A general notice: This is my first guide and therefore I'd love to get some feedback on this.

I'll try to keep the guide as newbfriendly as I can. If I'm using acronymns which are not understood or explained please notify me about this and I'll try to answer all your questions. If you have any additions or suggestions to the guide just comment to it and I'll look into it.

Also, I'm not a pro-gamer. Don't expect me to know every little thing about the game, but I'm making this guide to share my tips and tricks with you guys, and some of my thought processes behind some decisions.

Now before we start, if you want to try a champion through a guide like this, I suggest playing in a normal game. Don't try new builds in Ranked games, but also dont try them on bots - they will give you a misleading feel of a champion, and it will not help learning how to counter on champions.

I hope this helps abit and good luck in-game! But remember, a guide cannot make you learn a champion, you can only learn to play a champion by trying.

For runes I use flat AP Marks and Quints, this gives me a good buff early game. You will really notice a difference if you start with 44 AP on level one. It will be much easier to harrass and last-hit - Harassing him will make him be more passive and giving you more space to lasthit.

On my seals and glyps I use AP per Level runes, this allows me to snowball into late game more easily, also those runes will give me close to 100 AP extra with a Rabadon's Deathcap and masteries.

The reason I prefer this over magic pen:
The damage on level 1 will be higher, as well as the damage around lvl 18 when everyone has a ton of Magic Resistance. If you strip like 15 mr on someone that has 120 mr, you wont deal that much more damage. It would increase your damage like 5-10% (?) while the extra AP would give you more damage increase. You will lose some damage against minions though, since they will have negative MR for you your damage will increase with alot on them.

For my masteries I take 21/0/9. With this I focus on getting increased (magic)damage while taking the cooldown, magic pen and ignite mastery. Alot of people will disagree on the ignite mastery with it, but it will still make it alot easier to last-hit when your ignite is on cooldown. The 5 atk dmg doesnt seem too much, but its about 10% of your total attack damage.

I start with a Doran's Ring, rushing to Boots right after. Depending on how the lane goes I get a second ring, if the laning fase is good and the farm is easy I'll probably skip this most of the times. Also when you're getting fed blue, dont take it. You wont need it.

If you are having a really hard lane you should get a Hextech Revolver to get some sustain in lane, though I really wouldnt recommend it. Its a nice item to have in lane, but after the laning fase it will be a waste of money since you have your passive if you really have to heal. And apart from that, you will probably have a support that can heal you on that point. For the same price you can get a catalyst the protector, and it gives more sustain in my opinion, though this really is just preference.

After boots I'll go for my catalyst the protector, this will give me alot of sustain in lane, as well as mana-regen to keep your mana up. Though dont always do this! If you're up against a lane in which movement speed can win you the lane (i.e. versus a Anivia or Cassiopeia) you should get your level 2 boots over the catalyst.

Ok after Sorcerer's Shoes I go farm my Rod of Ages (RoA). I tend to get the early game so its maxed out earlier. Some people prefer to get Rabadon's Deathcap first, but generally you will deal enough damage with RoA, and you will be alot harder to kill.

Ok so when we get RoA its time to start dealing some serious damage. Rabadon's Deathcap into Void Staff.
These items will increase your damage with a ton, and you should be able to one-shot most squishy champions when you get your deathcap. I'll adress this in the Skill Sequence section of this guide.

Usually by now the most games will be over, but in case its not:

Get a Banshee's Veil!
No matter what team you're up against, banshee could save you every single time. If they dont have any CC and low magic damage you should probably get a hourglass first, but this hardly ever is the case. The extra HP and the bubble will keep you alive in teamfights, and allow you to pump out way more damage.

Zhonya's Hourglass
Well, this item is pretty much cause you dont have any armor items yet, and it still gives you a decent amount of AP. Also the statis active can save you in many many cases. (Dodging ults, dodging general high damage stuff, waiting in between skill cooldowns)

Or

Rylai's Crystal Scepter
As suggested this is a really nice addition to your build. The passive slow which you can land with your fox fire makes it very easy to land a E+Q combo, while it still gives you a decent amount of HP and AP.
Thanks for the suggestion Pluckin Penguin!

First we'll take a look at Ahri's skills:
Passive - Essence Theft:
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.

Here's your heal skill! Though dont rely on it too much, you still need to cast at least 3 skills to activate it so its nice sustain in lane, but it wont keep you alive through teamfights. Also in teamfights you wont always be able to use it on the skill you want it on. This is a pro trick though, because this can be the difference between dying and surviving in a fight.

First skill (Q) - Orb of Deception:

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.


This is your primary skill. This is your highest damage skill, which hits the most amount of enemies. In lane this is the fastest way to stack your passive and the best way to farm minions. I can be hard to land on speedy champions, but that just requires some practice, or try to hit your E's first. Don't get frustrated if you cannot land it, you will miss this alot. Just try to shoot it at all minions when the champion is close, so you hit both your farm targets as the enemy champion.

Second skill (W) - Fox-Fire:
Ahri releases three fox-fires to surround her for up to 5 seconds. After a short delay after cast, they will target nearby enemies, prioritizing champions, to deal magic damage to them. Additional fox-fires that hit the same target will only deal 50% damage.

This is your second highest damage skill, it deals a ton of damage IF all 3 hits hit the same target. Though this isnt so realiable since the enemies can take this damage for eachother if they play it well. In mid lane you will only have one enemy and with that this skill will deal more damage than your Q. Though if you level this skill first you will lose your farm capabilities.

Third skill (E) - Charm:
Ahri will blow a kiss that travels in a line in front of her. It will deal magic damage and charm the first enemy it encounters, forcing them to walk harmlessly towards her, while being slowed by 50% for the duration.

This skill is generally upgraded secondary because the taunt duration will increase when you upgrade this. You will deal abit less damage, but if you charm someone with a lvl 5 charm, you are sure to kill it if you have a team with you.

Fourth skill (R) - Ultimate - Spirit Rush
Ahri dashes towards the cursor and fires essence bolts, dealing magic damage to up to 3 nearby enemies, prioritizing champions. In the next 10 seconds, Spirit Rush can be cast two additional times before going on cooldown. Each enemy can only be hit once per dash.

Ahri's ultimate. The sole reason she is so annoying once she hits level 6. With this skill up, someone has no way of getting away, and you can near to never get caught. This is pretty much a triple medium range dash that deals damage to nearby enemies. Dont be mistaken though, this skill still deals a ton of damage. Be carefull using this skill aggresive though, if you dont have your flash up, and you wasted this, you could easily get caught.

Skill usages:

• Laningfase:
  Use your Orb of Deception to farm minions, dont use it if you need it more then twice to kill them though! If you spam it too much this skill costs way too much mana.
  Whenever you get the chance to hit your E on the enemy champion, do it! Just combo hit with E-Q-W whenever you can, and try to get him below half. Count the amount of damage you deal and once you think you can kill him with Ignite, go for it. Taunt and unload!
  
• Teamfights:
  Try to taunt either their AD carry or AP carry. These two will be your primary target, for they are the highest damage units in their team. Try oneshotting them, and if they have healers ignite at the start of your combo so the healing is reduced. Try to always keep one tick of your ult behind to get away when it gets too hot though.
  
• Baronsteals:
  Ahri is one of the greatest champions to do a baron steal with. You can hop in with your ult, unload everything you have and bounch back out. If they would flash after you you can still use the third tick of your ult to get away (If you didnt use it on baron)
  
• Spellvamp Healing:
  You generally want to use your passive in combination with your Q. If you can hit a full minion wave with it, this will be your best heal. Although, when you're level 18, keep in mind if you want to heal at something like, baron or other champions in a 1v1 situation, your W is your highest damage single-target and therefor your best healing skill!

For summoners spells I use:

• Ignite
  Even though you have alot of damage, ignite is often the little bit you miss to finish someone off. This isnt the main reason you take it though, the decreased healing will allow you to make people overestimate themselfs and give you kills with that. Last but not least, the mastery point will allow you to farm abit easier and deal abit more damage.
• Flash
  But I already have three flashes, why would I need another one!?
  Simply said, you wont always want to use your ultimate to escape or initiate. You can use flash offensive to get in place to hit your charm, or you can use it to get out of a picky situation when your ult is on cooldown, or you dont have it yet.

Ahri is one of the stronger AP mids, theres only few counters against it and her damage really cannot be ignored. If you learn how to play against different champions you will carry games very hard. She has a awesome gank with her charm and ult, and she's super hard to kill or gank in lanes.

Just try some games, try some tricks and have fun! Ahri is an awesome champion all togheter, and you'll have alot of fun with her once you learn how to own with her.