SUP Mobafire, I've created this guide to share how i usually play my favourite Nine-Tailed Fox, Ahri. This is the first guide I've created so it is kinda wordy and dull (I'm new with the scripting and stuff).

Who am I?-
Personally, I find myself an average day to day player. I have about over 500 wins now but I don't play rank games. I've been playing League Of Legends for over 7 months now. Before joining LoL, I was a Heroes Of Newerth player (DOTA graphics gave me a headache). I like playing champions I am unfamiliar with, so my KD is always in a mess, haha. I don't play ranked anymore as I keep running into trollers, afkers and feeders. (Not worth it to ruin my elo >.<) Personally, I find myself best in playing AP mid, but i usually pick the last available role.

What is Ahri to me?-
Ahri to me is an AP mid champion that does not do so well in early game, becomes insanely strong in mid game, but might lose out to champions with high HP and CC in late game. I bought Ahri after a friend of mine introduced this champion to me, and she became my favourite champion to use since then. I've started playing her since level 10 in PVP (I started pvp since level 1) but do not use her much now, but she is still my favourite champion though! (I deem her as on long-term vacation in Hawaii)

How I play Ahri and why should you play her?
I play Ahri either as the AP mid, or 1 v 2 solo top (I'm the solo). During early game, I play Ahri very defensively. Level 6 is where i start being very aggressive, and I like to stick with the team during late game. My playing style with Ahri is- CC the tanks, kill the carries. The reason you guys should play Ahri is because she has everything. She has skillshots, auto lock-on, CC and escape mechanism. I also feel that Ahri is a non-rune dependent champion, so she is quite beginner friendly.

In this guide, I wont cover on playing styles after the laning phase as I believe that every player should and will have their own personal preferred playing style, and cause.. .. ..well.. .. ..I also kiiiiinda lazy, hehe.

To end the introduction, my IGN is Lamy515 and I play League Of Legends (Garena). I hope you guys will find my guide useful or learnt something new from reading the guide. Thks!~ :)



Need some music? This is Ahri's song! Play Video


Not a fan or hate K-pop? No problem! Play Video

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OFFENSE TREE (9 points)
The bonus 5 AD helps you to deal more damage to your enemies.
Helps a little in cooldown reduction, you need this to get deeper into the mastery tree anyways.
Does not help you much, but it is still AP and is needed to get deeper into the mastery tree.
This gives you a slight amount of damage increase and helps you deal with opponents building magic


DEFENSE TREE (21 points)
Gives a little HP.
Gives a little armor.
Gives Magic Resist.
Reduces slows, helps you chase/ run away from the enemy a little easier.
Gives a little HP, helps a bit in early game.
(WTH ICON NOT UPDATED!!!)Make you take lesser damage while tower diving. OR
Lee Sin rushes towards a target ally, shielding them both for 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 (+80% of ability power) for the next 5 seconds. After using Safeguard, Lee Sin can cast Iron Will for the next 3 seconds.
This is needed as you are not buying Mercury's Treads. Help with CCs.
Gives you Magic Resist for more sustain.
Epic damage reducer, great finish for the tree.



Reason for my mastery tree being this way-
Ahri usually gets aimed in teamfights. By building her more defensively, she can run away while being targeted with more health to spare. By tapping into the defensive tree, it might even prevent deaths from occuring. As Ahri does not scale much, getting Archmage is not necessary. The little amount of AP it gets her does not really affect her damage output much. Although Executioner would be helpful, it means tapping it deeper into the offense mastery tree, trading a bit more on damage for a lot of sustainability. Unless you are using pure AP runes, I do not suggest you to take 21 points into the offense mastery tree.

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I get Greater Mark of Magic Penetration as Ahri doesn't scale well in AP, so getting Greater Mark of Ability Power will benefit Ahri lesser.


I get Greater Seal of Scaling Armor as it gives armor per level. Ahri does not need armor early game as her opposing laner is usually an AP caster, so getting Greater Seal of Scaling Armor will build her the armor needed later in game.


I get Greater Glyph of Magic Resist as it helps Ahri take lesser damage earlier in game, which makes her stay in her lane longer.


This might be unusual or alien for some of you. Many think that Greater Quintessence of Experience does not help much, but for Ahri, it means reaching level 6 faster then your opposing laner, getting your ult quicker, and able to kill your opposing laner while they are still stuck at level 5. Ahri does not scale well in AP, so getting your ult earlier will even it out.


As Ahri does not benefit much from AP runes, she has very little damage early game, making her a very weak early gamer. I suggest playing Ahri very defensively early in game.

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The two summoner spells i will usually take with me when using Ahri would be.. .. ..

Flash

Ignite

Flash is your "last chance to freedom spell" in case you screwed up or got caught with Spirit Rush on cooldown. Flash could also be used if you used up 2 charges on your Spirit Rush and the enemy needs only 1 more hit to die, so use your last charge of Spirit Rush to finish the enemy off and Flash over a nearby wall to avoid a gank or tower aggression.


Ignite is used to burst down an enemy in lane very quickly. As Ignite does true damage, just pop an Ignite, Spirit Rush, Orb of Deception, Spirit Rush, Fox-Fire, Spirit Rush, Charm, Orb of Deception, and laugh as 70% of the enemy health gets taken away by you.






Take Clarity with you if you like to play aggressively during early game.
Take Teleport with you if you don't give a single **** about last hitting and keep pushing your Heal is a good spell to take with you if you want to be more secure while tower diving. It might Barrier is a great summoner spell to take along if you love getting into 1 v 1 fights.
I don't recommend taking Clairvoyance with you as it does not benefit you in any way.
Cleanse might not be a good spell to take along on Ahri as it only removes debuffs. With your Exhaust can be taken along if your opposing laner has an escape ability. Exhaust might reduce Ghost might not be a good summoner spell to take along as Ahri does not benefit much from Revive might not be useful as it does not give Ahri any advantage during laning.
No, just no.
Surge does not benefit Ahri due to the low AP scaling she has.

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Ahri gains a charge of Essence Theft whenever one of her spells hits an enemy (max: 3 charges per spell). Upon reaching 9 charges, Ahri's next spell has 35% Spell Vamp.

Your passive Essence Theft might not be much in early game, but when you are going to tower dive your opposing laner, the 35% spell vamp might give you the extra HP to get out from the tower aggression area. During late game, Essence Theft will make you thank every minion wave / jungle camp as constant shooting an Orb of Deception into minions with Essence Theft and Will of the Ancients will regenerate all your health. (Thats healing 143 health per hit!!! *faints*) And with your Athene's Unholy Grail, you won't ever need to get back to your base to heal your health ever EVAR AGAIN!

• With a large minion wave, use Orb of Deception with Essence Theft
• With only a champion, use Essence Theft with Fox-Fire

Ahri throws out and pulls back her orb, dealing 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+33% of ability power) magic damage on the way out and 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+33% of ability power) true damage on the way back.

Many people do not realise this but your Orb of Deception does true damage, i repeat, TRUE DAMAGE on the way back. You wanna get 1 point on Orb of Deception at level 1 and max it at level 9 as it give the most damage output. Due to the high mana cost early in game, use this ability to harass defensively, and by defensively, i mean to use this ability when the opposing laner is running towards you to use a skillshot or target skill. They will be too focused on hitting you that they will not expect you to fire your Orb of Deception, which makes it easy for you to land a hit. Use your Orb of Deception to last hit if there are many minions with low health in a row, if its only 1, just give it up already -.-".

• Always position the Orb of Deception to hit when returning to you as it does true damage.
• As your orb comes back to you, moving left or right after firing the orb will adjust its angle, making you able to hit enemies that you missed when firing the orb.
• Combo your Orb of Deception after your Charm for a sure hit.

Ahri releases three fox-fires, which after a short delay lock on and attack nearby enemies (prioritizes champions), dealing 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+40% of ability power) magic damage. Additional fox-fires that hit the same target deal 50% damage, up to a maximum total damage of 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+80% of ability power).

Fox-Fire is what makes you unbeatable in a 1 v 1 with an AD carry or another AP carry. If used in the correctly, Fox-Fire might down over half of a carry's health. This is what gives Ahri tons of damage even though she has terrible AP scaling. Get Fox-Fire at level 4 and max it 2nd.

• In a teamfight, always save up Fox-Fire for the last enemy standing, which SHOULD ALWAYS be a tank like a Dr. Mundo OR an enemy AP/AD carry that got seperated from their team for maximum damage output like a BOSS.
• Always remember to activate Fox-Fire when being chased, as it does not require you to stop briefly to cast it unlike Orb of Deception or Charm. You might even turn the chasing around after the enemy gets hit by your Fox-Fire. The hunter gets hunted!
• Try not to use Fox-Fire to last hit if there are 2 or more enemy champions around you as it might hit an undesired target instead.

Ahri blows a kiss that deals 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+35% of ability power) magic damage to an enemy and charms it, causing them to walk harmlessly towards her for 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 seconds.

Charm is a CC skillshot that makes Ahri sexy. Shes so sexy that she can make make anyone and I literally mean ANYONE come to her. From outlaws- Graves, to armadillos- Rammus, to other sexy women- Lux and women dressed like a banana- Soraka. Yep she is THAT sexy. As Charm is the weakest ability in your skillset, use Charm in initiate a teamfight instead of saving it up to damage the enemy. Get Charm at level 2 and max it last.

• When initiating a teamfight, use Charm on the most heavy CC user on the enemy team, eg. Amumu, Maokai or Alistar, and burst down the enemy carry.
• Use Charm on an escaping enemy to bring them back to you, eg. Tryndamere with Undying Rage activated or Master Yi with Highlander active.
• Use Charm on a channeling enemy, eg. Katarina using Death Lotus or Nunu & Willump using Absolute Zero, to cancel their channel.

Ahri dashes forward and fires essence bolts, damaging 3 nearby enemies (prioritizes champions) for 85 / 125 / 165 (+35% of ability power) magic damage per bolt. Spirit Rush can be cast up to three times within ten seconds before going on cooldown.

Spirit Rush is your ninja skill. Its the skill that makes Ahri 'hard to get'. (I see what i did ther) Usually, new or non Ahri players will just use Spirit Rush to lash hit dying enemy champions or run away from chasers, but if comboed with her other 3 abilities Orb of Deception, Fox-Fire and Charm, Ahri can tower dive an enemy who still have 50% of their HP and get away with it. Spirit Rush could also be comboed and triangled (rush in a triangle) around a pursuer to juke and damage your pursuer and possibly finish him/her off. (Triple juke, awesome) If there is more than 1 pursuer, use Spirit Rush and do what every other sexy fox does- RUN AWAY!!! XD Get Spirit Rush at level 6, 11 and 16.

• Spirit Rush could be used to initiate teamfights safely, Spirit Rush in, Charm the heaviest CC user on the enemy team and Spirit Rush out.
• Spirit Rush could be used to kite tower divers.
• Spirit Rush can dash through walls.

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Starting Items


Start with x1 Boots and x3 Health Potion if your opposing mid laner is a skillshot user like Lux or Viktor. The Boots gives you better mobility to dodge skillshots and the Health Potion for lane sustainability.



Start with x1 Faerie Charm and x8 Health Potion if your opposing laner is a target caster like Ryze or Mordekaiser. As target casters have to go close to you just to cast an ability on you, take Faerie Charm along with you to use your spells and harass more oftenly. Also the 8 Health Potion are used to keep your health up as target abilities will not miss!!!





Core Items


While laning, save up for a Needlessly Large Rod first if you are doing fine, if not, buy a Blasting Wand instead. Rush for a Rabadon's Deathcap first before completing your boots, as Rabadon's Deathcap will give you a huge amount of AP, which will have a big increase in your damage. Sorcerer's Shoes is a MUST for Ahri as it gives 15 magic penetration. This 15 magic penetration will help you damage a little more than usual. Get Sorcerer's Shoes after your Rabadon's Deathcap.





Sequence for other items
Here i will explain when to get the other items towards the final build


Athene's Unholy Grail

60 Ability Power, 40 Magic Resistance, 15 Mana Regeneration. UNIQUE Passive: +15% Cooldown Reduction. UNIQUE Passive: Restores 12% of your maximum Mana on kill or assist. UNIQUE Passive: Mana Font: Increases your Mana Regeneration by 1% per 1% Mana you are missing (Does not stack with Chalice of Harmony).

Get this item if the enemy AP carry is fed and focuses you as his/her main target. Its mana regen passive will also keep your mana up, allowing you to constantly cast abilities. You can also restore the mana you have used up while bursting down your target due to the 12% mana restoration.


Rylai's Crystal Scepter

80 Ability Power, 500 Health. UNIQUE Passive: Your spell damage will slow the target's movement speed by 35% for 1.5 seconds (15% for multi-target spells, damage over time spells and spells with a cooldown time below 3 seconds).

Get this item if you are being focused by the enemy team with either Athene's Unholy Grail or Zhonya's Hourglass for more health and sustain in teamfights. Also, as it slows down enemies from spell-damage , it could prove to be very useful while chasing down fast targets like Teemo.


Will Of the Ancients

50 Ability Power. UNIQUE Aura: Gives nearby allied champions +30 Ability Power and 20% Spell Vamp.

Get this item if you doing very well and not being focused. It gives you a huge amount of AP (50 + 30 from aura) and not forgetting the 20% spell vamp, which heals a hell lot of your health when stacked with Essence Theft. Take note that the aura can be stacked if one more of your teammate has the same item!! I recommend getting this item last.


Zhonya's Hourglass

100 Ability Power, 50 Armor. UNIQUE Active: Places your champion into Stasis for 2.5 seconds, rendering your champion invulnerable and untargetable but unable to take any actions. 90 second cooldown.

Get this item if you are being focused down by the enemy AD carry. Its 50 armor gives you more sustain in teamfights and its active could buy just enough time for your team to finish off the carries in the enemy team.




You should go situational and buy this if you are not doing too well while laning. Fed the Fizz on the other team? Olaf ganking you too hard? No problem!


Mejai's Soulstealer
Total Price: 1235
Recipe Price: 800

20 Ability Power. UNIQUE Passive: Your champion gains 8 Ability Power per stack, receiving 2 stacks for a kill or 1 stack for an assist. This effect can stack 20 times; you lose a third of your stacks if you die. At 20 stacks (160 ability power), your champion gains 15% Cooldown Reduction.

Many people dislike this item, and some even think that people who buy this item are trollers. As for me, I get Mejai's Soulstealer after boots when I know I am not doing too well in lane. As Ahri Spirit Rush also shoots bolts, just Spirit Rush in a fight to land a hit, Spirit Rush out while your other teammates finishes them off and voila, you will getting massive amount of AP without even knowing it. Many people believe that you should only buy this item if you know you are getting lots of kills without dying, as 1 kill gives 2 stacks, but if you buy this on a support or a champion that has good harass and escape mechanism like Ahri, you will be getting huge amount of AP solely by assisting. Remember that Mejai's Soulstealer and Sword of the Occult alike have a breaking point of 5, so with only 5 assists, you will be getting back into the game in no time! I suggest buying this item before you buy Rabadon's Deathcap.

If you are still constantly dying even when you are playing safe, ASK FOR HELP!!!







Rod Of Ages
Total Price: 2800
Recipe Price: 740

60 Ability Power, 450 Health, 450 Mana. Passive: Your Champion gains 18 Health, 20 Mana, and 2 Ability Power every 1 min. Bonuses cap at +180 Health, +200 Mana and +20 Ability Power. (Not included in stats) UNIQUE Passive: Valor's Reward: On leveling up, restores 150 Health and 200 Mana over 8 seconds.

If any of you readers see an Ahri buying a Rod of Ages and is not a pro player, follow these steps. 1)Click B. 2)Type /surrender. 3)Take some apple juice to drink and wait for the 20 minute mark. 4)Click ENTER. If you ever thought of buying Rod of Ages for Ahri, you can go look in a mirror and slap yourself 5 times in the face. If you think buying Rod of Ages for Ahri is correct, please click on the link here ---> CLICK HERE, close this tab, and never open this page again. Do i even have to friggin explain this? OK FINE. ROA- Gains AP by the minute, only gets 80 AP max, and is bloody expensive. You might as well save up for a Needlessly Large Rod which gives more instant AP with that 2800 gold right? And why do you need the extra health and mana for? You are going to get an Athene's Unholy Grail and Rylai's Crystal Scepter anyways. THINK MAN, THINK!



Deathfire Grasp
Total Price: 3000
Recipe Price: 965

100 Ability Power, 15% Cooldown Reduction. UNIQUE Active: Deals 15% of target champion's maximum Health in Magic Damage then amplifies all magic damage they take by 20% for 4 seconds (60 second cooldown)

I don't even suggest buying this item at all, unless the enemy tank is carrying (which means that the enemy carries are screwed and you will probably win this game). Deathfire Grasp was a very good item before it was nerfed, as it deals % of target's current health by scaling with you AP. It was suppose to be a tank health draining item, but after it got nerfed, I don't think it is worth buying anymore, as the health drained is only capped at 15%. Even though it has magic damage amplification, it is only useful on carries as you don't aim the tank, like ever, leaving the tank with a lot of HP to tank for the team, thus making this item not worth getting.



Doran's Ring
Total Price: 475
Recipe Price: 475

15 Ability Power, 80 Health, 3 Mana Regeneration. Passive: Restores 5 mana when you kill an enemy unit.

It is not a good idea to start or even buy Doran's Ring with Ahri due to the cost and low AP it gives. If you stay in the lane longer and farm at the safety of your tower instead of going back to buy a Doran's Ring, you will have enough gold to go back and buy a Blasting Wand instead, which is cheaper than 2 Doran's Ring and gives you more AP. And if you start the game with a Faerie Charm, you will have the mp regen equivalent to that of a Doran's Ring, making the mp regen unnecessary. With the Blasting Wand, you can finish your Rabadon's Deathcap much more quicker.



Liandry's Torment
Total Price: 2900
Recipe Price: 980

60 Ability Power, 300 Health. UNIQUE Passive: Eyes of Pain: +15 Magic Penetration. UNIQUE Passive: Dealing spell damage burns enemies for 5% of their current Health as magic damage over 3 seconds. If their movement is impaired, they take double damage from this effect. Half duration for multi-target or periodic effects. 300 max damage vs monsters.

Not a good item on Ahri as Ahri is not a AP DPS (damage per second) champion. Yes it gives the magic penetration and burn, but buying it for Ahri is not maximizing its use.

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For this section, I will cover how to lane with champions that will usually go mid.

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Laning difficulty= NORMAL to HARD Skillshot Caster This is actually pretty weird as if the other Ahri is also rushing for a Rabadon's Deathcap first, it will be normal. But if the other Ahri start off with a Doran's Ring or rushing for a Rylai's Crystal Scepter first (cause he/she obviously haven't came across my guide), it will be hard as the other Ahri will have a slight AP advantage. No fret! Just hold on and play defensively, get your Rabadon's Deathcap and show the other Ahri the importance of reading my guide! GO GUYS!

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Laning difficulty= Morderate Target Caster As Akali is a melee champion, you will have an easier time laning with her then ranged champions. Be sure to constantly harass her with your basic attack. When she attempts to poke you with her Mark of the Assassin, be sure to poke her back with you Orb of Deception. With your x3 Greater Quintessence of Experience you will have no problem on killing her first when you get your ult, but the tough gets going when akali obtains her Shadow Dance. Try to pull your lane as close to your tower as possible.

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Laning difficulty= EASY Skillshot Caster Anivia is one of the easier champions to lane with due to her slow skillshot Flash Frost and short ranged Frostbite. Your Orb of Deception has a bigger range so you do not need to worry about being poked without poking her back. Always be aware for an incoming Flash Frost as it enables Anivia to target a free Frostbite on you with amplified damage. Be cautious when tower diving as Anivia can be reborn due to her passive Rebirth.

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Laning difficulty= WELCOME TO HELL Target Caster As Annie has a stun, Pyromania, and a target spell which has a good range, Disintegrate, it will be almost impossible to lane with her. I suggest freezing or pulling the lane to avoid getting caught in the middle of the lane. If able, ask your jungler to gank your lane as much as he/she can. A trick to get harass Annie is to wait for her to use her Pyromania to last hit a minion then go near to basic attack her.

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Laning Difficulty= MODERATE to HARD AD Carry This might be unusual but it happens- an Ashe coming to middle lane. Since Ashe is an ADC, there is no way that you can win her in auto attacking. The difficulty is rated moderate to hard as if the Ashe plays normally, it will be easier to lane with her. But if she goes aggressive, it will be hard for you to lane properly. As Ashe can slow you down with Frost Shot, i suggest starting off with the Faerie Charm and 8 Health Potion. Instead of using your Orb of Deception to harass her when she attempts to auto attack you, i suggest to Charm her and land some auto attacks while she is still getting CCed. When you reach level 6 and obtain your Spirit Rush, you can kill her in no time!

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Laning Difficulty= EASY to HARD Skillshot Caster If your laner is a Brand, you will have to try your luck. New or average Brand players will be easy laning with as their skillshots are very easy to dodge, but professional Brand players will make you impossible to lane with. By standing behind minions, only Brand 2nd skill Pillar of Flame will be able to hit you. Make sure that your left, right and back are cleared of minions that might block you from running away from his Pillar of Flame. I suggest pulling back the lane while laning and bursting him right after he uses his Pillar of Flame as it has a long cooldown. If you tried and died 2 times to Brand, i suggest to switch lanes with your top ASAP.

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In summary, Ahri is best played as defensively during early game, go aggressive during mid game, and always stick to your team during late game. As for building Ahri, always remember this phrase from a wise man (me)- Don't stack Dorans, screw the Rod. If guide is followed correctly, I'm sure you will do fine~

I'm sorry if I could not upload videos on how Ahri should be played as I have a ****py PC and recording with FRAPS will reduce my FPS to 5 frames per second. -.-" Not only that, LoL Replay has not been fixed to work on the new patch so I could not record from replays, sorry guys.

Be sure to leave a comment or review, again, as this is my first guide, your comments will help a bunch! Thank you and play Ahri right!

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Upcoming Updates:
-Champion comparison will be updated by requests on champions in the discussion.
-Might add screenshot of match history.
-Might work on phrasing for certain sentences.