Just wondering, couple years ago Akali was very popular but these days I only see Akali like once in 30 - 50 games. Are there any major flaws with her or some other problems that she isn't popular any more ? My main is ZIlean because I love speed play and considering to learn Akali but her current unpopularity deters me from picking her.
As a lv 7 akali ill just jump right in (mind you I'm low elo, so I'm speaking in terms of low elo ONLY, ((however there are high elo akali otps))) She is amazing, but also very much gold oriented, you HAVE to be ahead to be useful or you are just going to do nothing all game. There are other assassins who do her job better and from a safer angle so that draws her away from people. Her damage, while extreme, is not necessarily assassin based anymore, sure she hits like a truck, but if you build rabadons, the efficiency of it is very mediocre when you can opt for a defensive item. Which is why she has been so popular top, for her ability to orient her build into gunblade, into sunfire, into lich/rylais into zhonyas into g.a
Pick her into low CC teams and watch her murder anything
High CC team? She sucks.
Almost every Akali I see gets fed early though, so she isn't terrible in uncoordinated play.
You're playing in Silver right now, so she's probably fine. I'd recommend her top over mid though, she can't deal with ranged threat which is super common mid.
Her problem is that if the enemy understands how to play against Akali and how to play the game she's utterly worthless. What this means is that in some games you'll get a skilled enemy and you'll do nothing, you'd be more useful as Ashe top if the enemy player's actually good. These games will become more and more common as you rank up, in Bronze they're probably non-existent, in Silver they're rare, in Gold they're uncommon (maybe 1 in 3 or 4), in Plat they're common (just shy of 1 in 2) and in Diamond they happen more often than not.
If you want a champ to climb up past gold, Akali's not that. If you want a champ where you can win every game if you play well enough, Akali's not that. If you want a champ who gives you a large amount of agency in your game, Akali's not that. This is why she's ultimately unpopular. When ever you pick Akali you're testing the incompetence of your enemy. Not every enemy you face will be incompetent, so sometimes you're just going to have a hellish game where there's literally nothing you can do.
If you just want a champ to play around the rank you are though Akali should be fine. You'll just struggle to do anything with her if you climb much higher.
As for the title, is Akali good right now? Short answer, no. She's probably the weakest assassin in the game and one of the weakest champs. That doesn't mean she can't work, but you are handicapping yourself by playing her.
She is fine but other assassins are just better. Rengar, Katarina, Leblanc can all do her job better than she can. She isn't bad, it's just about being as good as the other champs who are stronger in this meta.
