Ahri is one of League of Legends’ most popular champions, with the mid lane mage-assassin having been a favorite for many years. If you’re a veteran, or just picking her up for the first time, we’ve got the ultimate guide here to mastering the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Having been released in 2011, Ahri is one of League of Legends’ older champions. Across her decade-long stint on Summoner’s Rift, her identity had remained largely the same — outside of a few changes in Season 8.
That all changed in Season 12 though, with the Nine-Tailed Fox getting a mini-rework that pushed her well up the tier list.
No matter if you have Level 7 Mastery, or are just picking her up for the first time, we’ve got the guide so you can learn everything you need to know about Ahri, including the best builds and runes.
Contents
Who is Ahri?
Ahri is a fox-like vastaya trying to find meaning to her life on Runeterra. Her earliest memories involved hunting with a pack of icefoxes before she decided to venture out into the world of mortals in Ionia.
In her quest, she uncovered an ability to absorb the spirit essence, and memories, of humans passing away — and even alter them. Now, she’s trying to understand her own past and regain her own memories.
On Summoner’s Rift, Ahri is a mid lane sustain mage, charming enemies and draining their spirit essence away with a healthy dose of burst damage.
Ahri abilities & gameplay
Ahri’s kit is packed full of mobility and sustain. She’s a jack of all trades though, with waveclear and burst damage to boot.
Her kit used to be all about hitting her Charm and bursting enemies down. However, the Nine-Tailed Fox now has a more dynamic playstyle that’s all about maximizing her Essence Theft passive, making her a brilliant teamfighter.
In lane, you want to use your Q to just shove out waves. That alongside your W can quickly nuke a wave so you can roam to help your jungler. If you want to go in for a trade though, landing your E and then throwing all your spells at your enemy will easily take away half their health.
Where Ahri really shines now is in teamfights though. With her Charm — paired with an item like Everfrost (more on builds later) — she can lock down an enemy carry with ease thanks to the mobility from Spirit Rush. She can also technically get eight recasts of the ability which does a decent amount of damage and makes her hard to lock down.
She can be pretty tricky to kill with all her healing too, so if you get locked down, hit Zhonya’s Hourglass and wait for the engage to subside and then keep dashing around.
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- Passive: Essence Theft — When Ahri strikes nine enemies with her abilities, her next ability also heals her for each enemy hit.
- Q: Orb of Deception — Ahri sends out and pulls back her orb, dealing magic damage on the way out and true damage on the way back.
- W: Fox-Fire — Ahri gains a brief burst of Move Speed and releases three fox-fires, that lock onto and attack nearby enemies.
- E: Charm — Ahri blows a kiss that damages and charms an enemy it encounters, instantly stopping movement abilities and causing them to walk harmlessly towards her.
- R: Spirit Rush — Ahri dashes forward and fires essence bolts, damaging nearby enemies. Spirit Rush can be cast up to three times before going on cooldown, and gains additional recasts when taking down enemy champions.
Best build for Ahri
Ahri’s mix of being a pseudo-control mage, pseudo-AP assassin means her build can be a bit wonky compared to other picks.
That being said, her best Mythic by far is Everfrost. Being able to dash on top of an enemy, lock them in place, and then CC-chain them to death with Charm is very powerful. It also gives her some much needed mana. If you need more damage though (which can be problem post-rework given it was nerfed), Luden’s Tempest is a solo option to snowball.
If you opt for Everfrost, you need to go for damage through Legendary items. Shadowflame and Void Staff are a powerful duo that’ll churn through enemy magic resist like butter, while Rabadon’s Deathcap only serves to give her huge amounts of AP.
Need some defensive last item choices? Zhonya’s Hourglass is always a great flexible purchase, but Banshee’s Veil can also be a good option against AP-heavy teams.
Top meta Ahri items in Season 12
- Mythic: Everfrost / Luden’s Tempest
- Boots: Sorcerer’s Shoes
- Starting Item: Doran’s Ring or Corrupting Potion
- Shadowflame
- Void Staff
- Rabadon’s Deathcap
- Mejai’s Soulstealer (if you back for a early Dark Seal and start snowballing)
- Zhonya’s Hourglass (most flexible defensive item)
- Banshee’s Veil (against heavy AP)
Best runes for Ahri
Ahri’s runes are designed to do two things: Give her the burst damage she needs to one-combo an enemy, while also giving her some sustain to maintain lane dominance.
For that, Electrocute is the best option. Taste of Blood and Biscuit Delivery keeps her health and mana in check, while Eyeball Collection and Ultimate Hunter lets her scale into the late game so she can assassinate enemies.
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You can swap a couple of things out. For example, if you need more sustain, you can take Ravenous Hunter over Ultimate Hunter. But this stock-standard rune page will be good in 95% of matchups — just adjust your shard resistances as you need to fill the other 5%.
Top meta Ahri runes in Season 12
- Electrocute
- Taste of Blood
- Eyeball Collection
- Ultimate Hunter
- Biscuit Delivery
- Time Warp Tonic
Ahri skins in League of Legends
- Midnight Ahri — 750 RP
- Academy Ahri — 750 RP
- Dynasty Ahri — 975 RP
- Foxfire Ahri — 975 RP
- Popstar Ahri — 975 RP
- Challenger Ahri (Legacy) — 975 RP
- Arcade Ahri — 1350 RP
- K/DA Ahri — 1350 RP
- K/DA Ahri Prestige Edition (Legacy) — 100 Prestige Points
- Elderwood Ahri — 1350 RP
- K/DA ALL OUT Ahri — 1350 RP
- Coven Ahri — 1350 RP
- Star Guardian Ahri — 1820 RP
- Spirit Blossom Ahri — 1820 RP
Ahri might seem mechanically intensive for the newer League player, but she’s definitely a bridge to some of the game’s more complicated champions.
There’s nothing scarier than an Ahri who knows what they’re doing though, and this guide should have given you all the tips you need to become a master of the Nine-Tailed Fox.
