Pros

Akali is exceptionally good at jungling. Really truly on par with champions like Udyr, and Warwick. It is VERY silly not to have a jungling Akali. Especially since you only have to sacrifice a single summoner spell for smite, and we're at the point where I've seen Akali's with all sorts of bizarre summoner spells.

The real truth is that Akali doesn't have a ton more synergy with any summoner spells beyond what the majority of other champions get. Sadface.

I'll go into jungling a bit more in a later section.

Akali has incredibly high burst damage, and due to the bipolar nature of her damage (magic and physical) it can be very hard to mitigate.

With a proper item build, it can be virtually impossible to escape Akali. She makes an excellent chase and diving champion.


Cons

Against the wrong champions, Akali can be very weak in the laning phase of the game. She really doesn't "blossom" until 6, when she gets her ultimate.

Regardless of the health items you build, Akali generally remains very squishy. She's hard to keep alive, even with her Twilight Shroud being used defensively.

Akali has virtually no CC. While her Twilight Shroud does slow; the amount it slows by, and the ability to walk around it make it fairly negligible. Be wary of putting Akali into team comps with other CC weak champions.

While Akali does have some team damage, her lack of AOE can be a hindrance. While she excels at cleanup, she should hardly be a front runner during team fights