I usually try to write my champion impression posts as early in release week as possible. With Ahri, though, I had to wait. I just didn’t have anything significant to say. Almost every game I played with her was a mirror match in lane, and mirror matches with Ahri are devastatingly boring (also very hard to win because you just end up using your ult when your opponent does, either to try for a kill or to escape her attempt at killing you). I think I’ve finally seen her enough that I can say something meaningful about her place in the game, so here goes.
First off, the Akali comparisons just don’t work. While her playstyle may be similar, in that she relies on one big combo to blow up a target, the two are fundamentally different champions. Ahri is much more reliable and sustainable in lane, but much less so in a teamfight. Her spell vamp will occasionally work wonders for her in a fight, but for the most part it’s about negating lane attrition.
This is the part of Ahri that really annoys me. She has has nearly infinite lane sustain from level 5 on. I say level 5 because in my experience, that’s where her mana regen is enough to cast Orb of Deception fairly often and the spell deals enough damage for the Spell Vamp to really keep her alive. The range on Orb is also high enough that she can do the leeching from a safe distance. I don’t know what it’s going to take for Riot to realize that lane attrition is a good thing. I know some of you disagree with me on this, but the whole infinite lane sustain thing is just crappy design. Really crappy design.
I actually found Ahri to be a little difficult to gank with in lane, so long as my opponents were smart. The best opponents would bury themselves in their minion wave once I ulted, avoiding my charm. Without the charm, they could typically Flash off or use a CC spell to keep me at enough distance. Ahri is highly susceptible to CC, particularly when her ult is down, and a lot of champions can easily exploit that weakness.
To me, it seems Ahri works best as skirmisher and pub-stomper. She does really well against teams that like to have smaller fights in the jungle and away from minions. She’s great against disorganized players. Against a comp with some reliable CC, though, she’s just not all that strong. Her own CC can be devastating if she picks off an enemy, much like Blitzcrank’s grab, but it becomes highly unreliable in lane fights thanks to minions. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – it would be insanely overpowered if it went through minions – just that it limits her effectiveness.
I really hope Riot leaves Ahri as she is. I think she’s fairly easy to play against in lane, but if they give her much more power she’ll be unbearable. Personally, I want to try a few strange builds on her. I could see a Deathfire rush giving her devastating power after level 6 by further bumping her skirmish power. I’m sure some solid Ahri players will pop up in the near future, but for the time being you just need to survive her lane phase and get to the teamfighting.
