Here's my guide to jungle / tanky Akali, with a few slight twists since the gunblade nerf. She's an adept jungler, with somewhat weak ganks until 6. However, jungling akali allows your team to do very crazy things.

For example, but not limited to:

• Double AP! (1 from the jungle, 1 from mid)
• Let champions like Karma mid! You are the ap carry, so she can farm all she wants mid and run another support bot. (FYI Karma usually doesn't work because she's a support that needs farm. She is very competent solo but does not usually fit into teamcomps well.)
• Akali does not need buffs. (Maybe red sometimes) Give your swain, zilean, kog'maw, etc your blue. Sure it helps you, but you should not need it.
• Counter-jungling from 6 on (more on this later)

If you have any questions, please ask. I always take and try suggestions because I'm sure there is stuff you guys can come up with that I don't even think of.

5x AP/level blues + 4x flat AP blues + flat ap quints gives you just enough starting ap to activate your passive. This allows you to start whatever item you want, letting you be very adaptable to the other team. Gives you a bit of extra damage right from level 1 in the jungle, letting you clear your starting point faster.

Flat Armor yellows. I thought about dodge yellows, but taking the dodge mastery was not possible due to the absolute need for the experience mastery.

Flat AD reds. People disagree with me here - some run 2 magic pen reds + 7 AD reds. That is fine as well, but I prefer the 9 AD for a few reasons. Every bonus 10 AD gives you more spell vamp. The 2 just gets you that much closer to more spell vamp. The extra AD also helps you clear the jungle faster.

These runes help you establish a mid game as well as a late game. Early game is mostly jungling anyway.

Pretty basic Akali mastery with the addition of smite. If you don't understand why these masteries are chosen, you probably shouldn't be trying jungle Akali. If you don't have 30 mastery points, you will have a very hard time jungling Akali.

The items listed above are probably the most general build you can go. As well as the safest.

Start Cloth + 5 pots. 6 if you want to wait (not necessary) You won't be starting blue anyway.

At level 3 after jungle clear / an appearance in lane - continue jungling if you are not low, or if you have money from gank or high farm in lane, back and buy either boots or vamp scepter, or both. Depends on how things go, personal preference as well.

Finish off wriggles, keep farming jungle and whatever lane needs you to hold for them while they back. Gank often. It doesn't cost any mana, so why not? ^-^

Sheen if you are getting ahead. This item will keep you ahead.
If not, start the Hp part of rylais, finish rylais then sheen.

(Core build: Rylai's, Lich bane, wriggle's, boots 1. Sell wriggles when needed.)

Lich bane after rylais, gives you a bit more burst. From there, you can go a few ways. If you've gotten to this point, you're getting kills.

If you are getting kills and not dying, go for straight burst. (more AP, NOT AD) Deathcap first, sorc boots, void staff, haunting guise (not suggested, but I guess it could be OK), Moonflair Spellblade. (a must if you do not have merc treads)

If you are getting bursted down by magic (3 or more)- Abyssal scepter, Spirit Visage, Merc Treads, Guardian angel.

Against Heavy AD (3 or more) - zohnya's, Sunfire cape (you crazy, bro), Atma's (if you get sunfire cape for the lulz)

Against Mix - Zohnya's, Abyssal Scepter, Guardian angel, Aegis (kind of rare that I would even think of buying this), Warmogs (when you have more than 300ap, getting kills but just generally dying from whatever)

Against 0 damage (glass cannon build) - Rylai's, Lich bane, Deathcap, Void staff, Sorc shoes, Zohnya's, blue elixir

Worthless items IMHO -
Gunblade (got nerfed hard, AD doesn't help you much unless they are stacking MR, in which case you should get a void staff anyway)

Rageblade (AD doesn't do anything for you, AP is good but you could have spent that $1375 on working on abyssal scepter)

Frozen Mallet (OK sometimes I guess but IMHO Rylai's is way better because your casts are ranged)

Bloodthirster (You should not need this much sustain - if you do, you've already lost)

Pretty basic. Jungling, so smite. (more burst.... yayyyy)

Flash + Ulti = OP for ganking, escaping, juking... whatever.

Start Wolves. Q when it's up, it will heal you when you cast Q and when you consume the mark.

Q a small wraith, immediately smite big wraith before they attack. Consume mark. Move on to finish wraiths and finish small golems as well. Gank. Rinse repeat until 6, after vamp scepter you can take blue and red. (if you want)

You should be level 3 without taking buffs on the first jungle clear. That should put you 1/2 to 3/4 of a level above bottom lane, or equal to top / mid.

Watch the replays for more info. It's easier to watch and then try it yourself than for me to write it out. Notice the timing of my skills when I clear the jungle the first few times. I try not to waste skills / try to hit as many at one time with my e for max spell vamp. Make sure you will not kill the creeps with your Q initially, so that you can consume the mark for the spell vamp and the energy regen.

Remember smite works off of spell vamp as well. You will gain a nice bit of hp when you smite golems, so don't forget to take that into account when figuring out if you have enough hp to take a buff or not.

Use up your ulti if you want if you know you're going back. Anything to help you farm and get CS as quickly as possible. (do not take CS from lanes unless they are ok with it / the situation is acceptable)

Pro's:

• You're Akali. You're terrifying in lane. Imagine you're the other team. Akali that is 100% of the time MIA. Still has terrifying burst. Not tied down to mid lane or top. They will QQ all day.
• Insane ganks after rylai's and level 6. Fun as hell too. Good chase.
• Can counter jungle after 6 by warding and jumping through walls at any of the camps. Useful against fiddle for example if he gets low at blue. (free kill for you!)
• In general, high mobility, as well as stealth. Stealth is never bad.

Con's:

• Very Vulnerable
• High Difficulty (a little help from your laners and you'll be fine when ganking)
• Can be countered by a few champions
• Somewhat easy to get behind - just depends on teamcomp really

What's important here is the jungle strategy as well as some of the combos you can pull off. Do not expect me to be perfect, I am good but I make mistakes. I know I have stuff that I need to work on. Please use these replays for how I jungle and gank. That is what is most important.



Replay 1 (before GB nerf, normal 5's. In with a party of 5. Before I revamped my strategy with akali)
http://www.mediafire.com/?vtw7vkfw59q7qry
Replay 2 (10/23/11 after GB nerf, duo que w/ tristana. Game went way too long due to unhelpful team)
http://www.mediafire.com/?4kp3fa17qkn3c28