Ahri Build Guide by Read

Introductions

Change Log

Version 1.0
- Basic Guide. Whatup!

Version 1.1
- Changed Passive info. Still can't manage to get an icon pic out of it though. Anyone know how to format this?
- Reformatted a few things that looked out of place. Anyone know how to post icons with no tooltips? I would really appreciate it since my icons are apparently confusing some.
- Expanded the itemization section slightly
- Updated the Rune information.
- Thought about removing second build. But I like having the ability to see both skill progessions and itemzation options visually. If it seems to be a huge problem with confusion I will remove it but I think currently it is actually adding to the value of the guide.
- I added some of the strat sections including mid Archetypes and phases.
- I am holding off on mid matchups until ive had them all and have experience with them. I will probably write a few out though soon.

Pros/Neutrals/Cons

Ahri is just an amazing champ. She has a great kit that allows her to skirmish, kite, solo lane, dual lane, and gank all extremely effectively. But like any other champ, she has her ups and downs as well as her little idiosyncrasies that make her unique.

- Extremely mobile - Great Ganks - Best Kiter in game - Great Harass - Can escape any situation

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- Silence and Stun will disable - has a brief CD between uses - deals PBAOE after dashing - Dynasty skin has different dance - will proc on one trip of

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- Very easy to overextend - Skillshot intensive - Close range required for full damage - Requires mana management - Inevitably gets focused

Roles

Assassin
Kill all of them.
Your primary objective beyond destroying your lane. You need to help destroy other lanes. Quite simple right? If your mid is dead, go kill top or bot. But make sure to keep killing!

Pusher
Why on earth would this be a role she fills.
Because she can clears minions quickly, Lichbane will allow her to deal good damage to towers, and no one can catch when she does it. 'Nuff Said!
Initiator
Another odd role?
Ahri is an AP caster. The specialty of most nukish characters is that they evaporate carries and can cause bad things to happen quickly. Because of her insane mobility good CC ( Charm and Rylai's Proc) she can easily punish teams who are not moving correctly or destroy that cocky carry.
Bait
Finally, something we understand. I'm the best bait!
She has an amazing ability to piss people off, get away with no HP, and escape certain death. End game, people will want you dead. It's you're job to kite them around into your hodge-podge 5 man counter gank. Bait them into towers, teammates, and junglers, laugh, repeat.

Summoners

Midding & Archetypes

Welcome to the strat section!!! This is going to go a bit more in-depth and be less pretty than the rest of the guide. The first thing I should mention is that Ahri is a very complex champ. She is very three dimensional and will control the flow of your lane whether you like it or not.

Mid is where Ahri belongs. On occasion, it will get taken from you. Haters be hatin', pimps keep rollin', they see me ridin' dirty. You will almost always land mid though so don't worry too much about it. I will not cover the importance of last hitting because well I don't feel like it -_^. However, the most important thing in lane as Ahri is to NOT push your lane! It's easy to do but don't. Just don't. Please!

The first decision you need to make is how to handle your mid opponent. Keep in mind who are you midding against for opening items. Here I will cover basics archtypes, because I will have a champion matchup chapter of its own.

First type of mid matchup is the heavy harass. Karthus, Brand, or Cassiopeia are all forms of this mid matchup. Opening with Boots of Speed and 3 x Health Potion, is very effective against this type of matchup. You will want to keep moving, keep last hitting and watch their movements and mana bar. Heavy harassers will be easy to read after a few seconds of watching.

Orb of Deception is an amazing counter for these guys. When you read their next harass, throw out your orb and juke. With harassment remember, they almost always try to land their **** slightly behind you. This causes juking to be trickier. Juking straight at them can be as effective as going straight back but beware the jungle. Almost all harassment types have a delay on their abilities ( Noxious Blast, Pillar of Flame, Lay Waste) so keep that in mind.

This is one of the most annoying to deal with. You know who these guys are Malzahar, Morgana, and Heimerdinger to name a few. The one trait of these guys is that you almost can't push them out of lane. Their skillsets make them mana/hp efficient and able to push their lane if necessary. This type mid will minimize tower damage and will focus on farming. Mana management is extremely important against this matchup. I suggest catalyst but you should be OK with most of the openers I have in the Itemization section below.

Opportunity is Ahri middle name. Jungle ganks, as well as, good timing can beat these guys out. It's just not easy. Focus on last hitting, let them push your lane, and always have those twitch reflexes ready.

BUT beware! They are very opportunistic with ganking. They almost always have reliable CC and they will most likely have hp and mana to initiate. Level 6 becomes very dangerous around these types. So do not become over confident. It is often far more effecient to push your lane when they back to buy, and gank another lane.
The third Archtype I will mention. These are your run of the mill jump on you, blow your up, and run away types. Each is very different as to how they accomplish this but the principle is the same. Here you will be dealing with champs like LeBlanc, Veigar, Anivia, Kassadin, or Lux.

The trick this matchup is the CC. They all have some form of CC that will let them safely nuke you. Whether it is a silence, stun, or snare you have to play carefully. These types will snowball very quickly so your first few skirmishes will determine your entire lane. I like Doran stacking against this type. It gives you a little more HP and early trading potential. I have also recently tried Moonflair Spellblade and it worked wonders against this matchup! Up to you though.

For the one's you can, dodge the CC. Do not get stunned or snared. Easier said then done, but that is necessary. I find that Orb of Deception get's outranged by most champs in the archtype. Many have to get close to deal full damage though Katarina or Kassadin. A serious decision you have to make with this matchup is your skill order. Fox-Fire can be a good counter to close-up nukers.

The final catch-all archetype. This is anyone that comes mid besides and AP carry. I've seen many come here some more often than not. There are simply too many to list here but I will include a few of the more popular ones I see in my champ matchup section.

Decisions & Phases

Now that you know how to handle your mid situation a little better I would like to go into the what I call the flow of the game and the power curve. Everything in this game is based off curves using diminishing returns such as Magic resist, Armor, Attack speed, Movement speed, and anything else.

True Efficiency is based off of moderation. You must have the correct combination off all stats to be effective in this game. But something most don't realize is that the game itself has a curve. We see it and call it different things but we all feel it. If you lane to much your team suffers. If you roam too much, your lane suffers. Successful ganks change the game. A bad jungler will single handedly destroy your laning experience while a good one will win the game.

You have solo mid most likely. You have the coveted position where XP is huge, lasting hitting is easier, and the jungle will be watching over you and warding for you. You are the teams baby. You have the responsibility of honoring the sacrifices they make by completely powning. You need to stay ahead of the global XP, gold, and buff curve.

Laning has many important aspects tied to it. Harassing, last hitting, pushing, over extending, positioning, escaping ganks are just some of the aspects that must be managed. Let's get into specifics. With the runes and masteries listed, Orb of Deception should lower caster minions to one-hit status. This is useful ensuring your last hits which should be easy on Ahri.

But Orb of Deception can easily lower caster minions, as well as, harass. Make sure you poke any aggressive people everytime they poke out. Between your Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration and your mana management items, you shouldn't have mana problems unless your spamming your full rotation. Stay ahead in last hits regardless of your mid matchup. Level 1-4 should be very passive. Once your hit level 4 you should have your charm. When the enemy has a clear line of sight, land your Charm followed by Orb of Deception. You should move towards them if you proc Fox-Fire because its range is shorter than your other skills. But don't if you think a jungle is incoming

Once your hit 6, check your stupidity. I know what your thinking, "Jump Right Now! I can't possibly die. I have 3 flashes." 5 seconds later your dead. Why? Because you're an idiot. We need to do some checks first.

1. LEVEL UP TO 6
2. Do your have ward coverage?
A. YES: next step
B. NO: get some
3. Is a jungler present?
A. Ally: coordinate and then land Charm
B. Enemy: smack him so he will leave ^_^
4. Check enemy HP?
A. HP<50% Land Charm THEN combo Ignite and save one ult for the kill or escape
B. HP>50% Harass more
5. Phase 3

You need to take a good look at the other lanes. Is your team winning all the lanes? Which team is overextending? Which looks more certain: a gank top or bot? If you can't find any good option, go kill mid again ^_^. Ask for blue, your junlger shouldnt need it anymore (except maybe Amumu). Are your guys trying to take dragon? I suggest sending mid back if so, and then get all 4 bot champs to help at dragon.

Definitely, make sure you are helping failing lanes. You can push minion waves very quickly so ganking bot, assassinating two people and pushing the lane will destroy the other team gold advantage. Make sure your jungle can defend mid if you do this a lot though. Keep in mind that if you're not netting kills you WILL fall behind in XP. I suggest a 80% laning and 20% Roaming in this stage.

Pushing your wave a few times in a row, then disappear and gank lane. Charm is vital to ensuring a kill. Obviously, Ahri is a skillshot based champ so you need to not fail (*_*).
This phase changes drastically depending on how your itemized and how fed you are. If you have Deathfire Grasp and Lich Bane you will be throwing out a lot of burst. If you went Rod of Ages and Rylai's Crystal Scepter you will be much tankier. Regardless, you need to land your Charm.

Inevitably, when trading back and forth some carry or nuke will stay 2 steps behind to throw one final poke. This is when your Spirit Rush, Charm, and destroy them. Ahri has Blitzcrack level punishment for a person being out of place. Always keep an eye out for such circumstances.

When a team fight breaks out, Ahri will get focused. She must be close to deal full damage. One of the most effective ways to deal with this is to dash in deal damage and dash out. Often, people will follow you wading through AD carries, offtanks, and CC to try to kill you. If you aren't doing any damage, be bait. Lich Bane and Rylai's Crystal Scepter make your insane to catch. She is amazing at kiting and being bait. The longer they are chasing you, the longer they are useless.

Proper use of Charm can turn team fights. If you are against a Galio, Katarina, or any other channel ults Charm can easily save your team. Make sure your hold it if those do or die situation are present.
Remember, Spirit Rush can go through walls. If you feel like you can net a quick assassination when countering baron or dragon, dash in nuke and dash out. It is dangerous, but that is a decision your will have to make. I have stolen baron and triple killed. I died but it won us the game.

Like I mentioned earlier, Ahri has so much potential to do almost anything. It is up to your realize what she can do, what your limits are, and when you can make those game changing moves.

Itemization

Rod of Ages
Tankiness as well as some mana management and AP. Obviously, take this if you chose to open with a catalyst. This will give you some survivability as well as take care of your mana issues for the most part and start you off with some decent AP.
Archangel's Staff
Mana management and AP. Obviously, take this if you chose to open with a Tear of the Goddess. Mana should not be an issue any longer with this item. It also gains the AP bonus from mana gained on other items in the build.
Rabadon's Deathcap
Massive AP and Damage! This is a must have item for any damage centered AP caster. So get it. That is all.
Rylai's Crystal Scepter
AP, Survivability, and complete ***** STATUS. Want to piss the other team off? Want to get away with it? This one item allows you to kite entire teams for as long as you like. The slow will apply on both trips of your OOD. As well you get the full slow off of every Fox-Fire. For the love of God get this item on her. ALWAYS!___________________________________________________________________
Abyssal Scepter
AP and MR. This seems great for the fact that Ahri has to be closer to target like some other champs. However, due to the design of her kit and how important certain other items are, I think this item is better left to the AP tanks/supports but is still an option.
Zhonya's Hourglass
AP, Survivability, and a big lead weight. Ahri is an amazingly fast paced and fluid champ. Why on earth would you want to make her sit in one spot for a few seconds glowing gold with a sign over her head, "I'm about to die." If you need to use Zhonya's active, you're not doing it right...
Morello's Evil Tome
AP, CDR, and Mana Regen. Looks great on paper. It's a decent item. But if you want to get this, get Deathfire Grasp instead.
Moonflair Spellblade
AP and Tenacity. This is a great early purchase against Nukes who open with CC like Veigar, Kassadin, and LeBlanc. I highly recommend you try it on those matchups. Though it is not worth it on almost any other matchup.
Banshee's Veil
Spell Shield, Mana, and survivability.I would only get this if you are really having a problem with certain burst champs Veigar or LeBlanc. Or if their team has 3+ AP champs on it.
Quicksilver Sash
MR and a Personal Cleanse. This item is great for when you start to get focused. It is also great against certain matchups like Veigar or Brand who like to lead with stuns.

Abilities/Skills Order

Generally, I will take this skill order. Maxing>>. This will generally give you better harass, allows for you to clear creep waves more effectively, and will be more useful for AOE damage in early team fights.


If I feel like going completely nuke.>>This is better for nuking down single target which is great early game and for ganking. However, your AOE, clearing, and team fight potential will be slightly less poweful.


Essence Theft
Passive that helps with sustainability.
This passive makes you very annoying to lane against as well as kill. You will be able to proc this passive very quickly due to your AOE (Almost always netting 3 stacks per cast). It will be up every other rotation and will often save you.
Orb of Deception
Mid Range Skillshot dealing damage on the way out and back Ahri's main harassment tool. Can use to kite extremely effectively because you can cast and run causing them to take both hits without you being in much danger. Clears minions waves quickly as well. Max this first because it has more uses including team AOE.
Fox-Fire
Short range auto-target spell. Summons 3 rotating fires that will seek out the nearest enemy (prefers champions). Even if you have summoned the fires, silence or stun will disable them from acquiring targets. This is probably her most damaging spell 1v1 but not necessarily the most useful(kiting, team fighting, etc). Max second for burst damage.
Charm
Straight skillshot that baits the first enemy struck to move towards you. This skill is usually your opening which will allow you to safely cast an entire rotation without taking any damage. This can also seal the fate of slightly out of place carries. I suggest maxing this last because you usually only need a split second to pull off what's needed.
Spirit Rush
A quick series of dashes which deal auto target AOE damage after each dashA slightly OP ultimate that makes Ahri nearly ungankable and nearly inescapable. Deals decent AOE damage and can close massive gaps to gank or retreat.

Runes/Masteries

- Magic Pen is necessity on AP mids
- Mana Regen is an obvious choice for many AP champs
- Ability power runes can you give you just a little edge throughout the game
- Stacking early AP early makes trading and taking over lanes easier

Media

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Conclusion