Pre season Akali nerf explanation

as an old Akali main I now have to ask; why would you ever want to pick the new Akali? Im pretty sure every part of her kit, and every role she used to fulfill got nurfed. (with the exception of sustain in lane pre 6) see side by side changes at the bottom of article.

explanation: part 1 abilities. passive:

• post 6 does less damage, and heals less.
• ap no longer benefits from Akali's ad; and ad no longer benefits from Akali's ap.
• inconsistent feeling damage over long fights, late game every 4 seconds 2 auto's do different things then the rest
• no longer helps take towers q:
• while no direct changes (at least in the patch notes) q is still weaker
• not sure if this is intentional but, q auto attack no longer counts as 3 hits for thunderlord's
• due to passive change q no longer heals (via spell vamp)
• q combo no longer synergizes with her passive (i.e. q wait r aa q aa; also known as double proc)
• late game q's proc deals less damage then her second passive hit w:
• now to use you need to silence yourself for a .5 seconds
• can now teleport for gap closer; but can no longer throw it out for a slow then speed up (so no benefit other then wall hops)
• can no longer throw it out as a tool for vision, slow for running teammates, bluff (throw it then go the other way), or use to then Ult to a jung camp. e:
• better damage/scaling with much longer cool down
• due to the "reset" or cool down benefit from her e killing a minion, jungle monster, or champion she "can" push better but deals significantly less damage in fights
• also no longer heals you due to passive change
• max lev 2 seconds longer cool down (3 second cool down vs 1) r:
• ummmm what 40-60 less base damage a
• half the ap scaling (still no ad scaling)
• twice as long cool down

~ explanation: part 2 team roles. Akali has never been a champ who was known for her utility; but an assassin fighter (and at one point a tank) who has a high damage output in short intervals with the ability to hide tell the next interval is ready. Also Akali had the ability to stick on an enemy champion with her 3 dashes; and her w slow/speedup, doing well vs blinks and dashes, but being extremely vulnerable to all forms of cc. Due to Akali's 1 v 1 potential and passive damage she could also split push really well clearing with her e, and destroying turrets with her passive. now: Riot strait up said they didn't want her to function as both an assassin and a fighter, (they also don't want any assassin to work as a tank) so her main fighter functions i.e her passive and her e got changed so that they don't work in that fashion anymore. but with the other changes so also doesn't have the burst to kill a target immediately, or stick on a target for long enough to kill them. If your going to play her as a tank there are much much more viable options to be your teams ap or ad tank so no reason to do that.

in short

• split push: no passive damage on turret; also 1 v 1/1 v 2 potential greatly diminished, and turret dives come with a lot more risk.
• fighter: no longer sustained damage from e, or passive; late game heal a lot weaker/inconsistent
• assassin: you are required to be able to kill your target to fulfill this role.
• -clean up: Akali's Ult reset does not reset the 2 second cool down between Ult's also a minimum of 4 second wait + 2 auto's for passive damage (which late game does more damage then any other ability.
• tank: less sustain also almost any other tank in the game will do all the jobs of a tank better then Akali

~ explanation: part 3 Riots goal.

quote 1; 6.22 patch notes: "we're not reinventing the wheel, but Akali's update should appeal to those patent enough to wait for the right moment to strike." My argument: Laning/ 1 v 1, as Akali the ideal time to go in was after you q'd and had q off cool down to double proc the enemy champion, now what you want is the double proc and have your 2nd auto set up at the same time, which isn't going to work vs anyone who is any good. In team fights it was idea to wait for all (or at least most) hard cc to have been used, and reset off multiple enemy champions throwing w to set the best zone of control, now the right time is when your not going to die.

quote 2; 6.22 patch notes: on Akali's w "feel like a more potent defensive tool, giving her more ninja-like ways to juke, dodge, and mindgame her opponents in combat" My argument: due to the relatively small zone of Akali's w her main way to juke, dodge, mindgames her enemy's was to pop in and out of her w to gain movement speed/ hide and reposition. now she has to be where she wants her w to be (not always the same place) and can no longer cast it around a corner to play vision games, and threaten opponents creating an 8 second "risk" for the opposing champions to be within Akali's ultimate range. She can now blink using her shroud, but it is a lot more unusable/situational in comparison.

quote 3; 6.22 patch notes: "On the subject of making her more unique" My argument: ummmm... she was one of the only (if not the only) champion who benefits from building BOTH ad, and ap. There are a few "hybrid" champions within League of Legends, but Akali was the only one who was rewarded for having both ap and ad, and who's optimal play style required the right "balance" of both ad and ap. (kinda her identity as a champ that no longer exists)

Balance of champions: For all of season 6 (according to op.gg for ranked plat and above) I don't remember ever seeing Akali's win rate above 52% or below 48%, and if i remember correct Riot has said that they want to balance the game around plat level play. So all of season 6 Akali has been in a good spot power (in terms of win rate) wise, never over powered and never weak. Now (although i don't see the statistics that Riot can) id be willing to bet that her win rate is below 45% and its very possible that it is much lower then that. And this IS NOT because of a "new play style" or because "players need to get used to a new build path" it is because she is strait up weak, and no longer has anything she excels at or ideal situation that makes her good.

~ conclusion: Why pick Akali? No that is a real question, there literally are champions that can do the same or better at everything then Akali. Easy example Irelia (more burst, more tank, same-ish sustain, more dps over time, more cc) and this is at all points in the game. The new Akali falls off so hard, but doesn't have a strong early game to make up for it. Sad thing is this isn't just a damage or ap, ad scaling issue (although they don't help) its issues within her new kit that cause the problems destroying Akali's old identity without giving her a new one.

I feel that Riot needs to do something to fix Akali (who wasn't broken before but now is the gutted remains of a champion) even if they are planning on doing a full update on her; which is ok, but what isn't ok is making a once viable champion no longer viable until they do. 1/5th of Akali's games where played with people who had more then 50 ranked games with her according to op.gg stats for plat and above ranked

my solution: return Akali back to her old self until her full VGU; I understand that the old Akali's kit had some inherent problems, but her new kit give opponents more outplay potential without giving Akali more potential to outplay, again this is not just a damage/scaling problem its inherent problems within her new kit. I've tried my best to keep an objective view when analyzing the new Akali, and an open mind (even though she is my favorite champ) but i feel that my 750,000 mastery points with Akali are going to be stuck back in season 6.

Sorry for the long read, feel free to comment what you think or any questions.

~ ~ changes to Akali's abilities: taken from the league of legends Wiki * passive: Twin Disciplines DISCIPLINE OF FORCE: Akali's basic attacks deal 6% 「 (+ 1% per 6 AP) 」 of her AD as bonus on-hit magic damage. DISCIPLINE OF MIGHT: Akali permanently has 6% 「 (+ 1% per 6 bonus AD) 」 spell vamp. new: Akali's first two basic attacks are empowered. Cooldown 8-4 based on level DISCIPLINE OF MIGHT: Akali's first basic attack heals her for 5 - 60 (based on level) (+ 60% bonus AD) (+ 30% AP) health. DISCIPLINE OF FORCE: Akali's second basic attack within 4 seconds deals an additional 10 - 100 (based on level) (+ 50% bonus AD) (+ 50% AP) on-hit magic damage.

Q: Mark of the Assassin RANGE: 600 COST: 60 ENERGY COOLDOWN: 6 / 5.5 / 5 / 4.5 / 4 ACTIVE: Akali throws her kama at the target unit, dealing magic damage and marking them for 6 seconds. MAGIC DAMAGE: 35 / 55 / 75 / 95 / 115 (+ 40% AP) Basic attacks detonate the mark, dealing bonus magic damage and restoring 40 energy. 「 BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: 45 / 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 (+ 50% AP) 」 new: ACTIVE: Akali throws her kama at the target unit, dealing magic damage and marking them for 6 seconds. MAGIC DAMAGE: 35 / 55 / 75 / 95 / 115 (+ 40% AP) Basic attacks detonate the mark, dealing bonus magic damage and restoring 40 energy. 「 BONUS MAGIC DAMAGE: 45 / 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 (+ 50% AP) 」 *

W: Twilight Shroud RANGE: 700 / 400 COST: 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 ENERGY COOLDOWN: 20 ACTIVE: Akali throws down a smoke cover which lasts for 8 seconds, granting Sight icon sight of the target area and Slow icon slowing all units within it. SLOW: 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 / 30% Upon entering the smoke cover, Akali immediately gains stealth and a burst of movement speed that decays over 1 second and refreshes each time she re-enters the smoke cover. BONUS MOVEMENT SPEED: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100% If Akali uses a basic attack or ability in her smoke cover, she reveals herself for 0.65 seconds. new: RANGE: 250 / 475 COST: 80 / 75 / 70 / 65 / 60 ENERGY COOLDOWN: 20 ACTIVE: After a 0.25 second delay, Akali blinks to a nearby location, leaving a smoke cover for 8 seconds at the location before cast and causing a global cooldown of 0.5 seconds to all her other abilities. The smoke cover grants Sight icon sight of the area and Slow icon slows all units within it. SLOW: 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 / 30% While inside the smoke cover, Akali immediately gains true invisibility and movement speed. MOVEMENT SPEED: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100% If Akali uses a basic attack or ability inside her smoke cover, she will reveal herself for 0.65 seconds. *

E: Crescent Slash RANGE: 325 COST: 60 / 55 / 50 / 45 / 40 ENERGY COOLDOWN: 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 ACTIVE: Akali flourishes her kamas, dealing physical damage to nearby units. PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+ 40% AP) (+ 60% AD) new: RANGE: 325 COST: 60 / 55 / 50 / 45 / 40 ENERGY COOLDOWN: 5 / 4.5 / 4 / 3.5 / 3 ACTIVE: Akali flourishes her kamas, dealing physical damage to all units in an AoE around herself. PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+ 70% bonus AD) (+ 50% AP) If Crescent Slash kills a unit, its cooldown is reduced to 2 / 1.8 / 1.6 / 1.4 / 1.2 seconds. *

R: Shadow Dance ANGE: 「 700 / 100 / 200 」 SPEED: 2000 COST: 1 ESSENCE OF SHADOW COOLDOWN: 2 / 1.5 / 1 RECHARGE TIME: 30 / 22.5 / 15 PASSIVE: Akali uses a stock system on this ability; she stores an Essence of Shadow periodically and upon taking down an enemy champion, up to a maximum of 3 stored at once. ACTIVE: Akali dashes to the target unit, striking through it and dealing magic damage. Upon arriving, she will immediately attempt to land a basic attack on her target. MAGIC DAMAGE: 100 / 175 / 250 (+ 50% AP) The strike-through distance increases the closer Akali was to her target before dashing, and is halved against targets affected by Mark of the Assassin.png Mark of the Assassin. new: RANGE: 「 700 / 100 / 200 」 SPEED: 2000 COST: 1 ESSENCE OF SHADOW COOLDOWN: 2 RECHARGE TIME: 30 / 22.5 / 15 PASSIVE: Akali uses a stock system on this ability; she stores an Essence of Shadow periodically and upon taking down an enemy champion, up to a maximum of 3 stored at once. Akali immediately gains 3 Essences of Shadow upon learning the ability. ACTIVE: Akali dashes to the target unit, striking through it and dealing magic damage. Upon arriving, she will immediately attempt to land a basic attack on her target. MAGIC DAMAGE: 50 / 100 / 150 (+ 25% AP) The strike-through distance increases the closer Akali was to her target before dashing, and is halved against targets affected by Mark of the Assassin.png Mark of the Assassin.