Flash: I don't think that you can pass flash with Akali, you need it to escape from a gank, run away from a bad fight, jump in your twilight shroud(W), get 4 charges to catch up an enemy, to proc a Mark early game if your enemy is low hp.
Ignite: It helps against high lifesteal/spellvamp champ to reduce healing and kill them additionally it adds a good amount of damage to your burst, this also let you to finish off an enemy.
If the enemy is really low hp you can + Q +
Is REALLY strong at the moment due to the burst of the champs in the current patch. You can take out a carry completely with this spell and it's way stronger against f.ex. Syndra.
Is pretty good nowadays because you have a lot roaming potential and you can kinda split push pretty hard with this. If you feel safe enough to go without you can take this.
Let me explain why barrier: Darius and Garen both got a finisher ult, Barrier can prevent you from dying. Renekton got an ultimate which cannot be reduced by Ignite, so why taking ignite against him? Better get barrier.
I do not recommend this anymore. I would go exhaust > barrier.
1 point in Butcher for a better last hitting.
4 points in Sorcery to unlock Arcane Knowledge, 5% CDR is fine and can help you getting a kill or save your ass.
3 points in Mental Force for mid-late game.
1 point in Arcane Mastery for a better last hitting with your Q early game.
3 points in Executionner to take down low hp enemies.
3 points in Archmage which is a mastery useful throughout the game.
1 point in Dangerous Game to survive an ignite in teamfights.
1 point in Arcane Blade which synergies well with your passive.
3 points in Devasting Strikes, 6% Magic/Armor penetration is really good.
Finally 1 point in Havoc because there is no real alternative.
Defensive Tree :
2 points in Block : To trade early game.
1 points in Unyielding : To trade early game.
2 points in Recovery : Sustain more in lane.
3 points Veteran's Scar : Free Flat HP Quint.
1 point in Juggernaut : A bit more tanky to finish the defensive tree.
30/0/0 masteries when playing against an easy matchup:
Only take these masteries when you know that your lane will be easy. For example against
CARE: You have no defense with these masteries! Only take them if you know what you're doing.
DO NOT TAKE THESE MASTERIES WHEN YOU ARE A NEW AKALI PLAYER!
(In game images are not updated but the explanation text is up to date!)
Standard skillorder:
R > Q > E > W
Passive: Twin Disciplines
The new passive changed Akali's playstyle a lot. You have to concentrate way more on AutoAttacks now and you'll have AP + AD scaling sustain without any LifeSteal/SpellVamp. It's pretty good that the passive scales with AD and AP due to the fact that we rush .
In addition this is very strong in combination with in early. If you first AutoAttack a minion (proc'ing the first passive) and then go for a Q + AA on a champ, it will deal tons of damage (Will explain those mechanics later on).
------
(outdated)
Very powerful passive which scales throughout the game. Longer the game
is, stronger you are. It makes you farm item reliant. You really need it
for the laning phase to hold your lane. The more AP and AD you get, the more your sustain and damage proc will be.. Sustain and
damage with AD and AP which makes Akali a hybrid champion.
This passive explains also why is a musthave with Akali.
Q: Mark of the Assassin
Your main ability, harass, damage, low cooldown, low energy cost, restored if you consume your mark.
Early game : use it to farm, last hit, restore your health on minions
(spellvamp). The Mark buffs last longer than the cooldown allowing you
to proc the mark two times without loosing too much energy and deal a
ton of damage.
If you see that your mark deal a good amount of damage when you only
mark your opponent then it means he she's squishy and will die in a sec
if you rush him.
You can also use your mark as a deny tool, land it on your opponent to prevent him from last hitting.
W: Twilight Shroud
Season 7: You can now blink/teleport a short distance with it which allows you to do awesome mechanics. But for a price, you cannot decide where you wanna put your W, it will always spawn beneath you but the direction you teleport will depend on your cursor.
Awesome for lane harass because in combination with boots you're really fast and you're able to procc your passive really nice.
-----
Second main ability, making your laning phase safer and increasing your
survivability in a fight if the enemy doesn't have Oracle Lens or pink
ward. Throw it in a bush juking with your opponent and escape kill him,
use it to facecheck as well. If you are taunted in the shroud you will
not autoattack your enemy and not being revealed. You are still
vulnerable inside it and your enemies can target you if they have
skillshot. Flash while you are in the shroud is a good way to escape.
Take care to not be pants off if you are being chase because the
cooldown of the shroud is pretty long, and the amount of energy is high
early game, don't spam your W for nothing.
The slow is also pretty good if you want to slow minions to the tower or
slow the enemy laner. If your shroud is still up and you are getting
gank you can juke and flash in your shroud if it's far from your
position.
E: Crescent Slash
Season 7: IMPORTANT: It does NO LONGER trigger your Mark of the Assassin (Q)!!! Keep this in mind.
Farming ability, it doesn't deal a high amount of damage and cost a
average cost of energy, don't spam it in a fight where your will focus
to use your Q and R at 100%. Just use it if the enemy if low hp, or you
want to deal a little amount of AOE damage. You can use it when you rush
your opponent to deal more damage. Awesome way to push a lane or quickly clear a jungle camp.
Has nice AD scaling which is decent but still has a lot of energy cost.
R: Shadow Dance
Season 7: You will get instantly 3 charges when skilling it the first time!
Juking, Chasing, Escape ability, the one you need to master at 100%.
First this ability has no cost, but uses one essence of shadow. EOS has a
very high cooldown early in the game that's why you need to think if
you really want to use it, think of the consequences and the rewards of
your move. When you are level 5 and about to get level 6, stay in your
lane before backing to get more EOS when you will back to your lane.
You can use it on ENEMY minions to escape, this is a good reason to let 2
enemies minions behind you when you harass your opponent to jump on
them if needed. The amount's damage of EOS is really good with high
amount of AP.
This is a snowball ability as well, you will be able to get more than 3
charges in a fight if you kill someone, or get an assist. It lets Akali
be very powerful in teamfight to take down the whole enemy team and swap
target every time.
You can use EOS to chase an enemy as well by jumping minions by minions and take him/her down, you have 4 EOS with flash.
Doran's Shield against AA reliant champs. Boots are getting stronger due to the changes with her passive!
Against strong AD matchup (Zed, GP, ...)
Great start item since Season 7! Helps a lot against skillshots and gives a lot potential for proccing your passive on the enemies (in combination with the new W (little teleport)).
I mostly start with this atm.
Awesome start against AP melees and if you know what you're doing. Aggressive start.
Great start when you want to get an early Spectre's Cowl.
Get the Warding totem first and sell it to the Lens midgame (Farsight Alteration is also great to get some more mapcontrol)
This is a pretty decent start because it's very efficient. You get more healings due to Dark Seal and the refillable potion will save you a lot of gold. In addition you have some more snowball potential due to the stacks.
Core Items
This is an absolute must have on Akali! Get this as fast as possible.
1st Zhonyas or Rabadons (depends on situation) -> 2nd Upgrade sorcerers boots -> 3rd Void Staff or Lich Bane (depends on situation) -> 4th - Zhonyas or Rabadons (which you didn't buy first) -> 5th Void Staff or Lich Bane (which you didn't buy first)
Against FULL AD TEAM ---> 1st Zhonyas -> 2nd Ninja tabi -> 3rd Void staff (if enemy 80+MR) -> 4th Randuins Omen -> 5th Rabadons
AGAINST FULL AP TEAM (except adc) ---> 1st Abyssal Scepter -> 2nd Mercurys treads -> 3rd Void or Spirit Visage or Banshees Veil (depends on situation) -> 4th Banshees Veil (if alot of skillshots) or spirit visage -> 5th Void or Spirit Visage or Banshees Veil (which you didn't buy first) DO NOT TAKE VISAGE AND BANSHEES -> 6th Rabadon
Gunblade -> Boots -> Zhonyas -> Void -> GA -> Raba ///
This is great for SoloQ because it brings the glasscannon to a new level. You'll have a lot damage with the great sustain of Zhonyas and GA. I prefer Void Staff after Zhonyas because it's a lot cheaper and enemies mostly build Mres at this moment in the game.
Situational Items
if they got suppression champs or hard CC champs
If enemy damage is AD only, especially good against a fed AD carry (melee or ranged).
If you want to snowball early on. Don't upgrade it, sell it late game. Would be the best item to get early on if Akali wasn't that Spellvamp reliant (too big synergy to pass off).
Guardian Angel can replace or be added with Zhonya, if your team is reliant on you or if you think that the enemy team focus you too much in teamfights.
Please don't buy this item on Akali! There are a lot better items on her and if you really need another def item you should consider going a specific def item like RO or SV/BV or GA
You already got gunblade as active item, if you buy DFG/Gunblade/Zhonya
you will have to use 3 active items. Especially good against teams who
only one main damage dealer. ( !!! OUTDATED !!! Doesn't exist anymore¯\_(ツ)_/¯
OR Health, the passive and active is just really good in a
fight where you jump in to decrease the attack speed of enemy AD, works
great against: (Randuin's Omen)
Dead Man's Plate is also very good chasing people but I still prefer Randuin's.
If they got suppression champs or hard CC champs, against these champ:
If enemy damage is AD only and without any kind of true damage, especially good against a fed AD carry (melee or ranged).
If you want to snowball early on. Don't upgrade it, sell it late game.
Would be the best item to get early on if Akali wasn't that Spellvamp
reliant (too big synergy to pass off).
Guardian Angel can replace or be added with Zhonya, if your team is
reliant on you or if you think that the enemy team focus you too much in
teamfights.
Please don't buy this item on Akali! There are a lot better items on her and if you really need another def item you should consider going a specific def item like or /or
After the Nerf in Season 7 it's even worse.
This is actually not even weak.... I tried it some time ago and it went very well because of your passive you gain a lot Spell Vamp.
This is also quite viable because of it's passive effect. I would get this if they have a lot burst damage.
Yea this is the (korean) tank akali toplane item. You get this with I guess and some other off tanky items. I don't really like this because it's not very stable on midlane due to the fact that this doesn't give you burst damage.
I WON'T GO IN DEPTH WITH TANK AKALI TOP/JUNGLE/WHATEVER BECAUSE IT'S NOT MY PLAYSTYLE.
Basically you rush sustain, then resistances for team fight
survivability then counter MR and you finish your build by
buying more damage items. Boots can be buy whenever you want.
Full skillshots champ,
boots help a lot against her. You can't hit her until level 6 if she
plays right, she will just Q you. Her W will target you, you have to
shroud when she uses it. Stay behind the creeps to dodge her E. At 6
wait until her E/Q is on cooldown to rush her. If she uses her ultimate
just shroud and wait. She's squishy remember that. You can follow her
with full stack ultimate. Rushing Lich Bane against this champ is dumb
(why are u rushing Lich bane anyway ?), because you won't be able to
proc your mark with AA when she ults (most of the time if she plays
correctly). Don't E before your Q is on her when you are rushing her
because it won't proc you damages otherwise. Ahri won't max W anymore,
if she is smart she will keep her E until you rush her, when getting E
by Ahri you will take a lot of damage that's why you should never rush
her if her E is up. If she plays too safe then you will have to roam or
farm wraith depending of your lanes situation. Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Anivia
Hard
Very squishy champ and totally mana dependant, keep looking at her mana pool while you are laning against. Dodge Q, if she hits you with it shroud imediatly to avoid her E.
The main problem with Anivia is that you can't proc your mark before
level 6 and she destroys you at level 6 because of her stupid ultimate
which will push the lane. Moreover she can rush MR items and still deal
tons of damage. Anivia is pretty OP. The only way to beat her is at
level 6, wait until that her abilities are on cooldown to burst her
down. Remember to don't dive her. Because of her low mobility ganking is
the best option.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + Passive
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Annie
Hard
Annoying, can harass you with her autoattack, she can spam her Q and W
which can stun and hurt you a lot. She's not mana dependant, play safe
and wait the right moment to jump on her. Her burst at level 6 is HUGE,
even if she's low hp try to not dive her if she can ult/stun you under
tower. Farm and gank is the best way to do against her. Your shroud
isn't a protection which can save your life so take care.
Set MR
Build MR
Take care of: W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Aurelion Sol
Easy
Aurelion Sol isn't that strong when he hits level 6 so don't be afraid to all in when you get your hextech revolver.
Sol is very weak against champs which can jump in because his passive is nearly senseless then. Just try to don't get hit by his passive + Q / W and then it should be a gg lane.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Azir
Hard
Pretty damn strong.. Try to not get hit by his soldiers too hard and wait til 6. Better ask your jungler for help because otherwise he can outplay you very hard.
This should be obvious but you cannot jump over his with your BUT you can teleport with your over it!
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Brand
Medium
Boring lane, he's a real pain because he can stun you if you come too
close or if you jump on him, his W outrange your Q by far. Play really
safe and farm. Even so, he's really squishy you just have to wait that
he miss his Q to rush him. Be careful to not get close to minions if he
ultimates you or you will take more damage than expected.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Camille
Easy
Melee champ, you can trade very well against Camille due to your teleport mechanic and dodging her W and E. The shield she gains is always AP(magic shield). You can still hurt her with your AA's and your E because it deals physical damage.
Shouldn't be too hard because you should out-damage her trades.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W + R
Start: Cloth Armor+ Health Potion
VS
Cassiopeia
Hard
She can anticipate where you will last hit and try to deny you, if she hits you with Q, shroud immediatly to not take damage from E.
You can't allow yourself of being hit by her Q or you won't be able to
lane properly, this is really hard and the only think you can do early
game if hard denied is : Shroud and throw your Q on minions to farm. It
remains pretty hard until level 7, when you reach this level, use your
ultimate on minions, land your Q on Cassiopeia, wait for Q's cooldown, R
on her and double consume your Q. Care when you do that of her
ultimate. If she's smart she will build herself tanky with Rylai and
Liandry making her even harder to focus, she got also the highest DPS
late game from the AP champs so be really careful, consider buying a
QSS.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of : Q + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Cho'Gath
Medium
Melee champ, dodge his rupture and his silence. Try to kill him before
his level 6 where he will get a high hp pool. He's mana dependant check
his manapool. If played AP he will become a real pain and can cause you a
lot of trouble in 1v1 situation. If you get hit by his W or Q you will
lose your trade.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Darius
Medium
Annoying as fuck. Try to dodge his with your teleport from . You can dodge his R with your W but it won't go on cooldown for Darius, so take care when leaving your shroud. When fighting him, try to clear your bleeding stacks in your shroud so his R won't deal much damage. You can also dodge his E with your W.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
VS
Diana
Medium
Since her nerf, I changed my mind on this matchup. It's still a pretty
hard one but you can win. The build will be MR oriented with Abyssal.
Early levels try to burn her mana by forcing her to use her W everytime,
you deal more damage than her and you are tankier (if her W is on CD).
Just DON'T fight when her passive is up because it deals a lot of
damage. At level 6, if you manage to avoid her Q rush her and destroy
her. Your Q deals more damage than her one remember that (if you proc
your mark ofc). Get an early .
Remember your Q last longer than her one. Post level 8 she will be hard
to kill if you are even in lane, be very careful. It's a lane which can
snowball really easily, if you die only one time you might be out of
the game definetely if you aren't careful enough.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Ekko
Hard
Ekko is pretty annoying since he can counter your poke with his passive very well. In addition he can have a really aggressive playstyle which you have to prevent.
Let him push and ask your jungler for a gank PRE 6! He won't be easy to gank if he is level 6 and above because of his (Ultimate).
Try to predict where he spawns his and jump out of it before he can stun you/gets his shield.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E + R (yea its pretty annoying to play against him)
Start: Dorans Shield or Boots + Health Potion
VS
Fizz
Easy
His laning phase is really bad, you can anticipate where he will last
hit, land a Q on him when he goes for a minion. VERY IMPORTANT : Most of
Fizz players try to go all in level 2-3 with Elixir + Ignite - Shroud
yourself and harass him back but do not take more than 1 hit of his W.
If you think that it's too risky to deny him because he got barrier :
wait your level 6. If he got barrier and ignite as summoners spell, you
can't really 1v1 him except if you can get free trades and damages on
him. Otherwise - no barrier : If he rushs you, shroud yourself and
punish him by consuming a mark on him. Keep harassing him and you may
kill him at level 6. Use your health pots to have a average health
because he deals more damage on you if your health is low. He mostly use
AA early game so Doran's shield is a wise choice.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W + E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Gragas
Easy
Try to dodge his barells, shroud yourself when he uses his E on you and don't fight him.
Everytime he last hit you can burst him. Gragas' main problem after
level 6, and later in the game, is that his item path doesn't allow him
to buy MR or HP without making him a lot weaker in term of damage. You
should wait to have 2 EOS before rushing him (because of his E and
ultimate).
Can be actually harder since the last changes on him, his W + E combo
HURTS a lot you have to try avoiding his E if possible then trade with
him early game (pretty much impossible I know, at least dodge his Q or
you will lose the trade).
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Longsword + Health Potion
VS
Heimerdinger
Medium
He's gonna push the whole day and you won't be able to do anything
pre-6. However when hitting 6 you shouldn't have to many problems to
take him down, just take care of his turrets and shroud immediatly (if
he's carrying a pink don't rush him). In team fights you should be able
to focus him if you got a good engage.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Jayce
Easy
You can finally lane against him but it's still pretty hard you will
have to shroud yourself often, do it when he uses his Q on you. Try to
get closer to him by landing your Q + E combo. At level 6 you will
destroy him with 2 EOS.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Karma
Medium
This champ got a lot of damage. Her Q + R combo deals a huge amount of
damage. Her W reveals you so it's hard to use your shroud against her.
Her E also is a good escape. However she uses mana and is very cooldown
dependant : once she uses her Q + R combo, use this time to jump in
right after.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Karthus
Easy
Dodge his Q, don't stay in his E,
he's really weak early game and squishy, deny him by landing your Q on
him and try to consume it everytime you can. Most of the time he will
farm under his tower. Avoid overextending because of his wall which can
be a problem if you are getting ganked. Try to kill at level 6 if he's
on the middle of the lane. If he plays too safe, push your lane and gank
the others. Heal yourself if he's level 6 and you are low.
Before rushing him be sure to have an enemy minions behind you to jump
on it once Karthus is dead otherwise you might die because of his E
damage. Care late game since you are a melee his E will destroy you.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R + Passive
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Kassadin
Medium
Easy laning until level 6, he's a melee champ, hit him when he goes for a
last hit, try to consume your mark but
anyway he wastes his mana a lot if he harasses you. Be very careful
about minions aggro in this matchup : his Q DOESN'T aggro minions = free
harass for him / your Q + AA or E aggro minions = not taking a trade if
there is too many creeps. Moreover at level 6 he will be annoying and
very hard to kill, fight him if he doesn't have his blue, if not just
farm. Also remember you have 3 charges without CD and which doesn't use
any mana, that's your upper hand in this matchup. Kassadin without a
blue is killable, Kassadin with a blue is unkillable (except if you are
ahead in term of items). That's why you should like with Anivia, try to
deny his blue with your jungler and top/bot lane.
Set Basic
Build MR
Take care of: E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Katarina
Easy
Update Season 7: Katarina's kit got completely changed. You have to avoid her daggers now and try to fight when her spells are on cooldown!
-----
Hit her when she farms, you deal more damage than her until level 6.
Mark her everytime she goes for a last hit especially the two first
levels before she gets 1 point in W or E.
You can try to go all in on her at level 2 by taking an early point in
your E + Red pot + Ignite, I'm not fan but if the Katarina is dumb it
can work. Don't let her have a free harass on you like : her Q + W + E
on a creep behind her which means you didn't even hit her. That's why
post level 3 you have to wait that your E is up before consuming your
Mark, after this point you will be able to do it by consuming it
everytime your E is up. Shroud yourself if she uses her ult, while running away. You can also jump on a
minion. Burst her when R is on cooldown. Her W hurt a lot aswell, you can bait her if you have a mark on you.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Boots (due to the dagger update) + Health Potion
VS
Kayle
Medium
Really hard lane pre-6, she got a lot of deny potential. If she hit her Q
on you, shroud immediatly. Don't let her Q + E combo otherwise you will
take a lot of damage which means you will have to recall. You can't
allow you to be behind in level because her 6 is also a big issue for
you. Once she is 6 you have to be ready before jumping on her. Never
rush her if you can't do the 2 marks combo. Try to scare her by wasting
her ultimate then back off and rush her again. Thus play very safe pre
6, don't fall behind in level and brain her at level 6.
Set Basic (Mixed Damage = Hard to counter)
Build Classic
Take care of: W + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
VS
Kennen
Hard
Really annoying, stay behind your creeps. When he got a blue shuriken,
run away to avoid getting a mark. Wait that his abilities are on
cooldown to hit him (Q and E especially). If he keeps harassing you with
AA and W just shroud and try to farm under tower or with your Q, there
is not much you can do before your level 6 against him, don't try to LH
with your AA if you think he can land a full combo on you = you will
lose your lane for 25g not really worth it. He got a high burst at level
6 take care. You have to wait that his Q is on CD before rushing him
also, he will E away or E in depending of what he wants to do, if he
ults you, jump on a minion behind you (you have to keep a minion behind
you if you want to rush Kennen which means you need at least 2 EOS). He
remains squishy and isn't scary once his ult is on CD. Ult into Zhonya
can bait you hard take care.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R + Passive
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Kha'Zix
Easy
Stay near your creeps and trade when he attacks you, you outdamage him
if you don't let him use his passive. If he maxes his W, always try that he
uses his W CD on creeps before doing anything. Care of his all-in level
1, remember to shroud and use creep at your avantage, when taking
damages from harass : always attack back except if you are isolated, try
to attack him everytime he goes for a last hit.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E
Start : Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
VS
LeBlanc
Hard
Rush MR against her, to reduce her burst, she's annoying during the
laning phase, play safe and shroud yourself often. Don't get too close
if you are marked by her Q, her W got a very long range. She can't farm as much
as you, don't panic if you are behind in creep compared to her, this
champ is an all in champ oriented for the laning phase and mid game.
Take care of her Q + W combo which deals a lot of damage you have to
shroud immediately but remember that she still can
activate her Q with her W/E when you are in your shroud. Just play safe
and don't let her roam too much. You can take a barrier if you really
feel unconfortable in this matchup but I believe that you can kill
because she's really squishy, once you get your level 6 you have to wait
that she uses her full combo before rushing her. If you can it your
level 6 before her, go all in with Red pot and ignite but don't dive.
Rush Abyssal and MR items of course, don't forget to get some HPs too.
Set MR
Build MR
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Lee Sin
Medium
Unlike most of people think, Lee Sin doesn't counter Akali in LANE. This
matchup is average and depends on skill players. The only big damage
output from Lee is his Q, manage to be behind the creeps to avoid it.
Your mindset must be : Okay my enemy got true vision on me. Shroud
carefully, dont waste it. When Lee comes to last hit, attack him. When
he shields a low hp minion, attack him. At 6 don't be overconfident, he
has the same burst as you. Rush him when his Q or W is on CD. The only
way Lee Sin can be a real pain, if he plays very agressive at level 2, E
you then Q on you and ignite you will be out of the lane take care of
this.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
VS
Lissandra
Medium
This champ can be annoying during the laning phase but won't be able to
harass you too much or she will be OOM. Just dodge her Q and you will be
fine, she won't use her E on you except if you are getting ganked and
you overextended. At level 6 you can try to kill her but it will be very
hard because of her E and ultimate, rush her when her W is on CD
otherwise you won't do anything. Also she can push her lane very fast
with a blue so contesting it can be a solution. Getting against her is helpful. Take care of her burst
late game, she can instakill you and you can instakill her so you have
to outplay her.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Lulu
Hard
Well.. you're fucked.
VS
Lux
Easy
High range champ, farm behind your minions, you'll need your level 6 to
kill her. You will have a hard time before 6 if you can't avoid
skillshots, farm with your Q.
She's squishy, do your full combo at level 6 to grab a kill. Her shield
is really good and reduce your burst, she can even totally deny it if
she got a barrier. Still, mark her at level 6 and try to make her miss
her Q on you, then you can rush her whenever you want when her Q is on
CD. You won't be able to deny her from farming.
Remember, her spells don't reveal you.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Malzahar
Medium
His E
is annoying, just wait until he uses on a minion, then Q him and try to
consume your mark, do this several time each time his E is on cooldown,
don't worry of W early game, just dodge his Q. Ask for a gank if he overpush. At level 6 care of his R.
Use your full combo but when you rush him, you must shroud immediatly,
in the worst case he will ult you while your are in the shroud and you
will take less damage. Get ASAP you can buy this as first item).
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Mordekaiser
Hard
Well he crushes you, snowball lane. Try to harass him early game when
his E on CD (this is your unique opportunity), do this several times if
you can. Same at level 6 before rushing him, wait that his E is on CD.
Ask for a gank if you can get an early kill on him you will be able to
farm him. If you die once you can afk or roam.
Set Classic
Build MR
Take care of : Passive (painful enough)
Start w/e doesn't matter.
VS
Morgana
Easy
Dodge her Q, stay behind creep and hit her when her Q is on cooldown.
She can farm really safe with her W. You may not kill her. Just farm if
you can't kill her. When you have your ult up, let a creep behind you
before attacking her because it will allow you to jump out if she ults
you. Once her ult is on CD you can't really die, but you can kill her.
Her E doesn't really deny your damage as much as Lux's one.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Nidalee
Easy
Dodge her Q,
and care of her cougar if you are low hp. Don't run in
her traps. Otherwise you can kill her really easily, if you are full
life at level 6 and she uses her cougar form like "trololol im too
stronk" just rape her (don't forget to use your full combo). AP Nidalee
can't do anything against Akali, except if you are bad.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Orianna
Medium
She can anticipate your last hit. When her ball is far from her, Q and
proc your mark, dodge her ball as much as possible. When her ball is on
her minions, you will not be able to farm with AA so just use your Q to
do so and play safe. Rush her at level 6,
she can't counter a gap closer that much.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion or Ruby Crystal + Health Potion
VS
Pantheon
Medium
He can block your attack when you want to consume your mark (which isn't
really a problem anymore since you can proc your mark with Q + E
combo), he's squishy but deal a good amount of damage, shroud if he
jumps on you and counter attack when heartseeker is off. At level 6 be
sure that his blockage is off before rushing him. Don't let him roam too
much like TF or Shen, push your lane as much as you can or attack him
if he's ulting somewhere before you.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
VS
Riven
Hard
Squishy champ, harass her to avoid that she combo you, if you keep her
low hp she won't harass you. Due to her high mobility, she's hard to
deal early game. Shroud when she uses her Q, and consume a mark on her if she's too close, just hit her when her W
is on CD. Don't let her AA you too much because of her passive which
can hurt a lot when she used her spells right before. If she's maxing
shield like a retard, it will be really hard to kill her for you, and
she will totally outrade you everytime, you have to try baiting her E
beofre rushing her. The mecanisms of this champ totally counter Akali
anyway, so if you think you won't be able to kill her try to farm and
focus on mid game and late game (she's better than you mid/late game in
teamfight imo). Care at level 6 if you are low hp, she can kill you
really easily with her ultimate. Skill based matchup. Don't try to build
tanky against her, it's better to buy burst item so you can kill her
fast even if it will hurt your laning phase a bit. Why not building
tanky against Riven, because she got short CDs on her spells and also
her passive makes her AAs hurt a lot so it's impossible to out trade her
in a long run if you are building tanky.
Set Basic
Build Counter AD
Take care of : Everything
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
VS
Rumble
Medium
Offtank AP, farm behind your creep, wait until he's overwarmed (AND SILENCED), and attack him at this point, wait his Q
is off to attack him. Play very safe until level 6. After your 6 you
can rush him everytime his Q is on CD. Don't take a free harass from his
E and don't stay in his ultimate at all price.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Ryze
Easy
Try to kill him ASAP, constant harass and mark's proc, he's a big
problem because he will rush MR and HP, you won't be able to kill him
when he gets Ask for a gank, be sure to also rush .
Don't get W too many times and comboed by his Q + W combo early game -
play very safe and be high enough in health to rush him at level 6 -
Even if you have to play safe pre-6 before of his harass, don't worry,
once you get 6 you still can crush him very hard. The main problem with
Ryze is late game, if he gets to this point you will have a lot of
trouble. He might take a TP to gank other lanes, you can't cancel it,
but try to deal as much damage as you can when he's tping in front of
you.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W - Items
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Swain
Hard
You will have to shroud often yourself, try to land him your Q while you
are in your shroud, try to consume your mark without getting snare by
his W.
His E + Q combo really hurt. Don't try to trade with him if he Eed you
just before. Like some champs he can't farm properly, so it means even
if you are behind in CS pre6, you will be able to catchup later in the
game. You must have your ignite at level 6 to kill him otherwise just
farm. He's really tanky it will be hard to kill him after his first back
if you don't get an early kill. Try to push and gank other lanes if you
are really behind. Most of the time don't fight him if he got blue and
try to deny his blue buff as much as you can with your team.
One of the few matchups where I get
Set MR
Build MR
Take care of: E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Syndra
Easy
Well she can zone you pre level 6, she is annoying - just try to farm as
much as you can, under tower and with your Q - once she hit level 6
care of the Q number on the battlefield. She's easy to kill if you have 2 EOS, don't rush her before because of her E.
She got the highest AP burst in the game level 6 if she got many ballz
on the battlefield.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Talon
Hard
You need armor runes to hold him. Farm and dodge his W. When this
ability is on cooldown harass him and try to consume your mark. If you
see his Q activated, shroud. Since his nerf check his mana pool to know if you
can kill him or not especially at level 6. If you are less than 60% hp,
don't try to attack him and play safe. Don't let him roam, follow
him. Consider buying a
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of : W + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (rush Seeker)
VS
Twisted Fate
Easy
Low CD on spells, CC, ultimate which reveals you. He should be able to
counter you very easily BUT he's squishy as hell. Just shroud when his W
is on, DON'T UNDERESTIMATE damage from blue card. Try to Q him when his
W is not up (except if he's dumb you won't proc it before 6). He is
just stronger than you before your level 6, just avoid to be too much
harassed. At level 6, rush him when he doesn't have his W.
Care he can see you in shroud with his R, that's why ward your lane and
know where the enemy jungler before rushing him. You may take a tp to
counter his ultimate, but TP CD is too high imo to counter his ganks.
That's why you should try to ward as much as you can to prevent him from
ulting. Try to follow him as much as you can when he's ganking
somewhere, your duelist potential is far higher. If you can't do
anything just push the lane and try to get the mid tower.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W+ R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Veigar
Easy
Easy prey, deny him, force him to use his Q on you, you can avoid his E quite easily, dodge his W
and kill him at level 6. Care of his full burst at 6 which can hurt you
a lot. Don't buy too much AP, because his ultimate will take you down
fast, try to mix AP/HP/MR. Anyway you will always win 1v1 situation
against him (except if he's overfed and you are really far behind).
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of : E + W+ R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Viktor
Medium
Annoying champ because of his insane harass. He can avoid your Q poke with his and place + inside your . Try to avoid fighting him 1v1 unless he's behind. Always move out of when he upgraded that spell.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
VS
Yasuo
Easy
Proc his shield with your Q and attack (trade) after the shield is gone. His wall will deny your Q's.
He can't you while you're hidden in your !
Remember that you can't use Zhonyas while he ults you. Try do dodge his Q's and fight him lvl 6 with your full combo.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
VS
Zed
Easy
This matchup looks better for Zed because of his Q range and harass with
shadows. The main problem against him is to know what he's maxing, if
he's maxing his Q you just have to avoid it and you will be fine. If
he's maxing E you will have to farm with your Q and you won't be able to
deny him if his W is up. At level 6 Zed got an ult which can burst
anyone. However Akali can avoid takin damage from Zed ultimate if you
shroud at the right time he won't deal additional damage with his mark
which means that you will only take the damages from the mark itself
(low damage). You can rush him at 6 with 2 EOS and following my tips you
can win this matchup. It will be harder if he got a pink (after first
back) but you will have sustain from your hextech, just attack him if
his W is on CD. You can try to go fullretard mod straight up once you
got your gun blade. Take care of his R shadow now because he can escape
with it.
Rush
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
VS
Ziggs
Hard
Even lane, you can't make a mistake or you will lose, he will deny you
hard pre6, you will have to farm with your Q. Once you are 6 you can
burst him down but take care of his E and W which can prevent your combo while dealing a lot of damage. Wait 2 EOS before rushing him.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + W
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Zilean
Medium
You need MR against him. Unlike Kassadin you can't prevent him to ult
hiself, that's why he's really hard to lane against. Farm as much as you
can.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
VS
Zyra
Medium
Mostly see played as support now, she remains a good mid champ but she
can't deal with assassins. Pre-6 she's really anoying and will try to
deny you as much as possible, don't underestimate plants damage. Post-6
it's a really easy lane if you wait her E on CD. Don't forget her
passive which deals stupid damage. Her W reveals you don't walk in.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W + E + R + Passive
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Champion
Difficulty
Notes
Ahri
Full skillshots champ,
boots help a lot against her. You can't hit her until level 6 if she
plays right, she will just Q you. Her W will target you, you have to
shroud when she uses it. Stay behind the creeps to dodge her E. At 6
wait until her E/Q is on cooldown to rush her. If she uses her ultimate
just shroud and wait. She's squishy remember that. You can follow her
with full stack ultimate. Rushing Lich Bane against this champ is dumb
(why are u rushing Lich bane anyway ?), because you won't be able to
proc your mark with AA when she ults (most of the time if she plays
correctly). Don't E before your Q is on her when you are rushing her
because it won't proc you damages otherwise. Ahri won't max W anymore,
if she is smart she will keep her E until you rush her, when getting E
by Ahri you will take a lot of damage that's why you should never rush
her if her E is up. If she plays too safe then you will have to roam or
farm wraith depending of your lanes situation. Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Anivia
Very squishy champ and totally mana dependant, keep looking at her mana pool while you are laning against. Dodge Q, if she hits you with it shroud imediatly to avoid her E.
The main problem with Anivia is that you can't proc your mark before
level 6 and she destroys you at level 6 because of her stupid ultimate
which will push the lane. Moreover she can rush MR items and still deal
tons of damage. Anivia is pretty OP. The only way to beat her is at
level 6, wait until that her abilities are on cooldown to burst her
down. Remember to don't dive her. Because of her low mobility ganking is
the best option.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + Passive
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Annie
Annoying, can harass you with her autoattack, she can spam her Q and W
which can stun and hurt you a lot. She's not mana dependant, play safe
and wait the right moment to jump on her. Her burst at level 6 is HUGE,
even if she's low hp try to not dive her if she can ult/stun you under
tower. Farm and gank is the best way to do against her. Your shroud
isn't a protection which can save your life so take care.
Set MR
Build MR
Take care of: W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Aurelion Sol
Aurelion Sol isn't that strong when he hits level 6 so don't be afraid to all in when you get your hextech revolver.
Sol is very weak against champs which can jump in because his passive is nearly senseless then. Just try to don't get hit by his passive + Q / W and then it should be a gg lane.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Azir
Pretty damn strong.. Try to not get hit by his soldiers too hard and wait til 6. Better ask your jungler for help because otherwise he can outplay you very hard.
This should be obvious but you cannot jump over his with your BUT you can teleport with your over it!
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Brand
Boring lane, he's a real pain because he can stun you if you come too
close or if you jump on him, his W outrange your Q by far. Play really
safe and farm. Even so, he's really squishy you just have to wait that
he miss his Q to rush him. Be careful to not get close to minions if he
ultimates you or you will take more damage than expected.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Camille
Melee champ, you can trade very well against Camille due to your teleport mechanic and dodging her W and E. The shield she gains is always AP(magic shield). You can still hurt her with your AA's and your E because it deals physical damage.
Shouldn't be too hard because you should out-damage her trades.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W + R
Start: Cloth Armor+ Health Potion
Cassiopeia
She can anticipate where you will last hit and try to deny you, if she hits you with Q, shroud immediatly to not take damage from E.
You can't allow yourself of being hit by her Q or you won't be able to
lane properly, this is really hard and the only think you can do early
game if hard denied is : Shroud and throw your Q on minions to farm. It
remains pretty hard until level 7, when you reach this level, use your
ultimate on minions, land your Q on Cassiopeia, wait for Q's cooldown, R
on her and double consume your Q. Care when you do that of her
ultimate. If she's smart she will build herself tanky with Rylai and
Liandry making her even harder to focus, she got also the highest DPS
late game from the AP champs so be really careful, consider buying a
QSS.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of : Q + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Cho'Gath
Melee champ, dodge his rupture and his silence. Try to kill him before
his level 6 where he will get a high hp pool. He's mana dependant check
his manapool. If played AP he will become a real pain and can cause you a
lot of trouble in 1v1 situation. If you get hit by his W or Q you will
lose your trade.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Darius
Annoying as fuck. Try to dodge his with your teleport from . You can dodge his R with your W but it won't go on cooldown for Darius, so take care when leaving your shroud. When fighting him, try to clear your bleeding stacks in your shroud so his R won't deal much damage. You can also dodge his E with your W.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
Diana
Since her nerf, I changed my mind on this matchup. It's still a pretty
hard one but you can win. The build will be MR oriented with Abyssal.
Early levels try to burn her mana by forcing her to use her W everytime,
you deal more damage than her and you are tankier (if her W is on CD).
Just DON'T fight when her passive is up because it deals a lot of
damage. At level 6, if you manage to avoid her Q rush her and destroy
her. Your Q deals more damage than her one remember that (if you proc
your mark ofc). Get an early .
Remember your Q last longer than her one. Post level 8 she will be hard
to kill if you are even in lane, be very careful. It's a lane which can
snowball really easily, if you die only one time you might be out of
the game definetely if you aren't careful enough.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Ekko
Ekko is pretty annoying since he can counter your poke with his passive very well. In addition he can have a really aggressive playstyle which you have to prevent.
Let him push and ask your jungler for a gank PRE 6! He won't be easy to gank if he is level 6 and above because of his (Ultimate).
Try to predict where he spawns his and jump out of it before he can stun you/gets his shield.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E + R (yea its pretty annoying to play against him)
Start: Dorans Shield or Boots + Health Potion
Fizz
His laning phase is really bad, you can anticipate where he will last
hit, land a Q on him when he goes for a minion. VERY IMPORTANT : Most of
Fizz players try to go all in level 2-3 with Elixir + Ignite - Shroud
yourself and harass him back but do not take more than 1 hit of his W.
If you think that it's too risky to deny him because he got barrier :
wait your level 6. If he got barrier and ignite as summoners spell, you
can't really 1v1 him except if you can get free trades and damages on
him. Otherwise - no barrier : If he rushs you, shroud yourself and
punish him by consuming a mark on him. Keep harassing him and you may
kill him at level 6. Use your health pots to have a average health
because he deals more damage on you if your health is low. He mostly use
AA early game so Doran's shield is a wise choice.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W + E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Gragas
Try to dodge his barells, shroud yourself when he uses his E on you and don't fight him.
Everytime he last hit you can burst him. Gragas' main problem after
level 6, and later in the game, is that his item path doesn't allow him
to buy MR or HP without making him a lot weaker in term of damage. You
should wait to have 2 EOS before rushing him (because of his E and
ultimate).
Can be actually harder since the last changes on him, his W + E combo
HURTS a lot you have to try avoiding his E if possible then trade with
him early game (pretty much impossible I know, at least dodge his Q or
you will lose the trade).
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Longsword + Health Potion
Heimerdinger
He's gonna push the whole day and you won't be able to do anything
pre-6. However when hitting 6 you shouldn't have to many problems to
take him down, just take care of his turrets and shroud immediatly (if
he's carrying a pink don't rush him). In team fights you should be able
to focus him if you got a good engage.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Jayce
You can finally lane against him but it's still pretty hard you will
have to shroud yourself often, do it when he uses his Q on you. Try to
get closer to him by landing your Q + E combo. At level 6 you will
destroy him with 2 EOS.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Karma
This champ got a lot of damage. Her Q + R combo deals a huge amount of
damage. Her W reveals you so it's hard to use your shroud against her.
Her E also is a good escape. However she uses mana and is very cooldown
dependant : once she uses her Q + R combo, use this time to jump in
right after.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Karthus
Dodge his Q, don't stay in his E,
he's really weak early game and squishy, deny him by landing your Q on
him and try to consume it everytime you can. Most of the time he will
farm under his tower. Avoid overextending because of his wall which can
be a problem if you are getting ganked. Try to kill at level 6 if he's
on the middle of the lane. If he plays too safe, push your lane and gank
the others. Heal yourself if he's level 6 and you are low.
Before rushing him be sure to have an enemy minions behind you to jump
on it once Karthus is dead otherwise you might die because of his E
damage. Care late game since you are a melee his E will destroy you.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R + Passive
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Kassadin
Easy laning until level 6, he's a melee champ, hit him when he goes for a
last hit, try to consume your mark but
anyway he wastes his mana a lot if he harasses you. Be very careful
about minions aggro in this matchup : his Q DOESN'T aggro minions = free
harass for him / your Q + AA or E aggro minions = not taking a trade if
there is too many creeps. Moreover at level 6 he will be annoying and
very hard to kill, fight him if he doesn't have his blue, if not just
farm. Also remember you have 3 charges without CD and which doesn't use
any mana, that's your upper hand in this matchup. Kassadin without a
blue is killable, Kassadin with a blue is unkillable (except if you are
ahead in term of items). That's why you should like with Anivia, try to
deny his blue with your jungler and top/bot lane.
Set Basic
Build MR
Take care of: E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Katarina
Update Season 7: Katarina's kit got completely changed. You have to avoid her daggers now and try to fight when her spells are on cooldown!
-----
Hit her when she farms, you deal more damage than her until level 6.
Mark her everytime she goes for a last hit especially the two first
levels before she gets 1 point in W or E.
You can try to go all in on her at level 2 by taking an early point in
your E + Red pot + Ignite, I'm not fan but if the Katarina is dumb it
can work. Don't let her have a free harass on you like : her Q + W + E
on a creep behind her which means you didn't even hit her. That's why
post level 3 you have to wait that your E is up before consuming your
Mark, after this point you will be able to do it by consuming it
everytime your E is up. Shroud yourself if she uses her ult, while running away. You can also jump on a
minion. Burst her when R is on cooldown. Her W hurt a lot aswell, you can bait her if you have a mark on you.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Boots (due to the dagger update) + Health Potion
Kayle
Really hard lane pre-6, she got a lot of deny potential. If she hit her Q
on you, shroud immediatly. Don't let her Q + E combo otherwise you will
take a lot of damage which means you will have to recall. You can't
allow you to be behind in level because her 6 is also a big issue for
you. Once she is 6 you have to be ready before jumping on her. Never
rush her if you can't do the 2 marks combo. Try to scare her by wasting
her ultimate then back off and rush her again. Thus play very safe pre
6, don't fall behind in level and brain her at level 6.
Set Basic (Mixed Damage = Hard to counter)
Build Classic
Take care of: W + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
Kennen
Really annoying, stay behind your creeps. When he got a blue shuriken,
run away to avoid getting a mark. Wait that his abilities are on
cooldown to hit him (Q and E especially). If he keeps harassing you with
AA and W just shroud and try to farm under tower or with your Q, there
is not much you can do before your level 6 against him, don't try to LH
with your AA if you think he can land a full combo on you = you will
lose your lane for 25g not really worth it. He got a high burst at level
6 take care. You have to wait that his Q is on CD before rushing him
also, he will E away or E in depending of what he wants to do, if he
ults you, jump on a minion behind you (you have to keep a minion behind
you if you want to rush Kennen which means you need at least 2 EOS). He
remains squishy and isn't scary once his ult is on CD. Ult into Zhonya
can bait you hard take care.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R + Passive
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Kha'Zix
Stay near your creeps and trade when he attacks you, you outdamage him
if you don't let him use his passive. If he maxes his W, always try that he
uses his W CD on creeps before doing anything. Care of his all-in level
1, remember to shroud and use creep at your avantage, when taking
damages from harass : always attack back except if you are isolated, try
to attack him everytime he goes for a last hit.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E
Start : Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
LeBlanc
Rush MR against her, to reduce her burst, she's annoying during the
laning phase, play safe and shroud yourself often. Don't get too close
if you are marked by her Q, her W got a very long range. She can't farm as much
as you, don't panic if you are behind in creep compared to her, this
champ is an all in champ oriented for the laning phase and mid game.
Take care of her Q + W combo which deals a lot of damage you have to
shroud immediately but remember that she still can
activate her Q with her W/E when you are in your shroud. Just play safe
and don't let her roam too much. You can take a barrier if you really
feel unconfortable in this matchup but I believe that you can kill
because she's really squishy, once you get your level 6 you have to wait
that she uses her full combo before rushing her. If you can it your
level 6 before her, go all in with Red pot and ignite but don't dive.
Rush Abyssal and MR items of course, don't forget to get some HPs too.
Set MR
Build MR
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Lee Sin
Unlike most of people think, Lee Sin doesn't counter Akali in LANE. This
matchup is average and depends on skill players. The only big damage
output from Lee is his Q, manage to be behind the creeps to avoid it.
Your mindset must be : Okay my enemy got true vision on me. Shroud
carefully, dont waste it. When Lee comes to last hit, attack him. When
he shields a low hp minion, attack him. At 6 don't be overconfident, he
has the same burst as you. Rush him when his Q or W is on CD. The only
way Lee Sin can be a real pain, if he plays very agressive at level 2, E
you then Q on you and ignite you will be out of the lane take care of
this.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: W
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
Lissandra
This champ can be annoying during the laning phase but won't be able to
harass you too much or she will be OOM. Just dodge her Q and you will be
fine, she won't use her E on you except if you are getting ganked and
you overextended. At level 6 you can try to kill her but it will be very
hard because of her E and ultimate, rush her when her W is on CD
otherwise you won't do anything. Also she can push her lane very fast
with a blue so contesting it can be a solution. Getting against her is helpful. Take care of her burst
late game, she can instakill you and you can instakill her so you have
to outplay her.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Lulu
Well.. you're fucked.
Lux
High range champ, farm behind your minions, you'll need your level 6 to
kill her. You will have a hard time before 6 if you can't avoid
skillshots, farm with your Q.
She's squishy, do your full combo at level 6 to grab a kill. Her shield
is really good and reduce your burst, she can even totally deny it if
she got a barrier. Still, mark her at level 6 and try to make her miss
her Q on you, then you can rush her whenever you want when her Q is on
CD. You won't be able to deny her from farming.
Remember, her spells don't reveal you.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Malzahar
His E
is annoying, just wait until he uses on a minion, then Q him and try to
consume your mark, do this several time each time his E is on cooldown,
don't worry of W early game, just dodge his Q. Ask for a gank if he overpush. At level 6 care of his R.
Use your full combo but when you rush him, you must shroud immediatly,
in the worst case he will ult you while your are in the shroud and you
will take less damage. Get ASAP you can buy this as first item).
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Mordekaiser
Well he crushes you, snowball lane. Try to harass him early game when
his E on CD (this is your unique opportunity), do this several times if
you can. Same at level 6 before rushing him, wait that his E is on CD.
Ask for a gank if you can get an early kill on him you will be able to
farm him. If you die once you can afk or roam.
Set Classic
Build MR
Take care of : Passive (painful enough)
Start w/e doesn't matter.
Morgana
Dodge her Q, stay behind creep and hit her when her Q is on cooldown.
She can farm really safe with her W. You may not kill her. Just farm if
you can't kill her. When you have your ult up, let a creep behind you
before attacking her because it will allow you to jump out if she ults
you. Once her ult is on CD you can't really die, but you can kill her.
Her E doesn't really deny your damage as much as Lux's one.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Nidalee
Dodge her Q,
and care of her cougar if you are low hp. Don't run in
her traps. Otherwise you can kill her really easily, if you are full
life at level 6 and she uses her cougar form like "trololol im too
stronk" just rape her (don't forget to use your full combo). AP Nidalee
can't do anything against Akali, except if you are bad.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Orianna
She can anticipate your last hit. When her ball is far from her, Q and
proc your mark, dodge her ball as much as possible. When her ball is on
her minions, you will not be able to farm with AA so just use your Q to
do so and play safe. Rush her at level 6,
she can't counter a gap closer that much.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion or Ruby Crystal + Health Potion
Pantheon
He can block your attack when you want to consume your mark (which isn't
really a problem anymore since you can proc your mark with Q + E
combo), he's squishy but deal a good amount of damage, shroud if he
jumps on you and counter attack when heartseeker is off. At level 6 be
sure that his blockage is off before rushing him. Don't let him roam too
much like TF or Shen, push your lane as much as you can or attack him
if he's ulting somewhere before you.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
Riven
Squishy champ, harass her to avoid that she combo you, if you keep her
low hp she won't harass you. Due to her high mobility, she's hard to
deal early game. Shroud when she uses her Q, and consume a mark on her if she's too close, just hit her when her W
is on CD. Don't let her AA you too much because of her passive which
can hurt a lot when she used her spells right before. If she's maxing
shield like a retard, it will be really hard to kill her for you, and
she will totally outrade you everytime, you have to try baiting her E
beofre rushing her. The mecanisms of this champ totally counter Akali
anyway, so if you think you won't be able to kill her try to farm and
focus on mid game and late game (she's better than you mid/late game in
teamfight imo). Care at level 6 if you are low hp, she can kill you
really easily with her ultimate. Skill based matchup. Don't try to build
tanky against her, it's better to buy burst item so you can kill her
fast even if it will hurt your laning phase a bit. Why not building
tanky against Riven, because she got short CDs on her spells and also
her passive makes her AAs hurt a lot so it's impossible to out trade her
in a long run if you are building tanky.
Set Basic
Build Counter AD
Take care of : Everything
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
Rumble
Offtank AP, farm behind your creep, wait until he's overwarmed (AND SILENCED), and attack him at this point, wait his Q
is off to attack him. Play very safe until level 6. After your 6 you
can rush him everytime his Q is on CD. Don't take a free harass from his
E and don't stay in his ultimate at all price.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Ryze
Try to kill him ASAP, constant harass and mark's proc, he's a big
problem because he will rush MR and HP, you won't be able to kill him
when he gets Ask for a gank, be sure to also rush .
Don't get W too many times and comboed by his Q + W combo early game -
play very safe and be high enough in health to rush him at level 6 -
Even if you have to play safe pre-6 before of his harass, don't worry,
once you get 6 you still can crush him very hard. The main problem with
Ryze is late game, if he gets to this point you will have a lot of
trouble. He might take a TP to gank other lanes, you can't cancel it,
but try to deal as much damage as you can when he's tping in front of
you.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W - Items
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Swain
You will have to shroud often yourself, try to land him your Q while you
are in your shroud, try to consume your mark without getting snare by
his W.
His E + Q combo really hurt. Don't try to trade with him if he Eed you
just before. Like some champs he can't farm properly, so it means even
if you are behind in CS pre6, you will be able to catchup later in the
game. You must have your ignite at level 6 to kill him otherwise just
farm. He's really tanky it will be hard to kill him after his first back
if you don't get an early kill. Try to push and gank other lanes if you
are really behind. Most of the time don't fight him if he got blue and
try to deny his blue buff as much as you can with your team.
One of the few matchups where I get
Set MR
Build MR
Take care of: E + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Syndra
Well she can zone you pre level 6, she is annoying - just try to farm as
much as you can, under tower and with your Q - once she hit level 6
care of the Q number on the battlefield. She's easy to kill if you have 2 EOS, don't rush her before because of her E.
She got the highest AP burst in the game level 6 if she got many ballz
on the battlefield.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Talon
You need armor runes to hold him. Farm and dodge his W. When this
ability is on cooldown harass him and try to consume your mark. If you
see his Q activated, shroud. Since his nerf check his mana pool to know if you
can kill him or not especially at level 6. If you are less than 60% hp,
don't try to attack him and play safe. Don't let him roam, follow
him. Consider buying a
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of : W + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (rush Seeker)
Twisted Fate
Low CD on spells, CC, ultimate which reveals you. He should be able to
counter you very easily BUT he's squishy as hell. Just shroud when his W
is on, DON'T UNDERESTIMATE damage from blue card. Try to Q him when his
W is not up (except if he's dumb you won't proc it before 6). He is
just stronger than you before your level 6, just avoid to be too much
harassed. At level 6, rush him when he doesn't have his W.
Care he can see you in shroud with his R, that's why ward your lane and
know where the enemy jungler before rushing him. You may take a tp to
counter his ultimate, but TP CD is too high imo to counter his ganks.
That's why you should try to ward as much as you can to prevent him from
ulting. Try to follow him as much as you can when he's ganking
somewhere, your duelist potential is far higher. If you can't do
anything just push the lane and try to get the mid tower.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W+ R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Veigar
Easy prey, deny him, force him to use his Q on you, you can avoid his E quite easily, dodge his W
and kill him at level 6. Care of his full burst at 6 which can hurt you
a lot. Don't buy too much AP, because his ultimate will take you down
fast, try to mix AP/HP/MR. Anyway you will always win 1v1 situation
against him (except if he's overfed and you are really far behind).
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of : E + W+ R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Viktor
Annoying champ because of his insane harass. He can avoid your Q poke with his and place + inside your . Try to avoid fighting him 1v1 unless he's behind. Always move out of when he upgraded that spell.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + E + R
Start: Boots + Health Potion
Yasuo
Proc his shield with your Q and attack (trade) after the shield is gone. His wall will deny your Q's.
He can't you while you're hidden in your !
Remember that you can't use Zhonyas while he ults you. Try do dodge his Q's and fight him lvl 6 with your full combo.
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + W + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion
Zed
This matchup looks better for Zed because of his Q range and harass with
shadows. The main problem against him is to know what he's maxing, if
he's maxing his Q you just have to avoid it and you will be fine. If
he's maxing E you will have to farm with your Q and you won't be able to
deny him if his W is up. At level 6 Zed got an ult which can burst
anyone. However Akali can avoid takin damage from Zed ultimate if you
shroud at the right time he won't deal additional damage with his mark
which means that you will only take the damages from the mark itself
(low damage). You can rush him at 6 with 2 EOS and following my tips you
can win this matchup. It will be harder if he got a pink (after first
back) but you will have sustain from your hextech, just attack him if
his W is on CD. You can try to go fullretard mod straight up once you
got your gun blade. Take care of his R shadow now because he can escape
with it.
Rush
Set Basic
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + R
Start: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (Rush Seeker)
Ziggs
Even lane, you can't make a mistake or you will lose, he will deny you
hard pre6, you will have to farm with your Q. Once you are 6 you can
burst him down but take care of his E and W which can prevent your combo while dealing a lot of damage. Wait 2 EOS before rushing him.
Set Roaming
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + E + W
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Zilean
You need MR against him. Unlike Kassadin you can't prevent him to ult
hiself, that's why he's really hard to lane against. Farm as much as you
can.
Set MR
Build Classic
Take care of: Q + R
Start: Dorans Shield + Health Potion
Zyra
Mostly see played as support now, she remains a good mid champ but she
can't deal with assassins. Pre-6 she's really anoying and will try to
deny you as much as possible, don't underestimate plants damage. Post-6
it's a really easy lane if you wait her E on CD. Don't forget her
passive which deals stupid damage. Her W reveals you don't walk in.
Akali is one of the best anti-carries in the game, she's considered a
noob killer or pubstomper in low elo ranked game but the higher you're coming in rankeds the harder it gets. Her strength comes from her
high mobility, and insane high burst damage which can kill the enemy
carry in a sec. However she's not that good against tanky champions that's why you
shouldn't first pick her.
She is very strong in SoloQ, but not that great in ranked 5v5 (depends on the enemy comp).
This guide will deal with Akali mid on Summoner's Rift.
Enjoy!
When should I pick Akali ?
Akali is a soloQ champ, kill oriented, there are 4 big rules which make an Akali pick impossible to counter :
There are many damage threats in your team (3 at least).
Your team got CC and a good engage.
The enemy team isn't tanky.
You can hard counter pick a champ (=snowball).
The last rule isn't very important compared to the others.
When is Akali a bad pick ?
Pretty much the opposite :
You are the only damage dealer in your team.
You have to engage every teamfight.
Your team doesn't have any CC.
The enemy team is full tank/offtank.
The enemy team got many shields.
Every champ in the enemy team can reveal you (such Karma, Lee Sin, Lulu).
Rush Hextech Revolver which will give a high sustain in lane, and a better farming ability, the AP amount is good as well.
If you build Hextech Gunblade get after, lifesteal + spellvamp is just very strong to sustain your lane.
Remember to build two long swords instead of the Vampiric Scepter! More info in "General Tips & Tricks" section.
Rush this item, it scales really well with Akali's passive plus giving
you a good active, adding burst and chase ability (slow) : DON'T FORGET
TO USE IT.
Akali is not that strong early game especially against range but against melees she can trade very well.
Play safe against range and don't overextend against melees. Minions are very strong so don't get minion aggro early game for too long.
Try to survive as long as possible. It's better to waste a flash instead of dying when flash is up.
Use your Twilight Shroud (W) often but watch your energy! If you want to farm more safe use W to scare the enemy a bit and you're able to proc your Mark of the Assassin (Q).
If you hit level 6 take care! Don't just jump into the enemy and try to kill him, that won't work because you only have little amount of damage. Try this instead:
When you hit level 6 try to get at least 1050 gold -> push your lane -> go back -> buy -> go in lane
Now you have 3 EOS and a Hextech Revolver, that's great! If you think that you're able to kill your opponent land one Mark of the Assassin (Q) on him -> Wait for it's cooldown!!! That's very important -> Use your Shadow Dance (R) -> Use your Crescent Slash (E) -> Use your Mark of the Assassin (Q) -> Make one Auto Attack.
If you killed your enemy it's totally fine and if not him in the end if he survived with low HP.
Everyone should know that Akali's early is weak, so care for enemy junglers! You have to ward a lot early and especially when you hit level 6 and you want to rush the enemy. Buy green and pink wards to save yourself.
If you see the jungler somewhere else than mid you can be safe that you can kill the enemy without getting ganked. Use this information wise!
Ask your jungler for second blue buff. Energy regeneration is very strong on Akali and you're able to spam your Mark of the Assassin (Q) even more often.
Mid Game
Get , it let you engage mid game team fights, important in soloQ.
Getting Void Staff after that will make you feel safe because you won't have to care about the enemy team stacking MR since
this item scales well against MR because of 40% penetration.
Remember: is very very strong mid game! Try to snowball if your opponent is bad and you're able to farm him.
If you're already fed, try to roam a lot bot and top because you need to share your power and this is the best way.
If you have a lot map vision you also can go in the enemy jungle and try to catch the jungler
Try to make Drake very fast with your botlane - Akali is perfect for fighting in little spots and you have so many options to use your Twilight Shroud (W)
Late Game
Get your which is the best scaling AP item in the game,
with a huge amount of AP, increasing by 30% your Ability Power in the
same time. Scaling with your passive as well. I consider it as a late
game item now.
Lich Bane is just awesome on Akali, Q being your main ability to
deal damage, each time you land your Q you will active Lich Bane passive
and deal a massive amount of damage when you consume your mark.
Don't forget to AA when you use Lich Bane. Proc your Mark of the Assassin (Q) with AA or Crescent Slash (E) + AA right after.
One of the best synergy items with Akali. I don't take this item too
early because I think that you need a good amount of AP to be very
effective with this item.
If you're fed and your team did good as well try to group and push a lane -> focus ADC/APC because you're able to oneshot them.
Care if they have pinks/trinkets which reveal you!
If you focus wrong it can cost the game. You really need to focus their carries especially the ADC. If you killed the ADC you can go over to the enemy APC.
If the enemies are doing baron and you CAN'T contest it PUSH MIDLANE!
What to ban if you want to play Akali?
Back to Top
You should always prefer to ban the current meta champs and those who are pretty strong atm.
Those champs are strong against Akali because they have multiple ways to counter Akali's abilities and kit but you have to decide for yourself if you wanna ban them or not. You should try to ban champs which are likely to get picked and not some off-meta champs.
He can be very annoying if he is camping you mid and if played correctly.
You can't come in melee range.. She can jump (W) - She can kick you away (R) - She can -> HORROR
Maybe not as midlaner but it's pain for your botlane and she can carry so hard late game.
Can lock you down too easily in team fight which is boring.
He is able to roam super great and if he is fed you can't even oneshot him because of his E (the jump).
Annoying lane phase because of his range poke and escape abilities.
Fuck this champion, seriously this is very very very hard to win. I often banned her when she was hyped.
Some people asked me why my account seems pretty inactive:
I am very busy at the moment due to university. I don't play the game anymore but I still keep my information about the game updated and so I still have the ability to update this guide.
I'm a german crossfitting vegan engineer and I vape. Just kidding.
My name is ProNeo and I am playing since Season 2. At the moment I have like 450 Akali ranked games and additionally a lot of normal experience with her but I stopped playing normals with her..kinda boring :P
Season 4
This was a really ownage season. I tried to rush rankeds with Akali and tried to terminate my enemys as fast as possible to get fast wins. I played very aggressive and I recognized that this does not work every game. My aim was to win my lane every game, independent if they are lower or higher than me. I really have to say that this worked in 8/10 games and yea my mechanics grew very fast. I was watching streams with professional Akali player and learned very fast, that was an important key in my Akali career.
#261 Akali EUW and #786 Akali World
Season 3
In season 3 I was starting to main Akali seriously and I tried to play
her in nearly every ranked but that was of course not possible. I
started to read a lot of things about Akali and her mechanics and yea I
wanted to get better and better. I was testing item builds and several
rune/masterie combinations.
Due to her new passive, try to attack a minion before going all in on your opponent (for some extra spicy damage). But do not forget the double-Q-trick!
When building Gunblade (Bilgewater Cutlass), get two instead of the . It's more effective due to the +5 additional AD because you don't need those +10% life steal on Akali.
Shadow Dance (R) animation is faster than Mark of the Assassin (Q) which means you shouldn't use your Crescent Slash (E) right after using your ultimate because you won't proc your Mark (doesn't proc anymore since her nerf but you still should wait for your Q arriving before you ult into them.)
Remember: Farm > Harass ! That's important. If you're against a range matchup try to farm with your Q instead of spamming Q's on the enemy.
If you are surrounded and still got your flash, you can try to land your Twilight Shroud (W) somewhere then dash on an enemy minion and right after into your Shroud, you will be insta stealth.
Don't use your ultimate to farm minions without blue early game. The CD on EOS is really high.
Always attack with double proc Q combo when hitting 6.
Every Akali's spell (except your W) scale with your Gunblade-spellvamp which means you can heal back on champions or minions
easily.
Once you got Sheen or Lich Bane, use your Crescent Slash E to proc item passive and deal massive damage to towers.
Don't forget to use your active items.
Your Mark of the Assassin (Q) doesn't aggro the creeps, only your PROC does.
If you aren't overfed, don't greed undertower except if you can jump back on a minion after killing your opponent.
If you are the only one fed in your team (nobody in your team will deal damage in TF) go glass cannon and try to carry alone.
OUTDATED BECAUSE THE MECHANIC OF W GOT COMPLETELY CHANGED!
You can now teleport a short distance with your W (even over walls!) which is really nice! It's possible to jump over walls and it's like the distance of 50% flash (not sure).
Note : Jukes only work if the enemy team doesn't carry or Season 7: hehe not longer working (:
Note 2 : Twilight Shroud utilisation costs a lot of energy and can lead you out of energy very fast so use it cautiously.
Note 3 : If you need to facecheck use Twilight Shroud (W) over (range), if you chase you can use your Twilight Shroud for the extra movement speed.
Wraiths:
Blue:
Red:
Drake:
Well I tried that so often and I never got that. Maybe there is a hidden mechanic but yea I don't know..
You should not take all the kills as Akali except if you know
that your whole team is retarded and you need to carry 1v9. When ganking
bot try to let your ADC take one kill, when ganking top do the same.
Giving a lane advantage can be better than trying to carry alone
especially at high elo. Did you lead your team?
Did you lead them to victory? Or did you bad calls? Did you do your
best every teamfight? Did you die when they did their comeback and your
team lost because of you even if you were the only good player (yes
it's sad but this is one way of losing). Remember: Your team won't listen to you if you're not friendly and wise.
I did an average score and lost, what can I do ?
Watch replay and find your mistakes. Most of the mistakes made are the wrong focus!
I fed the enemy team, how can I improve?
Try to win your lane and then concentrate in roaming. Watch your replays and find your own mistakes, you have to realize your own mistakes, not them from your teammates.
What do you think about Rylai's Crystal Scepter on Akali?
I seriously don't like this item even tho it got buffed a lot! You can buy this since you'll get 100 AP now but there are still better items out there. Read the item section for more details.
Are more updates coming soon?
I do try to invest a lot of time into this guide but due to the fact a lot get changed in LoL at the moment, it's kinda hard to catch up. If you wanna know something specific, just simply create a LoLKing Account and write a comment with your question, it only takes some seconds!
I will write more here if people asking me questions.
I always loved Assassins and Ninjas in games and when I started playing League I hoped there are also some champs which are like Assassins. In season 1 I was a total full retard noob and this was also the reason why I stopped playing League but when I joined a LAN-Party with some friends they told me about League and I started this game again.
I was like "nah this game is shitty" but then I played and played and yea when I was level 30 I started ranked immediately (don't do this, you will get silver or bronze :D ) and I got matched at I think 1200 elo (I got silver rewards).
Season 3 was my breakthrough where I started ranked and took them serious. I ended in gold and my aim in season 4 was platinum. Well in season 4 I reached Diamond and I'm improving all day. For real! :)
My next aim in Season 5 is Master, hoping I will get there <3
Please give me a feedback and again thank you for reading. ♥ (づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ
Just update the guide for the next season and added some more matchups. Sorry again that it took me so long but I am very busy with university at the moment.
If you have any questions feel free to just ask me in the comments or write me on facebook.
Thank you. ♥
Sorry guys for the struggle but I don't really have that much time at the moment to update my guide.
I will update it as soon as possible and if you still have any questions feel free to write them in the comments or add me ingame and I will answer your questions.
Thank you foryourunderstanding. ♥
SEASON 7 CHANGES:
Updated some major changes to match the current patch for season 7.
- Runes updated
- Abilities section updated
- Bans updated
- Items and Matchups a little bit updated
06.04.2017: - Updated "General Tips & Tricks" section. - Added more champion matchups. - Updated Abilities. - Updated FAQ. - Updated Bans. - Fixed minor bugs and updated several things.