I play AST in Frontlines and CC. The issue is not AST, but DRK. DRK is the only reason that the DRG/AST meat grinders exist in the first place. Salted Earth is the root of many, many problems in Frontlines, especially when the maps are designed with chokepoints.

Also saying that premades aren't an issue is laughable. I play in a premade (DRK/DRG/DRG/AST btw). I don't want premades to be removed. But pretending that premades don't have significant advantage over solo-queuers is crazy. Guard means nothing when you are 100 to 0 in the 1 second you are in the Salted Earth succ animation.