How to Beat The Path of Champions: Ahri Guide

Hello, it’s Mezume here! It has been a while since Path of Champions has been added to Legends of Runeterra and we have been publishing guides for different champions regularly in order to help everyone who’s struggling to get through it – or simply wants to be prepared for what awaits. In this guide of the series, I will tackle the newest addition to the mode – Ahri!

I will begin by introducing you to the general gameplan of her deck. After that, we’ll go over the best starting Powers and Relic items to pick from, as well as which reinforcements are best to look out for.

I will also touch on the Reputation breakpoints, as there are a few which can affect the way you approach the game. Finally, I will provide tips specific for Ahri on each of the adventures. If you are looking for more generic tips, you can check both my first guide on Jinx’s adventure and Den’s article about the mode!

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Ahri’s deck is a mixture of Elusive and Recall Synergies, which is quite powerful for a starter deck in Path of Champions. Elusive in general can feel like cheating in PvE content and it is no different here – Woodland Keeper, Dancing Droplet and The Mourned are all able to overpower the first encounters on each map.

Ahri herself contributes quite some damage with Quick Attack and the ability to swap with Dancing Droplet for additional card draw. The more expensive cards like Tail-Cloak Matriarch and Pathless Ancient will usually not be very useful early on, but in further encounters, there is a possibility for some great combos.

As for how to go about complementing your deck – it’s either the good old Elusive rush strategies, which let you power through all the encounters with relative ease; or you can get more cheeky with Recall synergies. These are especially powerful in later adventures because you can stall big threats like Nautilus or Viktor, while progressing your own win condition. Try to ensure you pick a clear theme and stick to it!

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Reputation Unlocks

Rank	EXP	Total EXP	Reward
1	0	0	Begin your Adventure	Complete adventures to gain Reputation and unlock your champion’s potential!
2	50	50	Studded Leather (+1 | +1)	Begin every adventure with Studded Leather.
3	50	100	+50 Gold	Begin every adventure with an extra 50 gold.
4	75	175	+2 Rerolls	Begin every adventure with 2 additional Rerolls.
5	75	250	Random Starting Item	Begin each adventure with a random Common Item on a card in your deck.
6	100	350	Common Relic Slot	Gain a slot for a Common Relic Item.
7	100	450	Cut Cards	You can now cut cards at the Healer.
8	125	575	New starting Power	Round End: If you recalled a unit this round, recall the weakest enemy.
9	125	700	+10% Rare Powers	You have a 10% additional chance to find Rare Powers.
10	150	850	+50 Gold	Begin every adventure with an extra 50 gold.
11	150	1000	Rare Relic Slot	Upgrade to a slot for a Rare or Common Relic Item.
12	200	1200	+2 Rerolls	Begin every adventure with 2 additional Rerolls.
13	200	1400	+10% Gold	You earn 10% additional gold during adventures.
14	250	1650	Common Relic Slot	Gain a slot for a Common Relic Item.
15	250	1900	+1 Revive	Begin every adventure with 1 Revive. It will save you if you lose a combat!
16	300	2200	+10% Rare Items	You have a 10% additional chance to find Rare Items.
17	300	2500	Random Starting Item	Begin each adventure with a random Rare Item on a card in your deck.
18	400	2900	Upgraded Starting Power	Round End: If you recalled a unit this round, recall the strongest enemy.
19	400	3300	+10% Gold	You earn 10% additional gold during adventures.
20	500	3800	Rare Relic Slot	Upgrade to a slot for a Rare or Common Relic Item.
21	500	4300	5% Epic Items	You have a 5% additional chance to find Epic Items.
22	750	5050	+1 Mana	You begin every battle with an extra mana gem.

Ahri’s starting power that she gets at level 8 is quite powerful. If she is on the board, you will likely be Recalling an ally every time you are attacking, while your deck also has many tools to do so outside of that and on defence. This is especially strong if you are able to force trades in such a way that the opponent only has one unit – which is sadly a little difficult to do with Ahri’s list.

The real craziness comes when we get the upgraded power at level 18. Recalling the STRONGEST enemy at round end is incredible and could completely swing the game in your favour against some of the more late-game reliant opponents. Just keep in mind that there are some units that you do not want to recall, with powerful ‘summon’ and ‘play’ effects: make sure to avoid recalling own units if such a situation arises.

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Relics and Items

Items are good on Quick Attack units – and that is true with Ahri as well; except in her case, you will feel it even more.

She effectively attacks twice due to her ability, thus benefitting from stat buffs twice. You want these buffs to enhance her offensive potential, as her Quick Attack will protect her from most blockers if she has enough attack.

The best Relics in my opinion are – Caulfield’s Warhammer (+2/+1) and The Bounty Hunter’s Renown (+1/+1 for every 200 gold).

Jaurim’s Fist (+1/+2) is also quite strong, but it prioritizes health as a stat, which we do not generally want as much as power. One more option to consider is the Troll King’s Crusher (Overwhelm), as this will ensure Ahri cannot get chump blocked at all.

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Reinforcements

There are many ways to approach Reinforcements, so first of all I would like to say that I encourage you to try out all the crazy ideas you might have!

To be completely honest though, I believe Ahri works best in thematic synergy decks. Kennen is the clear cut best choice here. He and his package do everything that Ahri wants in her deck list.

Fizz can add to the Elusive feel of the deck, while generic aggro packages like Teemo are always a safe choice.

On the other side of the spectrum, we can find cards like Yasuo, which might not be great on his own, but can bring cards like Fae Bladetwirler with him – who synergizes very well with Ahri.

One more champion that deserves a mention is Katarina. She works well with both Ahri and Elusives and should be a solid pick, especially if you can upgrade her with some powerful items along the way.

These are my recommendations, but keep in mind that you can always build a deck as you want it and often be powerful enough to take down the challenges you’re presented with.

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Powers

Choosing Power rewards depends on the adventure you are currently in, as well as relic items you have equipped.

With a deck full of Elusives, your best powers are ones that affect the attack stat of your units – Battlefield Training (Round Start: Grant the weakest ally +1/+1), Rush Them Down (When you summon an ally, give it +1/+1 this round), or even just Reunited (Allies have +1/+0) are all potentially game-winning between Elusives and Ahri’s ability to strike twice.

There is one power, however, that is better even than those and I cannot imagine picking another one over it – Domination (Round Start: Rally). Because of how few Elusive blockers there are in Path of Champions, you’ll be able to nearly double your damage output. On top of that, Ahri will wreak even more havoc with her ability with Domination as your power.

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Boss and Adventure Tips

The regular encounters in this adventure are still extremely basic – the main difficulty comes from the two bosses: Poppy and Lulu.

Poppy

• There is very little threat outside of the board she will try to build – all you need to do is play your cards and trade well and you should get past this encounter.
• I haven’t seen any Elusives in their arsenal, so you can aim to plan your turns knowing that you’ll be able to get full damage through – only consider Heroic Charge.

Lulu

• Whimsy, Lulu’s passive ability, is quite negligible. Your power comes from Ahri and a wide board of Elusives, not one large follower.
• As you have no removal, it can get dirty if they curve out well. Force trades with Young Witch and you should still be able to trade well throughout the game.
• Keep in mind Lulu’s levelled up ability! Let her attack before dropping your Elusive units or Ahri to avoid getting them pulled with Vulnerable.

This is the first adventure where the non-boss encounters feel quite impactful. This is because they all have some ways to damage your units and Nexus. With Ahri’s deck, your defensive capabilities are not the strongest, so be wary of how much damage you are taking.

Swain

• Swain has no good way to interact with your Elusive units outside of a few removal spells. Getting through will be simple, so it’s all about not messing up the defense turns.
• Building up on the previous point – you should be able to block Swain easily, but try to do so with disposable units – you don’t want to put Ahri in danger of getting Ravenous Flock‘d!

Gangplank

• Kegs in this matchup are not so crucial. Most of your units are low health, so whether removal does 1 or 4 damage – they’d die anyway. It is better to push damage instead, unless there is good reason to challenge them; like a levelled Gangplank.
• With no direct removal, you need to use Homecoming (or whatever you’ve picked up along the way!) to get rid of Gangplank and The Dreadway. Make sure to use it on a unit that cannot die to fast speed removal.
• This is quite a difficult encounter for Ahri – make sure to pick up good powers along the way instead of playing around; especially in the first playthrough with no extra reputation unlocked.
• Watch out for his passive Dreadway summon when he reaches 20HP – make sure you can remove the upcoming Gangplank instantly and kill his Nexus right after.

By this adventure, we will progress our Reputations and have access to additional rerolls – at the very least, or even more perks if you have been farming reputation! This lets you roll to tailor your additional powers for the encounters, making non-boss fights quite trivial.

Karma

• Yor rather cheap deck can struggle in a game where you start at full mana. Try to pick up reinforcements and powers with late game in mind, as you will reach it against both champions.
• Recalls are actually quite weak in this matchup due to Karma’s minions being quite cheap – rather than for tempo, use your Homecoming to save your own units or stall some healing from Emerald Awakener.
• Due to Aurora Porealis, you aren’t very likely to win the late game. Try to sneak in as much damage as possible with Ahri and Elusives, while avoiding letting them heal up. Domination is an especially great power in this adventure.

Ezreal

• Your initial deck has little to no removal for Ezreal – but you should have picked up some during the adventure! It is a good idea to plan your deck upgrades around both champion encounters.
• Statikk Shock kills your 1-drops, but all the other units survive. As usual – try to bait the AI into playing it before you play The Mourned and Dancing Droplet.
• Once Trueshot Barrage comes into play due to their passive, you will be on the clock, but with your deck that shouldn’t be relevant – you want to kill them either before or right after this happens! Best way to do it is through Elusive damage.

The non-boss encounters in this adventure actually caused me to sweat a little in previous playthroughs with Jayce and Jinx! This was not the case with Ahri, as she has the Elusives and wide boards to stop most of the cheese coming through.

Fiora

• With the abundance of Challengers for your Elusives, this can be a tougher encounter than expected. Use your nexus health as a resource and try to play Elusives AFTER their attacks as much as possible. The Mourned is a great card in the matchup.
• Save your Homecoming for a buffed Fiora, as she can become a real threat if left unchecked – don’t be afraid to use it prematurely just to save some of your Elusives, over trying to get maximum value though!
• Charm can win you the game if timed right – turn the game around by challenging them!

Zed

• Because of the passive in the fight, you need to try to chump block his units – because of your Elusive deck, this should not be too difficult, but keep that in mind!
• Because this is a very aggressive matchup, Zed costing 5 mana is a huge downside for the opponent. You can use Homecoming on him and the tempo swing should be enough to win you the game, especially if you do it on a Dancing Droplet to refill your hand further.

Out of all the champions with which I got through this adventure, Ahri had the easiest time – both against bosses, as well as in non-boss encounters. Elusives are cheating!

Sejuani

• There is not a lot to be said – it’s just beefy units that you can easily go under with Elusives.
• Your gameplan for this encounter is quite simple: on attacking turns, get as much damage through as possible with Elusive units, while on defense you use the non-Elusives to chump block the big boys.
• Use Homecoming to deal with Overwhelm units.

Nautilus

• I’ve struggles in this fight in both of my previous guides, but this was not the case here. You have all the tools to beat him in your initial deck!
• Your Elusive units are a great way to avoid trading and not allowing him to heal. Try not to dilute your deck by getting too many non-Elusives!
• Your win condition is getting under his huge units, but those are also big threats. Choose your defensive trades wisely and make sure to have Homecoming ready when Nautilus comes down; or to counter Devourer of the Depths.
• Your starting power is a huge boon. Be sure to use it as much as possible – Dancing Droplet is your best friend to synergize with it.

Fitting for the final adventure, the non-boss encounters feel appropriately difficult. In many of them, you will be on edge and lose a significant chunk of your health if you are not careful. The random keyword can surprise you in the worst possible moments, while some of the encounters simply include strong decks.

Azir

• The Sand Soldiers buff is quite frustrating, especially considering you are, by nature, weaker on defense.
• It is good to pick up some small removal along the way to deal with their units – especially ones that replace themselves in hand like Pokey Stick.
• While it is a difficult fight, your job is still pretty simple in theory – outrace Azir before his Soldiers become too overwhelming for you to handle.

Viktor

• Homecoming is a powerful card in this matchup, but Viktor could get Spellshield – for that reason, try to pick up ways to remove spellshield along the way. This should not be too difficult as you already wanted to get some cheap removal earlier on.
• There is always a bit of luck involved, as you need to hope Viktor doesn’t get some ridiculous keyword combinations if you did not find Homecoming. If that happens, your best bet is to stall for as long as possible and try to recall Dancing Droplet for more draw.
• This is an encounter where your starting power can save you. If it is already upgraded, beating Viktor becomes a walk through the park – before that, however, you have to be careful how you spend your recall cards.

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Closing Words

Ahri’s Path of Champions was a lot of fun to play because it felt completely different.

I found myself struggling in the parts of the adventure, where I didn’t before with other champions – Gangplank’s adventure proved more difficult than that of Nautilus for me!

I keep enjoying Path of Champions as a mode – it is a great way to relax in a non-competitive environment, that is still challenging enough to be fun. They definitely did a great job and I can’t wait to see where the mode goes in the future!

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