A really simple change to add finesse into playing Akali

We are talking about a champion that lacks mechnical intensity, and yet allowing to proc Mark of the Assassin, on a kit that already has no skillshots and 3 point-and-click gapclosers, so trivially is a good idea?

There's no need to nerf her numbers or change her kit massively. Just this one simple aspect needs to be brought back in for Akali.

Jayce Patch: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/V1.0.0.142 Release Date (US) July 7, 2012 Akali Crescent Slash • Energy cost reduced to 60/55/50/45/40 from 60 at all ranks. • Now activates Mark of the Assassin.png Mark of the Assassin's secondary damage.

I swear, alot of Akali's can apply damage way too easily because of Crescent Slash detonating Mark of the Assassin? Why?

• Because it is way more easier to press a spell button to proc MoTA, than it is to autoattack in melee range as a squishy champion.

• Autoattacks can be cancelled, therefore adding counterplay, via CC or simply moving out of melee autoattack range (125).

• Crescent Slash allows Akali's to have much more room for error, it has 325 range, that's more than the standard 125 autoattack range, therefore Akali is not fully in melee range to proc Mark of the Assassin.

• It makes double-proccing very, very easy. Something alot of players overlooked. Making it AA-only would improve Akali's counterplay against several champions (especially melees), where MoTA's debuff lasts longer than the cooldown. Therefore simply having the MoTA debuff on you doesn't mean you are infinitely zoned from minions. You simply have to run backwards to avoid getting popped so easily.

• Akali can Shadow Dance from max range, and quickly Q -> E for harass, something that cannot be easily done if it was AA-only. With AA only, in order to harass at max Shadow Dance range, you would have to R to get into range, then Q to apply the debuff. At this point, the opponent would of moved out of melee AA range, so you would have to R again to proc the first Q. Therefore you had to commit 2 dashes instead of 1. The amount of dashes required to commit to a kill is much more higher **therefore allowing Akali to make mistakes. **

This is essentially adding a skillshot-like feature/requirement into Akali's kit without having to actually change any of her skills into a skillshot. The outcome of R -> Q is not always guaranteed with MoTA AA only.

Currently R -> Q is guaranteed because of Crescent Slash proccing MoTA. R -> Q -> E is almost always guaranteed.

It dumbs down her play pattern tremendously. Alot of Akali's use Crescent Slash as a clutch to proc MoTA when they failed an AA. Alot of Akali's would fall flat on their faces without Crescent Slash proccing MoTA.

Back in Season 1 and half of Season 2, Akali only was able to proc MoTA via autoattacking only. I believe this to be a core aspect of adding counterplay and mechnical intensity on a kit that is all point-and-click, and allowed Akali's frustration levels to be maintained to a minimum. There's a reason why Coronach only allowed AA's to proc MoTA, and not via other spells, i.e. Crescent Slash, heck not even allowing Shadow Dance to proc MoTA.

Try for yourself. Go and play Akali and try not to proc MoTA with Crescent Slash at all, like if it was Season 1 and half Season 2. I assure you, Akali would be much harder to play.

Compensation Several low-scope buffs/tweaks that would be used to replace this removal could be the following: • Move the slow from the Twilight Shroud and add it to Crescent Slash. Lasting 1.5 seconds, to all targets hit. If the target is alone, the slow strength is doubled. That way, having a powerful slow to be able to proc MoTA is now available, while also adding a ton more use cases to Crescent Slash since it now has a slow. • Make the burst of speed and decay time on Twilight Shroud much more potent. At Rank 1, the effects are pretty unnoticeable. This would emphasize her ninja theme more strongly and allows for more outplays.

TDLR: Making Akali back to Season 1 and half Season 2, where Crescent Slash did not procced MoTA, would give Akali enough mechnical intensity for suffiicent counterplay in the mean time. This simple change would help in adding back some finesse in playing Akali, with small changes to increase her skill ceiling at the same time.