Hello guys, my name is Atháril and I am here to show you how to play Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Ahri is a champion who can be played as great mid character. I bought Ahri the same day in which he appeared, thinking it would be a hybrid. Frankly, I could not play her until I came up with this. In this guide I prepared three builds to show you how Ahri could be useful. Feel free to read :)



Unlike other foxes that roamed the woods of southern Ionia,  Ahri had always felt a strange connection to the magical world around her; a connection that was somehow incomplete. Deep inside, she felt the skin she had been born into was an ill fit for her and dreamt of one day becoming human. Her goal seemed forever out of reach, until she happened upon the wake of a human battle. It was a grisly scene, the land obscured by the forms of wounded and dying soldiers. She felt drawn to one: a robed man encircled by a waning field of magic whose life was quickly slipping away. She approached him and something deep inside of her triggered, reaching out to the man in a way she couldn't understand. His life essence poured into her, carried on invisible strands of magic. The sensation was intoxicating and overwhelming. As her reverie faded, she was delighted to discover that she had changed. Her sleek white fur had receded and her body was long and lithe, the shape of the humans who lay scattered about her.

However, though she appeared human, she knew that in truth the transformation was incomplete. A cunning creature, she adapted herself to the customs of human society and used her profound gift of beauty to attract unsuspecting men. She could consume their life essences when they were under the spell of her seductive charms. Feeding on their desires brought her closer to her dream, but as she took more lives, a strange sense of regret began to well within her. She had reservations about actions which never troubled her as a fox. She realized that she could not overcome the pangs of her evolving morality. In search of a solution, Ahri found the Institute of War, home of the most gifted mages on Runeterra. They offered her a chance to attain her humanity without further harm through service in the League of Legends.

"Mercy is a human luxury... and responsibility." ― Ahri

Once again I make sad fanatics of Heal and Clarity - if you want to take these spells, Ahri is not for you... Or for you, if you take something useful - Ignite and Flash. Yes behave worthy assassin. Only these two offer the possibility of additional damage and subsequent escape mechanism, combined with the skills of Ahri makes it a perfect and sexy killer - but she is still sexy in itself.

While being careful can long persist, Ahri due to their mobility, may since the beginning gain a huge advantage over your opponent thanks to the AP runes. I recommend Greater Mark of Magic Penetration for magic penetration, and a set Greater Quintessence of Ability Power, Greater Glyph of Ability Power, and (because of its mana-hungry) Greater Seal of Mana Regen.



Situationally, you can play it on the Greater Seal of Armor in conjunction with Greater Glyph of Magic Resist - we can often meet a strong opponent against whom we have to use magic resistance and the ability to refuel with each new level. There are a lot of other options, like Greater Seal of Health, Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction and Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed. But, in my opinion she should have a lot of ability power at the beginning.

Masteries which I use:

• Summoner's Wrath - extra 5 AD and AP if you use your Ignite,
• Mental Force - more AP,
• Sorcery - cooldown reduction,
• Arcane Knowledge - magic penetration,
• Blast - more AP,
• Havoc - extra damage dealed by your champion, love it,
• Spellsword - great idea, hope it can help a lot: dealing magic damage with every standard attack,
• Archmage - more, more, more AP,
• Executioner is a must - as mid champion she needs to kill. Just assassinate them and goodnight.

As assassin she can go in battle and go out easily. I do not recommend play as 21-9-0, because she can be mana-hungry, so Meditation and Expanded Mind are very useful for me to not allow be out of mana Ahri. With these masteries you can beat a lot of enemies! I decided to take Runic Affinity and put 1 point into [Mastermind], (I assume your jungler will be nice and he will give second and others Crest of the Ancient Golem.

• Essence Theft - Is Ahri's innate skill. Essence Theft is a passive ability that gains charges whenever any of Ahri's abilities deal damage. Each target that takes damage will provide 1 charge, up to a maximum of 3 per ability. Upon reaching 9 stacks, her next ability will consume the charges to gain 35% spell vamp when it deals damage. Essence Theft is not expended if her next ability doesn't hit an enemy unit. Spirit Rush's 3 separate casts are considered as individual spell casts; it is therefore possible to gain 9 charges by only activating Spirit Rush. Essence Theft cannot be charged or consumed with Ahri's summoner spells or items' active effects. When Essence Theft has 9 stacks, Ahri's orb becomes green.
  
• Orb of Deception - Ahri's Q. It is a pass-through linear skillshot that sends out an orb in the target direction, dealing magic damage to all enemy units it hits. After reaching its maximum range the orb then returns to Ahri, dealing true damage to enemy units hit. Orb of Deception does not proc on-hit effects. Orb of Deception procs spell vamp and Rylai's Crystal Scepter's slow similarly with all multi target spells and abilities with diminished effect. Orb of Deception pops Spell Shield. Orb of Deception's magic damage will be blocked by Black Shield. However, the true damage will not be blocked. Both the initial and return hits will heal Ahri with Essence Theft's spell vamp.
  
• Fox-Fire - Ahri's W. Fox-Fire is a proximity self-targeting ability that, upon activation, releases 3 fox-fires around Ahri for a short duration. These fox-fires will launch themselves to deal magic damage to the closest enemy units, prioritizing champions. Consecutive hits of fox-fires on the same target beyond the first will deal 50% damage. Fox-Fire does not proc on-hit effects. Fox-Fire procs spell vamp and Rylai's slow similarly with all single target spells and abilities with full effect. Fox-Fire pops Spell Shield. Fox-Fire will damage Black Shield. Fox-Fire's targeting priority is as follows: The enemy champion closest to the fox-fire's location; The target of Ahri's last autoattack; The enemy unit closest to the fox-fire's location.
  Fox-Fire has no casting time and does not interrupt Ahri's previous orders. Ahri may act freely while Fox-Fire is active. Each of the fires from Fox-Fire counts as a single-target spell for the purposes of Rylai's slow and Spell Vamp. Fox-Fire can only target units that are visible. This means that champions, stealthed champions, minions and jungle creeps in the fog of war and inside brushes can not be auto-locked and hit. The cooldown of Fox-Fire does not begin until all the fox-fires have either been consumed or expired. Each Fox-Fire has its own targeting radius. They may thus target and damage different units depending on their location relative to Ahri's. Once Fox-Fire locks onto a target it will act similarly to a direct-targeted ability, moving to and hitting the target regardless of whether it leaves vision or the ability's range afterwards.
  
• Charm - Ahri's E. It is a collision linear skillshot that affects the first enemy unit it hits, dealing magic damage and charming them for a short duration. While under the effect the target is forced to move towards Ahri's location at a specific movement speed, and cannot control its movement, attacks or use any abilities. Charm does not proc on-hit effects. Charm procs spell vamp and Rylai's slow similarly with all single target spells and abilities with full effect. Charm pops Spell Shield. Charm will damage Black Shield but the charm effect will be negated. If Ahri is not within the charmed enemy's sight, they will stand still for the duration of the charm debuff. Neither slows nor speed boosts affect a Charm victim's movement speed with which they are moving toward Ahri. Stuns and snares, however, prevent a victim from walking while under such effects. This is not considered a slow and is not affected by Highlander or Decisive Strike. Even though Rylai's Crystal Scepter applies a full slow on a Charmed target, this slow is effective only while Charm's rank is below 3 as Rylai's slow will expire before Charm does.
  
• Spirit Rush - Ahri's R. Spirit Rush is a three part cursor targeted dash ability which causes Ahri to rush towards the cursor's location. Spirit Rush can be activated up to two more times after the initial cast, with a 1 second cooldown between each dash. Every time Ahri casts Spirit Rush, upon reaching her destination she fires up to 3 essence bolts which target and deal magic damage to the closest enemy units, prioritizing champions. Spirit Rush goes on cooldown after all three casts are used, or after 10 seconds of the initial cast. Spirit Rush does not proc on-hit effects. Spirit Rush procs spell vamp and Rylai's slow similarly with all multi target spells and abilities with diminished effect. Spirit Rush pops Spell Shield. Spirit Rush will damage Black Shield. Spirit Rush allows Ahri to go through walls and terrain. Each use of Spirit Rush counts as an individual spellcast. Each dash will interact fully with Essence Theft, and can attain up to 3 charges or apply the spell vamp upon damage dealt. Each dash will proc (but not apply) Sheen, Lich Bane, and Trinity Force. Spirit Rush can only target units that are visible to Ahri at the end of the dash. This means that champions, stealthed champions, minions and jungle creeps in the fog of war and inside brushes can not be auto-locked and hit. Note that due to Spirit Rush selecting targets at the end of each dash, the ability may target and hit units that were out of Ahri's initial vision but entered it due to Ahri's new position and vision. Spirit Rush can hit targets as far as 1000 range units away from the initial dash location as long as desired targets do not break vision or move further than 550 range away from Ahri's Spirit Rush destination. Once an essence bolt from Spirit Rush locks onto a target it will act similarly to a direct-targeted ability, moving to and hitting the target regardless of whether it leaves vision or the ability's range afterwards.

I prepared 3 builds.

First is my standard (normal), most popular build, which I use when I play with normal team against normal team.

Second one is very aggressive build, included Mejai's Soulstealer and Deathfire Grasp to fastly assassinate enemies champions one by one. This build consist of using Deathfire Grasp in right time to snowball enemy. Sometimes if I play for fun, with friends I can show them real power of Ahri, so that's aggressive option.

Third build I use fighting against very aggressive enemies, for example a Talon or LeBlanc, Swain, who are counters for Ahri.

Check all my builds and choose the best in your opinion ;)

Starting items in my every build:

Boots and three Health Potions - they appear in each build. After first back to base, take Doran's Ring and for aggressive play, or two Doran's Ring if you wanna play safely.

First "normal" option:

In my normal play I suggest to take Hextech Revolver as fast as you can - is very viable for Ahri, because of her innate skill. Extra spell vamp is a great way to improve our Lady. She could heal herself by using abilities. Rabadon's Deathcap, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Will of the Ancients give Ahri all what she wants - a lot of ability power, extra health and ability to heal herself and allied champions if they are near and use skills. Last item could be Zhonya's Hourglass to give us ability power and awesome option of Stasis; moreover Void Staff will give us extra magic penetration and you will be able to destroy everyone who's got magic resist. Sometimes I tried to use full magic penetration Ahri so before I ended my build I used Haunting Guise after Sorcerer's Shoes and then Liandry's Torment. Including runes for magic penetration you will deal true damage, because many times you deny more than all enemies' magic resist.


or:

Second "aggressive" option:

Aggressive Ahri can also start with Boots and three Health Potions, but if you are sure you will dominate enemy, take Doran's Ring at start. Fast taken Kage's Lucky Pick give you some money in time, so you will be able to order Mejai's Soulstealer very fast. This item, combined with Rabadon's Deathcap, Sorcerer's Shoes, Rylai's Crystal Scepter make us very strong. Fast built Deathfire Grasp gives you a snowball ability to fire extra skill into enemy, changing him into dust. In this build, Zhonya's Hourglass is the only one defensive item.

Third "safe" option:

When you started with Boots and three Health Potions, take two Doran's Rings. Fastly make Giant's Belt and upgrade Boots into Mercury's Treads. This is safe option which let u receive smaller damage than usual. Take Chain Vest to protect you from strong AD champions and Chalice of Harmony to protect from AP characters. Chalice of Harmony is a good item to do not allow mana go out. It gives some magic resist, so enemy cannot deal us all of his damage. Upgrade Chain Vest into Zhonya's Hourglass. It is great because of Stasis it gives. Again, Rylai's Crystal Scepter make us very strong = extra health. Athene's Unholy Grail is an item which should be used to give us extra ability power and improve mana regen, which will be very important if we are afraid to farm from normal attacks. Abyssal Mask is an item which replace Void Staff in normal build and Guardian Angel gives us rebirth option when we died in teamfight.

Playing Ahri makes me fun. She is very good in killing. I would like to show some combos to destroy enemy.

When you can, just spam Q into enemy:


Normal combo after 3 level:


Easiest way to destroy a single enemy (after 6 level):


If you are skilled, there is combo after 6 level:


Fighting with Deathfire Grasp:


Or:


Or even:

If you wanna test my guide, just please do it. Any opinions, advices are welcome. Good luck and never give up, summoners!

"They're mine now." - Ahri

I would like to say thanks to http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com and everyone who voted up for my guide. Thank everyone who tested my build and enjoyed it.

Examples of using this guide