Can we talk about Akali

LeftyRaydy··14 votes·8,338 views

I didnt think she was too much of a problem until yesterday I played a game against her and the fact that her Twilight shroud is available so quickly makes her an unbelievable champion to deal with. There is not counter play to her Twilight shroud as you either have to sit there and take her damage or walk away and that is the frustrating part. Either way it is a big problem at least in my opinion and I thought abilities were supposed to have counterplay or weaknesses, but honestly there is never a bad time to use this ability and if it is off cooldown she can use it in any situation. to attack, run away, or poke you down. Either the CD for this ability needs to be increased or the duration needs to be tuned down. Another thing is the amount of time she is visible after an attack, she should probably be visible longer if she is willing to make a move in this shroud. I think these are all fair ways of making this ability much more balanced as I am not trying to gut the character, but there is not another champion that gets away with this kind of stealth and attack with the sustain she has. Walking away or sitting there and taking damage is not viable counter play and I think everyone can agree with that. What are your thoughts on the situation.

More Details:

The game I am talking about was my second to last game I played recently as Ekko (Ekko Main), and I got the first kill in lane due to jungle and akali trying to dive me. Although our jungle had a pretty Terrible game, I was ahead in farm and kills at the beginning and stlll unable to 1 v 1 Akali. Now the biggest problem with 1 v 1 on Akali and the Shroud is if you get her low and she uses it she can use her sustain to get herself up to a decent amount of health to come back at you which she should not get so much use of with her Twilight shroud.

Let me know what you think I would really like Opinions.

25 Comments

pseudo dionysius12 votes

She's qued for a rework soon.

Alex h87217 votes

longest duration and lowest cooldown invis in the game (with an attached short ranged blink) on a champion who already has semi spammable high range mobility on ulty. Yeah that akali rework can't come soon enough, obnoxious champ.

The way you beat akali is let her be too greedy (bait her away from her shroud shortly after she uses it) so that you can target her to cc her and boom.

BUT this only works if the akali misplays so its hard to call it counterplay, very annoying champ design.

Noor Sakata6 votes

That's why she is getting reworked , her pick rate is pretty low , so we have nothing to do but to wait the rework and hope that she isn't picked against us.

LeftyRaydy3 votes

Odd to see everyone agreeing so far. they should at least nerf her Twilight shroud for now and it doesnt even have to be a heavy nerf just make it more manageable.

cocacolalips3 votes

There is not counter play to her Twilight shroud

the counterplay is obvious, she is invisible, not invincible, you can hit her with spells, usually AOE spells and kill her outright, if your champion has some burst damage you can also wait for her to attack and attack back and finally, if your champion has neither AOE spell or burst damage, you can wait it out for when her shroud is on cooldown.

Another thing is the amount of time she is visible after an attack, she should probably be visible longer if she is willing to make a move in this shroud.

you have between 0.65 and 1 second to react and hit her back depending on what she does, it's more time than a lot of skill shots wind up animations. If you can dodge Ezreal Q, Malzahar Q, Thresh Q etc.. you are quick enough to hit Akali back.

The game I am talking about was my second to last game I played recently as Ekko

That match-up tends to be a stalemate. You best chance is to wear her down with Q spam, shroud or not, take favourable trades with your W and once you hit 6 line up your R on her face, shroud or not, and one shot her, but it can be a bit tricky and then both players can also buy Zhonya Hourglass etc making the duel even more tricky.

Generally, any champion with good AOE or CC spells will win against Akali, and other champions with good burst can hold just fine if you are quick with your fingers. Ekko doesn't have that much AOE or CC but he isn't defenceless, it's a skill match-up, although again, chances are you won't be able to kill each other.

Playing against Akali is kind of straight forward, you throw your AOE spells into her shroud, and if your spells are on cooldown, you stay away from her shroud. And if you have CC spells, you save it for when she R you.

Akali isn't getting nerfed because she is simply not very good.

TKM Axe2 votes

she is getting a rework. maybe she a bit more balanced after that

Vekkna1 votes

In the last three years worth of reworks, what has Riot done to make you think she will be more balanced after her rework?

Which of these ended up not being either toxic, oppressive, or overpowered (many followed by a thorough dumpstering, revert, or additional rework)?

Brand Chogath Darius Fiora Gangplank Irelia Katarina Kindred KogMaw Leblanc Malzahar Mordekaiser Rengar Ryze Sejuani Skarner Swain Urgot Warwick XinZhao Zac Galio Zyra Graves Karma Shaco Vladimir

I think the only real success stories are Poppy, Yorick, maybe Maokai, and some smaller-scope work like Cassio, Ahri, MF, and Lux.

In other words, we should expect Akali's rework to make her a toxic piece of shit or just plain ol' shit.

TKM Axe1 votes

{quoted}

In the last three years worth of reworks, what has Riot done to make you think she will be more balanced after her rework?

Which of these ended up not being either toxic, oppressive, or overpowered (many followed by a thorough dumpstering, revert, or additional rework)?

Brand Chogath Darius Fiora Gangplank Irelia Katarina Kindred KogMaw Leblanc Malzahar Mordekaiser Rengar Ryze Sejuani Skarner Swain Urgot Warwick XinZhao Zac Galio Zyra Graves Karma Shaco Vladimir

I think the only real success stories are Poppy, Yorick, maybe Maokai, and some smaller-scope work like Cassio, Ahri, MF, and Lux.

In other words, we should expect Akali's rework to make her a toxic piece of shit or just plain ol' shit.

Shaco Galio Skarner

Vekkna1 votes

Are you saying those three reworks were healthier, more fair, more balanced, and didn't require significant (and ongoing) revisions?

TKM Axe1 votes

{quoted}

Are you saying those three reworks were healthier, more fair, more balanced, and didn't require significant (and ongoing) revisions?

no i say they are more balanced AFTER the rework

Vekkna1 votes

Galio is statistically worse by every metric than pre-rework. His play rate in top is now lower with a 9% lower average win rate. His play rate in mid is now lower with nearly 5% lower average win rate. His old flash-ult was cheap, but it wasn't necessarily a problem. Now they've turned him into yet another Shen/Kalista that is garbage outside of pro play.

Skarner now has a play rate that's less than half of what it was pre-rework, with lower performance across the board.

Shaco might be an improvement overall, but it took two seasons of follow-up with him yo-yoing between useless and broken. They also removed literally all of the counterplay to his stealth, so I fail to see how that made him healthier.

rtbf2216514122 votes

Wait, you can't AoE her pool and damage her? News to me.

and this:

[{quoted}](name=Serika Zero,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=FjZPlwEP,comment-id=00040000,timestamp=2018-06-20T06:00:58.913+0000)

her W lasts 8 seconds,** if she attacks you while she is in W range, she is revealed for 2 seconds.** after her W is gone, it goes on a 10 seconds cooldown, you got 10 seconds to take advantage of it then, again, 8 seconds where she has her W. then again 10 seconds when you are stronger than her

rise and repeat. But like 99% of the league community lacks patience or discipline

PowerSlave9931 votes

That feel when she marks you > get Q proc BUT YOU STILL CAN'T ATTACK HER CAUSE SHE GETS INTO SHROUD SO QUICKLY!!!

Although riot is reworking her but i doubt it will be something good. They might put her shroud to have some flash powder... after they're gone she needs to buy them lul.

Serika Zero6 votes

her W lasts 8 seconds, if she attacks you while she is in W range, she is revealed for 2 seconds. after her W is gone, it goes on a 10 seconds cooldown, you got 10 seconds to take advantage of it then, again, 8 seconds where she has her W. then again 10 seconds when you are stronger than her

rise and repeat. But like 99% of the league community lacks patience or discipline

PowerSlave9932 votes

Revealed for 2 seconds? I wouldn't say it's 2 seconds lol. Everytimei played it was likie 1.3-1.5. Almost no time to even attack her. Even without shroud she can still outdamage you by electrocite + Q proc+ after she gets hextech gunblade + after level 6. So yeah, fuck that champ.

Serika Zero1 votes

If Akali uses a basic attack or ability inside her smoke cover, she will reveal herself for 0.65 seconds.

that's on the wiki, weird, i was sure it was about 2 seconds. however, you are right on this one apparently. Heh, and this comes from someone that mained akali for 2 seasons.

But usually to make up for this reveal time, Akali players will go in and out of W (walking outside its range and then getting back in), because when you do that, the invisibility triggers right away, so, you don't have to wait for the "timmer" to run out before you get back into invis.

Still the usual combo is: Q + wait until Q is up again + walk backward a bit + W forward + aa + q + aa + going back in your W

PS, you shouldn't say: "after she gets hextech gunblade + after level 6", there's no way Akali can get gunblade in the first 8-9 minutes unless her enemy is REALLY awful at this game. So, you'll always be lv 6+ when you complete gunblade. But she does get a power spike at 6 and at item 3145 However, she also starts to fall of after she finishes gunblade + zhonias + boots. If Akali is on equal gold or only 1-2 kills ahead at 3 items, she now falls behind in terms of what she brings to her team.

D O Cane1 votes

she's revealed for 0.65 seconds to be precise. Which is a time shorter than most non adc aa animations. So she gets pretty much free trades for the whole time in the shroud. It's pure BS.

big boi edri1 votes

I like to just delete her before she drops, or moves back to the shroud.

It gets tough when she stacks health though :(

Seer of Mind1 votes

everytime i face akali: Q>R> (I turn to try to CC) W>Q>R>E Dead

M00ndanc31 votes

In about a month we should get her rework and even see something of it earlier than that. till than I guess just try to use aoe and sweeper lense to deal with her.

ÈvilMorty1 votes

The cooldown should start when the shroud disappears instead of right after she used it.

hendrickchan1 votes

oracles

Ayzev1 votes

Helps with skillshots/AoE, but if you rely on anything that's targetted, you're still screwed. And you're also sacrificing vision on the map.

hendrickchan1 votes

{quoted}

Helps with skillshots/AoE, but if you rely on anything that's targetted, you're still screwed. And you're also sacrificing vision on the map.

Yes I agree. The oracles will help in team fights, she just can't hide in her shroud.

JoeMG1 votes

Her shroud is annoying. What's just as annoying is her damage, sustain and mobility.

The last time I played against Akali, I was mid as Talon. Got the level 2 cheese first blood but after level 3 she was winning all the trades and by level 6 she killed me easily. I had even rushed item 3123 and an early item 1029 since she was building her item 3144 first, but it didn't help.

Maybe I played that matchup wrong, but I feel like Akali with just item 1054 shouldn't be able to chunk half your health in a single combo pre-6.

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