I am low challenger of season 4 in NA and I fill during rank. I am making these guides for myself and friends mainly so sorry if you're looking for visuals.

Published 11/21/14
Added more warding for Early game chapter, added elixir of sorcerery, added pantheon to dragon chapter, added anti backdoor to late game chapter, updated shaco matchup 11/24/14
Updated item chapter 11/26/14
Updated early game chapter for fake ward 12/1/14
Change first bak item vs ap, talked about athene and chalice nerfs 12/6/14
Fixed typos and changed runes, added morgana matchup, lower difficulty on zilean matchup, updated when to pick ahri, added carry melee in teamfighting chapter 12/12/14
Added azir and updated morgana match up 12/30/14
Changed Runes and rune chapter, added Katarina matchup, update Jayce and Fiora matchup 1/9/15
added akali and hecarim matchups 1/17/15
updated farming under tower chapter 1/18/15
Updated title and when to pick ahri, updated farming under tower 1/21/15
updated xerath matchup 1/28/15
Updated summoner spells chapter, removed deathfire grasp, updated items chapter 1/31/15
updated when to pick ahri 2/2/15
added abyssal and updated leblanc matchup 2/6/15
Updated skill usage 2/9/15
updated dragon and baron chapter
Added annie matchup 2/14/15
Updated early game 2/20/15
updated when to pick ahri, conclusion 2/22/15
Updated fizz matchup 5/19/15
Added Cass matchup, updated when to pick ahri 5/20/15
Updated cass matchup, updated runes 5/21/15
Added Viktor matchup 5/22/15
added sejuani matchup 5/25/15
Updated cass matchup 5/30/15
added corki matchup, malz matchup 6/5/15
Added skarner 6/17/15
added Vel'koz matchup, sona 8/3/15
Updated Introduction chapter, masteries to have biscuits, When to pick Ahri chapter 8/7/15
added Tahm Kench matchup 8/20/15
Updated viktor matchup 8/29/15
added talon and amumu matchups 9/10/15
Added heimer, tf, and lux matchup 9/11/15
updated Fiora matchup, champion synergy 9/19/15
Updated timers chapter and when to pick ahri chapter, added Braum matchup 10/15/15
added riven matchup 10/16/15
updated when to pick ahri chapter, items, items chapter 10/18/15
Updated when to pick ahri chapter 10/30/15
added ezreal, alistar, rammus, and nidalee matchups, updated purchase order, items, when to pick ahri, masteries, timers, skill usage, the level one before minions spawn, recall scenarios, early game, and conclusion chapter, updated fizz matchup 1/1/16
added trundle, blitz, janna, bard and poppy matchup, updated leblanc matchup 1/3/16
Updated syndra matchup and added vlad and soraka matchup 1/4/16
added lissandra matchup, updated items chapter 1/5/16
Updated karma matchup, runes, and runes chapter, added anivia matchup 1/9/16
reformatted items, skill usage, recall scenarios, early game, mid game, late game chapters 1/12/16
updated ori matchup and recall scenarios chapter 1/13/16
Updated when to pick ahri and conclusion chapter 4/3/16
updated when to pick ahri and team fighting chapters 4/12/16
Updated purchase order 4/17/16
updated mid game chapter 4/21/16
Updated skill usage chapter 4/25/16
updated when to pick ahri and items chapter, skill order, and azir matchup 5/1/16
Updated when to pick ahri and dragon chapter 5/20/16
updated when to pick ahri chapter 9/22/16
Updated when to pick ahri and baron chapter 10/17/16
updated runes chapter 11/7/16
Added vi matchup 12/3/16
updated items, runes, masteries; when to pick ahri, runes, masteries, and leashing chapter 12/5/16
Updated early game and dragon chapter 12/6/16
updated syndra matchup 12/9/16
Added thresh matchup 12/10/16
updated when to pick ahri chapter 2/10/17

As of patch 7.3, the champions that are competitive or strong are Corki, LeBlanc, and Jayce, Talon, Ryze, and Cassiopeia. There are situational mids like Vladimir who I personally choose to counter Ahri that can work if you know lane counters. I personally stopped using Ahri for a long time, because I don't have the eye for the maximum usage of Charm Flash mechanic like I used to. People should only use champs if they can use them to their full potential. I recommend learning the above mentioned champions since Ahri is easily countered by Braum, tanks who can tank her W and R, and can be handled by most meta champions. You can pick Ahri if she counters the mid matchup and there is no Braum and tanks.

Flash is mandatory for this champ. Ignite is usually the way to go. You can take Cleanse if enemy has 3 or more stuns, snares, fears, taunts.

You don't use movement spd quint since your ult gives you mobility. Take hybrid pen marks and magic resist glyphs vs Fizz mandatory. Take magic resist glyphs vs Zilean and Syndra can help. Have hp per lvl seals, 1 ap quint and 2 armor quints, 3 ap glyphs and rest cdr per lvl glyphs vs ad mids . Take attack speed marks vs Kassadin. Having 6 scaling cdr glyphs is enough to have 35% cdr at lvl 18 with items or 45% with lichbane. Apdo had said that he prefers magic resist.

12/18/0 is standard for all mages but ahri has deviation. Vampirism to help in early game since average game time went down. Assassin will help with your solo plays and you have sustain with Vampirism and your Essence Theft to not need the Secret Stash , but if you think your jungler will get you blue buffs then get Runic Affinity . Precision for better early game. [thunderlord's decree is the best mastery for assassins since it gives burst through all stages of the game and its the best early game mastery.

Doran Ring start works on most lane matchups. If against ad and you're havin a hard time, get Seeker's Armguard. Then go Morellonomicon and Sorcerer's Shoes.

If against ap and having a hard time, get Abyssal Mask first.

You get Luden's Tempest, Abyssal Mask, or Seeker's Armguard 1st-3rd item because you want to be healthy and wave clear well against ur opponent, as well as it is cheaper.

Chalice of Harmony cost effectiveness is very bad, and the Athene's Unholy Grail passive is not that great since by the time u run out of mana the enemy team should be dead, but u can get Abyssal Mask if they have double ap as mr helps vs double ap.

Get Void Staff 4th-6th item unless they have no magic resist or Aegis of the Legion. Rabadon's Deathcap should be 2nd-6th item if you do not need Abyssal Mask for they dont do much magic dmg, Zhonya's Hourglass if u don't need active and armor, Void Staff if they have no magic resist items or Aegis of the Legion.

Lich Bane when you are not likely to die and can auto often.

For defensive choices, get Banshee's Veil against critical spells such as Rocket Grab. Quicksilver Sash against suppress or long duration cc like Rammus taunt since Mercury's Treads isnt too effective against that. Iceborn Gauntlet can be useful against full ad comps. Rylai's Crystal Scepter for a mix of offense and defense if the situations above do not apply, it actually isn't a cost effective item but it synergizes well with ahri's Fox-Fire.

Get Vision Ward until full build, sell doran for the slot if needed. You must get Farsight Alteration at lvl 9 if against champions that can pick off your team. Get Elixir of Sorcery when u have nothing to buy and there will be a big fight. captain enchantment for boots upgrade is cheaper and closes up opportunities for your opponents to make a comeback.

You should always time the enemy summoners and let ur team kno if ur summoners are down. Flash without Summoner's Insight is 5 min, and with it is approximately 4 min 15s. Exhaust, Ignite, Cleanse, and Ghost are 3 min 30s and with the mastery 3 min. Teleport is 5 min and with mastery 4 min 15s. Heal is 4 minutes and with mastery 3 min 20s. Buffs are 5 minutes if you dont have vision of their buffs to make use of riot's buff timers. Dragon and baron are timed by the game scoreboard. inhibitor is 4 min.

Actions per minute; you should try to never stand still. It will warm up your hands if you keep clicking in left and right or in circles. Also do some wrist exercise so you don't develop anything bad.

Fox-Fire should only be used before all ins, during all ins, after landing Charm, or for stacking Essence Theft when 1-3 stacks away.

Orb of Deception is best out of her spells for synergizing with Essence Theft at max stacks.

You can use Charm Flash if you really need to land that Charm for a game changing kill or early game snowball. Pants are Dragon made a good video about it. https://youtu.be/XMAvVgOBnCk?t=34

It is better to burn Spirit Rush than to get hit by a cc and die.

When you throw out Orb of Deception, you can Flash or Spirit Rush to a better position to catch the return of Orb of Deception for maximum dmg. Orb of Deception now gives movement spd that is noticeable when running away from ur orb, so if you need to run faster, shoot the orb opposite of where u r going.

In my early game section later on you will read about how to deep ward. Why should we deep ward? It lets your team know where the jungler is so everyone can play more aggressive if they can. Without knowing where the jungler is everyone will risk getting ganked if they play aggressive, especially under enemy tower. Your team can get buff timers, set up counter ganks if your team is stronger 3v3 or 2v2, and gank without fear of a counter gank. Maybe even kill the jungler while he is doing a camp. Warding river will not be enough since junglers can lane gank, even behind their tower without needing to go in a lane bush.

Blitzcrank needs burst when he hooks some1, let him hook first as he cant hook a charmed target.

Elise cocoons can be used to set up ur Charm.

Thresh Death Sentence can be used to set up ur Charm.

You can follow up on all jungle ganks when Spirit Rush is up.

Nami and her Tidecaller's Blessing works well on u since ur auto atk animation is smooth.

Ekko if he lands stun on their carries, follow up no matter what

Do not pick a skill yet until you see your lane opponent in lane, when laner appears to show there is no lane swap, or there is no delay invade, then just get the standard Orb of Deception. Your first skill in all but one situation should be Orb of Deception, that one situation is a lvl 1 fight where u get Charm. You should defend a choke point safely. If defending wraith area do not stand in bush. If defending mid lane then have vision of both bushes and no need to have vision of their tower. You should use your trinket ward somewhere generally at 0:45-0:55, unless you see a group of invaders then you ward where you are escaping to. If you ward in front of them they can kill it. A delay invade optimally happens at 1:38, so warding at 0:45-0:55 at a decent spot to see the invade coming will let your team respond accordingly. If an enemy sees you when you are about to ward, its better to back off and ward a spot that they cannot see even though it is not as deep.

Mid laners generally should leash if they have 550 attack range, so as Ahri you can leash with only auto attacks until 1:47.

Generally for all lanes, if you have more minions you can go aggressive if you know where every1 is in the map; but not past the minions if you need your minions to help fight the enemy champs, unless you can completely zone them. If there are 10 enemy minions and you have 3 minions just back up all the way to tower as you will get collapsed on by the enemy. Since you will not lose any cs(creep score), you might as well go back to tower anyways. It takes 7 minions as solo lane to get lvl 2 so you should count both minion waves to see if you get lvl 2 first, opponent get lvl 2 first, or both sides will get lvl 2 at the same time. If opponent is getting lvl 2 first then you're gonna have to back off far. If the lane is even then you have to be cautious. Only do short trades when playing aggressive or else you take too much minion damage. You can go for longer trades if you notice that you benefit more from it.

You should watch your lane and your teammates to see if they have the factors of getting dived. The most obvious one is low health. Others are no flash, huge incoming minion wave, and champions missing. If you pay attention to other lanes or yourself, you can warn the possible dive and move your jungler, others can roam to help, or get in a spot for a safe teleport, all to turn around the dive. If none of the responses are available then the possible victim must leave. The duo lane should generally be together when the minion wave is at their tower, or else the enemy duo can 2v1 dive the lonely bottom player. Tell that bottom player to leave or call others to turn the dive around.

Towers will prioritize minions closest to itself, such as blue tower hitting the minions toward the top of the lane and red tower hitting minions toward the bottom of the lane. During early levels you can auto once on a full hp caster minion then tower shot then farm. The caster minions farther from the tower will most likely get hit by your minions which means you need to auto those more than once or not at all; and the tower will switch to hitting minions from top to bot or bot to top. Use your skills to catch farm under tower as a last resort.

Best case scenario is you know where everyone is on the map and you can safely push to their tower if you have more minions or freeze when they have a bit more minions. You can recall before a siege minion wave(which spawns after 2 minion waves during early game), so that by the time you go back to lane you won't miss out on too much cs since siege takes a while to be killed by tower as well as enemies can't push that fast.

If you killed your enemy laners and you do not know where every1 is on the map then you should go to your tower and recall. Do not risk getting killed by their jungler or whoever. If you got a successful jungler to gank you then ask him to push with you unless you are all low enough for a triple kill. After recalling, buy while walking to edge of fountain always until 20min mark.

Try to keep the lane even or frozen near your tower, since junglers have versatility in their route and you have control of minion wave.

It takes 7 minion worth of exp for solo lanes to level. You should count the minion deaths on both sides to see if you get lvl 2 first to go aggressive, both sides get lvl 2 at the same time, or if the enemy get lvl 2 first so you back off to tower. If you get lvl 2 first you can zone or trade hard.

Try to fake ward at times by walking to a spot as if you were warding. Do not facecheck bushes to ward.

You should conserve mana by not using Charm and Fox-Fire unless there is an all in or gank. When trading, use 1 auto followed by Orb of Deception then back up. You use auto first since the enemy may preemptively dodge. If you are not full hp and just want to harass then just Orb of Deception since it is a bit longer range than 550 range auto, but u want to stay or near full hp.. Orb of Deception and auto atk harass, like other skills and autos, should generally be used right when they go for a last hit. If you hit them then its good, if they dodge it when his cs is about to die then he will miss the cs. A win win situation.

If they are about to harass you when you go for cs, then u need to pretend to go for a cs then back off to the left, right, or back to dodge the skillshot, such as Dark Sphere.

If you can't deep ward, especially around lvl 3, u can pretend to ward the mid bushes by walking to the spots towards jungle. Dont ward by walking directly to the mid bush or else the jungler can be there and kill u.

If the top, support, or jungler(who is missing the most) is missing then u should expect a gank and should play safe. Watch for top lane Teleport as well as you cant do extended all ins unless your jungler and top lane is ready to help.

Generally when your jungler comes, u let him show first before engaging since u don't want to die in a 2v2 before your jungler gets to do anything. You can harass at enemy tower only when they go for caster minions, and only if you know where everyone is and Teleport cooldown. If you push your lane, you don't know where everyone is, and you are lvl 6, then you can try to roam, fake roam, farm raptor if u have blue buff, farm murk wolf if u have blue buff, or invade with your jungler to deep ward. Fake roam is u show that your heading bot or top but don't go all the way, this makes the side lanes play back b/c of your pressure.

At 2:40 a siege wave will arrive, try to kill them and the next wave so you can recall at 3:26. Buy doran pink and you can ward up their jungle at the cost of some minions. This mainly works if you are not against a lane bully.

A siege wave spawns at 4:00, this can be a good recall timing if you didn't do the paragraph before and you can kill the remaining minions, which lets the incoming siege wave slow down the enemy push while you come back to lane(you don't have to recall when the siege is in front of you; you can recall when it spawns).

Get Control Ward and sell doran if you need the slot at all stages of the game. You must get Farsight Alteration at lvl 9 if they have 2 Oracle Lens. For wards, the best spots is in the enemy jungle if it is safe. Control Ward best spots are in the enemy jungle's bush near red buff and bush near wolves. Stealth Ward the raptor area so your team can see the jungler farming. If not safe then just Control Ward a bush or the sides behind u, and Stealth Ward the bottom of the raptor ramp. Stealth Ward the middle of your lane if the enemy can out-roam and 1v1 you.

Play safe when your Spirit Rush is down, especially against Fizz as he can easily all in you. You can use Orb of Deception to escape ganks, so be careful when its down.

Mid game generally starts when a tower dies or when someone gets lvl 6 as they can tower dive. Call for help to ward enemy jungle if ur team is ahead. Always have 1 Vision Ward to contest objectives. Buy Elixir of Sorcery when you expect a fight.

Get all tier 1 towers, trading towers is fine.

You should generally be grouped with your team. Dont let your teammates push past river without grouping to ward enemy jungle. If your team is even then generally ward rivers and wait for next dragon fight. If your team is behind then generally ward your jungle/river and hope to get a pick.

Try to get enemy buff timers then set up a minute before with deep wards and a pink when your team is ahead. Your team can make plays when your massive minion wave is pushing by making a play on the opposite side of the map with an objective or decent minion wave to push. Or use the big wave by going with the huge minion wave for a strong siege or tower dive in that lane. DO NOT DIE FOR A TOWER. Even if it is one hit away, just get it later when it is safe.

Do not put down a pink if you are not contesting the area. Only engage in fights that you know your team can win. If your team is grouped and one of you gets picked on, disengage and try to save your teammate. Usually a fight ensues from that since no one can afford to lose a teammate at this stage of the game.

Try to slow push a side lane by telling your a teammate to leave 1 siege minion and 2 caster minion alive, so you can coordinate a timed push on the other side of the map w/ the massive wave. Remember to get Elixir of Sorcery. If there is backdoor pressure on your base, then use Farsight Alteration in the lane bushes in your side lanes as well as bushes in your jungle.

Only do dragon when 2 enemies are dead while your team isn't low, or it is a free dragon. A free dragon is when the enemy team is aced, their teleports are down, completely cleared their vision, theyre taking top buff, or recalled to base.

If they have Shyvana, Fiddlesticks, Nunu & Willump, Master Yi, Udyr, Shaco, Elise, Karthus, Lee Sin, and possibly more(not to mention laners helping out), then you need to keep it warded from a specific lvl onwards for a possible sneak.

If the enemy starts dragon, poke them until dragon is half hp, then fight. Poking them makes them disoriented to either finish, run, or fight. Dragon does aoe so if you start it, have one person in the pit to tank it away from team.

Do not do elder dragon with 2 people or less.

When securing baron for bait or to take, you want to deep ward and ward surrounding bushes to keep from getting stolen or to get a pick. Do not exclude the tri bush towards top lane.

As purple team you want to pink outside the pit and sweep inside the pit.

As blue team u want to pink in the pit near the entrance so that the enemy doesn't kill it over the wall.

Do not stand behind baron when taking it. It does damage to everyone standing behind it.

Your teammates need to have sweepers and pinks to help. As for positioning when taking baron you need to stand outside the pit with your carries. As for ward kills in the pit, support should be the one since support's dmg against baron is least important. When the enemy is in the baron pit, hit the baron to make it hit your enemies. Never use your cc at baron when enemies are around. One person should zone the enemy team if they are coming to stop the baron attempt. Communicate with your team beforehand to finish, run, or turn to fight.

At 20min and onwards you must ward it against sneaks from high objective junglers such as Nunu & Willump, Udyr, Karthus, Fiddlesticks, Master Yi, and possibly more(not to mention laners helping out).

Save your Charm for those that are not tanks if you can. Priority targets should be adc, supports who didnt use ult yet, mages who didnt use ult yet, and carry melee. Burn your ult or Flash if a cc is going to hit u. Killing the priority target isn't always best. Sometimes zoning them by holding onto Charm while killing the enemy front line can help your team win the fight very well. You can be split from the team, even from the other side of the enemy, if the enemy team has area of effect spells like Kennen, Malphite, and Sejuani.

Ahri is versatile and players usually don't counter pick her with Braum, but she can be handled easily by good LeBlanc, Fizz, Ryze, Corki, Gangplank and Azir players who all can carry harder. All questions in the comments will be replied by private message.