Beautiful original artwork by Taesi, featured in Summoner Showcase #60

I play a lot of Lux and Akali. When Ahri's mechanics were unveiled, I found a perfect fit between the two.

I suggest playing Ahri for a few games before reading this. I also suggest NOT to use smartcast for those games. As you become acquainted with her range, switch to smartcast. More on this later.

This guide is aimed at intermediate LoL players. I will not be going deep into game strategy, ward placement, and the general meta. I will also not be presenting Ahri's abilities and ratios, as you can find this information easily and quite frankly if you're here you probably already know a bit about Ahri. This guide is concise and covers everything you need to get good with Ahri. I hope it can be a solid base for you, and a way for me to improve through constructive criticism.

Cheat sheet at the bottom.

Pros
+ Good farmer
+ Wonderful Auto-Attack animation
+ High skillcap (if improving over 30-40+ games is your thing)
+ Tricky
+ Powerful Combo
+ Very strong ganks
+ Great turret diver


Cons
- Slow movement speed
- Fragile
- Doesn't snowball as hard as other AP carries (Akali, Karthus, Annie..)
- High skillcap (if you don't like skillshots)

Before I explain my item setup, let me get Rod of Ages out of the way.

Ahri does not need :
HP. Rylai's Crystal Scepter will provide enough.
Mana. Deathfire Grasp will provide regen.
AP. We will get it elsewhere.

I strongly feel Rod of Ages is a bad item on Ahri. Simply put, you need the AP advantage. You need to nuke or you will be useless. Good positioning and smart play can make up for having a little less HP.

I saw the light a while ago thanks to shm0's top rated Lux guide. Allow me to quote him :

It's important you build lux with as much AP as fast as possible. Most people when building RoA get first, which is 1325g spent in the wrong direction. While HP is nice, lux really can't escape much (if you miss your Q, you're done)... so that lil extra HP really doesn't make a difference.

Furthermore, and most importantly -- by the time you get RoA fully purchased, you could have had Deathcap up, which means you have significantly less AP @ this point than you should, and your ability to carry is instantly diminished. Without an early deathcap to carry, you cant destroy, and you cant get fed. simple.


This applies to Ahri in the sense that she doesn't need HP and maximum mana to be successful. She doesn't need Deathcap right away either, but you get the point. Two Amplifying Tomes are better than a Catalyst The Protector. Whenever my opponent in mid comes back with a catalyst, I play very aggressively and dominate him.

Early Items

Start with Boots and 3 Health Potion. Your first recall will include a Doran's Ring, a sight ward and an Amplifying Tome if you can afford it. Your first top tier item is Deathfire Grasp, so if you have money to spare, buy the component you need the most :

Amplifying Tome - Get a second one if you can afford it.
Kage's Lucky pick - If you can only afford this.
Meki Pendant - If you're trading heavily with your opponent and are having mana problems.
Doran's Ring - If things aren't going well.

Spend your remaining gold on Health Potion or a second sight ward.


Boots

Sorcerer's Shoes

A must-have. You might prefer Boots of Swiftness if you think she is too slow, but you'll have to move on once you get used to playing her.

Mercury's Treads

Only get those if you are having a very bad start. A good mage can easily push you out of your lane if he has the level/gold advantage. These will provide some defense to stay in lane until your jungler comes to the rescue. However, a Negatron Cloak will do the trick and can be upgraded later to an Abyssal Mask. These are also a good option against stun mages such as Veigar.


Core Build

Deathfire Grasp
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Rabadon's Deathcap
Elixir of Brilliance



Deathfire Grasp

Why get it first? DFG provides everything you need to function properly as Ahri. AP, Mp5 and CDR. A little bit of everything. This is a also a very flexible item to build as you can gradually get Mp5, AP or CDR as you see fit throughout early game. The On-Use is also good right away and for the rest of the game.

As said earlier, another good reason to pick this up first is that the basic components for are interchangeable depending on your current needs. Not every matchup will require the same build.

I suggest this over Morello's Evil Tome because, frankly, you can do without 2 Mp5, 15 AP and 5%CDR if that means you can open on any champion with over 40-50% of their HP late game. This item scales extremely well and is also scary mid game when magic resist is scarce on the enemy team. Ahri is an assassin and needs this burst.


Rylai's Crystal Scepter

This will provide survivability and will add to your utility by providing a nice slow on your AOE spells. If you are doing well, get the AP components first. If you need defense, get Giant's Belt first.


Rabadon's Deathcap

At this point you have everything you need. Time to get a major AP boost. Of course as with any AP champion, feel free to rush this if things are going extremely well.


Extra Items

If the game drags on the choice is yours :

Void Staff

Cheap. Get it if the enemy is stacking MR.


Zhonya's Hourglass

By now, the carries are kicking in. The added armor and On-Use are appropriate. Get this if you get focused in team fights.


Abyssal Scepter Will of the ancients

Sometimes I solo top with Ahri. These items work well with the other AP from mid, or if you have an AP jungler. You can even get the revolver earlier if you want more sustain against mids such as Swain or Morgana. Note that Abyssal Mask on Ahri is actually a very good item to rush against strong mids such as LeBlanc or Anivia. Ahri's spells don't have great ratios so you benefit a lot from the aura.

This build is designed to make the blue buff beneficial to you. It's not totally reliant on it, but you're mid, and you're going to get it. Ahri doesn't kill blue very fast (faster than Lux =_=) so get an ally to help out if he's near.

Ancient Golem is a very important neutral objective and you should ward the enemy camp and steal it whenever possible. That's why I don't build 40% CDR on Ahri. Getting the blue buff is definitely an advantage that you should exploit.

You should be able to grab the third spawn, depending on your jungler. Some junglers can give it to you even sooner. Keep in mind the blue camp respawns every 5 minutes. During mid-game, pick up an Elixir of Brilliance if you missed it.

Greater Quintessence of Potency x 3

These will give you the best bang for you buck on Ahri. Coupled with Greater Mark of Magic Penetration, your spells will have a good bite against anyone right away.

I strongly advise against Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed. These are tempting on a slow champion but will greatly hinder your early game laning power.


Greater Mark of Insight x 9

Simply the best AP marks out there. If you don't have them yet, they are a very good purchase.


Greater Seal of ReplenishmentGreater Seal of Replenishment x 9

If you don't own them, Greater Seal of Armor are ok, but not recommended. These are important to be able to trade equally in lane.


Greater Glyph of Force x 9

I used to run CDR glyphs on AP champions until I realized how beneficial it is to go deep into the Utility tree. I suggest using AP glyphs to compensate for having only 9 points in Offense. I will explain this further in the next section.

After much debate on the subject, I have decided to run 9/0/21.

This allows me to pick both + Meditation AND + Swiftness , two masteries very useful on Ahri. On top of that, I get a total of 10% CDR from masteries and the XP boost from Awareness .


What do I give up in Offense for all this?

- Butcher .
I love this mastery, makes last hitting much easier. It is not crucial.

- Blast
- Archmage
Given a build with 500 AP, these boost your AP by +43. However, you will need to use CDR glyphs to compensate for loss of Intelligence . It is much more logic to use AP glyphs, which will give you +27.5AP at level 18, and utility talents, than to run full offense and CDR glyphs.

Summoner Spells on Ahri are entirely up to you. They aren't that important.



I usually run this combo. Flash is nice when Spirit Rush is on cooldown and as a gap closer when you want all 3 charges to hit while chasing.

Teleport is used to join your team for dragon fights, ganks and pushes. I've been using tele a lot more on my AP carries these days. It allows you to gank from a ward or simply get back to your turret faster. Very important if you prioritize ganking over dueling.


Ignite

Great against any healing champion and a good addition to your early game combo. Can net you kills early on.


Exhaust

A good defensive spell if you're laning against an AD. Not a top tier choice, I would leave it to bot lane.


Clairvoyance

If your team doesn't have it. Personally I'm not comfortable playing a game without CV. Plus, Ahri is quite good at stealing neutral objectives. Warding and timing the enemy blue and dragon can pay off big time. Having CV is a plus when the enemy has an oracle. Spirit Rush is perfect for in-and-out steals.


Surge

Not bad on Ahri, can replace Ignite. But seriously take Ignite.


Clarity

You can take clarity, but you won't need it more than once or twice in a game. I don't recommend it except in two cases :

- Your runes and masteries are not optimal.
- For your first few games until you can learn to manage your mana.

Basic Combo

The key to landing a good combo with Ahri is properly using Charm. When you land Charm, the rest is extremely easy. Charm, get a little bit closer to your opponent, activate Fox-Fire and throw Orb of Deception, and then back off. Practice this as much as possible. This should become second nature.


Aggressive Combo

Since Charm is pretty easy to dodge, I like to use a different approach when ganking or straight up unloading on someone. Instead of opening with Charm and chasing with Spirit Rush, I Spirit Rush right in their face and throw Charm point blank. This makes Charm almost impossible to dodge. I follow with Deathfire Grasp, Orb of Deception and Fox-Fire immediately. This all happens in the same second. Your second Spirit Rush charge should be used to block your target's escape path. Remember you don't have to unload all three charges at the same time. A little patience when finishing off your target will give you more room to control jukes and escape mechanisms.

The only drawback to this combo is using a Spirit Rush charge to get in range. This leaves you with two charges to chase/escape. However, very few opponents can outrun those two charges. If you really want a guaranteed kill or if you need a third charge to escape tower range after a dive, try to land Charm first or simply use Flash as the first gap closer.

About smartcast : This combo needs to be executed in a split second, hence why smartcasting Charm and Orb of Deception is a good idea here.

Below are two examples of landing this combo. The first one is a kill on Corki, the other is a gank on Tristana. These aren't anything spectacular but show you how to properly use Spirit Rush/ Charm as an opener.
Play Video Play Video /league-of-legends/item/deathfire-grasp-90

Early Game

Focus on your duel. Ward one side of the river (both if you can afford it) and show aggression when positioned on that side. Watch your own minions' HP and go in for the harass when your opponent tries to last hit. Harassing is an important part of your job; your jungler relies on it for successful ganks. Ahri has decent sustain. Shredding some HP off your opponent while losing some yourself is no big deal. Getting your target to 75-50% Hp helps your jungler a whole lot when it comes to ganks and out-jungling. A good harass will be the difference between a gank that will burn a summoner spell and a gank that will yield a kill.

Early-Mid Game

After getting level 6 and level 2 boots, another good way to help your jungler is by watching his path and predicting his ganks (or just asking him). If you can predict early enough, push your lane and follow him to a gank. Ahri is a deadly ganker with a obscenely high success rate. Just make sure you don't lose your tower in the process. If your matchup at mid is a stalemate and you feel you can outpush your opponent : gank, gank, gank. For maximum gankage pick Teleport.

Convince your teammates to Vision Ward their river brush. This is extremely useful as you're guaranteed you won't waste your time ganking. A pink ward will only cost 25g if you destroy the opponent's ward. That's a very cheap price to pay to put a great amount of pressure on a lane.

Use your pushing power to assist any lane in need. Be very careful when laning against fast farmers such as Karthus and Morgana.

On the other hand, if your opponent left his lane for a gank, you have three choices :

- The targeted lane is in trouble and will need assistance. Follow your opponent to help your teammates.
- The targeted lane is warded and in good health (HP/Flash). Chances are your opponent made a bad decision and will sit in a bush for some time, or fight a pointless skirmish. Immediately push your lane and get some damage on that tower.
- Gank the remaining lane.


Mid-Late Game

Ahri excels at poking. Try to shred some hp off enemies but make sure to stand by your team and don't ever initiate. If you land a good Charm, it's very tempting (and a natural reflex) to follow up your combo and you might even land a kill - but you most likely won't survive it. Let your tankier teammates capitalize on your Charm. Tanks are better suited to initiate.

Once the action starts your job is to hang in the back and get in good position to land your orb on the most possible targets. Either charm the most disruptive enemy, or the carry. Getting runners is your job. Stay healthy so you can dash through the battlefield and finish off your target. Try to use Fox-Fire and Orb of Deception as damage source instead of just wasting your 3 charges to take down the runner. Saving a charge is crucial to surviving the team fight or re-positioning yourself.

Another good use of Ahri's skillset is working on cleaning up. Depending on your team comp, of course. In some situations your team will have good survivability and steady dps but lack chasing power. Coming in from the side or the back to cut off escape paths is a good way to lock down kills. Ahri's jungle movement also makes her perfect for this role.

Charm is also a defensive spell. Use it to save an ally in trouble.

Summoner Spells

Flash Ignite


Items

Boots Health Potionx3
Doran's Ring
Sorcerer's Shoes
Deathfire Grasp
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
Rabadon's Deathcap
Elixir of Brilliance
...
Sustain : Will of the Ancients
Fed AD : Zhonya's Hourglass
Fed AP : Abyssal Mask
Void Staff

Skill level up priority

R Spirit Rush
Q Orb of Deception
W Fox-Fire
E Charm

This is how I like to play Ahri. I played a lot of games with her since she came out, tried all sorts of things. This is the deadliest setup I could find.

I probably haven't tried everything though, and I made this guide once I knew I was out of ideas and stuck within my paradigms, so PLEASE comment. Any fresh ideas and constructive advice is appreciated.

01-22-12
- Updated summoner spells to Teleport.
- Added a word about Vision Ward and ganking in the Team Work section.