Ever since Ahri received her gameplay update at the start of season 12, she became an instant favorite not only for normal players but also for pros. Ahri boasted the highest presence (pick and bans combined) out of all the mid laners across the major regions and tournaments last year, with more than 500 picks or bans (according to stats site Games of Legends).
She was such a strong pick that Riot Games was forced to nerf her a couple of times in the following patches. This year, instead, her presence dropped down to 18 percent with a 48 percent win rate, proving that teams do not think highly of her as much as they did in 2022.
That said, League caster and personality Alex “Nymaera” Hapgood thinks that pro players are not building Ahri correctly, which is why she has been struggling to succeed more than she should.
Nymaera explained all his thought and reasoning in a video on March 30, starting off with the reasons why Ahri is picked. The nine-tail fox allows you to get good early mid lane control thanks to her strong trades, and she can set up ganks and burst down enemies with her kit. She also works great with and against most meta junglers (namely Vi and Wukong) since she can use her ultimate both offensively to kill or defensively to get away from danger.
Despite all these pros, Nymaera believes Ahri’s main weakness is her lack of damage compared to other AP or mid lane assassins. Therefore, Ahri needs to cater her build based on the role she wants to have inside the game, starting from the Mythic item choice: Everfrost, Luden’s Echo, or Liandry’s Anguish.
Among the three, Everfrost is the item that Nymaera dislikes the most since it’s the one that deals the least amount of damage, despite being built the most. According to him, players should go for Everfrost only when they want Ahri to be the setup for the team and not vice-versa. At this point, you don’t care about Ahri dealing damage since she will be more of a utility pick.
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In comparison, Luden’s Echo and Liandry’s Anguish are much more offensive choices. When pros should be the ones carrying the game with Ahri, then they should consider going for these two items instead.
Nymaera detailed the exact situations to know which one you should go for. Luden’s Echo is usually built to maximize the flat armor penetration, and you’re looking to deal burst damage up-front. It’s best when you are the only magic damage source on your team, and your enemies are not building magic resistance in large quantities.
Liandry’s, on the other hand, is for extended fights and kite back. It’s most effective against tanky champions, and you want to take advantage of the extra ability haste from the mythic passive. If you have multiple magic damage sources on your team, this is the stronger Mythic.
Aside from the wrong item builds, Nymaera went deeper into the discussion on how Ahri pros should get a better snowball. We mentioned how Ahri lacks in damage, so is there any way to help us get ahead of the game?
The caster suggested buying Dark Seal since he thinks Ahri is “one of the best Dark Seal stackers in the game.” She doesn’t die often thanks to her passive and ultimate, and she can easily pick up stacks with assists and kills across the map. This is also proven by her high KDA so far this season across the major regions (4.5, according to Games of Legends). Ultimately, the Dark Seal allows Ahri to get extra ability power ahead of the build path.
On top of that, Dark Seal is the item component that builds into Mejai’s Soulstealer, which is usually used in solo queue by players who are snowballing hard. By applying the same logic, Ahri can use Mejai’s to get up to 25 stacks (which convert to a maximum of 125 extra ability power).
“Mejai is best as second item. Why is that? Well, partly it’s because you’re having your point of power for Ahri in the early game, where you got your first ultimates. You’re looking to get ahead and keep yourself ahead of the game where otherwise you might plateau against people that would eventually outscale you,” he said. “You want to do this particularly on the second item because Mejai’s Soulstealer is a Legendary item, which means you get access to the Mythic passive. In other words, you get get a very cheap five extra magic penetration or ability haste well. It adds a little bit of value that normal items wouldn’t do despite having the same cost.”
Once Ahri gets the Mythic and Mejai’s, all she has to do is find one good fight, pick up some kills or assists, and then she will be having lots of extra ability power to ramp up her damage. Fights usually happen around Ahri’s item completions since teams will be fighting for dragons or Herald, leading to large skirmishes. The peculiar point about this discussion is that Ahri gets stronger the safer she plays: as long as she doesn’t die, she will never lose stacks.
In conclusion, Nymaera went over three sample builds that pros should consider going forward, one for each different kind of Mythic item.
If pros are building Everfrost, they should consider getting a Dark Seal early, and then build Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Rabadon’s Deathcap, and Void Staff to maximize the percentage of magic penetration and ability power.
With Luden’s Echo as Mythic, instead, the most optimal build would be getting Dark Seal early and Mejai’s right after completing Luden’s Echo. Get Sorcerer’s Shoes to amplify the damage and round off with Rabadon’s and Zhonya’s Hourglass.
Similarly, players should do it with Liandry’s Anguish, but instead of building magic penetration boots, you build Ionian to maximize the ability haste.
With this build, you’re also looking to get the newly buffed Cosmic Drive, which now grants 90 ability power and 30 ability haste.
