Hello everyone, and welcome to my first build this one on Akali. Before we start I wanna note that I have not played Akali in dominion yet, just because that I don't like dominion all that much, in other words I prefer Summoners Rift. I also wanna note that this is just my take on Akali, what I think is best, if you have any suggestions or feedback be sure to let me know by leaving a comment. With that said, let's move on.

Pros & cons for Akali.

Pros
- Her juke is amazing once you've mastered it.
- Her burst is mind blowing.
- Her ultimate makes her able to stick on to her target like a glue.
- Her attack animation is easy to last hit with.
- She can go invisible.
- She is very fun to play.

Cons
- She has a very rough time early game.
- She is very squishy and therefore she is very often targeted in team fights.
- She can be locked down quite easily during the early game, aka she needs her farm.

Here is the part of the build where people mostly stop by, so I've been so kind and arranged at the top of the build :p.


So first of all why have I choosed to start with tier one boots and three health pots?
This is easy, basically the boots give her the edge that she needs to compete with the ranged opponents that you might lane against, and the health pots give her extra sustainability in her lane. Keep in mind that you can also start with a Doran's Blade however this is more risky, I would say you should only go for this if you wanna go for first blood and wanna play very aggresive.



Next why Sheen before Hextech Revolver
There has been a lot of discussion about choosing one before the other, and in my opinion I would go for Sheen just because that the extra burst damage from Sheen is absolutely nothing else than amazing, and your passive should be able to hold you up in more than enough time to get your Hextech Revolver.

Why shouldn't I pick up tier two shoes earlier?
This is mostly personal preference, but in my case I just think that tier one boots are fine and I just find Sheen and the Hextech Revolver more usefull for the time being. I actually also buy a Giant's Belt before buying my tier two shoes, this is just because that Akali is very squishy and I find the health boost more usefull than the movement speed, but again it's all about personal preference.



Why Mercury's Treads?
Just to make everything clear, You shall never follow a build fully everything depends on the situation, for example if you're against a fully AD team you shouldn't go ahead and start stacking up magic resistance just because you build says so. What I mean by all that nonsense is that a look at the situation you're in, are you getting ganked a lot? Are you ganking a lot? Do you have trouble with AD/AP champions? etc. and then choose which boots to buy.




The End Build
Rylai's Crystal Scepter I've choosen this item because it gives you a great, solid boost in your damage plus it gives you some extra health which is always usefull. It also gives you an amazing slow which is a great bonus aswell.

Deathcap I've choosen to take Deathcap early on because of the huge boost to your burst it gives that's basically it. This item is gonna make you a deadly monster! But keep in mind what situation you're in, if you're getting burstet down way to quickly and you are getting focused way to often in team fights, you should consider buying more defensive items rather than very offensive ones since you're aint all that big of a threat when they can burst you down in literally two seconds.

Lich Bane and Hextech Gunblade
Okey, so these items are just upgrades, they aint all that necessary but at the same item they are great to have. Definitely these if you have the money.

Zhonya's Hourglass
This thing is great, it gives you a great amount of ability power and it also give you a decent amount of armor. It also makes you able to be vulnerable for two seconds which can save your life in sticky situations, keep in mind that it will make you unable to move during that time, but can still be very usefull. However this item can be replaced with other items depending on the situation of course...

Here I'm gonna go over the summoner spells that I think is viable for Akali, I'm therefore not gonna go over the spells that is not viable for her, you should be able to understand why, if not ask me in a comment.

Flash: This is one is a must have in my opinion when playing as Akali, it makes her pick up kills more easily, hunt down enemies or escape from enemies, you can also combine flash with your ability's to make some incredible tricks. Flash is just an amazing spell to have.

Exhaust: This is also a very usefull spell, I would still pick Ignite over this at anytime when playing as Akali, but this spell can be very handy aswell because that it can be utilized both offensively and defensively.

Surge: I'm ashamed of committing this, but I haven't actually tried Surge out on Akali. I can imagen that it would be viable though. If you have tried it out please let me know by a comment.

Ignite: I like Ignite a lot, it can help you pick up kills or burst down enemies quicker. Nothing else to be said about this summoner spell, than it's a wonderfull tool to have.

Cleanse: This one is always a viable option, but I still prefer Ignite or Exhaust over Cleanse. But if you are very scared of CC go ahead and try cleanse out. (:

Teleport: This one is only viable if you're going to solo lane in my opnion, when you're two on a lane, you should go back one by one this way the other one can hold the lane when his partner is at home, therefore I would only recommend Teleport if you're going to solo lane.

Ghost: I don't like ghost on Akali, simply just because that I don't think two escape/hunt tools are necessary when playing as Akali, I'd rather pick an offensive tool instead.

Heal: Heal is viable, I guess.. but avoid if you're able to! It is waste of a summoner spells if you've learned how to play defensively with Akali. Enough said.

This is the masteries section of the build, here I'm gonna briefly explain my choices of my mastery build.

The Offensive Tree: Here I took all the options I could to boost my damage dealt when using abilities. I also picked up one point in Brutal Force, this combined with my rune choices gives me the spell vamp boost from our passive at level one which is absolutely amazing. I also picked up four points in Sorcery which grand us 4% cooldown reduction, which is great when we don't use mana.

The Defensive Tree: Here I my goal were to get as much defense as possible in the first few levels, to make us less squishy at the start. So I picked up as much health as possible with my nine points and I also picked up three points in Hardiness for extra armor and one point in Resistance for the extra magic resistance. You can go ahead and switch these around so it's one in Hardiness and three Resistance, if you prefer.

This is the runes section of the build, this is gonna be like the masteries section. I'm gonna briefly explain my rune choices.

Marks: I've choosen attack damage marks because nine flat AD marks and one point in Brutal Force is just about enough to tricker your your passive spell vamp which helps out a ton. I cannot see any better way to tricker this passive in level one. Therefore flat AD marks is the only option.

Seals: Here you got some options, seals are especially made for defensive choices, and I've choosen flat health seals to boost my health as much as possible in the first few levels. You can also use armor or even health per level seals instead.

Glyphs: Here I've choosen flat ability power glyphs, this is exacly like the marks, nine flat AP glyphs (plus quintessences) and with the masteries I've choosen will make you tricker your other passive bonus at level one. This will give you the edge that you need. (:

Quintessences: Here I've also choosen flat AP, mostly to tricker my passive once again, but it also makes you give a great chunk extra burst damage especially at low levels.

Here I'm gonna make a little note every time I change something in this build. I'm also gonna note when it was done.

February the 18th, 2012 - The build were published for the first time.