Akali Build Guide: Akali: The Twilight Ninja by remorie

Introduction

Welcome to my guide where hopefully you will learn how to destroy your enemies with this mad assassin. In my opinion akali is a very strong champ IF you know how to play her. So without any long introduction lets just go right into the guide.

Akali's Story

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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, 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.''

Terms

Some term that may be used in this guide and what they mean if you don't already know.

MR= Magic Resist
Ar Pen= Armor Penetration
Mpen= Magic Penetration
CC= Crowd Control (ex: slows, stuns, blinds etc.)
Ap= Ability Power
Ad= Attack Damage
AOE= area of effect
Hp= Hit points
Cd= Cooldown
CDR= Cooldown Reduction

General Information

Akali in my opinion is one of the strongest characters in the game if played correctly. She can be played both in top lane and in mid and be prosperous in both those lanes. She beats lots of common picks that are really annoying to deal with to some other champs and really doesn't get countered by many.

She is an assassin.

And a very good one at that. She is easily able to reach her targets and eliminate them quickly with the only downside is her not being able to take in much damage. I have played many games with this character about (300+ ranked) so I can tell you that she is good especially for gaining elo up to about platinum, she will wreck hard unless specifically counterpicked.
Most importantly you won't get bored of her because of the sheer fact that killing people is fun and is really good at that. So Lets get into the guide.

Pros and Cons

Pros

+ Massive burst damage
+ Very maneuverable in fights
+ Good escapes with
and
+ Nice attack animation
+ Very fun to play
+ Her taunt calls people
noobs

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Cons

- Squishy if targeted
- Hard to learn
- Item dependent
- Needs runes to proc passive
- No built in CC
- Often raged/qqed at
- High expectations of players

Runes

OPTIMAL

Runes

Marks
Used to proc the part of her passive that gives 8% spell vamp
Since you only need 7 ad marks to proc the passive the rest can be magic penetration for the extra damage

Seals
This is just some armor to help you survive your weak early game since most of the time you will be going top and there is a good chance that you will be against ad top and if not it will still be good for that pesky ad carry.

Glyph
This is to proc other other part of her passive that gives her bonus magic damage on her basic attacks as well as give her more damage

Quintessences
This helps to proc the passive as well as give her 15 extra Ap to destroy enemies with.

Akali is the one character where I don't think there is room for replacement since you need a very specific rune page to have both parts of her passive proced at level 1. You could change the ability power quints for flat health if you want but then you will have to rebuild your mastery page to suit it so do it if you want.
Also the seals don't matter and you can put whatever you want for them.

Masteries

Mastery Explanations

Masteries

// With akali i go 21/9/0 for masteries which procs her passives, gives her max damage and also a little bit of health to survive.

Offence Tree

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Tier 1 // Here I take for procing the passive and also in order to get the bonus for ignite.

Tier 2 // Here I take for the cooldown reduction that is very important on akali.

Tier 3 // for the magic penetration since we didn't get much from runes and also for that little bit of extra damage that might be just what you need to kill a person.

Tier 4 // I take so i can get some more ability power.

Tier 5 // I take because its a 5% Ap boost which is a lot and more Ap = more damage = more destruction.

Tier 6 // well you can't take anything else and the 6% damage increase is a reat finisher for low health targets.

Defense Tree

Tier 1 // Here i take for the magic resist were missing and also 1 point in for some extra armor.

Tier 2 // Here I get for the extra health (it's not much but it's something).

Tier 3 // Finally I get for some early game HP (again it's not much but i have survived many time on low hp because of these masteries so it could make the difference between escaping and dying).

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Utility Tree

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//I don't take anything here because we don't need it and it kind of seems like a waste since in my opinion the defense tree is much better. But if you were to get it instead of defense i would recommend for the extra energy, to reduce the cooldown of , so you move a little bit faster and finally 1 point in for extra spell vamp.

Skill Sequence

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

On i max her first for the burst damage. Then I max her but i make sure to take a point in at level 2 just for defensive purposes and also you can use it to zone but I will talk about that later. Finally I get a point in her ultimate whenever I can

Summoner Spells

Best Spells

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is the best spell in the game. It can be used on any champion and be useful. It uses are unlimited you can use it to escape, chase, jump walls, or get in range for a kill. Though the cooldown is very long it's worth it take this on and treasure it.

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This is another great spell especially early game. This will give you extra damage against the target so they can't escape and reduce the healing of that pesky or . Most importantly it will make sure that your target doesn't get away with 10hp.

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Other Viable Choices

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This spell also has many purposes. It can slow down your opponent so they can't escape, take that pesky ad carry late game down a notch, or make that seemingly even duel between you and your opponent a win for you.

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Ever since season 2 heal has actually become a good spell. it allows you to survive ganks, save your teammates and my personal favourite it allows you to bait opponents into diving you under your tower than you use heal and laugh at their rage in chat.

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This spell is amazing for map control. It allows you to get back to lane extremely fast, teleport to a ward in order to gank other lanes and turn that dragon fight from a 4v4 into a 5v4 in your favor.

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This spell is basically an extended flash that can't jump over walls. It boosts your speed and makes you ignore unit collision, so its great for chasing or running away.

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DO NOT PICK

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good spell but why don't we let the support get it.

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In all honesty it's not a bad spell but it's just that there are a lot better ones

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THIS SPELL IS SO GOOD BECAUSE IT ALLOWS YOU TO HARASS CONSTANTLY AND WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF MANA YOU CAN JUST GET IT BACK.....oh wait does't use mana.......

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Skills/Abilities

Passive: // This is probably one of the better passives in the game. It consists of 2 parts, 1 give you spell vamp and the other makes your basic attacks hit for bonus magic damage. This is best activated with runes and masteries and if you followed the build so far you should have bot parts of it active at level 1.

Your Q: // Your first ability, basically u throw a little flag looking thing at the target which does damage and marks them. Your next basic attack AND ONLY YOURS will make it detonate and deal damage. This is your bread and butter. This ability is also where most of your damage will come from so learn to use it because it does have a fairly slow travel time.

You're going to want to max out first since it does all the damage and you need it as fast as possible.

Tips and Tricks

// Once marked, most enemies will not get within melee range of the ability so you can use your ultimate Shadow Dance to get close to them and explode it.
// Spam this to harass your opponent or get last hits
// To maximize damage throw a Mark of the Assassin on the opponent and wait for it to come off of cooldown as soon as it does, Shadow Dance to your opponent and auto attack to detonate it, after that immediately throw it again and auto attack once more. This will give you 2 procs of it instead of just 1.

Your W: // This is your second ability. It makes a big bubble where you choose that slows enemies and while inside it you gain armor, magic resist and stealth. This is your utility spell and it has various uses. It is very helpful in teamfights as you can use it once you start getting focused to stay alive and wait for your cooldowns, it makes for great escapes, it saves teammates, and it can be used to zone your opponent away from last hits in lane.

You're going to want to max out last since levels don't really do much to it, but make sure you get a point in it early so you can enjoy all of its' bonuses.

Tips and Tricks

// Remember that if you attack while in the shroud you temporarily lose your invisibility
// Use this in teamfights as soon as you start getting focused to make the enemies switch off of you while you wait for your cooldowns
// In lane, only if you know where the enemy jungler is or have your lane warded, put this on top of the enemies' minions and zone him away from them. If they come in to last hit throw a quick Mark of the Assassin on them and then auto attack to get them away.

Your E: // This is your 3rd ability. When used it instantly deals aoe damage in a small range around you based on both ad and ap. This spell, unlike your others really doesn't have a major role in your kit. It good extra aoe damage that you can spam around, it gets good with because it slows everyone around you.

You're going to want to max out second as it provides descent aoe damage but your is more important.

Tips and Tricks

// Use Crescent Slash in the middle of an enemy minion wave to get a good chunk of hp back.
// This ability scales off both ad and ap so it will always deal decent damage to your opponents if they build heavily for 1 of these.
// Use this as a finisher to destroy whats left of an opponent's health bar.

Your Ultimate(R): // Very simple on use akali dashes to the enemy target and deals damage. This is why akali is a good champ. This is used for everything it has a very long range and can be used to either dash to an opponent and deal damage or close the gap for that 1 auto attack you need. it can also be used on enemy creeps if you moved too far in the lane and need to escape backwards. The best part is it doesn't cost energy and it operates on a charge based system much like 's . This means that you can use it as much as you want as long as you have charges of it remaining.

You're going to want to max out Whenever you can at levels 6,11 and 16 because this is what makes so amazing.

Tips and Tricks

// On every kill or assist you get 1 charge back so keep that in mind if you want to go in , kill a low hp enemy and then dash out.
// Don't let Shadow Dance stay on 3 charges for too long. When you're full on charges use it to harass your enemy.
// Use Shadow Dance during teamfights to dash around and get to the enemy carries in order to blow them up.

C-C-C-C COMMBOOOOSS

These are the combo's that you should use in the give situations.Note this is: Assuming all of your abilities are off of cooldown and you have your summoner spells ready, if not improvise (ie: if you don't have ignite, skip it)

COMBO ON LANE OR AGAINST A SINGLE OPPONENT

Insert when opponent fights back

EXPLANATION

1. Throw a on the opponent and wait for it to cooldown
2. As soon as is back up to the enemy and auto attack them 1 time.
3. Throw another on the target and auto attack them again. (use if they get out of range for your auto attack)
4. Use your
5. If opponent fights back drop your as soon as possible since you are quite squishy.
6. Ignite them and again if necessary
7. Spend your newly obtained gold

(Note: just got updated in the patch so now her procs the you may chose to skip the second auto and instead so that you git them for sure because has a longer range than your auto attacks.

You may use your after you've marked them with your second but before you auto attack and then just to catch beck up for the auto attack

COMBO DURING TEAMFIGHTS

After this continue to around the fight and do your combo on the carries first and then on whoever's left. Insert as soon as you start getting focused which will usually be right after your first and wait for your cooldowns to come up

Explanation

1. Mark the enemy carry with your (you may have to to get in range of him/her.)
2. (if you have't already) to the target and auto attack them 1 time
3. Use your
4. At this point you will probably be in the middle of the enemy team and about to be focused so use immediately.
5. Wait for your cooldowns to come up and attack the carry again
6. Once the carry dies switch to the other enemies based on most importance which is

Note: this order may change (for example if the enemy's top lane has 10 kills at 20 mins and is dealing massive damage, prioritize him)
7. If the enemy has an or a go on the closest person that you can while still being safe, if one of their carries is careless and in the open attack them but try to remain close to your team since your will be useless.

Items

Alright here is one of the most important parts of Akali her items. She is pretty item dependent to do damage so let's dive into her items.

Start Out

Normal Start

and 3
This is the normal start for most of your games. The give you extra speed to move around quicker and the 3 give you some good sustain until you can get your

Aggressive Start

and 1
This is aimed at most damage early game and should only be take if you know for a fact that you can completely dominate your lane early on. The builds into your and the 1 is to give you a little bit of sustain.

Defensive Start

and 5
This is the one start that you will probably never have to use unless you know your going to get dominated hard by an ad character early game ie: a very good . The will give you some defense against him while the 5 will provide a lot of sustain. I still highly advise you not to use this start.

Doran's

This is a viable start, it gives extra health, damage and some lifesteal but make sure that if you take this you go aggressive immediately because it has almost no sustain so you need to crush your opponent in order to win.

First Back

Unless forced to try not to go back until you have 1480 gold
This will allow you to get
a which is one of your main items because it give you ability power and most importantly some spell vamp.
Along with this get a to watch for ganks and another 3ish for the extra sustain.

Ok now It will be next to impossible to force you out of lane, you can farm to your heart's content. Like I've said earlier is very item dependent so your laning will greatly affect your mid-late game.

When you hit level 9 you will be very powerful so try to put some serious harass on you lane opponent if you can. At this point things like dragon fights or team pushes down a lane should be starting to happen so make sure you get involved in that.
If not
Keep farming until you get about 2000 gold. This may seem like a lot but it's about 80 cs worth of gold and in this case you get a choice. Here Either get a

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This is a very good item for a couple of reasons. One is that you are a melee fighter, though very agile you still need to be in basic attack range of your opponents to deal maximum damage. If you are in melee range that means that they can attack you too and this item will allow you to tank them for longer. I mean 430Hp mid game would be about 3 attacks from the ad carry which may not seem like much but if you play correctly and actually attack the carry, he won't get more than about 4 attacks in before he dies. The other reason is that it builds into a which is a core item on .

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If you take the giant's belt you should also have enough gold to buy tier 2 boots.
Here are viable choices

BOOTS

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These are your boots of choice 90% of the time. Akali gets destroyed by CC and these will bump all the CC against you down a notch as well as give you a little magic resist so you'll be more tanky against magic damage. As well they'll give you more movement speed and who does't love that?

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These are what I call "pubstomp only boots." The reason is because they give you no defenses just pure offence magic penetration. Get them if you are destroying the game and feel you need some more damage, If the enemy is building a lot of magic resist, or if they are just stupid and can't play as a team so you never get CCed.

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These again are a viable choice for . They give armor,movement speed and 10% reduction on basic attacks. Get these if the enemy has little CC, lot's of physical damage auto attackers (ex: ad jungle, an irellia top and an ad carry bottom). Or if you are just getting molested in lane by that (thought usually bot corki may go top) or another carry.

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Usually you want to get you and boots before more damage but if you really want to start destroying and know you are good enough that you won't be focused down get an extra
250gold and straight out buy your

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I would only recommend this for skilled players. This is opted at giving you maximum damage and sacrificing all defenses. The gun blade is a core item on you and it's stats make it a very good one at that. It gives everything ,ap, spell vamp,ad,lifesteal and has an amazing passive which does a decent amount damage and slows your target's movement speed to half. With this you will be pumping out a lot of damage but at the same time have basically no defenses so do not take this item first unless you know for sure that you will not get focused out of the fight by the enemy.

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Now whichever item u picked first, build the other one(s).
At this point your going to want another core item. YOUR

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Again an overall amazing item. It does give you mana which you don't need but more importantly it gives some ap, builds into and has that amazing passive. Basically it's passive makes it so that after every ability your next auto attack will deal double damage. This will make your burst really hard.

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This is the item you want to get next. It provides health, AP, and most importantly it slows all enemies you hit with magic damage(it's like the caster's version of ). It's an amazing item on and is totally needed. The reason I don't rush this (as I see a lot of people do) is because I honestly don't think that it's so much needed early on. I mean if your team has no CC you might want to get this before your but in most cases i don't think you need it until late game where you have to chase your target.

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LATE GAME

In general these are the items you want late game.

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DAMAGE! That is what this item is all about. It builds from your and basically does the same things just..better. It gives more ap, magic resist, an extra 7% movement speed, and most importantly changes the passive a little. With your next basic attack after using an ability deals an extra 100% base damage. With this your next basic attack after an ability deals an extra 100% of you Ap as damage(also the buff makes you look really awesome). With this you will destroy anyone in your way.

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This is the strongest Ap item in the game. It cost a lot but gives you a whooping 140Ap along with a passive that increases your overall ap by 30%. It is a great item on any champion that scales with ap. With this all your enemies will melt in front of you. No seriously if you get this one combo on an ad carry that didn't build much Mr (they usually don't) will kill them.

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This item is like . Any character you get it on it will benefit them. It gives some MR, some armor and it's passive is amazing. Basically whenever you die you will get revived after a few seconds with 750Hp on the exact spot you died. This item has won me so many teamfights that words don't do it justice. It makes it so that even if the enemy manage to take you out and continue onto your team after a few seconds you will come back to finish annihilating them.

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CONSUMABLES

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This is a great item to get after you have finished your build or if you just need a boost of health. It also gives some attack damage so that's always good. All only for 250 gold

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Again another good item to get when you are finished your build. at level 18 it gives as much ap as a and also gives a good amount of CDR.

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Situational Items

These are some items that you may want to get depending on the situation,

OFFENSIVE

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This is an extremely situational item because it is a double edged sword. The only time you would want this is if you are dominating the game, not getting focused and feel like you need to end it quickly. This will put your damage over the top at a cheap price, but at the same time will be like wearing a big target over your head because people will want to get those stacks off of you. At 20 stacks of this you will get 160Ap and 15% CDR which is insane considering the item costs only 1200 gold but always remember that you lose 1/3 of your stacks if you die so even if you have 20 stacks mid game, if you die a few times, this item will really hinder you.

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This item is kind of situational but you will lend up getting it most of the time. It gives some Ap but more importantly it gives you 40% magic pen which will make your attacks hit very hard. The reason I say it's situational is that the enemy might not build much Magic resist so if they don't this would be pointless. A good way to determine if the enemy built some MR is if they have 3 or more champions with 90+ magic resist. Also if you bought instead of you probably don't want this because you already have enough magic pen with masteries and runes. If you want this item you can get it instead of either or your

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This is probably my favorite item in the game. It provides so many benefits for only 2000gold. It gives 80 Ap, 15% CDR and of course the active which allows you to burst so hard your enemies will wish they all had . This item works amazing against people who love to stack health like and . The only problem is you may have to sacrifice survivability for it making you vulnerable to attacks.

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DEFENSIVE

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If you ignore the mana component this is a very good defensive item on . It gives you Hp, a good amount of magic resist and a passive shield that blocks 1 spell every 45 secs. This is good if the enemy team has some really strong engages like 's or 's . Note that if you get this you will have to be careful not to get hit my any harass because any ability will break this shield.

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This item is a good buy on all ap characters and is no exception. The flat 100 Ap it gives is pretty good, along with some armor and the passive which makes you invulnerable(cannot take damage) for 2 secs. A very good item if you feel you are getting focused constantly.

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Another great item if the other team has really strong cc such as 's ,'s . It's basically the a without the health and mana. The passive though is a lot better because it is activated so you can't get it popped from harass.

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Here is a video on how to use the . Note 1 thing has changed since the video has been released. The active is now a unique active so therefore stacking this item doesn't give you 3 Cleanses' but instead if you use one of your qss, all in your inventory go on cooldown.

Top Solo Laning

Now laning with Akali is very important because as I've mentioned about a hundred times before she is item dependent so how well you last hit will define your entire game.

Early Game lvl 1-8

This is the one stage where you are actually pretty weak. You have low damage, no abilities to combo, and don't have the highest base Hp. Luckily we have our passive which gives makes it both easier to last hit and gives us some early sustain. If you are matched against someone passive or someone who has only melee abilities such as , or you want to use your to harass the living hell out of them. You are an energy champion so you can keep it up literally forever. Just focus on last hitting and whenever your is up just throw it at your opponent.

Also here is something you can do against these types of champions.

(I apologize for badly drawn picture but bots wouldn't co-operate because there stupid and kept walking into the shroud)
Here i put my over the enemy creeps which allows me to "zone" him from last hitting and sometimes even experience. This also allows me to free farm his creeps and if he comes in to try and get a last hit, I throw some damage using his way and make him think twice about coming near here again.

To do this though you should look over the "zones" of the lane

In the above picture I am at the edge of the yellow zone and pushing him back to his green zone so even though I'm denying cs, this also prevents my jungler to gank and makes his jungler's job easier because I've just used up my so only do this if the lane is warded.

If you are against someone ranged, or someone with a really strong early game such as , or you should be very careful pre-6. Don't harass them too much with your because chances are your gonna need it for last hitting since you might get zoned. Once you hit 6 you can then start being a little bit more agressive and actually attack them(unless it's DONT ATTACK HIM HE WILL DESTROY YOU IF HE IS TOP DON'T EVEN PICK ).
Also if you are against someone who will destroy you you can do something knows as "freezing the lane"
This requires you to hit enemy minions when they have a sliver of health and let the lane push towards your turret, then you will have to adjust to keep the enemy minions near to, but not in range of your turret. It should look something like this.

This is basically what it looks like the minions are just out of the turret range (yellow line). This allows me to safely farm my lane and also hide behind my creeps to avoid any incoming skillshots.
Do Not let the creeps reach the red zones because at that point the turret will start attacking them and it will make it very hard for you to last hit properly.

Mid Game lvl 1-8

Now that we've gotten past your weak early game we can start dealing some damage. In normal game if none of the other lanes have been completely destroyed, people should be starting to gather for . As top you are the furthest lane from it so if you didn't take you need to get down to the dragon and help your team take it/contest the other teams attempt.

If a fight is to break out over dragon it's extremely important that your team wins it because those fights can shape the entire game. Now these fights are good for you because chances are the enemy doesn't have s or an . So just do your basic combo (refer back to combo section for this) on the carry ( usually at this point it will be the ap carry because the ad shouldn't have many items yet). So after you destroy them take dragon and go back to laning where you should try establishing some lane dominance at the point.

Late Game lvl 1-8

Here you will shine. Your damage is massive so COMPLETELY CRUSH THE ENEMY TEAM AN WIN THE GAME. Yes so just continue winning teamfights with you amazing powers because trust me your team will rely on you for the damage.

Mid Laning

Alright mid laning is a little different than solo top because of your positioning. When top you are cut off and weather you die or not won't really affect your team's fight potential at dragon or something like that. Mid on the other hand is like the main pillar that holds your team. Whoever wins mid it allows their team to

Be safe from ganks from the other mid since they will need to farm and stay in lane as long as possible in order to catch up.
Allow their jungler easier access to the enemy jungle and better opportunities for invades.
Allows you to gank other lanes.
Gives 50% of dragon control(the other 50% comes from bot lane)
Let's you easily farm your lane since your opponent will be scared to fight you.

So as you can see mid lane is very important. Now the mid and late games are the same as top so just look above if you want them but early game it's a little different. First of all you will want flat MR seals . Secondly you will want to get right after your . Your laning pre-6 should be Fairly Passive. You should mostly focus on farming since people usually won't be stupid enough to walk into melee range of you but if they get too close a quick should force them back. Just be careful you don't take too much harass. Akali is actually a pretty damn strong mid lane since she's very mobile and can gank other lanes and also is primarily focused on destroying the back line squishies (like the ones that go mid :D). Once you hit 6, as long as you aren't behind on gold or low on health compared to your opponent you can take the offensive. Try to land your double combo and your damage should be fairly devestating even with little items. Do the combo once or twice see how the trades go since it'll be different depending on who your facing. Here are some examples.
You Can Lane Against

Ziggs

is a good mid because of his amazing spam and long range. You'd think that because he is long range he destroys you but that's not the case. First of all every single one of his skills are skillshots this means that they can be dodged and since you are a very mobile champion this becomes eve easier for you. Second his damage early game is pretty weak you can get some farm without being too harmed as long as you dodge some of the bombs he throw you'll be good. Third he has no CC after his which you can easily just dodge or out of. Furthermore he's pretty squishy so once you hit level 6 you can destroy him.

Fizz

I'll be honest the only reason you can lane against him is because his auto attacks are melee range. Again early game try to avoid fighting and focus on csing. Things should be pretty easy up until level 6 and this is where it gets fun. Once level 6 you can destroy him just make sure you do 1 thing. AVOID ESPECIALLY EARLY GAME. If he lands that there is about a 70% chance that you will die because that shark really hurts. If you dodge that hes basically useless afterwards because you do more burst, in your have more resistances so therefore are tankier and also have more mobility so he can neither run away nor catch you.

Leblanc

Yeah that's right you are actually a good laner against Le*****. You can survive her burst, 100-0 her easily once you hit level 6 or 7 ish and if you want push the lane into her tower so she can't farm at all. Oh and also you scale very well into late game while all she is then is a nuke countered easily by MR.

Do Not Lane Against

Kassadin

counters all ap mids and you are no exception. He bursts extremely hard, has a silence, a nice slow, his auto attacks do more damage than your with his active and if you try to attack him he just s away. If you play against him either switch with your top lane, or destroy him early game and get your jungler to camp the living hell out of mid lane.

Ryze

Simple really he is a [insert swear here]. He is long ranged so you can't cs against him. He has a targeted snare, massive damage/spammability on his spells. Oh and he builds tanky because he scales with mana and not ap so you become basically useless.

The above are just some examples to give you an idea f what champions you can and cannot lane against. (Above assessments are based on if the 2 players have similar skill levels, in other words if they suck you will probably win).
Here are the zones and warding spots for the mid lane.

Hope this helps if you ever want to try mid but I would still highly recommend you go top instead mid is just too important to lose and you have to be very skilled in order to lane effectively against most mids.

These are just a few examples and of course this is based on if both players are equally skilled so if you think you are an amazing player and pick her into go for the challenge if not be a little more indiscreet about you picking of her.

Some helpful Tips for mid lane

* Realize that the bulk of your damage actually comes from your so even if your is unavailable if you can close the distance you can still do some serious damage
* Remember that you have more sustain than most other mids because of you so if you see an opportunity to trade without taking way too much damage back you should take it because you'll come out on top in the long run.
* Be cautious with the use of your it is one of the most versatile skills in the game but at the same time it's your only defense and it has a long cooldown so spamming it constantly because you don't use mana isn't such a good idea.
*You are very mobile so if you get the chance push you lane and go top or bottom to try to get a kill or at least put some pressure on the opposing laners. Anything productive is better than just standing around waiting for the lane to push back to your side.

Teamfights

A little section on what you should do in teamfights because i felt i didn't talk about this enough during the previous sections.

Now let's clarify 1 thing. Akali isn't tanky so you CANNOT take much damage. At the same time though you have to be in melee range of an opponent to deal damage so you have to find a balance.

You are an assassin.

This means that your job is to ignore the tanky front line and go straight for the squishy carries in the back. This should be fairly easy because of your , but knowing what to do when you reach the carry take practice. The idea is though you want to jump on the carry, do your combo, and then either or if the enemy has or s you want to back to your teammates.

After that repeat the process.
Positioning is key so make sure to stay safe and if you can't attack the carries while being relatively safe don't. It's always better to deal damage to someone not so important, than to take 1/3 of a carry's life and then die.

Match ups

Alright this is not very detailed but it will give you some insight on what to do against champs you'll be laning against.
So here are generally all the people that you will be laning against either top or mid (some exceptions like if someone attempted ap Shyvana ,which i have fought before, will not be included in here.

Mid Opponents

Dodge her Orb of Deception because after a few ranks of it, it hurts bad.
Stay behind your minions so it's much harder for her to land Charm] and set up the rest of her combo
Spirit Rush allows her to maneuver into position to land her other spells use Shadow Dance to counteract it and get back into position.
Remember her targeted spells like Fox-Fire and her Spirit Rush only hit you if she has vision so a good Twilight Shroud could prevent a lot of damage.

Not much tips in a mirror match up. Just try to outplay her and maybe get your jungler to gank a few times because if you get ahead she can't stop you.

Flash Frost has long range and will allow her to follow up with Frostbite for a lot of burst. The projectile moves pretty slowly but has a small aoe around where it explodes.
Anivia is one of the most mana hungry champions in the game. If possible try to prevent her blue buffs because it will really hurt her laning without them.
Frostbite's damage is not too high by itself but if you are slowed by any of her other spells it will deal double damage so if she hits you with either her ult or Flash Frost try not to be in range of Frostbite
keep in mind her passive Rebirth and when it's up so you can ***es how aggressive to play

Almost all of Annie's abilities can stun if her passive is charged. So keep watch for when a grey ring appears around her because it means her stun is ready.
Her main damage is her Disintegrate which is sometimes used to cs since it refunds mana on kills. Get the timings down and bully her around if she tries using is for creeps.
Annie has a lot of burst damage with all her skills combined so early MR is always a good idea to stop you from getting one shotted.
Summon: Tibbers gives her an aoe stun so don't stay grouped up because it devastates teamfights.

Pillar of Flame has a fairly big aoe so don't stay crunched in between minions so he can't land easily damage.
if you get hit by one of brand's abilities stay behind your minions until his passive wears off since he has a 2 sec stun on his Sear
His ultimate Pyroclasm bounces in-between both minions and champions but has a fairly slow initial move speed so when targeted move away from all allied minions and champions to prevent further bounce damage.

Be careful of her poisons on Noxious Blast and Miasma they do decent damage and allow the spam of Twin Fang so if you get hit move back until the dot dissapears.
Petrifying Gaze only stuns when you are facing towards her so keep that in mind when going to fight with her.
Her main damage comes from Twin Fang which is a targeted ability so Twilight Shroud stops it dead in it's tracks.
Cassio's natural playstyle is fairly aggressive so co-ordinate with your jungler for ganks whenever possible until you get far ahead.

He can go both top and mid so be ready for him in either lane
Rupture has a nice delay and visual effect on it so much like brand's pillar of flames as long as you don't stay bunched with minions you should be able to dodge it.
Cho'Gath has great sustain through his passive Carnivore so try not to let him last hit much so he can't recover health.
Feral Scream is a long silence so if you get hit by it you'll be unable to do anything for about 3 secs, back off until it's over then proceed back in.
Vorpal Spikes extend the range of his auto attacks so don't stay near him when he is hitting minions.
Feast Does a big ammount of true damage so if you are ever under 25% hp and know he has his ult it's always better to go back and lose a few creeps than die.

Her Crescent Strike moves in an arc from the left of her so always be ready to move right in order to dodge it or jump right on her.
if she can get a moonlight stack on to you it is essentially a free ult so wait until it wears off before you engage.
Pale Cascade shields a big portion of damage because it essentially shields her twice so try to move away if she uses it
Moonfall is an aoe pull with a slow making it difficult to escape from her so unless you know you'll come out ahead don't trade pointlessly since she can chase you for miles.
Lunar Rush is essentially the same as your Shadow Dance except it can only be used once, so use that advantage to out play her.

Evelynn's damage and health are both relatively low so press her early game.
Once she gets a Deathfire Grasp her damage output increases exponentially so watch her items and be careful once she has it.
Vision Wards counter her just like you make sure to tell your other lanes to get pink wards instead of normals ones to see her when she is roaming. And as against all stealth champions a Vision Ward in the middle of your lane is never a bad idea.
Hate Spike can be aimed through the use of minions to hit you without directly targeting you so be careful when near your own minions with eve nearby.
Her ult does a lot of damage and gives her a big shield so make sure she can't hit multiple people with it during teamfights.

Don't rely on your minions to protect you from ap Ezreal as his Essence Flux goes right through them and hits you.
His Trueshot Barrage does a lot of damage but has an obvious animation and a wind up time so when he starts casting it move out of the way.
To get the most damage out of ap Ezreal usually has to use his Arcane Shift which is his only escape so try to bait it out from him for an easy gank from your jungler.

ITS FIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE WITH THE FIDDLE FIDDLE IN THE MIDDLE WITH THE FIDDLE..... sorry its fun to say
Since you have no way to interrupt his Drain try to bait it out of him Shadow Dance back so the tether breaks then immediately re-engage to catch him off guard.
Be very careful if you do not know where he is because he could easily be casting Crowstorm in the brush.
Dark Wind works just like brand's Pyroclasm so make sure to keep away from minions if he casts it.
Crowstorm is one of the most devastating ultimates in the game make sure your team cc's him and runs away or bursts him immediately otherwise you will have very little chance of winning the teamfight.

His auto attacks hurt a lot especially with his Seastone Trident active so don't trade autos with him
He can cover a lot of ground very quickly with Playful / Trickster and Urchin Strike so don't think you are safe under the tower with low hp.
Chum the Waters passes over minions so be ready to dodge or Twilight Shroud when he uses it.
Fizz has no built in sustain and usually doesn't build into it through items so make smart trades, then spellvamp your health back up and do it again widdling him down little by little.

He's tanky for an ap carry and doesn't have damage after his initial burst is gone so try to focus the ad carry over him in fights.
Resolute Smite has a nice aoe but a fairly slow travel time and is his main damage source so if he tries hiting you with it Shadow Dance to him and put some damage while he can't return almost anything.
Idol of Durand is undetrupted by stuns,silences and displacement cc, so save at least one for him during fights.
Remember that Bulwark heals him per hit. So if you have to attack him while he cast it on himself make sure not to auto because he returns more health than you take.

Don't let him poke you down with his Barrel Roll. It's not too hard to dodge once you get used to how it moves so learn with practice.
Make sure to always leave minions between you and Gragas so that even if he manages to hit you with Body Slam it won't deal as much damage as intended.
Keep in mind that he is ironically mobile for a fat man because his Body Slam gets him over most walls.
Whenever you see him using Drunken Rage try to get a Mark of the Assassin and an auto/ Crescent Slash on him for free harass.

His H-28G Evolution Turrets automatically push the lane so make him overextend and either zone him or get your jungler to come gank him.
Hextech Micro-Rockets will always target the 3 closest enemies to them so always keep a few minions between you and him o prevent harass.
CH-1 Concussion Grenade is a very slow moving projectile so even at close range shouldn't be that bad to dodge.
If he ever leaves the lane make sure to destroy the H-28G Evolution Turrets to stop him from farming.
Flame riot for the names of these skills as they are really annoying to type out correctly.

Ap Janna's main point is to relentlessly push the wave with Howling Gale which is easily avoidable if you don't stand directly with your minions.

She has a lot of cc and protection so towerdiving her no matter how low she is is usually a bad idea.

Be careful of her Flash+ Monsoon combo to throw you backwards to set her up for a gank.

Zephyr is her main way to harass you and it has a shorter range than Shadow Dance so if she can hit you with it, you can jump to her and burst her *****y a$$.

A good Karthus should be farming out of your range with his Lay Wastes but if you can close the distance, you can destroy him.
When he hits level 6 careful when being low on hp as you have no way to stop his Requiem
As opposed to a lot of other mages, Karthus's late game is very potent so he can be you prime priority in fights.
Wall of Pain will still affect you even if you Shadow Dance through it.

Kassadin has no escapes pre-6 so take that chance and get a gank so you can snowball that lane.
Null Sphere has an exceptionally long silence duration at later ranks so try to attack him while it's on cooldown.
Force Pulse gainst stacks for any spell cast near him so try not to spam your skills unnecessarily in order to avoid giving him free stacks.
Riftwalk has a charge based system increasing its mana cost and damage for extended uses in a short period of time, therefore even though it's cd is only about 5 secs most Kassadins do not prefer to use it repeatedly to avoid mana issues.

Katarina's early game is extremely poor because she is both item and level dependent so try to bully her around early on.
Shunpo has a fairly long cooldown at level 1 and is her only escape mechanism so forcing it out of her leave her vulnerable to ganks.
Death Lotus will hit you even in your Twilight Shroud so if she starts channeling it simply move out of range then re-engage.
She has no resource and is able to repeatedly spam and combo her abilities so try not to take too much harass from Bouncing Blades
Katarina is most deadly in teamfights as if she gets a kill or assists her ability cs's refresh thanks to Voracity, so attempt to take her out before she is able to get multiple combos onto your team.

Most of his damage comes from his Thundering Shuriken which is a skillshot and though with long range it can't go through minions so stay behind your and be safe.
Be careful when you see the shuriken in his hand get all electrically charged( turns blueish) because it means the passive for his electrical surge is ready and his next auto will apply [[mark of the storm
His ultimate will only hit you if he can see you so Twilight Shroud might save your life a few times if you manage to get it off quick enough.
Like you he is a flippin ninja so be careful because his furry little a$$ knows all your tricks

Even though she has high burst and a double silence she has to get close in order to use them so try Shadow Danceing onto her before they hit and following up with damage when the silence ends.
LeBlanc is extremely fragile and can't afford to build up much defenses so that she can upkeep her damage, so 1 combo post level 6 should be able to finish her or at least force her out of lane.
Again you control target spells' worst nightmare Twilight Shroud
If you are low on health go back, don't try any heroic plays because she will kill you.

When he puts his space aids( malefic vision) on a minion near you unless you can stop it from dying move away so it doesn't transfer to you.
He can build fairly tanky while still dishing out a lot of damage so try to get ganks.
You can kill his voidlings for extra gold and to prevent the easy spread of malefic vision
Nether Grasp is a targeted stun and once started it won't cancel so don't get too close to him unless you can kill him.
He counters you pretty nicely so try to avoid picking Akali into him but if you get counterpicked just trey and make the best of it and get some ganks because if you can get a solid early advantage you'll be able to snowball that lane.

Don't trade with him amidst you minions because if he can land his Siphon of Destruction on multiple targets it'll give him a huge shield from his passive.
His Mace of Spades hurts a lot more if you are isolated from any allied minions or champions so try to keep 1 or 2 minions near you if fighting him to mitigate some of that damage.
Ge can be deceptively tanky with his Children of the Grave and Iron Man so keep that in mind if ever engaging him when he's low on hp.
He has no cc and no escapes built in so if he overextends by pushing the lane (which is what he's best at) it makes for an easy gank.

[

The hitbox on Dark Binding is pretty big so stay behind minions to block it since it's her primary means of damage.
Tormented Soil also continuously reduces you magic resist so this may stand as obvious but get off of it.
Watch out for her hitting level 6 lots of good Morganas will Flash, chains of torment----> Dark Binding/ Tormented Soil which is a fairly devastating combo especially if followed up with a gank from her jungler.
Force out her Black Shield before ganks otherwise it'll be almost impossible to kill her as she'll be immune to cc.

Don't get hit by spears they hurt like a mother****** and will force you out of lane so just chill behind minions.
You plain out dish more damage than her and even though she can jump every 2 secs in her cougar form she can't really stop you from Shadow Danceing to her so have fun with this lane.
Unlike a lot of mages, even on low hp as long as she is not dead she still deals damage with her Javelin Toss so make sure you finish the job.
She is extremely mobile so make sure to tell you other lanes to ward and if you can warn them that she is coming to a lane because if you leave at the same time she will arrive before you.

Your Twilight Shroud is basically useless since all of her abilities will hit you in it.
Manage your stacks of Shadow Dance well because she is very good at kiting so when you run out don't chase her you'll be taking unnecessary damage.
Her auto attacks hurt a lot because of Clockwork Windup so don't get hit by them repeatedly
She is a counter to you so unless it can't be helped try not to pick Akali against her.

One of Ryze's biggest downfalls is his inability to push the lane so try to push up and get some roaming ganks to help out you team.
He scales off of max mana as well as ability power, which means that he can afford to build tanky while still aoutputting a lot of damage.
Ryze can continually spam his abilities because of low cooldowns so drawn out fights/trades with him are not a good idea.
All of his spells are targetted which means Twilight Shroud is your best friend.

Ap Sion is all burst with long cooldowns so try to draw fights out in order to gain the advantage.
Make sure to tell your team to ward because his biggest streaght is his roaming/ganking power which is easily allowed because he pushes like a madman with his Death's Caress
The majority of his damage comes from Death's Caress so if you can destroy the shield before he can activate it, he will lose about 50% of his DPS.
Cryptic Gaze is targetted and stuns for a log time which makes it easy for him to set up for ganks by his jungler.

Swain's abilities have a fairly short range but do a lot of damage if he can combo them so don't get near him unless you plan on trading.
Most of his abilities are DOTS and even though it doesn't look like it at first they hurt so keep that in mind when judging his damage.
Nevermove is a very strong cc but it has a 2 second delay and a very long cooldown, try to bait it out of him before engaging because once his Decrepify hits it will be almost impossible to dodge.
Torment amps up all his damage so try to disengage after he uses it and reengage when it's on cooldown.

Syndra can do a lot of damage but it's fairly difficult for her to land all of her abilities so make sure to jump around everywhere so she can't hit you.
Deathfire Grasp with Unleashed Power does a lot of burst especially if she can get 1 or 2 Dark Spheres around you.
Dont stand in a line between Syndra and a Dark Sphere because a quick Scatter the Weak stun could be brutal.
She has no escapes making her a fairly easy target in fights.

Talon is an ad caster so if you have trouble with him Ninja Tabi or even an early Chain Vest are easy ways to stop his damage.
You plain out deal more damage than him and have more sustain even if he rushes The Bloodthirster so harass him with Mark of the Assassin and if he tries jumping onto you show him what a true assassin can do.
If he is using his Shadow Assault to escape at low health continuously Vision Wards will take care of that stealth.
In order to hit you with his abilities he has to come withing range of Shadow Dance so if he is trying to harass you burst him to 50% real quick and make him think twice before he does it again.

When he uses Pick A Card keep an eye out for which one he locks in , if it's gold keep your distance until it goes away, if blue it's a good bet that he wants to use it on minions so you can attack him while he's vulnerable, if red stay away from minions to prevent any splash damage on to yourself.
Wild Cards have a very long range but are fairly easy to dodge unless he throws them point blank so try not to get harassed down.
The biggest reason Twisted Fate is picked is for his Destiny so if he is ever out of lane make sure you warn your teammates to be careful because wards won't save them from his ganks.
He has no escapes so try to save multiple uses of Shadow Dance for when he attempts to gold card you.

Don't let him farm his Baleful Strike too much because it gives him permenant ap which will make him a real ***** to deal with late game.
Event Horizon Only stuns at it's edges so if you get caught in it just Twilight Shroud and wait it out because if you try to Shadow Dance through it you will still be stunned when you stop moving.
Dark Matter is a huge nuke but very easily dodgeable since it has a long delay and an obvious animation... don't stand in minions to pmake it easy for you to avoid it.
Primordial Burst is a huge nuke (deals upwards of 1k flat damage late game) plus it deals extra damage based on the ap of the target so try getting some early magic resist and as long as you follow the build you shouldn't have enough ap for the extra damage to be too much.

Warding

Just something I though is should insert here is where to ward your lane.
The Blue Side1. Orange= Always Keep Warded
2. Red= Ward If you Are Pushing The Lane
3. Yellow= Ward If Lane Is Being Pushed
4. Blue= Ward If Lane Is EvenThe Purple Side1. Orange= Always Keep Warded
2. Yellow= Ward If Lane Is Being Pushed
3. Blue= Ward If Lane Is Even

Juking

I though i would put this in here because for some reason I see a lot of players not knowing how to do this.
Akali Has 2 main abilities that you can use for juking opponents.
and

These actually make for some pretty interesting escapes.
For example you get ganked by the enemy jungler. Most of the time you can use your Twilight Shroud in between the 2 bushes top. Here about 90% of the time then enemies will chase you upwards through the second bush while not realizing that you can run out of either the side to wards the middle or actually dive towards their turret and run past the wall.

Here is a great example of using Shadow Dance to dive past the tower. These next 2 videos are gameplay footage of Westrice who is one of the best Akali players in the world so enjoy:). And also some more great moves during teamfights.
Another thing you can do a little easier is when you use Twilight Shroud make sure that you have a t least 2 directions of escape and the enemy will have to quickly pick one and you can just run the other way.

Spots like for example the top tri-brush

I can escape either way around the wall or back to top lane.

The middle lane wall

Here i can go either way around the wall and also if there are 2 or more enemies chasing and they can cut off both my escape paths I can to the minion in the green circle and then escape through that way.

The top lane entrance to the blue golem

Here I can either escape back into my turret, I can go back around and into the top lane or I can run down to mid.

Pretty much any place that has a wall which separates 2 paths and cut visions of opponents.
Here are some other spots that can be used for escapes
Top Double Brush

Mid Lane Double Brush

Wraiths/ Mid Lane Brush

Vids

Here is an extra video guide that may help you with your akali gameplay. Hope it Helps.

Champion Spotlight

Me playing with this build
(I play pretty bad this game because I ignore the carries but because im it doesn't matter and I still carry)

Click here for the video because apparently Fraps feels like not working for me.

Special Thanks

jhoijhoi
Her guide on how to make a guide helped immensely with everything and the BBcoding formats on there are use all over this guide Find her guide Here
Making the colorful dividers you see.
Keondre
For making one of the posters used in the guide find her signature shoppe Here

Change Log

June 1, 2012

Published Guide

June 2, 2012

Added some spacing to make guide easier to read
Added "Teamfights" section to guide
Made some minor spelling, grammar and aesthetic corrections
Changed Void Staff to situational item and added Rabadon's Deathcap to main item build.
Added some more to "Vids" section including champion spotlight and a gameplay footage of me playing Akali

June 4, 2012

Started work on a mid Akali build.
Finished "Mid Laning" section and also mid Akali build (just waiting for a video to upload so I should have it by tomorrow).

June 5, 2012

Added more dividers because color = better
Still pending video (its 60% uploaded) youtube takes forever to upload high quality.

Added a poster
Reworked some of the art

Jayce patch updates were implemented into the guide

Reworked some of the unsightly and childish images out of the guide
Started a "Match-Up's" section for some tips against certain opponents you might face in you lanes
Added Deathfire Grasp to situational items.
Added another build

Conclusion

Well that is the end of my Akali guide. I hope this has helped you dominate your enemies and get some sweet gameplay out of this amazing champion.
Please Rate +/- and comment on why you + this guide so I know what I did good and also why you - the guide so I know what to work on.
And if you see any mistakes or things that need correcting let me know.made by Keondre

	Akali: The Epitome Of An Assassin. By Bryun
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Balanced/Damage

Balanced/Damage

Akali Build Guide by remorie

Akali: The Twilight Ninja

Balanced/Damage

Champion Build: Akali

Recommended Runes

Purchase Order

Ability Sequence

Mastery Tree Is Outdated

Masteries

Offense: 21

Defense: 9

Utility: 0

Balanced/Damage

Champion Build: Akali

Recommended Runes

Purchase Order

Ability Sequence

Mastery Tree Is Outdated

Masteries

Offense: 21

Defense: 9

Utility: 0

Introduction

Akali's Story

Terms

General Information

She is an assassin.

Pros and Cons

Runes

Masteries

Skill Sequence

Summoner Spells

Best Spells

Other Viable Choices

DO NOT PICK

Skills/Abilities

C-C-C-C COMMBOOOOSS

COMBO ON LANE OR AGAINST A SINGLE OPPONENT

EXPLANATION

COMBO DURING TEAMFIGHTS

Explanation

Items

Start Out

Normal Start

Aggressive Start

Defensive Start

Doran's

First Back

BOOTS

LATE GAME

CONSUMABLES

Situational Items

OFFENSIVE

DEFENSIVE

Top Solo Laning

Early Game lvl 1-8

Mid Game lvl 1-8

Late Game lvl 1-8

Mid Laning

Ziggs

Fizz

Leblanc

Kassadin

Ryze

Teamfights

Match ups

Mid Opponents

Warding

Juking

Vids

Special Thanks

Change Log

Conclusion

Thank you

Akali

The Fist of Shadow

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About the Author

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