Having trouble with Akali top? Here’s some advice.

Learn how to play Shen or Kled if you don’t already.

Shen is built like a tank (or damage off tank for some people but my advice still applies) so building spirit visage would make sense for a first item, and it will help you if you get warmogs later. But Shen’s abilities can make Akali have a pretty bad day if played properly. His W field negates all auto attack damage, which is her main damage source after she Qs you. You also have a dash/taunt to force a fight on her when she’s not ready. And your Qs will really do a lot of damage to her early on because she’s very squishy. Is she attacking an ally? Your ultimate shield will block a lot of her bust if timed properly, and once again, you W negates her damage if the ally is in the field.

Now I don’t know if this will work every time, but I played a some games against Akali as Kled and it worked pretty well. From what I’ve gathered, if you dashed her with his E or had a bear trap on her, it shows her position in her W shroud. The arrow from your first dash is still showing up on her, and the Q will yoink her right back to you. Your W passive almost outbursts her in earlier stages of the game. If you get dismounted and you manage to get skaarl back, her abilities are probably on cd, and your abilities just got refreshed, so the fight is instantly in your favor. If you want, you can also build a death’s dance to get life steal early on. That’s what I always build as a first item on Kled anyway. This grants him constant sustain, while akali’s sustain is on a cool down. If you choose to build a spirit visage later, having a death’s dance can really help you out.

Akali is also not that slippery until she reaches level 6. The only thing she’s got is that W. Shen and Kled have dashes by level 2/3, making them slightly more slippery than she is, and more aggressive.

Of course this most likely won’t work every time, and it also depends on how good the Akali is, but both of these champs might make her time a bit harder. Hope this was helpful.