Riot confirms Ahri rework for League Season 12 to make mage “fun” again

Ahri is getting a rework in League of Legends Season 12, with Riot giving the Nine-Tailed Fox one of their popular “mini-reworks” to bring the mage back into the meta. The changes are set to make Ahri “feel fun and well-supported” after years of neglect.

While being one of the poster girls of League of Legends, Ahri hasn’t really been a part of the game’s meta for years. Once popular with casuals and pros alike, the Nine-Tailed Fox has fallen out of favor with both groups as the mid lane meta moves along.

She only has a 5.09% pick rate according to stats website LoLalytics, and a bang average 50.67% win rate. While it’s not the worst, as time goes on, Ahri’s 10-year-old kit has become evidently dated on Summoner’s Rift.

Outside of the Season 11 item rework ⁠— which hit the Nine-Tailed Fox harder than most ⁠— Ahri effectively has remained untouched since League of Legends patch 10.18, when Riot gave her a decent overhaul by shuffling around her passives and buffed her Fox-Fire ability. However, the kit she released with in December 2011 is practically the same as the one she uses today, with a few minor upgrades here and there.

In Season 12, that’s set to change with Riot giving Ahri a rework ⁠— or in their terms, a “mid-scope champion adjustment.”.

Ahri’s Season 12 mini-rework follows on from smaller changes in Season 8 and 10.

Ahri gameplay rework modernizes Nine-Tailed Fox’s kit

Lead gameplay designer Bryan ‘Axes’ Salvatore explained in a December 16 blog post Ahri’s influence in the mid lane has waned, and Riot wants to bring her back into the fold.

“In the case of Ahri, we’re working on her because we believe that players who she has previously resonated with aren’t enjoying her as much anymore. The goal is [to] make her feel fun and well-supported,” he added on Reddit.

This is also the same justification being used to support Janna’s upcoming rework ⁠— which has been delayed to League of Legends patch 12.2 in late January.

Riot wants to ship changes to Ahri on a similar scale to Lucian’s Season 11 upgrade. The Purifier was given a new innate passive, named Vigilance, which tried to tie him back down to the bot lane.

The exact changes for Ahri, however, are yet to be revealed. The same goes for a release date for Ahri’s rework, although it’s expected sometime in 2022.

“We do expect that if we succeed with this work, she’ll be more popular, but that’s a secondary effect,” Salvatore added.

Will the Nine-Tailed Fox be meta again in League of Legends Season 12? We’ll have to wait and see.

Ahri also getting “Caitlyn-level” visual update

On top of the gameplay overhaul, Ahri is getting a visual update — with the two in conjunction basically forming a complete rework of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

“She doesn’t have back animations, and the animations she does have just feel extremely dated — not only for her base skins, but all Epic skins that use the same foundation,” developer Jonathan ‘Bellissimoh’ Belliss said during the Season 12 launch on January 7.

All of her skins will be modernized with new animations and rigging to flow better in modern League of Legends.

The relevant segment begins at 4:45.

More reworks coming in Season 12 for Janna, other champions

Ahri and Janna are Riot’s first two targets for these mini-reworks in 2022 after shipping a number of them across Season 11 for champions like Irelia, Lucian, and Tahm Kench. Rengar has also been floated for a mini-rework, with changes coming in League of Legends patch 12.2.

“This sort of work has gone well so far, so we’re building upon our process for it in the upcoming year, better defining our goals and how we’ll pick targets,” Salvatore concluded.

A Season 12 VGU poll has also been released with five champions being shortlisted for a full rework later in the year or early 2023.