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One of Akali's harder counters, Veigar can limit your mobility entirely by trapping you in his E, and outscales you with his Passive. Starve him early to make sure he doesn't get the lead on you. Cleanse is not entirely a bad idea here.
Other than that, he is actually a very easy target if he doesn't land his abilities on you.
Akali
Akali mirror is not possible in ranked.
Ahri
This lane is mostly even as long as Ahri doesn't lane an E or pokes you out with Q and W. Keep her cooldowns in mind and take advantage of them if possible.
Xerath
This is an easy lane, despite the severe range disdvantage. The key here is to stick onto him like a leech. If you are on him, he can do nothing, and you have free reign to kill him. Be careful of his E if you try to dive him, as that will turn the dive instantly. Other than that, just don't get poked out by his range.
Pyke
This matchup used to be a 4, due to Pykes infinite sustain in lane, but with recent nerfs and changes to his solo laning, he is not really a problem anymore. Just E when he E's, and you should be golden. Just don't think you're safe if you are out anywhere on the map with less than 40% HP.
He Knows.
Orianna
Pretty even if the Orianna understands her champion, she will look to constantly harrass you when you go to CS. Fleet Footwork is not a bad idea here to sustain against the poke. Other than that, you can all-in her quite well but do be weary of her R and extended trades pre-3 as her passive makes her autos do ALOT of damage early when stacked up.
Kassadin
Dodge, its not worth playing.
If you want the real explanation, his passive reduces all magic damage he takes by 15%, which is everything you do except for your E and R1, his Q silences you, he can out-sustain you at all points of the game with Fleet and W, and scales like all hell. If you play this matchup, just try to win the game before he hits level 16 if possible.
Sylas
Personal favorite to permaban, His in lane sustain and healing in fights is ridiculous. Rushing Executioners Calling is a good idea, and then transitioning into a Morellonomicon later in the game as a 3rd or 4th item. He will win fights early easily, and level 6 is dangerous as he can steal your ult and do the same damage you could do, if not more. Very hard matchup in general, look for a freeze and jungle help.
Teemo
Not a hard lane, just annoying as all hell. Look to trade with him, using your W as a way to wait out his Q's blind to abuse your passive on him.
Easy to kill, but be careful of his jungler.
Cassiopeia
Extremely hard to win, Cass has a huge mana problem early in the game, but once she has a Tear and Lost Chapter, she is a damage printer. Look to try to abuse her and snowball before she hits 2 items, because afterwards, she will just R, Q (or W) you and kill you in 6 E's or so. Watch her W, it will limit you in every way, as you cannot cast R, W, E, or Flash while in it.
Cleanse is a MUST, as her R sets you up to be killed instantly.
Aurelion Sol
Just leech onto him and you will kill him, this matchup is one of the easiest in the game. As long as you don't let him kite you, easy lane.
Darius
Darius mid is rare, but dangerous.
like with Top Akali, he will run you down and kill you with ease, however Mid lane is shorter so it is slightly safer, but one E and you are basically dead.
Dodge.
Talon
Playing into Talon is kind of hard, but still definitely winnable. Surrender the wave at level 2, as if you don't he will kill you and snowball off that kill. look to try and trade at level 3, as he cannot Q you while you are in W and can look to try and outplay and maybe even kill. Level 6 is even between the two, with the advantage being slightly favored to talon due to his invisibility with his R, just try to predict his movement in his R and you should be fine.
Zoe
Dodge E and win, its really that simple. She can poke you out with just Q's, but if she misses her E, go for an all-in if at all possible, as you will win it for sure. just dont all in while she has E, as she will easily turn it on your head with the damage boost from her E.
Kayle
Look to kill her early, this matchup is the easiest for Akali early on. She can only sustain through Corrupting Potion and Biscuits, and if you are able to all-in her pre-6 she can't do anything. Just try and win the lane and snowball out of control before she hits level 16. In short, this matchup is a ticking time bomb, Defuse it before it blows up in your face.
Qiyana
Qiyana is actually a slightly easier matchup, despite her insane burst, you can easily dodge it with your E and look to all-in her. Stay away from walls at level 6 and beyond and you will be just fine, and most importantly, dodge the Ocean Q. It will enable her burst if you don't.
Lux
Just like Zoe, dodge one ability and win. Specifically her Q, its the only thing that keeps you from sticking onto her and killing her.
LeBlanc
If the Leblanc is good, this matchup sucks. Really Bad. She has so many ways to abuse her range advantage that akali really can't deal with. Freeze and look for jungle help early on, because Leblanc can only win through snowball, she does NOT scale well at all.
Zed
This is mostly a skill matchup, whoever can play better wins really. Be sure Zed cannot land Isolated Q's, as this amplifies the damage it does. If he ults you, immediately W and look to dodge most if not all of his abilites, while also looking for a counter-engage with R1 into E. If he builds Hexdrinker, look for jungle help, as you cannot realistically solo kill him at that point.
Ekko
Not much to say here, just don't let him stun you with his W and you should be able to survive this lane and maybe even look to solo kill him. He will have the waveclear advantage, so look to freeze and call over your jungler.
Annie
Annie is a pretty big pain, but as long as you play around her passive you can live. If she has her passive fully stacked, don't step up to the wave, as she will full combo and at level 6, kill you. Freeze and look for jungle help in this matchup.
Vel'Koz
This matchup is pretty similar to Xerath in the sense that if you get onto him he cant get you off, but be careful of his E as if he hits that he can one shot you in later stages. Shove the wave and look to roam to make plays on the side lanes.
Vladimir
This matchup is like Teemo in the sense that its a complete annoyance of a lane. However, with Vladimir, he can hyper carry into the late game with his ridiculous CDs with 45% CDR. Just look to try to shove Vlad in and roam if at all possible, because killing him will be very difficult. Just try to end the game as early as possible. Another time bomb matchup (See Kayle for reference)
Heimerdinger
The only real problem here is that Heimer is going to be able to perma shove you with his turrets. Call for jungle help when he shoves and hes an easy kill.
Seraphine
Seraphine is a bit of a difficult matchup, but simply letting her blindly shove is probably your best bet, and then have jungle come over for a free 1v2 setup.
Syndra
Dodge or lose.
Syndra has more burst than most other midlaners and can stop your entire engage with Q+E while also removing at least 3/4 of your health.
Goodluck.
Galio
I haven't played against Galio much, but when I do it is usually a pain due to his passive shield. Although, you can click E and avoid most of his engage, so it can be mitigated.
Pantheon
Poke? Yes
Burst? Yes
Damage Immunity? Yes
CC? Yes
Roam Capability? Yes
Yeah this is not a fun matchup.
Karma
Karma can be a problem early on, but once it hits level 6, she usually cannot outrun you just due purely to your speed from W as well as dashes. Survive till then.
Anivia
You'll have to win early. Anivia's late game rivals other big name late game carrys like Veigar and Kassadin, so holding her down for as long as you can is your best bet.
Make sure her Q does NOT land and you should be safe in lane.
Lulu
Very VERY annoying poke lane, But once again, post 6 this matchup is not hard. Bait out her W, and then have fun.
Tristana
Holy hell where do I start with this?
So, Trist does a lot of damage from far away. Seeing the problem?
She also has an engage and counter-engage tool built on top of her damage with W and R, so sticking onto her is actually a problem as opposed to most ADCs.
Catch her out in order to win.
Nocturne
Nocturne Mid is not the absolute best early, but neither is Akali now either, so just make it to level 6, try your best to match his roam timings, and just harrass him when he goes for last hits.
Brand
Same concept as Xerath with the whole "Outranging" you thing, except this thing does damage early. And a hell of a lot of it. Not only that, but his 2 item powerspike with Liandrys/Demonic Embrace is just pure hell.
No pun intended obviously.
Azir
You are going to get shuffled, just accept it. Ready? Good.
Azir is difficult as hell. He outranges you more than pretty much anyone else in this game who's name is not Xerath.
Not only that, but he has a lot of maneuverability inside of his kit to avoid your important abilities. (Namely E)
Just know you're gonna have to give up CS in this matchup, and call for Jungle help. A lot.
Yuumi
Um, ok?
Ziggs
This is the Yorick of mid. He will manage to kill you or force you to back, and then your turret is gone.
Jokes aside, he has good turret pushing, but he's not hard to kill Post-6. Just R in and let the rest of your kit do the work.
Viego
This matchup is Yasuo/Yone, but if they actually had an early game.
If his stun hits you, it's night night. Other than that, you are vibing.
Yone
Yone is Yasuo except slightly effective. He can catch you off guard when he gets Beserker's, but other than that, he is just like Yasuo.
A big thing tho.
If he has the balls to E-Q(3) you.
Here's how to ruin his day.
When he starts the Q(3) animation towards you, click E, and wait for him to dash back to his E clone. Click E and wail on him. His abilities are likely on CD and he has no way to contest your wrath except to flash or R away, especially since you start the fight with
A. 4 stacks of Conq
B. A passive auto+E damage.
Yasuo
Yasuo is no threat what so ever. He can do nothing to you so long as you just click W whenever he goes for a Q(3) and then continue the fight.
Yuumi
I swear when you have a Yuumi on you, you can do the most stupid things and live through pure support bs.
Soraka
Yuumi but less clingy. Jokes asside though, her R can change teamfights like all hell.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Yuumi
I swear when you have a Yuumi on you, you can do the most stupid things and live through pure support bs.
Soraka
Yuumi but less clingy. Jokes asside though, her R can change teamfights like all hell.
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