The true Ahri guide (1 million mastery in-depth) (2024)

I don't know who said that, but I heard from a top elo player that the 7 first minutes in a game of league were the most important. And he's right. It's during that time that'll you'll see if you manage to use correctly your champ against the opponent.
To begin with, I have to make one thing clear: There's not one way to play every game. Every matchup is different and every player is different. If you're against a Talon and you still in 0/0/0 at level 9, It's great, you're entering your power spike and he lost his so you won your lane. But against a Kassadin 0/0/0 it's garbage at level 9 because you've lost all your early pressure and he's going to rip you apart.

So the way that I'll explain will work on most of the scenarios, but the experience is crucial to be able to manage every lane. And of course, if the opponent is just better than you, there's nothing you can do. A lot of people are crying "Noob champ, lucky, bad jungle, etc..." sometimes it's true but most of the times you're losing because of yourself. It's simple math: In your team, there's you and 4 randoms, so if you're better there's a 80% that you'll come accross "an inter" in your team, for the opponent, there's 5 random so the probability is 100%. So the 20% that you're representing should be giving you a better global winrate don't you think?

Now that I've made it clear (hopefully), let begin the laning guide itself

Step 1, the 2 firsts waves

You would like to be level 2 first to put some pressure to the opponent, use one time the Orb of Deception to push a bit if needed, so the opponent has 2 choices: either he gives up on the first push, in that case, you'll be the first level 2 for 65 mana, or he tries to push harder. If he pushes harder, then let him waste his mana and wait for the second wave.
If you managed to get level 2 before him, just use it to pressure him.
Here's an example :

Step 2: the early laning.

Here are the variation depending on the matchup.

First, the easiest: against melee character. You have to pressure them a lot with your AA, don't let them breathe. They take a minion, they should take at least 2 AA. Melee champs on midlane are usually champs that can hard engage you later, so if you lower their health enough, they won't be able to do so later.
Here an example in video :

As you can see, it's really effective against champ like Kassadin, Akali,or Diana. Just be a bit more careful against Zed or Talon because they can punish you if you're a bit too bold.

Try to freeze against those champ, if you freeze well, they won't be able to farm at all.

Last thing, if you clear the waves and push them under tower, they have no way to farm without being in charm range so if you can ward and if your jungler is nearby, pressure them as much as you can.

Now the high range ones. Those ones can be a bit scary in early levels, they have good damage even pre 6, they're harassing, they seem to have infinite mana... Early on, you don't have any choice: Dodge the spells and farm. Wait for an opportunity.
Here a video to show it :

The idea is being focused on dodging and try to take his hp bit by bit. Like this, he'll be in Kill-range and you'll be able to all in him. Those kinds of champs rely on being out of your range and have low mobility, they're really weak against the flash combo (cf. "A tricky fox" chapter). Another good way to engage them is to bait their cc, dodge in his direction with your Spirit Rush, then engage with your charm.

Just remember: DO NOT FREEZE AGAINST THEM. You'll be stuck under tower taking a lot of dmg without opportunities to poke them and you'll lose a lot of farm or health for nothing.

After that, there's the mid-range. This is this same kind of gameplay as you. Their kits usually consist of 1 poking/DPS tool, 1 CC to engage the burst, 1 "less-useful" spell, 1 ultimate really important. The idea is to dodge at any cost the CC while trying to land yours. Most of the time the first that gets a kill will win the lane so avoid the useless risk in early. Use the poking combo to put them in kill range, then use the Charm+ Flash>full-burst combo to finish them.
Here's a laning against a veigar :

So the idea was to poke him bit by bit to put him in kill-range, then all-in him. Don't take any risk and everything will be Ok. Most of those champs really rely on their CC to burst you, and you're one of the only champ that can land an instant CC followed by such a powerful burst.

Against champs like Syndra or Oriana, Roaming is a good idea cause they won't be as good as you for that while you'll get fed for free. Avoid roaming too much against heavy pusher or power farmer like Veigar or Azir, they'll be free farm and destroy you at 30 min.

And last not least, the tanky mid. Those are a real pain for my style of gameplay. Even if you land all your spells, you don't have the mana to kill them. They don't have any amazing burst or broken spells, but they usually have 1 reliable damaging spell that they want to spam on you. So don't use your spells except for last hitting or full bursting them, and don't let them take your hp bit by bit with their damaging spell. Use your AA to poke them, try to land at least three AA to activate the electrocute. It's a really boring lane, but mistakes are allowed since they can't burst you down. Try to get the jungler to help you if you take 1 or 2 kills you'll be able to handle them easier.

The only thing more boring than watching this matchup is playing it. Just hope for a kill opportunity, there's no more to do in the laning phase. It'll change in mid-game.

Mid Game

The mid-game is the power-spike of Ahri, her kit isn't ideal for a teamfight, but it's great on fights from 1v1 to 3v3, so, the mid-game where everyone still on their lane, but you're beginning to roam is a true blessing for her.
The godlike point is when you have Sorcerer's Shoes, Luden's Tempest, Oblivion Orb and Rabadon's Deathcap at lvl 11 or more. If you're in that situation you're pretty much a monster.
The mid-game on Ahri gives you 3 ways to play, you have to chose the best gameplay for the situtaion:

Trapping

Trapping is a really good option when your team (or yourself) is behind. Obviously, you can't kill the 10/2 Darius, and the 9/1 Jinx is able to kill you in 2 AA. So you need to take some kills to rebalance your game. The best way to trap as Ahri is to wait in a bush that the opponents will ward, and wait for them to face-check (or ward). It's the best way to land a free Charm and burst them.
Here are the good spots :

The red dot are positioning for redside, the blue one for the blueside, the yellow ones is the wards for trapping. The Yellow arrow are the direction where you will Charm and should have vision.

How and when to use (or not use) it ?

Here's a video to show you the different traps that you can make :

Roaming

Roaming. One of the strongest point of the champ. You should roam every game, this part of the guide is focused on heavy roaming gameplay. The roam allows you to get more kills from other lanes, it helps your whole team and put pressure on the 2 sides lanes. In exchange, you'll lose a lot of pressure on mid and lose a bit of farm and experience. You have to find the right balance between farming and roaming, like the junlger with his ganks. I would strongly advise you to heavy roam at LVL 9 and not before because you can 1 Q the range minions at level 9 which allow you a faster clear and a reduce lost on your roam. And try to roam on the cannon wave, because it'll last longer if the opponent pushes you to pressure you.
Anyway, a roam is divide into 4 parts :

How and when to use it ?

Here, there's no video yet. I need a lot of footage to make a good roaming video and I started that guide 3 days ago so I don't have those. (well, 1 month later I didn't upload any video but no one care XD)

Pressuring

Finally, pressuring. Most of the time it's the one I'll choose because it's safer and it doesn't rely on your team. But it's not always the best option and it's one of the reasons that made me stuck in my elo. You have to choose wisely your gameplay for each game and not stick with 1 gameplay that makes you feel safer.
Pressuring is pushing the first tower to make it in a few words. You're using your dominance in the lane to crush the opponent midlaner, the tower, and the jungler. The point is to push the lane really hard while warding a lot to avoid the ganks. If you're winning your lane, the opponent will be useless and you'll get a lot of gold off the tower plates and first tower. Furthermore, when the tower mid fall you win a lot of freedom and you'll end the laning phase.

How and when to use it ?

Here's a video to illustrate, it's not the "most pressuring game ever" but it's already good :

Winning ? or Losing ?

You can't win every lane, and you have to know how to play from behind and how to play when ahead. Select the right gameplay between Trapping, Roaming and Pressuring is already a good start because it shows that you understand the game you're playing on and your win conditions. But more than that, you won't be able to play as you want every game.

First, playing from above. If you're playing from above, it's not really hard to win your lane, you just have to keep going and avoid useless risks. This way you'll keep winning your lane but you won't carry. If it's carrying that you're looking for, ask yourself something first: "Am I a leader or a follower ?" and "Are we giving the tempo or following it ?"
The first depends on the player, the second on the game.
The leader is the one that understands the game is playing on and making the rights calls. Even when behind, he knows where the opponents are and what are their objectives. He doesn't have to be skilled or amazing mechanically, just to move at the right place at the right time.
The follower is the one that listens to the calls and makes them work. He has to be careful and listen to his mates. He's not a bad player and can be godlike mechanically (or terrible, but he's bronze in this case) but he doesn't know what to do if there a blank in the game.
I have no shame to say that I'm a follower most of my games, I'm just filling blanks with traps, roams or heavy pressure. Most of the time, I assume the role of a leader only if no one is good at it in the team. And you should do the same too: Let the leader role to the best at it, even if he's in 0/12. If you're that good, just make everything you can to make the calls work.
Now the tempo,
Is your team the one that starts the drakes or are you the contesting one? Are you grouping and taking objectives or are you reacting to the opponents and trapping them?
It's important to know on what side you are because you have to follow the actual tempo. No matter if you're better than them or not, if you're starting a drake alone, you'll be caught and killed in 1v5 and your "noob team" won't be the one to blame.

Here's a game where I was losing my lane, and following my leader.

The tempo was in our team, the lead was Morde and Fiddle (even if fiddle wasn't really smart on micro) and so I adapted my gameplay around that.

And now a winning game (the game against Veigar)

Of course, if you're in 20/0 at 10 minutes, there's no need of that cause it's a free win. The same thing goes for a team score of 0/50 which is impossible to win.

The late game on Ahri can feel a bit strange, you don't feel like you're useless (like a Renekton or Pantheon), but you don't feel strong at all.
If you're fed in mid-game your one-shot range is from the carry to the bruiser. But in late that range is reduced to the carry. You have multiple gameplay possible in late (it depends on what you're facing) and a lot of other midlaners will outscale you.

Suicide bomber

The first thing you can do is investing your whole late on assassin gameplay by all in the ADC and trading your life against his. I'm not a fan of that because I'm a bit of a KDA player (it's bad I know, but everyone got an ego), and I always felt that the assassin with no instant kill (so not like Rengar or Nocturne) tend to fall off in late.

You should do that gameplay when their whole composition relies on one carry.

A dangerous support

The second gameplay is peeling for the ADC. You got a really good CC, a strong burst, and you're likely to be focused too, so you'll diffuse the focus. Some people will say that's the best way to play in late. I won't argue but it's boring and you'll gamble your game on the ADC, if he's bad you'll regret it.

You should do that gameplay when you have a carry that can win the game alone with a good peel.

The hunter

The third one is the lone wolf gameplay. A risky one, but that can be really rewarding, especially against a team that's stronger than yours in late. The idea is to get back to trapping gameplay, but with a target in mind. The goal is to successfully trap the carry or the jungler. Like this you have to calls that can be really successful: If you manage to trap the carry, your next team fight will be free so push like hell with your team. If you take down the jungler, the Drake and /or Nashor is free to take. It's the gameplay that I prefer because it only relies on yourself but a fail can be the end of the game.

Works anytime, but less good than the other way to deal with the late on some games.

Lead us to victory

The last one is the carry leader. When the opponents aren't too strong and you're carrying, you can take the lead and the tempo all by yourself and put pressure by split-pushing or hard engaging. This gameplay can't be "chosen" it happens some game when the opponents are an early pick or just bad. If you feel it's a game like this, just take the focus and force them to be at least 3 on you.

The best way to play the late, sadly it won't be possible every game.

If you wonder why there's no video for the late, it's because you lose a lot of impact in that part of the game, so I can't show you "the way to play". you can look the 2 videos on the "winning or losing" part if you want to see some late gameplay.

Sorry if you thought that, but even if you managed to learn everything I said above, you won't be able to carry every game. And your first game on Ahri will be like every first games: Trashy with a lot of bad decisions.
One of the most important thing that I can't give you through that guide is the experience. You have to play a lot of game with her to be good with her. A beginner that see the half hp Kassadin will think "Am I able to kill him now ?" when an experienced player will think "He's in kill range" or "No way atm". You have to play a lot to know your dmg, to know your range and transform those lucky Charm into predicted Charm.
Anyway, it's the end of the part about gameplay.