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Some thoughts on Ahri, and her many strengths

DolphinDingus·5/19/2016, 10:34:55 PM·12 votes·1,765 views

Ahri has been around for quite a bit. She has seen many changes to herself. However, with her current kit and playstyle, she has a large amount of power with little counterplay. She has:

(EDIT) decent AP scalings all damaging abilities autotargeting abilities true damage a hard cc super mobility (self speed steroid on Q and ult dash) and sustain.

Overall, she is an annoying lane opponent that is hard to itemize against, difficult to poke down, difficult to burst down, and it is impossible to dodge all of her abilities. Now, I have been of this opinion for a very long time, but I thought Riot would change something about her. But nope. In fact, Morello, which is mostly core on her, got buffed. Because of this, I am making a plea: please do something about Ahri, Riot.

Anyone else been thinking the same thing? Anyone have any counterarguments? Anyone have any counters for Ahri that I can use? Because I am sick and tired of her.

EDIT: I should be clear: my main dislike is that she is lacking a clear and exploitable weakness, unlike most other champs. Also, most of my arguments are aimed towards laning phase.

47 Comments

ofart5/19/2016, 10:57:32 PM6 votes

I think she's on the cusp of being OP but still falls under the balanced category. Her damage output and scalings aren't actually that impressive and she's really fallen out of favor in higher ELO mostly for those reasons. LB is better than her in many ways. It's why you see LB in tournament play sometimes but never Ahri these days.

ValyrianBlade5/20/2016, 12:44:33 AM5 votes

EDIT: I should be clear: my main dislike is that she is lacking a clear and exploitable weakness, unlike most other champs. Also, most of my arguments are aimed towards laning phase.

She has a fairly weak early lane (pre 6) as she's squishy and easy to gank. If she tries to poke you with Q, she auto-pushes the wave making her an easy target.

She lacks weakness compared to other champions, but also lacks strengths. She's a safe pick for that reason, it's a big part of her identity. She does SO LITTLE DAMAGE. That's a real weakness. There are so many better mid laners to pick if you want to kill someone - just add up her AP ratios and base damage compared to most others. Her damage is in line with Malphite more so than most mages (at least as of earlier this season, I think Malphite got a bit of a nerf).

She CAN'T kill you in lane. For the most part she can't even kill an ADC unless he's really low or overextended. The only way she gets kills in lane is if you severely overstay (or if she gets a gank). The only way she succeeds late game is if you don't focus her at all / chase her too much.

Miraweave5/20/2016, 12:12:43 AM4 votes

Ahri should wear fewer clothes tbh

Elphrihaim5/19/2016, 10:50:15 PM4 votes

edit who downvoted this thread

this is a good thread

why is it getting downvoted

{quoted} autotargeting abilities

This reaaally isn't a good point autotargets aren't exactly any easier to use when compared to targetted abilities-- they're just faster to spam

hard to itemize against,

she deals almost exclusively magic damage..?

difficult to burst down,

is she building defensive items? i mean, most ahris I see are really easy to burst down because they build themselves as tough as paper.

it is impossible to dodge all of her abilities.

this is a true statement for most mages. many of them have a targetted ability.

please do something about Ahri, Riot.

But is she even too good in any aspect? Is there some part of her that's too strong?

She's a bit of a generalist, yes, but she doesn't really warp games around her play.

Is there something about her that's overbearing? That makes her too easy to play, that makes her too hard to play against?

Is she even any of those things?

Anyone else been thinking the same thing?

well personally not at all

Anyone have any counters for Ahri that I can use?

by positioning with your team you can make her really regret using her ultimate purely for damage's sake 'cuz she'll get stuck near your allies.

Because I am sick and tired of her.

i don't see why, at all, you'd be tired of somebody that can actually be played against in lane effectively... :C

YJRBqwXJcS5/19/2016, 11:49:31 PM4 votes

people starting to realize ahri has issues.

it only took 3 seasons

Buff Jax please5/19/2016, 10:37:26 PM3 votes

Lmao...can't wait to hear the excuses of the Ahri fangirls.

Just wait until they tell you "Ahri is bad atm" "Ahri is so useless right now".

ModKnightsKemplar5/19/2016, 10:52:47 PM3 votes

You are pretty right. She is strong, and has been for awhile. Riot are probably thinking about/testing changes internally. I wouldn't be surprised to see something pop up in the next round for her, but they have to be careful, because she isn't crazy out of line. She's a little strong. If they nerf too hard, it'll gimp her, and they don't want to do that, either.

Blåbæret5/19/2016, 11:13:13 PM3 votes

I've never had a problem vs. Ahri. Think she's a well-balanced champ. I've also played her a fair bit, but feel like her damage falls off as mentioned below me.

blfUvZ8Ybu5/19/2016, 11:38:12 PM3 votes

True.Salty Ahri mains deny this.Freelo fox.

xxxDogmanxxx5/20/2016, 12:33:39 AM3 votes

I actually think Ahri is one of the most balanced champions in the entire league. She has good, but not insane damage. She has mobility and good outplay potential that scales well with the skill of the Ahri player. She has an okay sustain that leads to her not getting dumpstered but doesn't exactly lead to her absolute dominance in the laning phase. She has clear counterplay, just dodge her charm and she's easy to deal with. She has a jack of all trades, master of none thing going on for her that makes her fun to play and yet not overwhelming for the opponent.

dim2a5/20/2016, 4:04:37 AM3 votes

I don't see a problem with ahri. Yes, she's safe, but that's her specialty. She's a good roamer, but not too threatening unless fed, I thinks she's one of the healthy champions in the league.

I main mid/jg, so I get to play vs her from time to time -- while she isn't an easy lane, seeing her picked never makes me dread going to lane either (like, say, fizz or zed can, depending on who I play).

And before "ooh, ahri main" responses --- I haven't played her. At all. But I don't see a reason for her to be nerfed.

Buff Jax please5/20/2016, 7:36:26 PM2 votes

Isn't it ridiculous how no one who commented here could present any counter arguments to what the OP listed yet this has -3 downvotes.

The Loveless5/20/2016, 10:32:16 AM2 votes

Her damage is just right. She's not oppressive or OP. Maybe you mean she annoys you the same way Teemo annoys people.

RisenDarkKnight5/20/2016, 3:19:41 AM2 votes

I think her weakness is her damage is relatively low and her teamfight is mediocre. She is a low risk, low reward champion. It is hard to destroy ahri in lane, but she can't kill anyone moderately tanky unless fed. And while she can stomp some immobile squishies in lane, it is much harder for her to assasinate them in teamfights due to peel/shields/heals/exhaust. And her aoe damage is not nearly as explosive as a lot of other mid laners.

I like to pick swain into her as she can't kill him through his ult, and he is much stronger in teamfights. He can't really kill her in lane if she plays safe though. That is her biggest annoyance: she is practically ungankable, but it's something she share with a few other champs (leblanc, tryndamere, ekko, etc.).

Lady Hammerlock5/20/2016, 3:45:51 AM2 votes

"clear exploitable weakness" Her early game is Garbage in many match ups She does take a certain amount of skill Slow cast time,very predictable skill shots

RogueWill5/20/2016, 12:19:11 AM1 votes

Ahri is one of the safest champions out there and the only reason she is not played so much in competitive is because her auto targeted abilities go towards the tank and not the carries.

You can play an assassin and wait for her to miss her charm to go in, the drawback is that she can simply make it a farm lane (never use the charm) and she will out scale any champion.

Personally I like to play zoners and just push the lane considerably (while I stay close enough to my turrets to avoid ganks) so she can't roam while can't really kill me. I like Heimerdinger and Zyra but Azir does considerably well as well.

RobbieFry135/19/2016, 11:09:08 PM1 votes

I'm not that well versed in Ahri but in my limited experience her draw back seems to be that she is pretty squishy. I don't play a lot of mid with your usual suspects.Yasuo Zed Lux so if I I can't jungle or support I have to Galio or Maokai and they seem to do well against her. Build magic resist and HP, avoid her Charm and if you can close on her (mao E + W then Q) (Galio Q + E then R) she won't be able to do enough damage before you bring her down.

Automatis5/20/2016, 3:07:14 PM1 votes

One time I lost lane to Ahri as Orianna.

So I agree 100% with you, buff Ori.

Lycanoon5/19/2016, 11:01:47 PM1 votes

Her "charm" and Ball do NOT follow suit...they poke in the direction aimed.

I do have one grip about her charm, and that would be the slow. It would be better if her charm didn't slow us down. What's the point of slowing us down when it should make us rush faster towards her so that the fox fire can do it's job? I hate getting super close to people I charm due to a few crucial things...

Tenacity for one. Items for two. and... Team ganks when their tank or ADC gets hit with the charm, they all rush forward. Sure, saving fox fire for poking later would be wise...but if you're pressuring your enemy's tank/support or ADC...yea. It makes for better utility of her skills.

Least that's how I feel about it.

MissMikasa5/20/2016, 12:04:44 AM1 votes

Diana beats the crap out of her just so you know. Ahri does have counters, and is easier to manage against then say like Zed or Fizz.