Akali Build Guide : Akali: Remastered IN-DEPTH (Post Nerf-Buff)

Introduction

Introduction

After playing for a while(400 games+), and having read many builds/guides, I felt it was time I contribute some of my knowledge about a champion I love to play. This is my first guide, but I do not wish to receive sympathy for this. I want my first guide to be as good as my last, and for this reason this guide has taken me a lot of time to make She excels at snowballing early game into a much scarier late game, carrying her team, and picking off carries. Wether or ot you decide to read this guide, will make the difference between you becoming a better player, or if you would rather just sit around waited to get called a bad/useless Akali for feeding the enemy team.

This guide is for those who actually want to get to know a champion( isn't one of those pick-up and drop champions, she requires devotion to master. Once mastered the rewards are unimaginable) and are willing to read to get information. Without further Ado', here is my Akali Guide:
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The Reason I Made This Guide

The Highly Rated guides are fine, but the reason I have decided to make this guide are based on 2 key changes. received a huge nerf during the Patch, and during the patch she received what some people consider a buff(her now procs her ).

Fizz Patch
After the Patch, if you played a lot of you would notice a SIGNIFICANT reduction in her damage. As a matter of fact, I had to go back and check the patch notes because something felt different. She got nerfs to her passives(which define the majority of her damage), and reduction of damage at all ranks of her (this combined with her passive is what gives her burst).

Jayce Patch
After the Patch, 's E ability now allowed her to consume the on an enemy unit. This helped her early game since the range of her is slightly greater than her auto attack range. Either way, all things considered, nothing is lost, and there are only gains. This Buff helps 's early game laning phase before she gains her gap-closing ultimate .

This guide will demonstrate, key changes to her play style and item choices in accordance to the new nerfs/buffs and why:

truly is "The Fist Of The Shadow"

Background

There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness -- all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Pruning the Tree - eliminating those who threaten the equilibrium of Valoran.

A prodigal martial artist, Akali began training with her mother as soon as she could make a fist. Her mother's discipline was relentless and unforgiving, but predicated on the fundamental principle: ''We do that which must be done.'' When the Kinkou inducted her into the order at the age of fourteen, she could slice a dangling chain with a chop of her hand. There was no question - she would succeed her mother as the Fist of Shadow. She has had to do much in this role which others might find morally questionable, but to her it is in service of her mother's inviolable doctrine. She now works with her fellows and to enforce the balance of Valoran. This hallowed pursuit has unsurprisingly led the triumvirate to the Fields of Justice.

''The Fist of Shadow strikes from the cover of death itself. Do not impede the balance.''

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Pros / Cons

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Pros

+ // More Burst than a 31-year old porn-star
+ // Anti-Carry/Focusing Squishes
+ // Pro Escaping Ability with ++
+ // One of the best chasers in the game
+ // Versatile Role(Solo Top/Ap Mid/Weird Jungle)
+ // Clean-Up Crew 101
+ // Mana-less(Good for laning/Bad for teamfights)
+ // One of the Longest Range Gap-Closer(Considering she can do it 3+ times in a very short amount of time)

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Cons

- // Stealth Vision reduces her effectiveness(/)
- // Focused down in team-fights
- // Susceptible to Hard CC
- // Does terribly against extremely Tanky teams
- // Hard to secure a kill Pre-6 against ranged casters w/o
- // Needs specific rune page to activate
- // Item Dependent(,,)

In-Depth Abilities

Twin Disciplines[Passive]-

-Discipline of Force: When gains 20(Technically 19.5) Ability Power, her melee attacks deal an additional 8% magic damage. At 572, she does 100% magic damage as a melee attack!This means you do activation and proc damage + 100% of your ability power + Disciple of Force Passive(100% of Ap), these are key to 's burst damage.

-Discipline of Might: When gains 10(Technically 9.5) Attack Damage, she gains 8% Spell Vamp. Use this part of the passive mostly for Early Game sustain when fighting enemies, and last hitting minions with .
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Mark of the Assassin[Q]-

throws a target projectile that marks an enemy unit with her kama. If the enemy is hit by either 's auto-attack or her , she will consume the mark(Proc) dealing additional magic damage plus all on hit effects(assuming you auto attacked) such as /,, and .Early Game, use this + to activate the mark against those ranged caster IF it will get you the kill or first blood when combined with . This skill is what allows to be a burst mage who can completely turn the tide of a battle by taking out high-priority carries that have kiting(retreating to a safe distance, then continuing to fight) abilities against most other champs.
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Twilight Shroud[W]-

throws down an AoE Veil of Darkness as she waits patiently in the shadows looking for where to strike next. She is stealthed for the next 8 seconds(at all ranks) WHILE in the AoE of the Veil. Also she gains bonus Armor and Magic Resist, and enemies who are in the AoE are slowed.

-Early Game: While in lane, ALWAYS try to fight in this veil. You would be surprised by the amount of people that will fight you while you are inside of it, forgetting that it gives you both Armor and Magic Resist.

-Mid Game: If you MUST, use it while chasing for an adittional slow. Be careful though, this skill depletes nearly half of your energy pool at early ranks. The cooldown is long so if you use it to chase, you might not have a way of escaping.

-Late Game: You should be the Second or Third person to enter team fights depending on your team composition. I say this because you want to be inside your veil during the team fight and wait for someone else to get focused. Once your enemy is focused on killing one of your allies, they will normal have tunnel-vision and wont notice the fact that you leaped to them and before they know it their Hp has gone from 2100 to 0. However if you're enemies have an then enter the fight as 3rd or 4th and try to wait for everyone to be distracted to then go burst carries.
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Crescent Slash [E]-

Flourishes her kama hitting all enemies in a 325 AoE Range. This will now Proc but still DOES NOT proc on-hit effects like //(doesn't proc the Magic Damage part, but still procs spell vamp). This skill serves 4 main purposes:

- Farming: Use it early game after you hit all the ranged creeps once or twice, you can get in the middle of them to kill all 3 instantly.

- Activating Mark of the Assassin/Harassing: I use this combo early game before I learn . Throw your Mark, then when the Melee Top comes back around to farm a creep, act as though you are killing nearby creep and activate killing both the minion and Procing on your enemy for some nice harass damage. Or throw a Mark at your enemy and when they start to retreat, tey might leave AA range, but you should be able to just barely hit them with the Crescent Slash and Proc your Mark of the Assassin.

- AoE Burst: While in my near the enemy team, I use this to do some nicely spread out damage to all my enemies.

- Finisher: Realize, that + are your main souces of burst, they should be used primarily to do damage while keeping your energy up for a follow-up burst combo. Were as if you just spam all Willy-Nilly, you will deplete your energy too fast and wont have enough to use + burst combo. So you can use it to round of your combo just before your enemy goes back to safety paired with an for the finisher/first blood.
"Is it that time of month? Because I just got first blood!"

Shadow Dance[R]-

dashes through the shadows to an enemy target dealing magic. Once you learn this at Level 6, realize that it works on the "Ammunition" system, and will take some time to charge 3 Essence of Shadow(Dashes). Make sure you don't give a kill, simply because you just turned 6 and you go in headlong and get an enemy below 100, but you only had 1 Essence of Shadow. This skill, combined with is what will make your enemies burn their flash and still die while QQ'ing/Crying: " THAT RANGE! OMFG BRO, NERF!" Everyone knows, once hits 6, she is one scary BIZATCH! Mainly because once she is 6, all her poke and harass can be followed up with burst and can possibly end in a kill for her. The uses of this skill are limitless, but here are a few that come to mind:

- Procing Mark of the Assassin/Bursting: Use it to burst your opponent down early game and harass, the Cd on the essence of shadow aren't too long, so you can just rinse and repeat.

- Escape: Once you become an experienced player, this skill is even used to escape ganks. Jump to a nearby enemy minion, and go around through brushes to confuse your opponent. + + makes for some great escape utility

- Bounce: Use this skill to bounce to an enemy minion, then to that enemy for additional range. In the same way, use it early game, when your opponent goes back to base slightly behind the tower and you would die if the received turret Aggro. So what you do is you Bounce to a ranged creep, and get in range of + then out of turret range if necessary for an easy kill.

- Gap-Closing: Just for its main purpose: Gap closing to ensure a kill with .I hope this is proof that I play a lot, many people (certainly not Riot) have not realized this bug. But , a lot of times if you throw a and then to the enemy, even if you waited for the Mark to land successfully, when you jump to that target, you wont be able to land the AA , and proc and you will instead either attack the closest minion, or you will walk backwards awkwardly. At first I thought I was being a Noob or something, but I found out it has to do with what Riot did with Auto Attack timers and jump abilities like ,, and . Before though, [R] didn't proc [Q] but once you to them , your AA timer is almost reset and makes it almost as if [R] procs [Q]. Now you have to make sure your AA timer is reset, and wait at least one second so that you will be able to attack the next time you land next to them with .

- Ganking: At Level 6 and upon attaining 3 Essences of Shadows, 1 of 2 key things need to happen if you are a good Akali player.

Option #1: Either you ask for a Gank mid and secure a kill against your Mid Opponent, or you look for other options to get fed. Don't try for this if you Mid Opponent is winning the lane hard, or has an easy way to escape dying. The Troll Abilities we all Know and Love; TrollPole and TrollPool :D ,, and even a well timed (Not Really a problem for a Level 6 Akali, but it can still disrupt the Gank to some extent). At this point, go for Option #2

Option #2: Gank Top Lane, or Bot Lane. Make sure you ask for wards, and try and et your team to bait them into fighting so you can deal consistent burst they can't run away from.

-Care when Ganking top, you just might not have the raw damage for you and your solo top to take down someone Tanky, and come to mind. In that case, make sure you tell them to Initiate/Bait the fight, when you see it isn't just trading poke damage, and that the enemy has committed to the fight, that is when you strike!

-Wards are more likely to be bot(Dragon Wards, or Side Brush Wards). I mainly try and go ALL THE WAY AROUND, like through Blue Buff. This has secured me so many Ganks, and is an overall plus to my team. People don't start warding the Tri-Brush till higher ELO gameplay, take full advantage of a bad/stupid supports.

VERY IMPORTANT: I feel like this fact isn't emphasized enough in Akali guides. shines Early-Mid game to late Mid-Game, and if you don't take advantage of this, it is hard to benefit your team. Ganking lanes can change games, it adds Morale to your team, Reduces the Enemies Morale, and Gives your Team a Kill and Gold advantage. Keep your farm up, but GANK! GANK! GANK! Nothing is more upseting to me than an that stays in lane when it is time for her to shine,get fed, and carry her team.

As said by the band Fun. in "We Are Young", Translated to 's Language:
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Fun.

Akali Translation

Runes

Balanced Runes

(Optimal)

Runes

Sorcery

Summon Aery

Lethal Tempo

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

-Strength and Magic Pen Marks to activate your and a little bit of penetration to increase your damage. These allow you to start with and 3 , which grant you a speed advantage against most Ap Mids who don't start boots(allowing you to get in range for a melee attack proc for your or a ). Also, there is nothing worse than an who has to buy a or a to activate the Ad part of , who is then incredibly slow therefore reducing her chances of getting a kill in lane Pre-6.

-Health/Level Seals for the late game survive.

-Ap/Level Glyphs. Grant you 1 Ap at Lvl 1 for your , and late game damage.

-Flat Ap Quints. 3 of these gives the majority of requirements for .

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Survivability Runes

(Less Damage,More Sustain)

Runes

Sorcery

Summon Aery

Lethal Tempo

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

-Strength and Magic Pen Marks. Same reason as Balanced Runes, mainly because though you are focusing on survive, you still need to activate both passives of . Also it is important to remember that the Strength Marks will contribute to the part of that heals back for a % of her damage(Spellvamp).

-Hp/level or Flat Armor. Best to take Hp/lvl if you are going mid. However the standing majority of solo top bruisers are Attack Damage oriented, with the exception of ,,,, and the occasional . So, if you plan to go top, take the armor yellow's. Helps win damage trades against those like ,, and .

-Flat Mr Glyphs. If you feel you cant handle your mid lane, or your opponent is burst, then these are your best galpals. Take these and show and what burst REALLY is! I normally would only use Mr/Lvl if I face late game Ap scalers such as or maybe .
**Make sure you realize now that w/o the Ap/lvl glyphs you will need another point in to activate **

-Flat Ap Quints. These are for . However, If you truly need survive, you can get 2 Flat Ap quints, and 1 Flat Hp quint and still activate so long as you add 5 Flat Ap Glyphs. Seems counterintuitive, so I just like to stick with the Flat Ap.
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Damage Runes

(Less Sustain,More Damage)

Runes

Sorcery

Summon Aery

Lethal Tempo

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

-Strength and Magic Pen Marks. As you should have noticed, in all the rune choices, these are havn't changed, because in if themselves that are balanced,give survive(), and give damage(MPen).

-Ap/Level Seals and Ap/Level Glyphs. Once you get to a certain level of skill and understanding with , you wont need the extra bit of Health that the Greater Seals of Vitality offer. These are my personal preference since with I know what purpose I serve on my team, and I know when it is time for me to jump on to the squishes/enter the team fight. Many people might QQ or call me noob for this being my choice, but personally I feel as though I benefit more from the Ap/Lvl Seals. Combined with the Ap/Lvl Glyphs, it puts you at 45 Ap at level 18. That is more than , just with simple runes! The way I see it, 45 Ap(amplifies your , and is even better with passive) is > 175 Hp at level 18 which is a fraction of what is offered by a .
Not to mention extra damage to those squishes so it can look something like this:
": You running hacks bro? Cuz Idk Wtf just happened to my hp", instead of
": Haha ^__^ You almost had me there, 3 hp and stealth Ftw!"

Flat Ap Quints. Same as my marks, these don't really change. As Activating your is crucial to your early game laning.

Conclusion: These are only meant to suggest ways to set up rune pages. Whichever rune set-up works for you is fine. If your new to , I would try the rune pages in this order: Survival-->Balanced-->Damage . However if I see the enemy team has many Tanky Bruisers that are ready to cc(,,) and focus me with oracles. I will grab more survival, were as if the enemy team is more squishy(,,) I grab more damage.Once you have found a rune page to match your play style(mine being aggressive I like damage runes) you wont regret it. At the end of the day, I don't use only 1 set rune page, but rather you should roll with the punches and adjust.

Show Why they call you AKALI!

Masteries

Top/Mid Akali

[21-9-0]

Offense

gives 1 Ap, but a point in gives 5 Ap and Ad

There is a necessity for and for

reduces Cd by 4%, meaning you can activate more often

increases Magicpen. Higher Mpen = Higher Damage

and more damage and for

to pick off that 200 Hp

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Defense

and to improve 's trading in lane depending on if her opponent is Ap or Ad based, put more points in one or the other

paired with Greater Seal of Vitality can grant some late game Tankiness

grant the early game survive that needs to get over some of her squishiness.

*This 21-9-0 line up is best for giving both damage and survive. Not to mention the fact that it helps get you fed. Everyone knows a Fed Akali, is a Scary Akali!

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Jungle Akali

*Before I go over the masteries,I would like to explain that I, in no way favor Jungle Akali, or consider it viable in ranked gameplay. The reason being because she wouldn't be all that viable in a gank until level 6 when she learns Shadow Dance. You could argue its the same for Warwick's Infinite Duress, but Jungle Akali isn't as viable as Lane Akali.
[11-10-9]

Offense

and to make sure you get your . It will increase your jungle sustain, and increase your jungle speed

Cd Reduction helps those unconventional Junglers like when Jungling since you're not MADE to Jungle like , , and . All things considered is a good option.

A point in since Mpen increases damage to jungle creeps and enemies. Which means an increase in jungle clearing time and a faster Level 6

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Defense

simply for the smite gold. it can make a difference since is item dependent

because jungle creeps do physical damage

to reduce even more damage, but mainly because it builds into

and will help sustain early on through the jungle

helps unconventional junglers since it reflects some of the damage done. With this mastery i have sometimes killed of little wolves as it helps a lot with clearing the little creeps

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Utility

to reduce the cooldown on

because you are an assassin, and assassin's normally get out of sticky situations. But when they dont, its nice to have some reduced death time to get right back in there and finish of the enemy team

again because you are an assassin, you need to be fast enough to catch up to those stragglers and finish them off. Paired with and you will be faster then most enemies(unless your enemy team consists of , , , , or )

simply for the early Red Buff and the late game Baron Buff. Also because one point in just doesn't pay off as much as the does

*This 11-10-9 set up allows Akali the fastest jungle time. It pairs damage, with survive, and jungle sustain. Again, this was only meant as a fun option for those experienced Akali players who want to try something new. You would need different a different rune set up also, and try to go for the fastest Level 6 possible. I wouldn't recommend this to any new Akali players or those who are new to the jungle(try Warwick, Xin Zhao, and Lee Sin), since they often would get killed in the jungle.

Sandstorm > Sandstorm

Item Choices

*This is where most of you will disagree with me. But keep an open mind, and try out the build*

Standard Build

My Build used to look something like this:
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Item Sequence

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-This Build made Akali the scary burst Mage Assassin that she was and still is today. There was no need to buy large amounts of Ap before buying into because the natural burst from and did {Phreak}:"Tons of Damage!"
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-Now Due to the Nerf on and , it looks a little something like this:
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Item Sequence

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-Notice though that, Sorcerer's Shoes and Mercury's Treads are interchangeable.If the enemy has hard AoE CC( Amumu/ Kennen) then obviously get the Treads. This is the same for Guardian Angel and Void Staff.
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-So what I realized when I played after the nerf was a huge reduction of Burst Damage Early-Mid Game(Where Akali is supposed to shine) before she gets a good amount of Ap. So I decided I need to get the 80+ Ap Bonus from an early . Now that her NATURAL burst was severely reduced, I felt that I needed that early Ap to secure kills. The reason you used to be able to before was due to natural burst from her , and . Now that that was nerfed, buying a wouldn't be worth the Gold it costs as compared to getting some early Ap damage and then going into the Bane so that it has purpose since it Procs your base Ap Damage.
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Core Items

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Item Sequence

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Hextech Gunblade- Offers more Ad, for granting her SpellVamp and giving more sustain. Though it remains as for a while, the early game Spell Vamp has good synergy with all of 's abilites. It helps you regain a bit of health when you throw (Not the Proc though), and when you activate and . The slow helps too when chasing the pesky and speedy opponents, and also when Ganking lanes.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter- It offers 3 Basic things Akali needs. A Slow,More Survive, and More Damage, Nuff Said!. Without it, her enemies would be just to fast for her to chase them.
Active + Passive = PermaSlowed!

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Lich Bane- Many uses for this item, but it is best used once you have 250+'ish Ap. It has a Movement Speed Bonus which helps assassins like . Doubles, if not nearly Triples Base damage when Ap gets to 572(Maxed ). This is what lets you B-B-B-BURST those carries with ease, also the tad bit of Mr it gives isn't too bad either.

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Starting Items

Boots + x3 Health Potions- I start this way 99/100 games.If you plan to play competitively , you need a rune page for her. These are the best option if you have activated both passives of . The extra mobility allows you to be fast enough to get into melee range to proc .

Doran's Blade- Again, boots and 3 health pots are the best way to go , because of the mobility. But if you have the 3 but not 7 , then this is one of the ways you can go to give you some early game sustain and both passives(Lifesteal from Doran's, and SpellVamp from passive).

Long Sword + 1 Health Potion- An alternative to , if you want the extra health pot for more sustain. Bad thing is, this doesn't build into any of 's late game items OR give the Health or Lifesteal that Doran's provided.

Aplifying Tome + 1 Health Potion- 1/100 games i get this to start. Only when my opponent is incredibly slow, and I really need to rush the . Also it will get you an instant passive, so long as you have Ad Runes.

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Situational Items

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Zhonya's Hourglass- I buy this item 1/10 times in a Ranked Game. Other than the OP/Klutch invulnerable passive, I also get it for the Armor. It helps when something doesn't go properly in team fights and you need an alternative. Do not underestimate this item. When people are ready to go BayLife on you with their nukes, just pop this. What some people do, instead of focus others, is WAIT 2 SECONDS! Some team fights begin in 2 seconds, and end in 2 seconds. This seems like a short time, but in LoL terms, the outcome of a team fight can normally be decided within the first 5-10 Secs. Being Invulnerable for 2 seconds of that is insane. Paired with a , you will have a good bit of resistance. When enemies buy oracle and try to focus you, this is your GBF (GayBestFriend)!

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Abyssal Scepter- I rarely use this item, but when I do it is well worth it. If you want both Damage and Mr, this is a good option. I normally get it when an Ap Carry is recking my team, and I need to do something to help. Passive benefits you, and is bad for your enemy. Also good to know that Flat Magic Reduction is calculated before Percentage Magic Penetration. This means that depending on the amount of Mr your opponents have, can be >

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Quicksilver Sash- I find myself coming back to this item time and time again for Pro-Comebacks. Any High Elo Player( Not that I am myself, :P) would tell you this item can change games! And there is no argument on that part since it can get you out if some sticky situations. I always build this if the enemy has Suppression(,,) or AoE Stun/Snares{/), and it therefore wastes their Ultimate.

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Banshee's Veil- Before you Troll me by saying I am noob; I KNOW IT GIVES MANA. So does Lich Bane, but that is one of our Core Items. This is good against the Nuke Mages(,,) or AoE CC( and Ults). Though I normally get over this, since you get to pick WHEN you want to remove the CC.

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Boots of Swiftness- New players think these are more mobile than . In my personal opinion, all things considered, the Tenacity that Treads give make you a way better chaser. HOWEVER, some champions come down to plain Speed/Mobility such as ,, and . Agaiinst those champs, I would take the Early Game Swiftness Boots, and sell them back to get a Late Game[
Merc Treads. Apart from that, I normally get Treads if the enemy has 2+ Hard CC, and Sorc Shoes when they don't.

Void Staff- I always love buying this item when my opponents begin stacking Mr. As i said earlier in this guide, Flat Mr is calculated before % Mr. So if the enemy isn't stacking Mr, get an instead. But if they have over 100, it is worth buying a .

Now you can Blow Galio a Burst of Kisses =D

Skill Combo's

An important part to learning how to play is learning her skill combo's. In this section of my guide I will detail the best way's to chain your abilities for MAXIMUM BURST.

Standard Burst:

--->---> Auto-Attack---> --->--->Rinse and Repeat :D

-If you can get in range of , ALWAYS initiate with it and make sure it has landed before proceeding to burst (There is nothing worse than using before has landed, and you end up not Procing the Mark and wasting an Essence of Shadow).

-If you cant get in range of initiate with + (If necessary). Then proceed into Standard Burst.

Double Mark Technique:

---> Wait for the Cd to refresh--->--->Auto Attack---> ---> --->Rinse and Repeat :D

-The most distinguished players will have learned the Double Mark technique, much like 's Double Time Bombs. The duration of the debuff is longer than its cool-down. Utilizing this fact, you are able to Proc 2 Marks in a a short amount of time allowing for great deal of burst and making your enemies fear you.

-This is done by Throwing your first Mark, then waiting 2.5 - 3 seconds for the Cd to refresh, then using to jump to them and activate the FIRST mark. By the time you land, your Cd would have refreshed and you can then use + , as by this time most enemies will try to flee(The Crescent Slash has slightly more range than an Auto-Attack, this allows you to get the second proc, for good burst)

First Blood Double Mark Technique:

---> Wait for the Cd to refresh--->--->Auto Attack---> ---> Auto Attack or [depending or Pre-Lvl 4]--->

-Some lane opponents(Especially mid ranged casters) get a false sense of security that you cant kill them Pre-6 because you wont be able to get in range to Proc the . So they stay in lane at Half Hp and wait to use any of their . So what you do, is the Double Mark Technique but since its pre 6, replace with and add for a Klutch unexpected first blood

Standard Harass Combo:

--->---> ---> ---> Rinse and Repeat :D

-I only use this when my opponent has started hugging their tower, and I wouldn't have time to burst without getting tower damage. This is more so used as a quick burst tool while giving your opponent very little time to respond with the utilization of ) to mitigate some of your opponents response damage{remember the slight gain of Armor and Mr while in the Shroud). Be careful when using twilight shroud for this purpose, it leaves you susceptible to Jungle Ganks and depletes your energy. Repeat this until you whittle your opponent down to 30%-40% Hp and can safely dive once you attain Level 6.

Farm Combo:

--->Auto Attack /

-This almsot goes without mentioning, but you want to play passively Pre-Level 4(Unless you have a Jungler with good cc that can ensure you proc MotA, Good cc Junglers such as ,, and that comes to gank Mid or Top). I can normally drop ranged creeps from about 60%hp with the MotA + Auto Attack. After Level 4 I combine this with to push the lane when i need to Gank at Level 6.

As time progresses, you will know when to utilize each Skill Combo to the best of its ability in order to advance your gameplay as Akali.

When To Pick Akali

It is important to remember that isn't always a good idea to pick. This key fact separates the Good Akali's from the Bad's. I don't see my favorite Champ picked in higher Elo, or tourney's. I think it just comes down to when to and when not to pick her.

Normal Blind Pick

A skilled can take solo top in a Blind Pick. Even at Level 30, some people on some teams want to duo top lane since no one feels like Jungling. is an excellent 1v2 laner with use of her . It becomes harder to lane when the enemies have Hard CC, vision detection such as or , or heavy AoE damage

Normal Draft Pick

Most Draft Picks i've played consist of players who want to play competitively but don't want it o down on their record(Ranked). FOr that reason, most Draft picks will have a Solo top and a Jungle. In normal games i don't worry about getting countered as much as in Ranked Draft picks.

Ranked Draft Pick

When you get to a certain level you will realize that you don't always play the champion you WANTED to play. In Draft Pick(Normal and Ranked), it is important to never pick as a any of the first 3 picks. I would advise against ever doing this unless they have already made it clear who their mid lane is, and is banned. This doesn't mean that you start asking for bans. I hate when people on ranked ban due to personal laning rather than the champs that are a huge asset to an entire team. I can spot a first pick mid when they ban , , and all of these have their reasons for getting banned, but amongst them , is the one that provides the most team advantage and is the most reasonable ban.

Diving and Juking

Just a quick tip, as diving is a huge part of playing learn you should and shoudn't dive. Bryun/Obtains demonstrates most of this in this video. Note this is before the nerf and buff:

People on my List of DONT DIVE!! :

-: This Fiesty little Fox will make you see double when she charms you.Dont spell out your OWN death by diving a skillful Ahri. I have done it successfully in the past when the situation is right(Exceptionally low Hp). Her can be used repetitively just like your to duck under the tower. WATCH THE !

-: Haha I've played enough Akali to fear my own , diving an Akali is a very dangerous business... I think i would know better unless her Hp is much lower than mine and I can or to safety =D

-: I normally only dive her to drop her to her egg form. Obviously... Dont go attacking her egg under the tower, she will revive as a Wild Bird Anivia and stun and nuke you. Just retreat out of tower range and wait for her to come back and then rinse and repeat.

-: A good brand(that lands his stun} can nuke you from 2000-0 (So can Akali, but the difference is his CC makes it almost certain when you dive him under tower) in less than 2 seconds with smart cast... unless he is low on mana, is a baddie, or your sure you will survive + ... don't do it.

-: People always dive my Kennen...9/10 times they die.They get CC'd all day, every day under my tower.

-: unless you know his is on Cd... DONT DO IT.

-: This is almost always a bad idea. If his silence isn't enough for you to not dive him, i'm sure his stealth and burst{Reminds me of myself) will make you rethink it.

-: In some situations you can, in some you can't. A good will Kite you with his high Move Speed + (You wont be able to proc MotA)+ Shrooms near his tower to slow and damage you. Chasing Teemo is addictive, once you start, you don't want to stop even if it kills you. DONT CHASE SUPER =D

-: Unless you bait out the , he is a bad Viktor, or he doesn't know how to shield out some of your burst with , dont do it. His ultimate also silences for .5 seconds, just enough time for a ->->->-> combo for one DEAD

-: You can dive her, but her might end up killing you unless you out to the side in a confusing manner so she doesn't hit you. Take care when doing this, it's a risky business.

Diving on Akali is greatly dependent on the enemies CC, it can interrupt the entire burst combo and end up getting you killed

Conclusion

If you have made it to this part of my guide, I applaud you my friend, as you have devoted some of your time to learning about a champion that I hope you love to play.

I hope by now you have gained a better understanding of and understand the potential he holds. The key to unlocking the gate of good Akali players, is simply knowing what situations she can be played in.

My thanks go out to Bryn/Obtains, and also to jhoijhoi for all her tips on making a guide. It really help me make much of a better first guide than i originally would have with the use of proper BBCoding

Before you vote down, please try out the build, see what works best for you(Mid or Top). Dont forget to leave me a a comment, or Pm me about anything you feel that I am missing. To me all criticism is constructive :D

Thank you for time!

Akali: Remastered IN-DEPTH (Post Nerf-Buff)

Akali: Remastered IN-DEPTH (Post Nerf-Buff)

Spells:

Ignite

Flash

Ability Order

Assassin's Mark (PASSIVE)

Five Point Strike (Q)

Twilight Shroud (W)

Shuriken Flip (E)

Perfect Execution (R)

Introduction

Background

Pros / Cons

In-Depth Abilities

Runes

Balanced Runes

Runes

Survivability Runes

Runes

Damage Runes

Runes

Masteries

Top/Mid Akali

Jungle Akali

Item Choices

Standard Build

Item Sequence

Item Sequence

Core Items

Item Sequence

Starting Items

Situational Items

Skill Combo's

Standard Burst:

Double Mark Technique:

First Blood Double Mark Technique:

Standard Harass Combo:

Farm Combo:

When To Pick Akali

Normal Blind Pick

Normal Draft Pick

Ranked Draft Pick

Diving and Juking

Conclusion

League of Legends Champions: