Who counters Ahri in League of Legends?

Public counter sites agree on Aurora, Zed and Hwei against Ahri (patch 16.22). Each one is listed on this page with the reason from the two kits. This is community consensus, not a win rate.

How do you play against Ahri in League of Legends?

Riot's own tip: Ahri's survivability is dramatically reduced when her Ultimate, Spirit Rush, is down. The counter picks on this page add the champions whose abilities answer Ahri, each with its reason.

Who is Ahri good against in League of Legends?

Read the other way round, the same rules over Riot's ability text find Ahri strong into Locke, Kassadin and Quinn. The reason for each is on this page. This is Analysis, not a win rate.

Which lanes does Ahri play?

Data Dragon has no lane data. As a Mage and Assassin champion, Ahri typically plays Jungle and Mid. This is a class-based filter, not a play rate.

How hard is Ahri to play?

Riot rates the difficulty of Ahri as Medium (5 out of 10).

Ahri Counter LoL: Best Picks & Why

Tactical identity

Ahri, Mage / Assassin

Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox, is a Mage and Assassin champion in League of Legends. Everything below comes from Riot's Data Dragon for patch 16.21.1: ability text, base stats and Riot's tips. Counters and matchups by class are worked out from that text, and each one shows its reason.

Riot's ratings, out of 10

Attack: 3
Defense: 4
Magic: 8
Difficulty: 5

Typical lanes (class-based)Jungle, Mid

ResourceMana

Playing as Ahri

Riot's own tips

Use Charm to set up your combos, it will make landing Orb of Deception and Fox-Fire dramatically easier.
Initiate team fights using Charm, and chase down stragglers with Spirit Rush.
Spirit Rush enables Ahri's abilities, it opens up paths for Charm, helps double hitting with Orb of Deception, and closes to make use of Fox-Fire.

Playing against Ahri

Riot's own tips

Ahri's survivability is dramatically reduced when her Ultimate, Spirit Rush, is down.
Stay behind minions to make Charm difficult to land, this will reduce Ahri's damage potential significantly.

What the kit does

Analysis read from Riot's ability text. Each line shows the words it rests on.

Hard crowd control
Charm: "damages and charms an enemy"
Dash, leap or blink
Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and"
Healing or life steal
Essence Theft: "Ahri heals"
True damage
Orb of Deception: "out and true damage on the"
Area damage
Fox-Fire: "and attack nearby enemies"

Ahri's abilities

Riot's own text and preview clip for each ability, from Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Pick an ability and its clip plays here, muted.

PPassive

Essence Theft

After killing 9 minions or monsters, Ahri heals. After taking down an enemy champion, Ahri heals for a greater amount.

Effects in the text

Healing or life steal

QQ

Orb of Deception

Cooldown: 7 s
Cost (Mana): 55/65/75/85/95
Range: 970

Ahri sends out and pulls back her orb, dealing magic damage on the way out and true damage on the way back.

Effects in the text

True damage
Magic damage
Ranged poke

WW

Fox-Fire

Cooldown: 9/8/7/6/5 s
Cost (Mana): 30
Range: 700

Ahri gains a brief burst of Move Speed and releases three fox-fires, that lock onto and attack nearby enemies.

Effects in the text

Area damage
Clears waves
Ranged poke

EE

Charm

Cooldown: 12 s
Cost (Mana): 60
Range: 975

Ahri blows a kiss that damages and charms an enemy it encounters, instantly stopping movement abilities and causing them to walk harmlessly towards her.

Effects in the text

Hard crowd control
Can start a fight

RR

Spirit Rush

Cooldown: 140/120/100 s
Cost (Mana): 100
Range: 450

Ahri dashes forward and fires essence bolts, damaging nearby enemies. Spirit Rush can be cast up to three times before going on cooldown, and gains additional recasts when taking down enemy champions.

Effects in the text

Dash, leap or blink
Area damage
Clears waves
Ranged poke

Build direction, Analysis

Items and runes that fit Ahri

Riot publishes no builds and this page invents none. Below: completed items ranked by how many of the stats Ahri's kit uses they give (ability power (AP) first), the runes whose official text matches the kit, and picks for each enemy type. A fit, not a strength ranking. No win rates.

Closest stat fit

Editorial estimate

Completed items ranked by how many of the stats Ahri's kit uses they give. A fit, not a verdict: Riot publishes no builds and no win rates.

Cryptbloom3,000
- +75 Ability PowerAhri scales with it
- +30% Magic Penetrationits damage is magic
- +20 Ability Hastecasts abilities often
Actualizer2,800
- +90 Ability PowerAhri scales with it
- +300 Manaits resource is mana
- +10 Ability Hastecasts abilities often
Archangel's Staff2,900
- +70 Ability PowerAhri scales with it
- +600 Manaits resource is mana
- +25 Ability Hastecasts abilities often
Blackfire Torch2,800
- +80 Ability PowerAhri scales with it
- +600 Manaits resource is mana
- +20 Ability Hastecasts abilities often
Luden's Echo2,750
- +100 Ability PowerAhri scales with it
- +600 Manaits resource is mana
- +10 Ability Hastecasts abilities often
Malignance2,700
- +90 Ability PowerAhri scales with it
- +600 Manaits resource is mana
- +15 Ability Hastecasts abilities often

Boots

Armored Advance1,200

Chainlaced Crushers1,250

Crimson Lucidity900

Immortal Path1,100

Spellslinger's Shoes1,100

Swiftmarch1,000

Rune fits

Editorial estimate

Runes whose official text matches the most things Ahri's kit does. Each line shows the words it rests on.

Stormraider's SurgeSorcery, Keystone · Matches: 2
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Charm: "damages and charms an enemy"
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Essence Theft: "Ahri heals"
AftershockResolve, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Charm: "damages and charms an enemy"
Arcane CometSorcery, Keystone · Matches: 1
- It deals damage with abilities: Orb of Deception: "Ahri sends out and"
Manaflow BandSorcery · Matches: 3
- It deals damage with abilities: Orb of Deception: "Ahri sends out and"
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Essence Theft: "Ahri heals"
- It uses mana: Mana
Font of LifeResolve · Matches: 2
- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Charm: "damages and charms an enemy"
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Essence Theft: "Ahri heals"
Presence of MindPrecision · Matches: 2
- It heals or restores health in the kit: Essence Theft: "Ahri heals"
- It uses mana: Mana

Against each enemy type

Editorial estimate

Situational picks, counted from what the champions of each class do in Riot's Data Dragon. Swap a slot when the enemy team has several of that class.

Tanks
Anti-heal 25 of 46 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Cleanse or tenacity 20 of 46 have two or more hard CC abilities
Chainlaced Crushers Endless Hunger
To cut through them Tanks stack armor and magic resist; these items give magic penetration.
Cryptbloom Shadowflame Stormsurge Void Staff
Fighters
Anti-heal 40 of 60 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Armor 38 of 60 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Assassins
Armor 23 of 45 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Anti-heal 23 of 45 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Mages
Magic resist 53 of 74 deal magic damage only
Abyssal Mask Banshee's Veil
Anti-heal 29 of 74 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon
Marksmen
Armor 14 of 33 deal physical damage only
Chain Vest Dead Man's Plate
Supports
Magic resist 36 of 43 deal magic damage only
Abyssal Mask Banshee's Veil
Anti-heal 19 of 43 heal or sustain
Executioner's Calling Morellonomicon

Counted from the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. These are counts of champions, not win rates.

Rune trees

Lit runes: their official text matches something Ahri's kit does (Analysis). Select a rune to read why.

Precision10 lit

Domination6 lit

Sorcery9 lit

Resolve6 lit

Inspiration6 lit

Who counters Ahri: community consensus

Each pick is listed against Ahri by at least two independent public counter sites, patch 16.22. The reason is ours, read from the two kits. Not win rates.

Aurora

Counters you

Across the Veil makes Aurora invisible to dodge Charm, and Between Worlds keeps Ahri inside when she tries to Spirit Rush out.

Zed

Counters you

Living Shadow lets Zed side-step Charm, and Death Mark makes him untargetable through her burst.

Hwei

Counters you

Hwei outranges Orb of Deception, and the crowd control in Subject: Torment answers the Spirit Rush dashes.

Vex

Counters you

Every Spirit Rush dash marks Ahri with Gloom so Doom 'n Gloom fears her, and Personal Space shields her burst.

Akshan

Counters you

Akshan out-trades Ahri with Avengerang and Heroic Swing, and the Dirty Fighting shield absorbs her poke.

Sources: counterstats.net, lolalytics.com. Reviewed 2026-11-06.

Matchups by class

Ahri against each class of champion, counted from the official ability text. Choose a class or a lane to narrow it down.

Against all 172 champions: 40 ahead, 24 even, 108 behind. Each class is read against that, so check the best and toughest tags too.

Class

Lane

Patch

16.21.1Older patches: not available yet

Against Tanks

Weak

6 ahead · 8 even · 32 behind of 46

Ahead of

Struggles against

Their healing or shields outlast your poke.
They can lock you down: you have few ways out.

What to do: A risky pick into tanks. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Against Fighters

Weak

14 ahead · 7 even · 39 behind of 60

Ahead of

Struggles against

Their healing or shields outlast your poke.
Their burst kills before your healing matters.

What to do: A risky pick into fighters. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Against Assassins

Weak

15 ahead · 3 even · 27 behind of 45

Ahead of

Struggles against

Their burst kills before your healing matters.
They can avoid damage for a moment, which blunts your burst.

What to do: A risky pick into assassins. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Against Mages

Weak

17 ahead · 14 even · 43 behind of 74

Ahead of

Struggles against

Their silence shuts down your dash-based kit.
Their hard crowd control punishes your dashes.

What to do: A risky pick into mages. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Against Marksmen

Even

Best class

15 ahead · 4 even · 14 behind of 33

Ahead of

Struggles against

You have early pressure while they need time to scale.
Their burst kills before your healing matters.

What to do: Neither side has a clear edge over marksmen. Execution and the team around you decide it.

Against Supports

Weak

Toughest class

2 ahead · 8 even · 33 behind of 43

Ahead of

Struggles against

Their silence shuts down your dash-based kit.
Their hard crowd control punishes your dashes.

What to do: A risky pick into supports. Wait for the enemy draft before you lock it, or pick it with a team that covers the gap.

Source: Nexus Lab rules over the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. Each champion of the class is compared with Ahri one by one; the counts come from those rules, not from match results, so they are not win rates. Strong, even and weak compare the number of champions ahead and behind. Lanes are the lanes each class usually plays (Riot ships no lane data per champion), not play rates.

Building against Ahri

Analysis: answers to what Ahri's own kit does.

Ahri heals or has life steal in the kit, so anti-heal is worth a slot. Essence Theft: "Ahri heals"

Executioner's CallingIt carries anti-heal (stated in its text).

MorellonomiconIt carries anti-heal (stated in its text).

Mortal ReminderIt carries anti-heal (stated in its text).

Picks that can punish Ahri

Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text.

Maokai

Counters you

Maokai has hard CC (Bramble Smash: "Maokai knocks back nearby") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").

2 more reasons

Maokai has hard CC (Bramble Smash: "Maokai knocks back nearby") to catch Ahri, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Maokai can avoid damage for a moment (Twisted Advance: "becoming untargetable and dashing"), and Ahri relies on burst (Assassin role).

Watch out: Ahri deals true damage (Orb of Deception: "out and true damage on the"), which ignores the resistances that Maokai relies on (Tank role).

Lissandra

Counters you

Lissandra has hard CC (Ring of Frost: "damage and rooting them") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").

2 more reasons

Lissandra has hard CC (Ring of Frost: "damage and rooting them") to catch Ahri, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Lissandra can avoid damage for a moment (Frozen Tomb: "while becoming untargetable and invulnerable"), and Ahri relies on burst (Assassin role).

Watch out: Ahri has burst or execute damage (Assassin role) that can kill before Lissandra's healing (Frozen Tomb: "healing herself while") matters.

Xin Zhao

Counters you

Xin Zhao has hard CC (Three Talon Strike: "third attack knocking an opponent") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").

2 more reasons

Xin Zhao has hard CC (Three Talon Strike: "third attack knocking an opponent") to catch Ahri, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Xin Zhao can avoid damage for a moment (Crescent Guard: "becoming impervious to damage"), and Ahri relies on burst (Assassin role).

Watch out: Ahri deals true damage (Orb of Deception: "out and true damage on the"), which ignores the resistances that Xin Zhao relies on (Fighter role).

Xayah

Counters you

Xayah has hard CC (Bladecaller: "damage and rooting enemies") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").

2 more reasons

Xayah has hard CC (Bladecaller: "damage and rooting enemies") to catch Ahri, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Xayah can avoid damage for a moment (Featherstorm: "air becoming untargetable and throwing"), and Ahri relies on burst (Assassin role).

Watch out: Xayah needs time to scale (Marksman role) and Ahri has early pressure (Charm: "damages and charms an enemy") to punish that.

Gnar

Counters you

Gnar has hard CC (Hyper / Wallop: "stunning enemies in") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").

1 more reason

Gnar has hard CC (Hyper / Wallop: "stunning enemies in") to catch Ahri, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Watch out: Ahri is ranged (Mage role) and can poke Gnar, a melee champion (Fighter role) with no sustain to recover.

Jarvan IV

Counters you

Jarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").

2 more reasons

Jarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") to catch Ahri, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Jarvan IV can outlast poke with healing or shields (Golden Aegis: "Demacia to shield him from") against Ahri's ranged skillshots (Orb of Deception: "Ahri sends out and").

Watch out: Ahri is ranged (Mage role) and can poke Jarvan IV, a melee champion (Fighter role) with no sustain to recover.

Who Ahri is good against

The same rules, read the other way.

Locke

You pressure

Ahri has hard CC (Charm: "damages and charms an enemy") that can stop Locke's dashes (Ashen Pursuit: "location before dashing to attack").

Kassadin

You pressure

Ahri has hard CC (Charm: "damages and charms an enemy") that can stop Kassadin's dashes (Riftwalk: "Kassadin teleports to a").

Quinn

You pressure

Ahri has hard CC (Charm: "damages and charms an enemy") that can stop Quinn's dashes (Vault: "Quinn dashes to an").

Graves

You pressure

Ahri has hard CC (Charm: "damages and charms an enemy") to catch Graves, a squishy champion with few escapes (Marksman role).

Karthus

You pressure

Ahri has hard CC (Charm: "damages and charms an enemy") to catch Karthus, a squishy champion with few escapes (Mage role).

Counter picks under the consensus list are Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on. They are not win rates.

Official story

Ahri's official story on Riot UniverseA link to the official source (in English). We do not copy its text.

Champion video guide

Video by 3 Minute League of Legends · Watch on YouTube The player loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only after you press play.

Measured numbers

Numbers published or counted by a named source. Each row names the source and the patch.

Attack3

Defense4

Magic8

Difficulty5

Riot data Riot's ratings out of 10, Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1

Base stats
Stat	Level 1	Per level	Level 18
Health	590	+104	2358
Mana	418	+25	843
Armor	21	+4.2	92.4
Magic resist	30	+1.3	52.1
Attack damage	53	-	53
Attack speed	0.668	+2.2%	0.918
Attack range	550	-	550
Move speed	330	-	330
Health regen per 5 seconds	2.5	+0.6	12.7
Mana regen per 5 seconds	8	+0.8	21.6

Riot data Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Level 18 is calculated from Riot's growth formula on the same numbers.

Editorial estimates

Our reading of the data. These are not measured rates and they change when the rules or the data change.

Counter picks: 6 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
Good against: 5 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
Typical lanes: Jungle, Mid Editorial estimateLanes of the class; Riot ships no lane data per champion
Best class (relative): Marksmen Editorial estimateWins minus losses over the class, compared with the other classes; counts of champions, patch 16.21.1
Toughest class (relative): Supports Editorial estimateWins minus losses over the class, compared with the other classes; counts of champions, patch 16.21.1

What no source gives us

Win rate, pick rate and ban rate. Riot publishes none we may print (the Riot API cards are switched off) and no third-party statistics site is read, so none is shown.
Popular builds. Riot publishes no builds: the items and runes in Build & Runes are a fit to the kit, not a popularity ranking.

Sources

Riot Games Data Dragon
Names, ratings, base stats, ability text, cooldowns, costs, range, items, runes and art.
Patch 16.21.1, file generated 2026-10-26
Open
Riot ability preview clips
Played from Riot's own server when you press play; never copied here.
Each clip checked with a request before it is offered
League of Legends Wiki
Release dates and skin prices in RP (CC BY-SA).
Committed data, see the skins page
Open
Nexus Lab rules
Counters, matchups by class, item and rune fit: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on.
Patch 16.21.1
Riot Universe
The official story of Ahri (a link, nothing copied).
Open

Ahri League of Legends champion guide

Ahri, Mage / Assassin

Playing as Ahri

Playing against Ahri

What the kit does

Essence Theft

Orb of Deception

Fox-Fire

Charm

Spirit Rush

Items and runes that fit Ahri

More items with the same stat 29

Boots

Tanks

Fighters

Assassins

Mages

Marksmen

Supports

Rune trees

Precision10 lit

Domination6 lit

Sorcery9 lit

Resolve6 lit

Inspiration6 lit

Who counters Ahri: community consensus

Building against Ahri

Picks that can punish Ahri

Who Ahri is good against

Official story

Get new stories and champion updates

Champion video guide

Ahri skins

Quick answers

Who counters Ahri in League of Legends?

How do you play against Ahri in League of Legends?

Who is Ahri good against in League of Legends?

Which lanes does Ahri play?

How hard is Ahri to play?

Related champions

Next steps

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