Akali's "Small" Update

Best Kser FL·Nov 5, 2016·53 votes·4,741 views

Hi everyone, I am the Best Akali FL - high elo Akali main (http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=best+akali+fl), and I just wanted to say that I disagree with Riot's changes. This is by no means a small update. When Riot performed the small mage update mid-season, all of the mages who received a small update, still had the same general playstyle as before. With Akali's small update, they are giving her a 1 dimensional playstyle of only being a cleanup champion.

Before this small update, Akali could perform multiple roles of being an initiator, splitpusher, or cleanup. She doesn't have the damage to 1v1 champions consistently, and her passive to help her take down towers is gone. At least when they changed Akali not proccing Q w/E, they did not nerf anything with numbers, so the combo changed only slightly.

I don't mind that they change the cd on her E, nor if they changed her passive, however I would like to revert her R to her current state, and remove the blink in her W, as there is no need for mobility in that ability if it already gives movement speed.

112 Comments

PapaGreg21Nov 5, 201619 votes

I think every Akali fan feels like she is in a bad state currently and this update will make her even worse. I haven't seen one person talking about them being excited for these changes except for people that hate playing against Akali.

DeathTheHorsemanNov 5, 20168 votes

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/550/771/7ac.jpg

Bloody hate the changes.

I hate more how they completely ignore the feedback from the Akali testers even more...

P.S.

Riot gets an underplayed champ (1% pick rate) and turns it complete garbage with the nerf bat (when she has only 49% win rate on championgg)

LimmieNov 5, 201611 votes

{quoted}

except for people that hate playing against Akali.

Yeah,that's because they know it is a gutting. Then Rickless comes and say they don't intend this to be a nerf when it's pretty obvious for everyone that it is, and a huge one at that.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20161 votes

I don't know the specifics but I do know that they're nerfing the lifesteal consistency. I gotta say, that's a very good thing, imo, direction wise. as she currently is, you sometimes get those tanky lifesteal builds that are just cancerous as hell. if those go away, I'll be happy and hope she's a viable champ etc.

Hinagiku33Nov 5, 20166 votes

Bad news - most of the changes favor Tank!Akali so that's probably the Akali you will see the most.

The part that worries me most though is that Rickless posted on the PBE that these changes aren't just "brief until a VGU coming soon", but actually intended to delay her VGU (which is nowhere close to even starting as Akali is not even near the top of the queue). So if these changes make Tank!Akali the only way to go, then Tank!Akali will be staying for at least a year.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20161 votes

Can't say that makes sense to me, how does bursty healing favor a tank? when an effect is limited by cooldowns it will favor a more hit and run style usually. plus it has pretty high ratios.

I haven't seen anyone saying it was supposed to delay an akali rework, but an akali rework was never that close... not with warwick then galio and eve and urgot being the highest priorities afterwards

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Monado II,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=tXhEJhoE,comment-id=00010001000000000000,timestamp=2016-11-05T04:15:00.143+0000)

Can't say that makes sense to me, how does bursty healing favor a tank? when an effect is limited by cooldowns it will favor a more hit and run style usually. plus it has pretty high ratios.

I haven't seen anyone saying it was supposed to delay an akali rework, but an akali rework was never that close... not with warwick then galio and eve and urgot being the highest priorities afterwards

Because she lost both her burst damage her new scalings and her new passive forces her to stay around while its cooldowns regen. That means her bet bet is to build tanky so she can survive long enough to get those procs on her AAs consistently.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20161 votes

Actually the new passive encourages you to stay for 2 autos then get out until it resets. compared to the current one which is on every auto.

the damage being on the second auto is part of their delayed burst damage theme for assassins, it isn't just akali, its every assassin.

LimmieNov 5, 20162 votes

Except that if she gets out, then so will any target with half a brain. So she doesn't really have any choice but to keep sticking with them using her ult (which is apparently its only function now since it is useless as a damage source after the nerf). Even her shroud doesn't help her in this since you can't place it ahead of yourself now so it's pretty useless if the enemy simply walks away from it. And why wouldn't they, it's not like she has any cc to prevent them from doing it.

I'd say there are better ways to make her damage delayed, like giving it a timer before it procs or something. Or at least make the heal give grey health if it heals past the max.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20161 votes

huh with the range on the ult and multiple charges I dunno about just walking away from her. you can't say she'll build tanky and just stick to people to be really disruptive and then the next post say she'll have no sticking power lol. its one or the other.

they took damage off her ult sure but they did move it to her passive. you're probably right about better ways to gate her damage, like leblanc's and fizz's versions.

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

She can stick to people, yeah, and I never said otherwise. But your argument was that she'll want to get out, and the fact is she can't get out AND still stick to people. At least before you could do things like cast the shroud ahead of herself meaning she can have a safer chase (it prevented her being targeted, slowed the enemy AND gave her movespeed), but not with her new W. She either sticks with and runs after the target and takes damage (meaning she has to go tank to survive the meanwhile) or she disengages and then so does the target. Basically she can't assassinate, which means she needs to be a fighter/bruiser, which in turn means tanky.

I also didn't see much work to prevent burst from assassins to be honest, they've mostly focused on reducing their escapes once the burst is delivered. Like how Kat can't ward-jump out anymore, LeBlank has a delay before she can go back through her W, and Talon can't hop over the same terrain he used to get in. Then you have Rengar who still 0-100 just as well and Kaz and Zed who got straight up buffs with no nerfs to their escapes. Add in that AD assassin items got so much better than AP ones, and Akali is pretty useless and outclassed as an assassin. At least Shaco usually builds from AD so he can make use of the poacher's dirk and Edge of Night.

EDIT: They didn't take damage from her ult and gave it to the passive, they took damage/sustain from her old passive and put it on her new in a different way. According to Riot the compensation for the damage nerf on the ult was the added mobility on her W, and as we established her W is LESS useful now, not more. So that power loss wasn't compensated at all.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20161 votes

Katarina lost ward hops because she gained so much mobility from the new dagger hops, which allow her to go in for poke then hop out. on the flip side, if she doesn't hit you with her dagger spin passive she does a lot less damage.

Leblanc's new passive is also designed to delay her burst damage, meaning she has to stay in danger a few seconds to get her burst off before she snaps back on her W, compared to live when she can W burst W for instant damage that's hard to return fire against

Talon gained crazy roaming mobility but he lost his instant blink gap closer and his damage burst comes from his passive bleed that requires 3 abilities followed by an auto to proc.

Rengar now requires you to stay in combat until you get 4 stacks of ferocity (whereas on live you build 5 ferocity before the fight to instakill someone as soon as it starts), his Q is slower, and its easier to catch him out of his ult.

Fizz and Shaco got similar changes. So yeah, pretty much every assassin got changes to delay their burst damage and make it less guaranteed and more outplayable. Only exceptions being Zed and Ekko, who were considered healthy assassins already (at least when ekko actually builds AP), and Kha'zix who I guess they consider fine too.

I don't think Akali's passive is the best design- you can proc the heal on a minion and then R>passive proc damage on an enemy champ- but its not like she's being treated differently from everyone else. And her burst damage still looks pretty high from what I've seen in videos etc.

LimmieNov 5, 20162 votes

Okay I stand corrected on that point but Leblank is ranged though so the delay on the passive proc is a lot more lenient for her, and Rengar at has the option of choosing when to sustain and when to do damage depending on which ability he'll use empowered.

Even if her burst were still high (I don't think it is at all, but for arguments sake), it still doesn't mean much if she's so much much worse than the other assassins. Right now, why would you chose her over any of them? In all the gameplay videos of her you watched, in how many did she get ahead of the competition?

And yes, Akali and Shaco do stand alone in that every single one of their changes made them worse off than their live versions. I don't really play Shaco so I can't speak with much authority on his case but as for Akali, she is definitely being left in an absolutely awful spot all around by this rework.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20161 votes

well gameplay vids from the pbe tend to be done by relatively high level players, so of course they did well. its hard to judge how strong she'll be based off of a youtube vid from redmercy but the burst damage was certainly there, even before he got ahead.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20162 votes

yeah I don't like to guess at how good she'll be overall, because you can't tell from the PBE, especially when I've just seen videos. They can also buff her any time

To me the real question is mainly 'will the changes make her healthier to play as and against' 'will she be more interesting' 'does she have a niche among assassins to help her stand out'

I think PROBABLY they succeeded at the first, I personally think her W is more interesting but I see not everyone else thinks so, and I don't think they found a specific niche for her and some other assassins at least that I can think of. In fact compared to like the marksmen its hard to see how the different assassins are supposed to stand out when it comes to their team utility.

IceemberNov 5, 20161 votes

Source please because last I heard her VGU is likely to happen sometime after Swain gets his (from those words I'd guess withing 3-4 reworks length)

LimmieNov 5, 20162 votes

{quoted}

Source please because last I heard her VGU is likely to happen sometime after Swain gets his (from those words I'd guess withing 3-4 reworks length)

The rate that each of the 2 rework teams take to release a VGU is around 6 months. They're already about almost done to halfway through WW's and Galio's judging by Ryze's and Yorick's release dates (July and September respectively). We also know for a fact that Evelynn, Swain and Urgot are in front of Akali on the rework line, so it will take about a year for her turn on an optimistic estimate.

IceemberNov 5, 20162 votes

So lets take the data we have and output an actual estimate. Is it reasonable to assume a Rework comes out once every 2-3 months? Looking at the data from past reworks we had 5 Champion updates and 2 Class reworks in Pre-season and Season 6. We know WW is up next which means we have 1 of 5 slots. Eve, Swain, and Urgot make that 4. Akali then likely will receive a VGU at either the end of Season 7, Pre-season, or early Season 8.

My reply however was to a claim made that her rework will now supposedly be delayed for unknown reasons. I wanted a source on that, as I've been following rioter discussion about Akali for a long time now and have yet to see anything pertaining to a delay on when she will enter the rework cycle.

LimmieNov 5, 20162 votes

Don't forget Galio, he's right after WW.

IceemberNov 5, 20162 votes

ahh right. bump "end of season 7" to "pre-season 8" and soforth.

WarlockLawNov 5, 20161 votes

I don't think Riot has said anything definitive about delaying her update due to these changes, but it stands to reason that they might drop her in priority because of them. We already know for sure that Warwick and Galio are being worked on. Urgot and Evelyn would make since for going before Akali as well due to age alone. After those 4, who all deserve an update before Akali, they might end up considering Aatrox over Akali because he hasn't really received any sort of help while she got this update. Azir and Kalista are also candidates for updates since Riot has determined them too strong in competitive while being average to weak in soloq. Remember, there are no promises on who gets an update when, until a team starts working on a champion, anything can happen.

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

I can't quote any sources from memory now but I'm fairly certain they want to take a look at Aatrox in the diver update, which will probably be next.

ElikainNov 5, 20161 votes

That doesn't appear to be the case. A few days ago, a Rioter said that 5-6 reworks came in the year 2016. He said that this cadence appears to be going at a reasonable pace at present.

Whether reworks or new champions come more depends entirely on us. From their surveys, the conclusion is that the community still enjoys new champions more than the reworks and that's why this pace of reworks is unlikely to chance until the data backs it up.

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

I don't now where he got that number, but there were only 4 VGUs in 2016, Shen, Taric, Ryze and Yorick.

ElikainNov 5, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Hmm. I count 5 in the last 11 months if you look at the list I posted. Poppy, Shen, Taric, Ryze & Yorick. I know Shen wasn't a full VGU but that was before we ramped up the team, so resource wise it would have been given ChampUps size right now.

It feels like a fairly reasonable pace, not sure if having a VGU every month would be the right cadence, especially if you include all the new champs and roster projects.

Also

I don't now where he got that number

I think since we're talking about a Rioter that's involved in those things, he should know how many releases there were. I apologize for not actually posting his quote earlier but i just couldn't be bothered to look for it. The only reason i did is because i remember responding to one of his comments specifically and i backtracked.

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

Having 5 reworks in an 11 month span is different from having 5 reworks released 2016, it carries other implications. It still makes a 5-6 months average per champion per team, so I still stand by my assertion. I'd sincerely doubt any of the next scheduled VGUs will be small scope ( and therefore as quick) as Shen's too so there's also that.

ElikainNov 5, 20162 votes

{quoted} If you look back over the last year or so you will see that there has been some kind of champion release almost every month.

Nov (Illoai) Dec (Poppy) Jan (Shen/Jhin) ASol (March) Taric (April) Mages Roster (May) Taliyah (June) Ryze (July) Keld (August) Yorick (Sept) Ivern (Oct.) Assassins Roster (Nov)

That is a champion release of some kind roughly every 4 weeks or so. I'm not saying we are going to maintain this cadence since some champions are more complicated and require more time then others, but I do think it might be TOO fast if we added another VGU team.

I can see a point in the future when one of the New Champion pods become a VGU pod (Or maybe some kind of hybrid team that swaps between VGU/New Champion) but I don't think we are quite at that point yet.

According to Reav3, this is the timeline of champion releases for the 2016. Poppy might be an odd one (Dec of 2015) but just look at the cadence. 3-4 months at most. We still have 2 more months till the end of the year, we might see another one but that's just speculation from my side.

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

Why are you talking about new champion releases and roster/class updates when we're talking about VGUs? They are completely independent of one another and have completely different teams working on them. There are 6 VGUs confirmed in the lineup at this point, and Akali is likely to be the last. Given the current rate of VGU release of 4-6 months PER TEAM (there are 2 teams each working separately on a VGU at any given time), those 6 VGUs are like to take between 12-18 months, counting from Ryze's and Yorick's release. If you're going to take part of a discussion, please try to understand what is being discussed in the first place.

ElikainNov 5, 20161 votes

Can you not find the VGU releases in there?

Poppy (Dec 2015) Shen (Jan 2016) Taric (April 2016) Ryze (July 2016) Yorick (Sept 2016)

##Cadence of VGU releases:

That's 1 + 3 + 3 + 2 months in between them. If you average that out, it's 9 (months)/5 (champions) = 1.8 months. The mathematical representation might not be what's realistic as i feel it's somewhere around 2-4 months. Leaning more on 3-4 months between them.

We're still discussing cadence of releases here. Cadence in this discussion means pace/frequency of VGUs coming out. What we're not discussing is how long does it actually take from an idea to a VGU. I'm well aware that some champions are on the VGU list internally but are not officially on the list until the right idea comes along. That's why Yorick was known to be in a need of a rework months/years before he actually got one.

If a project does lead to a dead end, they can either cancel it or icebox it and move on to something else. It You are not correct in your statement as if the VGU teams were only occupied by 1 champion project per team, the actual cadence of VGUs would be more or less equivalent to their "conceptualization to realization" times. That's roughly from 6 months to a year(s) between VGUs. Since Reav3 was kind enough to provide us with the data, it stands to reason their teams know when and where to allocate the resources of their VGU teams to keep up this reasonable pace.

LimmieNov 5, 20161 votes

Why are you in such a hurry to disagree that you give evidence supporting my claims as an argument against them? In 2016 the rate of VGU releases was 6 months for each team, there being 2 teams entails 3 months between each VGU. Shen's update is an outlier since his wasn't a full VGU, so if you want to include 2015 releases then include Darius-Poppy's 4 months too. This means that this rate Akali's update will come at 12-18 months, which is what I've been saying all along. Please, I beg of you, curb you argumentative enthusiasm until you take the time to at least understand what's been argued in the first place. This is getting extremely annoying and repetitive.

Expanding on the timeline so far, it's quite clear they're aiming to release a class update in between 5 VGU-new champion alternating releases, and try to make it so that there's a new release of something every month. That leaves a likely timeline as something like this:

Aug Darius (VGU) Sept nothing Oct nothing Nov Marksman Roster (CLASS UPDATE) Dec Poppy (VGU) ---2016--- Jan Shen/Jhin (VGU)/(NEW) Mar Aurelion Sol (NEW) Apr Taric (VGU) May Mages Roster (CLASS UPDATE) Jun Taliyah(NEW) Jul Ryze (VGU) Aug Kled (NEW) Sep Yorick (VGU) Oct Ivern (NEW) Nov Assassins Roster (CLASS UPDATE) [speculation from now on] Dec WW (VGU) ---2017--- Jan ??? (NEW) Mar Galio (VGU) Apr ??? (NEW) May Urgot (VGU) Jun Roster (CLASS UPDATE) Jul ??? (NEW) Aug Evelynn (VGU) Sep ??? (NEW) Oct Swain (VGU) Nov ??? (NEW) Dec Roster (CLASS UPDATE) ---2018--- Jan Akali (VGU)

Now it's likely there's gonna be slight variations along the way, for instance 2017's December class update may be pulled down to November to coincide with the end of season, and the champions in line for VGU may have different places/priorities assigned to them. But the point is (and has always been) that Akali will very likely be the last since, unlike the other candidates she was decided to be put in the list somewhat recently, as evidenced by the fact that they were still considering fixing her up with this class update and only decided to leave her for a proper VGU after the work on it had started.

ElikainNov 5, 20161 votes

Shen really isn't an outlier. He has "less" work put into him because the team wasn't big enough at that time to give him a VGU of the usual size.

{quoted}

I know Shen wasn't a full VGU but that was before we ramped up the team, so resource wise it would have been given ChampUps size right now.

I'm not going into speculation for the future, plans can change when things come up. But from the past, you can at least make an educated guess on how far from each other the new content will come out - new champions, VGUs or class updates.

How long a champion will have to wait for a VGU depends on us. If we want it faster, Riot is going to move her closer to the top. It's the reason why WW, Galio, Urgot and Eve more or less next in line - not necessarily in this order. As for Riot doing work on Akali right now (even if she is going to be VGU'd in the future) is for the same reason Swain was also changed. They were a part of their respective classes when they were being updated and Riot decided to at least give them a nudge in a direction instead of forgetting about them until they get to the top of the list.

Troll for TrumpNov 5, 20163 votes

TankAkali wasn't good, but neither was Akali. Akali in general was just too sticky; once she latched onto you, you couldn't escape. You'd either fight her or cc and fighter. Similar to Ekko.

And just like Ekko, she builds tank to capitalize on the inherit stickiness(and energy as a resource and base AD ratio scaling... and mixed dmg)

In general, things with a point and click blink/dash tend to be toxic (Talon, Zed, Akali, Diana). Diana is balanced out by her lack of escape tool whatsoever, and needing to land her Q. Talon's getting reworked, but he was balanced by "time" (weak early, but based on itemization, would have no counterplay). Akali is similar to Talon, balanced on "time". Zed has no cc whatsoever, and can't really get cc or abuse IBG/Mallet, so he's not too sticky.

Vistha KaiNov 5, 20161 votes

Akali is balanced with "time" as in she can't do shit pre-6, but that doesn't excuse what she does afterwards anyway.

Frankly, she's the worst of the bunch. None of the other champions you listed can continously jump at people and kill them with point'n'clicks while drain-tanking everything a single person can ever throw at them.

Troll for TrumpNov 5, 20161 votes

Yeah, Diana does that too, but she can't escape. Her survivability is "tankiness" I guess.

I always was more annoyed with Diana but yeah.

Vistha KaiNov 5, 20161 votes

Diana does that too, but her sustained damage is gated behind her passive which is gated behind an awkward bruiser build path and she doesn't get to dash like a madman either. Not only that, but a good chunk of her burst and mobility is also gated behind landing a skillshot.

She may feel more annoying, but she's still a lot more approachable than Akali. I mean at least if you survive her burst, you have a good chance at killing her afterwards.

ElikainNov 5, 20162 votes

Confirmation bias is at play here. That's when people, who see that the lack of information supporting the opposite claims don't exist, believe they're right because there obviously aren't any. That's false. If the changes are good, people who don't have any complaints don't really have a reason to come here and make posts regarding her balance.

I for one like the new changes and i'll explain in the comment to OP's thread if you're interested http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/tXhEJhoE-akalis-small-update?comment=000b

Best Kser FLNov 5, 20162 votes

Do you even play akali? Rofl.

ElikainNov 5, 20162 votes

I don't have to be a her main to know what i'm talking about. A pretty good general opinion is right up my alley. That's how i feel about her and i don't really know what kind of problems you have, even if you stated them. I don't share your point of view.

Best Kser FLNov 8, 20161 votes

If you don't even play Akali why are you giving your opinion? Small reworks aren't suppose to change a champion's entire playstyle around. Also, you do have to be a main to have a general idea of when and where she is strong, or at the very least diamond. There's a reason why I am a good player and it's because I understand the game at a very fundamental level whereas you do not.

ElikainNov 8, 20161 votes

Let's not stoop to "i'm diamond and you're not so i'm right" arguments. This is my ex-main account and where i play, i' finished the season in D4. I haven't disputed your experience with Akali but you completely diminished mine just because i am not her main as well.

I am a Morgana main first and foremost and if our positions were reversed, i wouldn't be disregarding your opinion based on the fact that you're nowhere near as skillful with Morgana as me. Everyone should have an opinion about a certain champion, whether they wanted to main them, play them occasionally or tangentially think about them. This means that my opinion on how Morgana should feel like and play like is my preference that stems from my comfort zone and muscle memory while someone's view or Morgana might be different than mine. That doesn't mean Riot is going to turn her into a Marksman just because someone would like to see that happen, for no good reason.

I wouldn't be wasting my time on posts for champions that do not interest me. That means i DO HAVE some experience on Akali, whether you want recognize it or not. But the thing is, if you start a thread and want to turn it into "AKALI MAINS ONLY" zone, you also don't want to hear anyone's opinion and are probably just looking for confirmation to amass an audience. I feel like you didn't really come here to discuss anything, you came here to push your point of view on the front line and tell everyone else how much they are wrong, compared to your superior Akali knowledge.

If you're this closed-minded and egotistical, i'm afraid you're never going to get a proper discussion and brainstorming started. It's just going to turn into a shit fest and get derailed with people who flame others who are "trash" Tier or "baby" champion players.

Akali is SO HOTNov 5, 201611 votes

what's up fam

LimmieNov 5, 20167 votes

I can stand the numbers, we can work around that. I can stand the passive too and even the stupid heal-first mechanic. But I definitely can't stand the pointless new shroud dash. Nobody asked for it, and then they have the gal to justify the nerf on the rest of her kit because "she's getting compensated with the new W's mobility". The new w is not a compensation at all, it's an unwelcome, unneeded change that would by itself make her a lot weaker even if everything else remained like it is in live, let alone on top if the number nerfs.

EROTIC RAID BOSSNov 5, 20162 votes

I don't really get this, I'd think it would be a nice little addition, since it adds a few tricks like wall hopping

Hinagiku33Nov 5, 20165 votes

Akali can already wall hop. She places her shroud over a jungle camp since it grants vision and then jumps over the wall to it with her ult. Situational, yes, but it works.

Also, Akali's pre-6 is so bad currently that Akali can't really roam anyway. Any mobility added to her W is useless since trying to wall jump and roam bot without her ult is a bad idea, and if she roams after getting ult then she gains nothing since she can just use her ult to wall jump now.

And in return for basically useless utility, she loses:

Half the duration on her shroud, severely impacting her already horrible pre-6 laning since Akali uses her shroud to avoid poke and last-hit without dying.
The ability to place her shroud at range (it can now only be placed where Akali is standing when she casts it). a) Akali can no longer throw her shroud to gain vision from over a wall to scout and check bushes b) Akali can no longer place her shroud without being in it to fake out enemies c) Akali can no longer place the shroud behind her to slow enemies chasing her d) Akali can no longer place the shroud in front of her for the speed boost e) Akali can no longer pull off some of her more impressive jukes in the jungle since she can't place the shroud properly

The shroud changes and nothing else would have been a harsh nerf. The shroud changes with all of the damage and cooldown nerfs is just overkill.

IceemberNov 5, 20161 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7raSbJs7oT0

In that video alone I believe I cover A, C is arguable, D also arguable but I did use the speed to my advantage, and E. As for B. I mean with an 8s duration you should still be able to use it somewhere and walk away, thus faking out your opponents.

What I think you seem to miss is the fact that you can wall hop regardless of vision/ a target to hop to. The other big factor alot of people don't discuss when talking about her rework is the fact that shroud grants a non-decaying movement speed buff. That alone is super useful in and out of lane, making her shroud much more reliable IMO.

Akali is SO HOTNov 5, 20165 votes

An Akali player could've done the same thing with her current shroud. You can only get over really, really thin walls with her blink because of how small the shroud radius is. In the video you can even see it as you barely made it over that thin wall. With current shroud I could've placed it even further up which would've given me more room to juke in and out of the shroud to kill Shaco. With that shroud you only had barely anything to work with after the blink.

IceemberNov 5, 20161 votes

The point of that shroud was to enter the brush discreetly. I didn't want shaco to know I was there mainly because if he did then I would have lost the trade. You see sometimes it isn't about gaining vision and overpowering your opponent. Sometimes you have to catch them off guard to really get the kills. Because had I been able to throw shroud over the wall I would have alerted him to my presence and he would have probably Q'ed away. Him not knowing where I was allowed me to win that fight. Here's another example of using the shroud to be discreet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3W2kgTOdZk

Not to mention that one was a simple blink. Some of the harder ones will leave you without a shroud to stand in. I tend to use them as escapes instead of engages.

Akali is SO HOTNov 5, 20165 votes

You could've entered the bush discreetly with current shroud too. Akali's shroud isn't about deceiving your opponent with some stupid blink. That's why the extra half second of stealth she got was removed back in Season 3. It's not fun to play against at all. Knowing exactly where Akali is when she puts down her shroud is extremely important for counterplay especially now that pinks don't reveal her.

You could've just as easily stole dragon by ulting to Kat or Trundle. This lame blink gimmick is not worth the other changes and nerfs she's getting

IceemberNov 5, 20161 votes

Explain how I do so without him just Q'ing away? Not to mention the box he had in the corner of the brush to attempt to fear me away from any other play. Because to keep the shroud hidden I'd have to place it near where I was standing to juke around the box and get to him. So my choices here quickly become (assuming this is live akali):

Use the fact the shroud is in FoW to gain an advantage over my opponent. or
Let him potentially escape because I threw it over the wall instead. I don't have any form of gapclose to get ontop of him and he has a blink on a relatively low CD to use as an escape.

As for the Dragon steal. Their jungler was there and my initial plan was to just sit in shroud invisibility in the pit and wait for it to be low enough to smite. I was a bit unlucky that one of em warded outside the pit but jumping to kat or trundle may not have yielded me the steal as I didn't know if Xin had smite or not. This is another example of hiding shroud in FoW and then following up because your opponent isn't aware of you being there/they don't expect it.

LankPantsNov 5, 20163 votes

Explain how I do so without him just Q'ing away?

What did you do in that play that prevented him running right and Qing over the back wall? If he wanted to escape he could have, he chose to pick a dumb fight though.