemy on summon, buying time to establish the freeze lock.
Strategy
A solid setup for players without Epic relics. It mimics the Perma-Freeze strategy by generating resources to keep the enemy board neutralized. Once Ashe levels up, enemies with 0 Power cannot block, allowing you to swing for the win.
Other Relic Options
A potent alternative to Gatebreaker for C6 Ashe. It multiplies her attack on board, useful if you prefer attacking over direct Nexus strikes.
Excellent defensive option for high-difficulty adventures (like Lissandra or Swain) where enemy removal is prevalent.
Provides stats and keywords (Challenger/Fated) that synergize with her buffs, though generally slower than other options.
Constellation
Ashe is the definitive Freljord champion. She scales remarkably well with investment, transforming from a mediocre mid-range deck at low stars to a broken powerhouse at high stars. Her power level is heavily tied to her 4th and 6th stars.
Frost Shot
Round Start: If you have the attack token, Frostbite the strongest enemy and give it Vulnerable this round.
Avarosan Spirit
+1 Starting Mana. When an ally kills a unit with 0 Power, grant your ally +1|+1.Review
Extremely weak. +1/+1 to a single ally when killing a 0-power unit is negligible in the grand scheme of Path of Champions.
Frost Shot II
Round Start: Frostbite the strongest enemy and give it Vulnerable this round.
Treacherous Terrain
Each round, the first time an enemy summons a unit, Frostbite it.Review
A massive power spike. Increasing the Frostbite counter allows her to freeze multiple enemies or re-freeze threats much more consistently. This is where she 'comes online' for most content.
Manaflow
Game Start: Get a mana gem.
Gift of Avarosa
When you decrease an enemy's power, randomly distribute that much power among allies in hand.Review
Game-breaking. 'Gifts of Avarosa' steals stats from frostbitten enemies and gives them to units in hand. This scales infinitely with the difficulty of the adventure—the stronger the enemy, the stronger Ashe becomes. It enables the 'Triple Gatebreaker' one-shot strategy.
Gameplay Tips
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Anti-Synergy with Stun PowersAvoid drafting powers that Stun enemies at Round Start (like 'Hold Them Off' if you don't have Ashe's power yet, or similar generic powers). Stun and Frostbite effects often target the strongest unit simultaneously. If they target the same unit, you waste a control effect. Frostbite reduces power to 0, but if the unit is also stunned, the freeze was redundant.
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The Formidable CounterAshe struggles against Formidable units (units that strike with Health). Frostbite reduces their Attack to 0, which triggers her Level 2 ability preventing them from blocking, but it does not reduce the damage they deal, as they strike with Health. Additionally, her C6 steals Attack, which is useless against low-Attack Formidable units.
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Teemo Adventure WarningAshe is generally a poor matchup for the 6-star Teemo/Caitlyn adventures. Her standard playstyle is slow and control-heavy, which is directly countered by Puffcaps and Flashbombs that punish you for drawing cards and stalling the game. She lacks built-in healing to survive the burn damage.
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Managing the C6 BuffsWhen playing the C6 Gatebreaker build, aggressively cut units from your deck at healers. You want Ashe to be the only unit in your hand as often as possible so she absorbs 100% of the stolen stats. If you have a hand full of cheap units, the buffs will be diluted, and Ashe may not have enough power to one-shot the Nexus when played.
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Level Up ConditionRemember that Ashe's Level 2 aura ("Enemies with 0 Power can't block") is her primary win condition if you aren't using Gatebreakers. You often don't need Overwhelm if the entire enemy board is simply disallowed from blocking.