|RECCOMEND CONQ+BONEPLATING|Easy matchup after level 6.
The only issue is before level 6, Akali's laning power has been heavily nerfed, she's no more a lane bully and Katarina with CONQ or ELEC can easily out-damage Akali's full kit.
Just make sure to farm properly and abuse your level 6 spike!
Zed
|RECCOMEND CONQ+BONEPLATING| Not that hard of a match-up unless you get killed in lane.
Make sure to avoid dying in this matchup becaouse Zed will easily take over the lane with this lethality burst spike.
Hard b4 level 6, solo-kill potential from level 6.
Fizz
|RECCOMEND CONQ+BONEPLATING| Used to be an easy matchup for Akali but after the early-game nerfs Fizz's has way more damage-output than Akali, I reccomend avoid trading him before level 4 and going only for poke Q's.
Kassadin
PERMABAN IT! :)
Orianna
|RECCOMEND FLEET FOOTWORK|
Classic Poke control Mage
Fun matchup, hard-win after level 6.
Make sure to farm properly before level 6 and then going for all-ins when we have our R up!
Annie
|RECCOMEND FLEET+BONEPLATING|
I usually rush MERCURY TREADS in this match-up becaouse MR+TENACITY completely counters her whole kit!
But you can also rush a mithyc, is up to you and the state of the enemy comp.
LeBlanc
|RECCOMEND FLEET+BONEPLATING|
Really hard match-up, she can also HARD COUNTER OUR SHROUD WITH HER E (if she hits the chain we are visible and targettable even in the shroud).
Make sure to avoid getting hit by her Es.
Sylas
|RECCOMEND CONQUEROR+BONEPLATING|
Sylas is a very common midlaner in the 11.12.
The problem is not for you but for your teammates, Sylas with Akali's R is very strong and dangerous.
Yasuo
|RECCOMEND CONQUEROR|
Hard pre-6 , easier after level 6.
He has a lot of damage with his Q+Basics, he will for sure out-damage Akali in the early phases of the game.
Just farm properly and use your level 6 spike!
Heeeey, welcome to my AKALI MID-TOP GUIDE. Im an Italian Master Katarina main and also an Akali enjoyer.
I started playing in middle Season9 and peaked Diamond I in early Season10.
I know it sounds weird but, hold on, it wasnt my first experience on MOBA games.
I played DOTA 2 for years! So when switching to League of Legends I was still in my environment.
As I said , I come from Dota2, and in Dota details and game knowledge is a MUST.
That's why I decided to make a guide, I really like to speculate on the game details and share with you guys my experiences and knowledge.
I really hope this guide will help you out and answer some of the questions that playing Akali in the midlane/toplane raised in your minds.
So, with all that being said, hope you will enjoy the guide, I will do my best to keep it updated and make sure noone will be missing out on new builds and playstyles.
Here's my stream, If you are interested you can pass by and say Hi I stream almost every day and you can find me:HERE
PROS
🟢Extremely fun to play 🟢Good gank survivability 🟢Insane mobility 🟢High mechanical skill-roof 🟢Rewarding when played correctly 🟢Insanely strong side-laner
CONS
🔴Weak early game 🔴Countered by invis reveal 🔴Sensible to Burst-Damage 🔴Sensible to Crowd Controls 🔴Easily punishable mistakes 🔴Hard to get high CS/m
CONQUEROR
resembles a very standard but solid key-stone for Akali, it gives us consistent damage in laning-phase and also a bit of sustain in mid-lategame. It works properly both with Liandry's Torment and Lich Bane so can be viable with burst-based builds and also sustain-based builds! Also later in the game Akali will be able to stack it fully in teamfight while hitting multiple targets with her spells. Overall I consider Conqueror the best key-stone to utilize in all scenarios!
ELECTROCUTE
is another insanly good key-stone on Akali. I reccomend utilizing it while laning into meele match-ups that we can trade early in the laning-phase. Its also great for the insane damage out-put and the possibility to tower-dive in most of the match-ups thanks to the burst bonus damage we will get from this key-stone. I reccomend going for Electrocute only when planning on building full-burst/flat-magic penetration.
FLEET FOOTWORK Fleet Footwork is a very consistent and usefull keystone when it comes to laning-phase. Beside the great amout of sustain it provides, able to sustain over very hard-poke matchups, expecially when combined with Second Wind, Fleet Footwork is also very usefull for the bonus movement speed. The bonus MS is insanely good to gap-close on the enemy midlaner and land a couple of Five Point Strike, enabling us to properly lane, while also avoiding getting out-laned into ranged/poke matchups. A must use in my opinon!
LICH'S BANE
resembles a very standard but solid Core Item for Akali, givng exactyl what we need for the champion. Good base AP, movement speed for mobility on flanks, burst damage with the spellblade passive and also CDR wich is very usefull on Akali.
RIFTMAKER
is another insanely good Item on Akali. It synergizes very well with Conqueror and works best while facing tanky champions or needing sustain trough-out the game in teamfights or 1v1s. Our main focus will still be going for the priority targets but in this case we will be able to also play front to back in teamfights. Going first on the frontline and then on the backline thanks to the sustain-based build.
ZHONYA'S HOURGLASS
We all know how strong Zhonya's Hourglass is and of course its a must build item in most of the games as Akali since her kit revolves around flanking and picking enemies, we will always be in a "danger zone" expecially in teamfights! Having Zhonya's Hourglass to make a pick in a fight and survive it is really important! Turst me guys, build it every game, it will pay off!
SHADOWFLAME
let's start off with an insane item recently added to the game in season 12! Shadowflame is insanely strong on Akali and syngergizes well overall with her kit since she needs both Flat-magic penetration, raw AP and HPs. Shadowflamewill basically provide everything an Akali wants in her stats. Thanks to the item passive we will get up to 20 Flat-magic penetration based on the enemy's health and wheter or not has been shielded in the last seconds! Overall a great Item and can be build right after Hextech Rocketbelt or even before Hextech Rocketbelt as first item!
RABADON'S DEATHCAP
is the option when we are talking about 3rd or 4th Items to build. It gives an insane spike to the over-all kit, thanks to the item's passive we will be able to increase our current ability power by 35%! This is why its important to build it after a few core items, the more AP we have the better the item gets! I reccomend it as 3rd or 4th item in the burst-incentred builds like Hextech Rocketbelt setups!
BANSHEE'S VEIL/b]
has now an insane amount of RAW AP on it and it's perfect in the games where the enemy team has a lot of tools to stop your flanks. Make sure to build this if the enemy has ranged control mages disturbing your 1v9 action in fights!
LIANDRY'S TORMENT
is now playable again on AP-Assassins without mana, it's very strong combined with Conqueror and Riftmaker, allowing you to keep and stack faster both keystone and passive items. Providing both DOT, HP and HP% Damage this item is insanely strong and versatile in a lot of situations.
VOIDSTAFF & CRYPTBLOOM
is a must when the enemy team starts building magic resist in order to flatten your damage-output. Since Wit's End is really common in these patch to build on Adcs or On-hit champions, considering the Void Staff option will be a must in most of the games. Thanks to the item's passive 40% of the magic resist of the enemy that we are hitting will be ignored and this is why is better to build Percentage-magic penetration against high numbers of stacked magic resist than low numbers. For low numbers is better to go for Flat-magic penetration wich will give us the best value, since Flat-magic penetration will ignore an amout of magic resist relative to the amout of your flat-penetration! Example: Enemy has 40 magic resist, if you have 40 Flat-penetration you will basically deal true damage, if you have 40% Percentage-magic penetration you will ignore only 16 magic resist points. Instead on an enemy with 200 magic resist, if you have 40 Flat-magic penetration you will deal damage ignoring only 40 out of the 200 magic resist points, with 40% Percentage-magic penetration out of 200 magic resist points you will ignore 80! Long story short:Flat-magic penetration is better against champions with max 100 magic resist.Percentage-magic penetration is better against 120+ magic resist.
WAVE MANAGEMENT Akali after the early-game nerfs has become a pretty weak champion in the early stages of the laning-phase. To compensate the lack of kill-pressure we have to focus on CSING. Make sure to not get shoved too much under your tower since Akali's kit is not that great for last-hitting under turret shots.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT Akali early-game lack of energy has become more oppressing than before. they removed the energy refound on our Shuriken Flip and also our Five Point Strike require A LOT OF ENERGY early-levels. This is why we need to make sure to manage properly our energy usage and one way to do it is by using our Twilight Shroud after using as much energy as possible.
BUILD SELECTION
One of Akali's best feature is that she can FLEX-BUILD on every matchup. Is very important to choose the proper build in order to play the cleanest of the laning-phases and have the best impact possible later in the game!
FASTER BASE-RESET
To optimize as much as possible first backs speed or any back speed, make sure to know what you wanna buy in the shop while you are recalling. As soon as you bought what you need , Shuriken Flip behind you to dash towards the midlane and use your Twilight Shroud. This will let you get faster in the lane , doing it on 3 or 4 backs will give you 20-30 seconds of surplus timing.
Q EDGE SLOW
If you hit your Five Point Strike at the very edge of its hitbox you will also slow the enemy champion. This will become important in laning-phase trades. Hitting your Five Point Strike at his very edge will enable you to safely use Assassin's Mark's bonus damage and trade properly thanks to the slow and the bonus movement speed!
LEVEL 1 TO 3
The early levels in Akali's laning-phase are crucial. Make sure to avoid losing too much health from Level 1 to level 3, we need to stay healthy for level 3. This is where we can actually have a good kill-window or major trades with our Shuriken Flip, so it's important we have the HP for that. A lot of Akali approachers make the mistake to lose half health level 1 just to last-hit a minion, and that's rarely worth it. Being healthy in lane also gives us the opportunity to follow our jungler in early river schermishes.
CS IMPORTANCE AND WAVE MANAGEMENT
Akali's weak laning-phase doenst give you much kill-pressure or roaming potential before level 6. This is why having a good CS/m in the early stages of the game allows you to properly scale.
LEVEL 6 SPIKE
At level 6 Akali can pretty much 100-0 in most of the match-ups. Make sure to manage the wave properly , you will need enough space in the lane in order to have kill-pressure level 6 and pull-off solokills that will be the base for snowball properly trough out the game.
DARK SEAL AND FIRST BACK
Its important to not forget Dark Seal in the first backs. Dark Seal is one of the most gold efficient items in the game, giving you 65 raw ap at 10 stacks for only 350gold! A good first back example can be Dark Seal + Refillable Potion + Amplifying Tome + Boots.
SHURIKEN FLIP IMPORTANCE
Its important to utilize our Shuriken Flip properly in the laning-phase. Shuriken Flip is basically the only way we can solo-kill in-lane pre-6 thanks to his insane damage even early level at rank 1. So , dont waste your Shuriken Flip randomly , try to utilize it only when its almost a 100% hit on the trade! Its foundamental to have Shuriken Flip 's damage in the trade if we are looking for an ALL-IN.
FLANKING Akali's strongest feature is her flanking potential, She can flank a teamfight from basically any angle! Make sure to wait for enemies to use their CCs/ESCAPES and prepare yourself for a bloodbath! Due to her good flanking potential, its also important to run Teleport as summoner spell when you can. Since Akali is pretty strong in side-lane thanks to her insane 1v1 potential and mobility, if you are ahead noone will be able to contest your side 1v1 and if the enemy team decides to send 2 or 3 players on your side you can easily escape with Akali's mobility and use Teleport to flank if any teamfight occurs while you are sidelaning.
FRONT TO BACK Akali's mobility allows her to FRONT TO BACK teamfights. (Es:You can use your first Perfect Execution on a frontliner and then proceed to focus the backline)
BACK TO FRONT
As we already said we have an Insane mobility kit with Akali and we can also Flank starting from the backline. As always wait for CCs/Escapes to be used.
SHROUND IMPORTANCE Akali's Twilight Shroud is basically one of the few ways she has to wait her 2nd Perfect Execution to come up and keep dealing damage properly without getting bursted down. Make sure to use your Twilight Shroud properly , avoid using it before going in or when the TEAMFIGHT POSITIONING IS NOT SET YET. Make sure to have your Twilight Shroud avaiable when you know the teamfight position and you're already going all-in.
R CANCEL + E VERTICAL
This combo is one of the most commonly used in the mid-lane due to the lack of space in the lane, since midlane is so short we cant afford to dash OVER THE ENEMY otherwise we will end-up most of the times under enemy tower. This is where this trick comes in clutch, but needs a bit of timing and practice in order to be pulled of constistenly. You have to Perfect Execution on the enemy in a STRAIGHT LINE and before reaching to the side over the enemy Hit-box throw your Shuriken Flip right in front of you. Your champion will not make it to the other side of the hitbot and basically go back to the starting position but with a Shuriken Flip landed on the enemy and our 2nd Perfect Execution ready to go.
BACKWARDS R
This is addtionable to the trick showcased up there, you can take your second Shuriken Flip and get as close as possible to the enemy target before using your second Perfect Execution towards your tower. Perfect Execution hitbox can hit even behind Akali's hitbox, its a bit tricky and you need to learn the spacing properly but is one of the safest way to use your Perfect Execution!
R OVER + E + W
This is basically the opposite of the other combo I explained before, this combo is most used in teamfights than in the laning-phase and consists in going OVER the enemy with our Perfect Execution and then using our Shuriken Flip to get away as far as possible from the teamfight, we will then proceed to use our Twilight Shroud if we are getting focused. This trick allows you to have a fully-landed Shuriken Flip on a target in teamfight and set yourself in the back-side of the teamfight. Its an easy way to flank and join a fight
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE! WE'VE ARRIVED AT THE END OF THE GUIDE, I WILL LIKE ALL THE OTHER GUIDES DO ALL I CAN TO KEEP EVERYTHING UPDATED RESPECTING THE CURRENT META. I HOPE YOU ENJOIED THE CONTENT AND THAT IT WILL BE USEFULL IN YOUR GAMES.
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