The Mid Lane and You: Champions: Ahri

     Hi everyone, welcome to another installment of TMLaY! Now that finals are almost done, I've had a chance to quickly write this up. I will be posting more frequently from here on out. This time, I will be covering Champions, more specifically ones that people should pick up when starting to learn the lane. In a future post I will go over a large variety of Champs, but for now I will stick with going in depth on these four: Ahri, Karthus, Morgana, and Talon.

     The reason I am picking these four Champs specifically is that they each cover a different role in a team, and by picking up these four you can cover 90% of the mid lane matchups.

Today's will be on Ahri. Each of these champion posts are divided into sections, and this post will probably be really long...so if you don't want to read it all, read the parts that look interesting. Onto the analysis

Ahri: The Jack of All Trades

Today's post brought to you by Japanime furries: Making the internet go 'round.

     Ahri has one of the best "kits" out of any mid lane champion. She has ranged auto-attacks; a passive that allows her to regain health; four skills that scale with ability power; a skill that can deal true damage; a skill that homes-in on enemies; a unique type of crowd-control; and a skill that is essentially flash, but can be used three times. These things combined allow her to fit any type of role that the team may need out of their AP Carry.

Skills

Passive: Essence Theft

"Ahri gains a charge of Essence Theft whenever one of her spells hits an enemy. This caps at 3 charges per spell cast. Upon reaching 9 charges, Ahri's next spell will have 35% bonus spell vamp."

     The often forgotten part of many champion's kits, every champ has a passive, and Ahri's is very, very good. Giving one spell higher spell vamp than a Will of the Ancients will give, Ahri's passive allows her to regain health when laning, in fights, and often leads to "clutch" plays. Relatively straightforward, each spell that hits ONE enemy will give her a charge. Each spell that hits multiple targets can give up to THREE charges. When she reaches NINE charges total, Ahri's next spell will heal her for 35% of the damage DEALT (Magic damage OR True damage). Why am I capitalizing these things? It will all be clear soon, my young padawan.

Q: Orb of Deception

"ACTIVE: Ahri sends out an orb in a line in front of her and then pulls it back, dealing magic damage on the way out and true damage on the way back."

     Ahri's bread-and-butter skill, Orb of Deception is, in my opinion, her best skill. Acting similar to Ezreal's W, Essence Flux, Ahri's Q goes through all targets, and upon reaching its max distance, travels back to her. It deals Magic damage on the way out and True damage on the way in. She can gain a maximum of THREE Essence Theft charges with this spell, and will also get the most use out of the healing part of Essence Theft because it goes through all targets AND deals true damage. It is a skillshot, makes noise when it hits an enemy, and it has the second lowest cooldown out of all Ahri's skills. Therefore, this skill is the best skill to use in the following situations: farming/pushing, healing by your passive, poking multiple enemies clumped up, checking bushes without using your crowd-control skill, and doing damage to targets with high Magic Resistance.

In lanes where you know your enemy will want to stay away from you and try to farm (aka most ranged opponents), max this skill by level 9, and in all other situations, max it by level 13, but take 1-2 points early in order to farm or heal. 

W: Fox-Fire

"ACTIVE: Ahri releases three fox-fires to surround her for up to 5 seconds. After a short delay after cast, they will target nearby enemies, prioritizing champions. Additional fox-fires that hit the same target will only deal 50% damage."

     Similar to Diana's W, Pale Cascade, Fox-Fire spawns THREE orbs around her, which will target the closest thing to each of THEIR locations, not Ahri's, and will travel to those target(s), dealing magic damage. Its important to note that they can travel to different targets, and they prioritize things closest to themselves. Ahri can gain THREE charges of Essence Theft from this spell, ONE for each individual Fox-Fire that hits a target (doesn't matter if it's the same target). Because this skill homes in on enemies and prioritizes champions, it is the easiest to use because there is no skillshot. It also has the highest single target damage to champions with low magic resist, highest damage to targets spread out, and highest individual damage to three targets. It also has the lowest cooldown out of all of Ahri's skills, and therefore gives her the highest damage per second dealt when maxed first. All the above is not counting her Ultimate. It therefore is the best to use this skill against squishy, high priority targets, when chasing or kiting (there is no cast time, delay, or stopping of movement when using this skill), or trying to deal damage to enemies that are close to you and can possibly avoid your skillshots.

In lanes where you know you can kill your opponent or when facing someone who will want to get close to you to try and kill you, max this skill by level 9. In all other situations, grab a point early for extra Essence Theft charges, but max it by level 13.

E: Charm

"ACTIVE: Ahri will blow a kiss that travels in a line in front of her. It will damage and charm the first enemy it encounters, forcing them to walk harmlessly towards her, while being slowed by 50% for the duration."

     Similar to a Ezreal's Q, Mystic Shot, in function, Ahri's Charm is unique to her, and causes the enemy to be "taunted" but not attack. This skill is used 100% for its crowd-control, and should VERY RARELY be used for damage. It gives ONE charge of Essence Theft, but you should never use it to get charges or heal. This skill is used to start fights, whether in lane or out of lane, prevent opponents from chasing (because of the built in slow), catch opponents in bushes (is is a skillshot and can make them walk out of the bush, however it does not give vision, none of Ahri's skills do), prevent ganks (use it on the ganker if you can), or just catch people in general. 

In all situations, grab a point in this skill at level 2, and max it last.

R: Spirit Rush

"ACTIVE: Ahri dashes towards the cursor and fires essence bolts, dealing damage to up to 3 nearby enemies, prioritizing champions. In the next 10 seconds, Spirit Rush can be cast two additional times before going on cooldown. Each enemy can only be hit once per dash."

     Similar to Graves' E, Quickdraw, in range and function, Ahri's Ultimate, R, is a dash that can be used three times, with a built-in version of a worse Fox-Fire. There is an internal cooldown between each dash (1 sec), so you are vulnerable in that time to crowd-control effects. This skill has the highest damage potential to a single target out of ALL of Ahri's skill, but is on the highest cooldown, so it gives the lowest damage per second potential. However, this skill allows Ahri to quickly move across the map, doing damage along the way. It can hit multiple enemies and therefore is good in teamfights as well as for single targets. Use this skill when you want to do the following: dodge skillshots, run away, burst down a target, deal tons of damage, teamfight, dive enemies under turrets, kite enemies, fight your lane opponent.

Take a point in this skill whenever possible.

Items

Overview:

Rylais - Works well with all of her skills, especially Fox-Fire. Gives survivability to dive turrets and survive mixed damage.

Rabadons - Straight up damage, she has lots of ratios.

Void Staff - Decent AP, pen is nice, but she already has true damage for tanks, lots of scaling and good bases for those that aren't tanks, not as necessary.

Sorc Boots - Given on AP Champs.

Abyssal - Ult is always in range for aura if damaging, all others are almost in range. Good vs multiple AP/fed AP.

Zhonyas - Can be used in combo with ult, good for baits, good vs 3+ AD Champs/AD mid.

GA - Good item overall.

Liandry's - Good bases for Haunting rush, synergizes with e and with Rylais,

Morellos - Only vs Swain

DFG - Good if you're ahead, gives lots of damage and CDR

Wota - You already have Spell-Vamp, unless you have 2+ AP Champs, don't consider this, too expensive.

Athenes - Dorans give you regen, your mana costs aren't terribly high, you should be getting blue, Abyssal and DFG are better items for MR and CDR respectively.

Lich Bane - Waste of Stats, too expensive

Twin Shadows - Can help, but it takes up a slot. If you're spending lots of time trying to catch people out, get this.

Dorans Ring - Must get at least 1, usually 2.

Mejais - Are you over lvl 20? Good. Then don't buy this.

Any other finished items are not worth mentioning. Don't buy them, as they wont help you in your role as Magic Damage dealer.

Core: Rabadons, Sorc Boots, +some of the following depending on the situation:

With at least 1 more AP on your team: Wota/DFG, Abyssal, Rylais, GA/Zhonyas

Vs Mixed Damage: GA, Rylais, Liandrys, DFG

Vs more AD than AP: Zhonyas, GA, Rylais, DFG

Vs more AP than AD: Abyssal, Rylais, DFG, Liandrys/GA

Vs lots of MR: Void Staff, Zhonyas, Rylais, GA

Vs a small amount of MR: Abyssal, Rylais, DFG, Zhonyas

Vs lots of HP: Liandrys, Rylais, DFG, Morellos/GA

Starting items:

Normal: Boots + 3 HP pots

Vs Aggressive AD and Jungle no CC: Cloth +5 HP pots

Vs Aggressive AP and Jungle no CC: Null-magic +2 HP pots

Vs Passive AD/AP and Jungle no CC: Dorans

Vs Aggressive AD and Jungle CC: Cloth + ward + HP pots

Vs Aggressive AP and Jungle CC: Boots + HP pots

Vs Passive AD/AP and Jungle CC: Flask + 2 Wards + HP pots

Example Item Build:

Boots + 3 HP pots -> x2 Dorans rings -> Sorc Boots -> Giants Belt -> Rabadons -> Rylais/Abyssal -> Zhonyas/DFG/Rylais/Abyssal/GA -> Whatever else

Runes

Page 1: Flat Magic Pen Marks, Flat Mana Regen Seals, Flat Magic Resist Glyphs, Flat AP Quints

 - Use this most of the time

Page 2: Flat Magic Pen Marks, Flat Mana Regen/ Flat Magic Resist Seals, Flat AP Glyphs, Flat Movespeed Quints

 - Use this to gank a ton, aka your lane is no fun to sit in.

Page 3: Flat Magic Pen Marks, Flat Magic Resist Seals, Flat Magic Resist Glyphs, Flat AP/Movespeed Quints

 - Use this if you don't want to die early, and there's no lane that is easy to gank.

Page 4: Flat Magic Pen Marks, Flat Armor Seals, Flat AP/Armor Glyphs, Flat AP/Movespeed Quints

 - Use this versus an AD Champion in lane

Summoner Spells:

Flash and Ignite. Always and forever.

Gameplay

In lane, try to farm, poke with auto attacks, Q, and/or W when your opponent trys to last hit. At level 2, get E to stop ganks. At Level 3/4 you should have all your skills and if you poked your opponent down to 3/4 HP or less, you can kill them if you land a Charm. At Level 6, back and then roam with your Ultimate. Push mid lane with Q and try to get tower/roam for kills or other objectives such as dragon. In fights, if they are trying to initiate, Taunt their initiator and either run or dive them depending on what your team looks like it wants to do/if your team's ultimates are all up or not. Poke before fights with Q/W if you have Blue Buff. Try to catch people/initiate with E. Don't be Afraid to Flash or use Ultimate and then follow with a Charm in order to catch people, especially if the enemy team is running or turns their backs. Try to use your ultimate to dive through the enemy team to get to their AD/AP carry.

________________________________________________________________________

That pretty much concludes today's post, be sure to check back for more content soon, there are some gameplay videos below, and let me know your thoughts, comments, questions, and ideas below or wherever this is posted. Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed the article!
________________________________________________________________________

In-House 5v5:

Watch live video from xosirisx on TwitchTV
Orianna Gameplay:

Watch live video from xosirisx on TwitchTV