Why doe Akali exist in the state she is in?

Because some weird burst mage assassin who has incredible escapes is totally fair? Oh and her build is fairly tanky sometimes too plus lifesteal. Awesome Riot.

130 champions. There should be no reason why one of them needs to be banned every match. If counterplay existed to a reasonable level, we wouldn't see the same champs banned all the time. This is a huge indication that the game is not even close to being in a balanced state.