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 is kind of hard for akali, as pyke can match akali's mobility quite well, but the main downside is that pyke doesn't do well in extended trades without his R. Look to extend trades early and try to win like that. If he hits 6 or has ult up at all, don't try to just E it, the cast time of your E is too long to dodge it. The only way to dodge it without flashing or Stopwatch is with R2, as R1 is now a targeted ability. Survive early and look to outscale.
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.
MOBAFire is a community that lives to help every LoL player take their game to the next level by having open access to all our tools and resources. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting us in your ad blocker!
Want to support MOBAFire with an ad-free experience? You can support us ad-free for less than $1 a month!
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.