Getting to know Akali

Let me introduce you to Akali. As you probably know, Akali is a great top/mid player. The combination of her insane spell-vamp (passive) along with her ability to become invisible make her a formidable foe against any mid or top champion. Personally, I prefer to play her in Mid Lane, because I feel that is where she is most useful for the team. She is an extremely valuable addition to any team-fight, due to the fact that she can so easily jump in, nuke the enemy ADC or APC, then jump to safety, or continue fighting. Once she reacehs level 6, Akali's ability to roam is another feature that makes her helpful to the team, as her ganks are often quick and the enemy has little chance of escaping.

As you continue reading, you'll learn more about how to play Akali, and certain information that can help you become a better Akali player. Thanks in advance, and I hope you enjoy my guide.

Akali's ability to counter most mid champions is an awesome perk, particularly when playing her in ranked matches, or when against a champion that you're not sure of. However, she is generally countered by the tankier Mids and Solo Tops.

Top Lane

Those that counter her best, in Top Lane, are Lee Sin, Garen, Renekton, Nasus and Rumble. This is partially due to the fact that they have some insane AoE moves, and can hit her while she's invisible, but also because of the fact that they're just too tanky to burst down, which is what Akali excels at.

Mid Lane

Some of the Mid Lane champions that counter her in mid lane include Mordekaiser, Diana and Swain. Although she can be countered easily by a few people, she counters many herself. She is an excellent counter for Karthus, Ahri, Lux and many others. One of the reasons that she is such a great Mid champ, is that she can burst down almost any mid, because they don't get too tanky. Diana and Mordekaiser's shields, along with their constant building of HP and slightly tankier items, as well as Swain's ability to heal whenever the freak he'd like, make them very hard champions for an Akali to lane against.

Early game

Akali has a strong lane presence in through levels 1-5, mostly due to her Q. The constant harass that it allows her is a great tool for keeping enemies at bay. It is an essential part of the level 1-5 laning phase that you harass with your Q, E and auto attack if they get too close, and then back off. It generally isn't a good idea to go for a kill between levels 1-5, unless you're receiving a gank or you've harassed enough to quickly burst them down and escape risk of ganks.

Later game

Once you hit level 6 you should be able to start killing enemies more easily. When you go for the kill, you should lead with a Q and then instantly Ult to them, get an E on them and if your Q isn't off cooldown yet, use another ult. By now they should be almost dead, use your Q and finish them off with another ult or a basic attack if it does enough. After your first ult, if they're winning or you're scared you might die, pop down your invisibility bubble. Whilst in your invisibilty bubble you should Q then instantly ult and E and continue this procedure until they're dead.

Akali is truly a beast when it comes to team fights. She is very hard to kill because she can constantly jump to random people and avoid skill shots and aoe spells. She is also very hard to kill because she can go invisible.

How to team fight as Akali

When a team fight commences, as Akali it is your job to kill the ADC or APC, or whoever is carrying the team. Immediately jump to them and use your whole combo, if you can't reach the adc, jump to any enemy champion, and then jump to the adc. If you have lost health by the time you get to the adc, throw down your invisibility bubble down and Burst down the adc under the cover of your bubble. Once you kill the adc and your bubble is gone, either continue to rape them until you die or win, or you can jump to the farthest enemy for a quick escape route.

Learning to gank

Even though Akali is not a jungler, she is still an amazing ganker. Someone can almost never get away from Akali, unless they are extremely tanky or really skilful. If going in from behind someone, put ur bubble down behind them to stop them from getting away, then lead with a Q and an ult, and straight into an E. Keep using these three abilities in this order until they die. If you're ganking from the side of them, try and catch them by surprise with an ult, and then lead straight into your combo.

How to farm

Akali is quite good at farming, if you know how to use her well. At level 1, just pick off minions with your Q, and every once in a while get a basic attack in. Continue this until about level 3, when it doesn't matter if you lose a bit of health while trying to get minions. Still pick off minions with your Q, but whenever there is a clump of minions, use your E and basic attack them to death. Akali's Q explodes on the impact of her E, and can be quite useful while farming. By level 12 your E should almost be maxed and should have a very low cool down, so it should be very easy to clear a wave of minions just by continually using it.