EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7W7UO.jpg)
Warning: Big ass wall of text incoming, your fault for not making this thread earlier!
Champion description
Ahri is in my opinion an extremely strong mid laner, i'll go so far as to say that she has the strongest laning past level 6 (of any ap), with no weak match ups and a strong presence for the entire duration of the game, she's an incredibly good solo queue champ.
Patch notes:
+ Show Spoiler +
Orb of Deception mana cost increased to 70/75/80/85/90 from 60/65/70/75/80
Spirit Rush cooldown increased to 90/80/70 seconds from 80/70/60
Very justified nerfs, ahri pretty much remains the same in playstyle you just have to be a little smarter with your cooldowns and mana. That W is also looking very nice now.
Spirit Rush cooldown increased to 90/80/70 seconds from 80/70/60
Very justified nerfs, ahri pretty much remains the same in playstyle you just have to be a little smarter with your cooldowns and mana. That W is also looking very nice now.
Summoner skills
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Cxa2S.jpg)
(Innate): Ahri gains a charge of Essence Theft whenever one of her spells hits an enemy. This caps at 3 charges per spell cast. Upon reaching 9 charges, Ahri's next spell will have 35% bonus spell vamp.This passive makes her very strong vs champs with good harass but poor clearing power like leblanc, you'll also be activating this like crazy in teamfights without realizing.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ush5i.jpg)
(Active): Ahri sends out an orb in a line in front of her and then pulls it back, dealing magic damage on the way out and true damage on the way back. Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana, Range: 880, Cooldown: 7 secondsMagic Damage: 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+0.33 per ability power)
True Damage: 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+0.33 per ability power)
A very nice nuke that will be your main harass in lane, in teamfights this will be your main sustained damage and it will do massive damage if you can land it on multiple enemies. The true damage component will allow you to win lanes that would be pretty challenging without it (Galio) and rape others which were already a certain win (Morgana), it will also make your damage stay relevant for the entire game, regardless if you're hitting a squishy or not. It also makes for an efficient wave clearing ability, and it makes sorc boots worse for ahri than most other mids.
The range is actually a little larger than what the game tells you, it will go almost a full orb's length outside of the advertised radius at some ponts in the circle, this is important to know if you want to hit those ranged minions from a safer distance and its also the best distance to hit anything, especially other champions in lane since it will do both parts of damage instantly. I don't recommend you smartcast this ability because knowing the range is pretty important for laning.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/rpZc0.jpg)
(Active): Ahri releases three fox-fires to surround her. After a short delay they will attack nearby enemies, prioritizing champions, to deal magic damage to them. Additional fox-fires that hit the same target deal 50% damage. Cost: 60 mana, Range: 800Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds
Magic Damage Per Fire: 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+0.38 per ability power)
Maximum Damage to the Same Target: 80 / 140 / 200 / 260 / 320 (+0.76 per ability power)
Maximum Damage: 120 / 210 / 300 / 390 / 480 (+1.14 per ability power)
An important thing to note is, every fox fire has its own range, meaning each fox fire makes a radius of 800, so you have to be a little close for all 3 to hit that champion standing between the creeps. Do not underestimate the range however, it outranges most nukes from other aps and since you can cast it while moving, you can cast it while running away or at a distance that the other laner will not expect. In teamfights you should basically cast this every time its off cooldown like with your q, it makes for good sustained damage. When bursting someone by initiating with r cast it once you're in range of the other champ not before unless there are no minions nearby. You don't want some fox fires going against minions while your r is being cast.
This is also your main weapon in case you decide to take on melee champions at top lane so max it before q only in those cases.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HS5f2.jpg)
(Active): Ahri blows a kiss that travels in a line in front of her. It will deal magic damage and charm the first enemy it encounters, causing them to walk harmlessly towards her, while being slowed by 50% for the duration. Cooldown: 12 seconds, Range: 975Cost: 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 mana
Magic Damage: 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+0.35 per ability power)
Charm Duration: 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 seconds
Pretty awesome cc with a lot of different uses, such as kiting melee champs, stopping channeling abilities, forcing junglers into turret range, slowing assholes like skarner, rammus, udyr; letting you get off a full combo on an enemy ap safely, or simply making sure your q does both parts of damage. The hardest part about this skill is knowing when to use it, as the cooldown is long enough that you are unlikely to be able to use it twice in a 1v1 situation. Vs champs in melee range, unless you r away, you want it to help you land the orb as it comes back so you cast it after you casted the orb. When isolating an ad carry in late game teamfights you want it to buy you as much time as possible for your stuff to come off cooldown so you use it after you have casted everything else.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/OH0Ak.jpg)
(Active): Ahri dashes towards the cursor and fires essence bolts, dealing magic damage to 3 nearby enemies, prioritizing champions. Spirit Rush can be cast two additional times before going on cooldown. Each enemy can only be hit once per dash. Cost: 100 mana, Range: 450Cooldown: 80 / 70 / 60 seconds
Magic Damage Per Bolt: 100 / 140 / 180 (+0.3 per ability power)
Max Magic Damage to the Same Target: 300 / 420 / 540 (+0.9 per ability power)
Max Magic Damage: 900 / 1260 / 1620 (+2.7 per ability power)
There's nothing particularly original about this skill, but it is what makes ahri a unique champion. This skill makes her the strongest mid laner in the game past level six imo, simply because you can force damage on the other laner whenever you damn please and if that wasnt enough, it makes her invincible vs ap's who either depend on skill shots to kill you or for you to be in sufficient range. The small cooldown begs this to be abused as much as possible and it's the main reason i prefer cdr boots over sorcs in ahri. This also makes her an incredible kiter, a very solid pick vs aoe comps, a really good ganker, one of the best tower divers, among other things. The damage on this thing is not to be underestimated either.
All in all, ahri is pretty strong for the entire game with the weakest phase being her levels 1-5, if you want to shut her down, you better pick an aggressive mid and try to abuse her as much as possible for the first few levels.
Summoners
Ignite flash are a safe choice.
Teleport can be used vs people that you outpush and when you want to force that early advantage (leblanc, kass, ryze, etc). Or simply vs lanes where you think you will have trouble.
Cleanse can be better vs certain team comps.
Other summoners aren't really worth it, except perhaps for heal.
Masteries and Runes:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/jJy7m.png)
Runes:
MPen reds, hp per level yellows, ap blues, flat ap quints. If you switch the blues for mres then you don't deserve this champion (jk but honestly..).
You can switch those yellows for armor if you feel like going top. Her scaling is pretty good so there's little reason to run cdr on runes, or at most run 10% cdr.
Skill order
QWQE, R > Q > W > E, pretty standard for mid lane.
QEQW, R > Q > W > E if you're afraid of getting ganked early (mostly determined by jungler)
You can also decide to max W over Q for matchups vs melee champs at top or certain match ups mid, though i don't recommend her as a champion for top lane, let the other ap in your team take that role.
You can level E over W if you feel you're having trouble in lane/their jungler is giving you problems. To land the W you have to get a little close, maybe enough for the other ap to nuke you and if you're losing the lane its best to avoid him altogether and just max E over W.
You can also ignore E completely until level 8-9 for lanes where you want the most damage possible, mostly vs morgana.
Item build
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/9dpBP.gif)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/18o9O.gif)
Very standard, you can't go wrong with these. Always open boots 3, there's no reason not to since your early levels are your weakest, boots help you harass and survive the other laner's first levels. CDR boots are mostly for abusing your ultimate's cooldown, mercs are another solid option but mostly situational. If you get an early kill and you're farming well then go ahead and get that NLR instead of the dorans (still get them later).
The dorans help a lot with the extra health and mana regen, you can get a third in some cases like when your jungler gives your opponent a blue buff or when you go back to buy after getting a kill and you cant afford anything besides a dring, whatever makes you dominate your lane asap is good. Only get sorc boots if you're top lane and you're maxing W over Q, but even then cdr boots are better. Otherwise, as a follow up there are many viable options:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/tcnMH.gif)
Very standard, great damage for mid game, start by getting the NLR first you cant go wrong with cap as your first big item every game.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kbFBo.gif)
Very good on ahri, in teamfights this item will allow you to be the last one to die while doing damage the entire time, some champions will demand that you pick at least this item for getting tanky (ryze, kennen, etc.). Don't rush revolver though, you want the mana regen from the rings, doing so is just asking to get outpushed.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/60Tqe.gif)
I previously used to recommend morello's but with the recent changes, DFG is clearly superior although morellos isn't all that bad. Cooldown reduction is always good and the active will make it very difficult for anyone without a negatron cloak to survive your full combo.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/L8yTb.gif)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/oReb6.gif)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dEPJk.gif)
Situational items which you can save for last, get rylai's if you need to get tanky, don't get it for the slow as it really isn't needed unless their team is melee heavy or full of people that just like running away, then get it asap. Abyssal is great vs dual ap teams. You can also go for longer than other ap champions without a void staff due to your true damage, but it's always ok to have it after you get a respectable amount of ap.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/H2F41.gif)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/anpSo.gif)
Of the two, Sash is superior, mostly what will kill you are stuns/binds for which you'd rather have sash, if you need health get a giants belt and some time later a rylai's.
Items to avoid
![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091014165808/leagueoflegends/images/e/e9/Archangel%27s_Staff.gif)
![[image loading]](http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091014183630/leagueoflegends/images/c/ce/Rod_of_Ages.gif)
You don't need the mana from archangels and ROA is a bad item overall for you. You don't need to survive in lane, you are the bully and you want damage and cdr asap. You wouldn't open catalyst on leblanc, you won't open catalyst on Ahri.
Playstyle
If you can't hit those skillshots don't play this champion. If you can then get ready to dominate any mid laner that you come up against.
Mid Lane
General recipe for mid lane is this: Do not get outharassed levels 1-5 then abuse the crap out of your ultimate. Every mid ap laner with no exception will use at least one skill for clearing the wave, the name of the game is abusing the cooldowns. When they use their skills on the creeps is when you move in with your ult, take 70% of their health if you land your charm then move away taking much less damage. Regardless of who they are, they won't have recovered that amount of health by the time your ult is up again and meanwhile you can continue your harass except that now you have the upper hand since they are lower hp.
Vs mid laners who give you trouble with their harass you can just push with a Q per wave and your autos, many of them will get outpushed by you and the rest won't be able to outpush you. Sure malz may be a little more mana efficient, sion and anivia may clear the wave a little bit faster but the bottom line is that if you don't want the creep wave to reach your turret then it won't reach your fucking turret.
Your auto animation is pretty friendly and the little missile itself is fast enough to beat the ranged creeps missiles so there's no reason not to last hit properly and your auto is a pretty good harass weapon vs the majority of mid laners.
Use your Q and W for harass, most ahri's i've played against like to use their E for harass. I only use E for defensive measures, to catch people from running away and to begin my burst when i get in range of their nukes but never for harass. E is too mana intensive to use it as a harass tool and if you can land it then you might as well have landed that Q instead. the best range to land the Q is at max range where it will do full damage instantly. But use it smartly, abuse the times when they want to last hit, when they are walking towards you or towards the creep wave wanting to use a spell, when they are retreating in a straight line trying to get away asap, when they are getting blocked by their creeps, etc. If you just use it when they have their full attention on your character then you will hit nothing but air. Sure it's nice to use your ult to get 60% or more of their hp, but if you have harassed before it's nicer to use your ult as the finishing move or to force them out of the lane immediately.
Don't overestimate the ability of a player to land crucial skillshots when you all of a sudden jump on them and start bursting them down.
Common match ups mid
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/vWv0K.png)
Possibly the hardest match up early game. Unlike other champions however, you don't get outpushed vs cass, this helps because she can't zone you as hard since you aren't getting blocked by your own minions. The animation on her q is such that if you cast your own q at the right time you can force her to eat the whole orb and your q does more damage, use your e to slow her if she lands a q and you are about to eat a round of fangs, if she whiffs a q don't be afraid to get a little close to cast your w. Another good thing is that cass isn't the best of tower divers. Once you get to level 6 the tables are turned heavily in your favor unless you died to her. This is because while cass is good on the offense she sucks at defending herself particularly against you. The best time to abuse your ult is as soon as she uses her q on a creep, bonus points if you use your r to dodge her q instead. Her ult is hard to dodge but that's not the point, if she uses it too soon her q will be on cd and she will lose the trade, if she waits she will get charmed and eat a full combo before she can respond.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PgxBV.png)
By far my most played match up, for some reason everyone seems to think that brand is a good counterpick, or maybe there are just that many brand players. The worst thing you can do against a brand is get in range of his e. All a decent brand needs to land his pillar is a close enough distance and if you're in range for him to land his e first then you're playing the match up wrongly. You outpush this champion and your harass is superior since its harder to dodge and you don't get blocked by creeps. Brands will clear the wave with their pillar which is their single most damaging ability, abuse your ultimate right after they use it (make sure it misses you). If they use their e too then gg, he can't even stun you with a lucky q.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2qru6.png)
This is such a dumb champion, how can you get so damaging while getting so tanky is beyond me. It is a challenging match up if you are new to Ahri, otherwise you outpush him and outrange him. Clueless ryze players will open mana crystal, abuse the shit out of that, he can't get close to you, if he tries land a Q on his face and run away. You have the advantage in this lane, your charm is fucking amazing because he is such a spammy character and it basically nullifies the time you are rooted while you are bursting him down. However he is still a bs champion and he will force you to build tanky no matter what, he will focus you down in teamfights and you must be able to stand up to him. Wota into rylais is a solid build vs ryze. don't get the revolver before you get your drings though, drings are too good. Also, despite banshee's being such a dumb item on ryze and basically the very first thing that he gets, all of your skills hit so many times that the little shield doesn't really matter.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/zuVTM.png)
Contrary to what most people think, ahri outclasses leblanc in lane. The easiest way to handle her is to take teleport, outpush the shit out of her levels 1-5 (do not miss cs!) then go back, teleport to lane 2 drings ahead and then you can ask her whose level 6 burst hurts more. If you feel her burst is too much don't be afraid to go 3 drings -> giants belt -> wota -> rylais and she has to find another target in teamfights. If you are having problems, let yourself get zoned a bit, the wave will push back eventually, abuse the times when she uses her q on a minion, either to shove the wave to her turret and gank other lanes or burst her down if you think it's worth it. A leblanc with blue will abuse you more than you can abuse her with the same buff, play more passive and use every chance you have to push the wave back so that you can gank. Even with blue leblanc isn't much better at clearing waves. This one is basically the only champion that prevents you from abusing your ult, unless you get a decent lead early on, use your ult to gank. Did I mention that pushing charges your passive which nullifies her harass?![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/m7WAE.png)
Kennen is also at a disadvantage vs you although a decent kennen can survive the lane and he supports ganks pretty well, ward for yourself, rushing towards you through the creeps is suicide since your e will make him eat a full combo while he won't get to you because he'll be slowed if he rushes towards the creep wave to damage it then go nuts with your W, overall not a hard match up. Did i mention that you outpush him? However, like Ryze, this champion forces you to get tanky, wota at the least is a must, if you get to late game building pure damage he will just flash ult and kill you in the blink of an eye. Consider getting cleanse for when the opposing team is running double ap aoe team, kennen seems to be a favorite in those configurations.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6lvCG.png)
This match up isn't hard at all if you play it correctly. Get W first and max it before Q, only get E if you really think it's necessary, I often get it level 8-9 since you want the most damage possible vs sion. Level 1-2 your W and your autos will break his shield easily, making it very mana inneficient for him. If he gets close to you with his shield down, cast W and auto him, retreat when he activates it. If he comes with his shield up judge whether you can break it in time, usually you have to cast your W immediately after he activates it. If you cant break it, back off but not so much, you should be able to chase after him right after his shield explodes to land a couple of fox fires. If things go wrong and you are losing, ward your lane and follow sion wherever he ganks. You should win small teamfights vs sion because you do a lot more damage and you can chase people much better. Basically you just have to play a little smart in lane vs him.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/IAVci.png)
Her shield doesn't reduce true damage, her ult is all but a damaging single tick vs you even if she lands a bind, she gets outpushed which hurts her W. Everything is basically set up for you to completely rape this lane and in truth it isn't hard to come out 40+ cs ahead while forcing her to remain in lane for the entire laning phase. But can you do that and also get a kill or two off of her and also gank for your other lanes? If you can then you probably won the game already for your team. Consider not getting charm at all until level 7-9, even if her jungler babysits her this should be a clear win for you. You should be able to beat morganas consistently without allowing them to arrive unscathed to the point where they can just farm safely with a single poodle per wave. This is pretty much the most basic match up for any ahri player since you are morgana's most logical counter, which is particularly nice since everyone seems to want to pick her first.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bzykC.png)
Don't get outharassed, always keep an eye on the champion, do not try to dodge his Q by looking for the spell's particle, instead look at the animation of the champion itself. This matchup is a little similar to morgana's, except that xerath is a little harder but you really love when he sits in place for you to land that Q. Dodging every single on of his skillshots is also pretty sweet and even if he hits one of them it's gonna hardly be the first one so his damage will be underwhelming and as such he will lose trades.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pEHCZ.png)
You really don't have a bigger problem vs annie than any other ap mid, and she isn't the strongest of laners, however if you're both level 6 free farming with 100% hp then you're doing it wrong. She will burst you eventually and if it doesn't kill you then you will be forced to go back and then she will start winning the lane. Harass her since there isn't any danger of getting outpushed. Always have her selected so you can keep track of the stacks on her passive.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mIMH7.png)
With no junglers or with only weak gankers involved you should win this lane, despite him being melee you should max Q over W, the problem with talon is the fact that he supports ganks extremely well so ward for yourelf and don't be overaggressive if you don't know where their jungler is. Consider getting cleanse or qss if they have multiple gap closers, talon can really make you miserable in teamfights if he catches you just a little bit off position and if he has teammates that can abuse that.Top Lane
This section will be very brief as I don't think she makes a good top laner. You can bully around some champions like gp, irelia, nasus, trynda. Some others are just straight up suicide (riven). And in the case that you go vs another ap at top, I think ahri becomes weaker because it's harder for her to control the brushes and those champions usually have better escapes levels 1-5 which is pretty important for that lane.
Ahri in teamfights
This is obviously too complicated to dwelve on too deep, but I'll post some generalities.
Poke, poke, poke until they're weak enough that your team can commit. If that chogath is standing like a hero in front of the enemy team charm him then QW on his face for free. In some cases you can ult into a mispositioned carry and burst him, even if you don't kill her, a carry with 30% hp is pretty demoralizing (don't do this if they have a soraka, waste of ult). Not only do you excel at poking but unlike champions like xerath you have much better tools to escape and even kite assholes like rammus, skarner, etc.
When you commit, if they are clumped you use your Q and W, if they are spread your ulti gives you massive mobility to reposition yourself wherever you see fit, you can single out carries, or peel people from your ad, among many other things.
Ahri as a team member
Generally ahri does well in poke teams, teams with assassins or along champions that can single out people from the rest of the team. You can always do well with people like gragas, irelia, skarner, graves, and so on. Ahri does not do so well with champs that want to commit asap with mass cc, if that galio lands a perfect ult you're gonna be left wishing you were annie, brand or something similar because your Q is the only reliable spell to hit champions standing next to or behind other champions.
That said, do not ever try to finish off a champion standing in the middle of his team, if you can't kill him with your Q you cant kill him at all.
Playing against ahri
I don't think there's a lane that a competent ahri can't win, unless you take the coward's way out and send something like riven or panth mid. Just pick your best champion. For example, ryze gets outpushed and can't harass well, but if you can't farm at turret with ryze then you should play another champ. Anivia, karthus are mostly helpless vs that level 6 combo but you can farm just fine if you're careful and if you're good with them you'll prolly win teamfights too. Heck if you think you're hot shit with morgana then you can probably win this lane consistently through superior harass. I myself like to pick cass even if I'd pick ahri vs a first pick cass without a second thought.
+ Show Spoiler [Changelog] +
01/23/2012 - First version
