On August 08 2011 03:51 GranDim wrote: Here's my take on the matchups
Good
Irelia : Harass all day and win Jax : Baring some very lucky dodge from him, harass and punish jump with proc and another Q. Jarvan : You should win the trade if you can safely proc some marks Singed : You can harass and stop any puddle and toss attempt with shroud. Nidalee : You can outdamage her heal and get an early kill if she is not playing safe, if not wait for 6 and kill then. Nasus : Zone that dog, there's not much he can do.
Even
Mord : You need to position yourself on his side using the brush and make him chose to either E the wave or you, once you have a mark on him wait for a very good opportunity to proc it.
Lee Sin : Dodge/bait his Q, punish/harass with your own. Getting hit by his Q hurts a lot however.
Renekton : You won't get much or any lead trading with him pre 6, his ultimate makes it very hard to kill him once he has it.
Rumble : Much more manageable after the Q nerf, juke the flamethrower and dodge his slow, the trades are winnable.
Bad
Gangplank : I haven't played it much since hes banned so much but that passive makes it very dangerous to be near him, his Q hurts more than yours if you don't proc it, if you do proc it he may get 2-3 stacks on you and thats gg. More manageable once you hit 6.
Garen : Q and spin to win too strong
Monkey King : His E-Q-W combo is not punishable, its like a Jax you can't retaliate against.
Udyr : Turtle/Tiger too strong, he can mostly ignore your harass with turtle and getting hit once by tiger hurts much more than a proced mark on him.
I was watching westrice's stream and he was playing/talking about akali. He echo'd some of the points you made. First picking akali is usually a bad idea since you are basically giving away the lane.
Also don't use E unless you are 100% about the kill lolz
On August 08 2011 03:51 GranDim wrote: Here's my take on the matchups
Good
Irelia : Harass all day and win Jax : Baring some very lucky dodge from him, harass and punish jump with proc and another Q. Jarvan : You should win the trade if you can safely proc some marks Singed : You can harass and stop any puddle and toss attempt with shroud. Nidalee : You can outdamage her heal and get an early kill if she is not playing safe, if not wait for 6 and kill then. Nasus : Zone that dog, there's not much he can do.
Even
Mord : You need to position yourself on his side using the brush and make him chose to either E the wave or you, once you have a mark on him wait for a very good opportunity to proc it.
Lee Sin : Dodge/bait his Q, punish/harass with your own. Getting hit by his Q hurts a lot however.
Renekton : You won't get much or any lead trading with him pre 6, his ultimate makes it very hard to kill him once he has it.
Rumble : Much more manageable after the Q nerf, juke the flamethrower and dodge his slow, the trades are winnable.
Bad
Gangplank : I haven't played it much since hes banned so much but that passive makes it very dangerous to be near him, his Q hurts more than yours if you don't proc it, if you do proc it he may get 2-3 stacks on you and thats gg. More manageable once you hit 6.
Garen : Q and spin to win too strong
Monkey King : His E-Q-W combo is not punishable, its like a Jax you can't retaliate against.
Udyr : Turtle/Tiger too strong, he can mostly ignore your harass with turtle and getting hit once by tiger hurts much more than a proced mark on him.
I was watching westrice's stream and he was playing/talking about akali. He echo'd some of the points you made. First picking akali is usually a bad idea since you are basically giving away the lane.
Also don't use E unless you are 100% about the kill lolz
I'm not exactly sure about what happens in high elo games, but I always go mid as akali, otherwise I wont pick her. I don think she is sustainable enough to be top before revolver, not to mention she is much better in mid because I see her as a "counter-carry" similar to irelia.
On August 08 2011 12:53 ArC_man wrote: I just go straight Gunblade first. It's about the same price as Rylai and you start wrecking face as soon as you get parts of it. I don't think there are many that can 1v1 her after she gets the fast Gunblade (maybe Mord or Jax). IMO it's easier to go from Gunblade -> Rylai than Rylai -> Gunblade.
this has been discussed allready. Gunblade first does not give you enough damage to warrant for delaying the survivability and utilty rilay gives you. In fact it has less AP on it, costs more and funnily in many situations you even deal less damage than with rilays because you do not slow your opponent with it permanently. Not saying it is terrible but it certainly is less optimal than rilays.
Akali starts with Boots + 3 potions for laning and Cloth Armor + 5 potions for Jungling. Her bread and butter item is Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This is her first major item in 99.9% of reasonable circumstances. It's sometimes delayed for a minor item such as Sheen or Hextech Revolver, but never for another major item. The slow is simply too ridiculously strong on a champion with as much single target ability spam as Akali.
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Going for rylais first is really a bad choice, you should start with either Dorans blade (for double passive bonus) or tome and a few pots. First you should buy boots, and then go for hextech revolver, then, pendings enemy CC, should decide upon which boots to buy, if they dont have much CC but sorcerers. then buy a sheen, then go for rabadons, then finish your revolver, then lich bane. sure this is not what you will get every game, but this will be your optimal build. rylais, granted, is a nice item, but you can kill enemys easily without it, and its not your job to tank, if they focus you, you're invis
EDIT: i know the scrubs thing makes me look like a dick, but it seems fitting
EDIT 2: this is all my opinion, im only 1700 ELO so dont be offended if u dont agree, this is just works for meee
Akali starts with Boots + 3 potions for laning and Cloth Armor + 5 potions for Jungling. Her bread and butter item is Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This is her first major item in 99.9% of reasonable circumstances. It's sometimes delayed for a minor item such as Sheen or Hextech Revolver, but never for another major item. The slow is simply too ridiculously strong on a champion with as much single target ability spam as Akali.
Going for rylais first is really a bad choice, you should start with either Dorans blade (for double passive bonus) or tome and a few pots. First you should buy boots, and then go for hextech revolver, then, pendings enemy CC, should decide upon which boots to buy, if they dont have much CC but sorcerers. then buy a sheen, then go for rabadons, then finish your revolver, then lich bane. sure this is not what you will get every game, but this will be your optimal build. rylais, granted, is a nice item, but you can enemys eaily without it, and its not your job to tank, if they focus you, you're invis
EDIT: i know the scrubs thing makes me look like a dick, but it seems fitting
boots first is assuming you can get passive at lvl 1 or 2 from runes + masteries. The q spam and proc harass is retarded if you can start that. Also, if you can conserve your life and your passive spell vamp will keep you alive you don't have to go for revolver before rylais. I wouldn't set that in stone in my item build. Some people like to go hextech first, some like rylais first. They're both good. Also most single target stuns are long enough to let the enemies kill you so "you're not a tank" isn't really valid as you're going to be jumping into the middle of them to do damage (usually behind them to get to their carry, actually) so being more than paper thin is nice.
and yeah, the scrubs thing makes you look like a dick.
Akali starts with Boots + 3 potions for laning and Cloth Armor + 5 potions for Jungling. Her bread and butter item is Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This is her first major item in 99.9% of reasonable circumstances. It's sometimes delayed for a minor item such as Sheen or Hextech Revolver, but never for another major item. The slow is simply too ridiculously strong on a champion with as much single target ability spam as Akali.
Going for rylais first is really a bad choice, you should start with either Dorans blade (for double passive bonus) or tome and a few pots. First you should buy boots, and then go for hextech revolver, then, pendings enemy CC, should decide upon which boots to buy, if they dont have much CC but sorcerers. then buy a sheen, then go for rabadons, then finish your revolver, then lich bane. sure this is not what you will get every game, but this will be your optimal build. rylais, granted, is a nice item, but you can enemys eaily without it, and its not your job to tank, if they focus you, you're invis
EDIT: i know the scrubs thing makes me look like a dick, but it seems fitting
The scrubs thing is funny but the build makes you look like a scrub.
1. Dorans blade for double passive screams for losing lane. You get enough AD from masteries + some marks. If you walk to a solo lane without enough sustain and your name is "squishy as fuck+melee" then its pretty much gg.
2. Even if your item build would do more damage in theory you will simply not do it bc you can get kited/bursted like a tard which is bad for your ridiculously low survivabilty for a melee champion.
The reason why everyone suggests the rilay rush is partly experience and partly bc of the fact that like every known akali player does it. Like you said in the first paragraph there are some who prefer that little item before rilay (revolver/sheen).
Akali starts with Boots + 3 potions for laning and Cloth Armor + 5 potions for Jungling. Her bread and butter item is Rylai's Crystal Scepter. This is her first major item in 99.9% of reasonable circumstances. It's sometimes delayed for a minor item such as Sheen or Hextech Revolver, but never for another major item. The slow is simply too ridiculously strong on a champion with as much single target ability spam as Akali.
Going for rylais first is really a bad choice, you should start with either Dorans blade (for double passive bonus) or tome and a few pots. First you should buy boots, and then go for hextech revolver, then, pendings enemy CC, should decide upon which boots to buy, if they dont have much CC but sorcerers. then buy a sheen, then go for rabadons, then finish your revolver, then lich bane. sure this is not what you will get every game, but this will be your optimal build. rylais, granted, is a nice item, but you can enemys eaily without it, and its not your job to tank, if they focus you, you're invis
EDIT: i know the scrubs thing makes me look like a dick, but it seems fitting
The scrubs thing is funny but the build makes you look like a scrub.
1. Dorans blade for double passive screams for losing lane. You get enough AD from masteries + some marks. If you walk to a solo lane without enough sustain and your name is "squishy as fuck+melee" then its pretty much gg.
2. Even if your item build would do more damage in theory you will simply not do it bc you can get kited like a tard which is bad for your ridiculously low survivabilty for a melee champion.
The reason why everyone suggests the rilay rush is partly experience and partly bc of the fact that like every known akali player does it. Like you said in the first paragraph there are some who prefer that little item before rilay (revolver/sheen).
But it isnt a good idea to say "well x pro likes to rush for rylais, so it must be the best build, thus i will only do this"
and like i said, its just what works for me, i dont wanna sound like im preaching my build onto others, but it just works really really well for me ^_^
the best thing about playing akali is that if you get a kill or two early, it's almost a free win, and iff not, you sure have fun 2 shotting squishys
edit T_T: plus most of the time when i play with 4 of my friends i take mid, akali is such a good mid char vs most champions, the invis Q harass just kills
not to sound like troll, but westrice is prob the best akali player and he was at dreamhack. Dorans first is awful for a few reasons. 1. you have zero lane sustain 2. you can actually harras/ kill/ zone who you are laning against with boots because it allows you to hit your marked targets where as with dorans first it does not. 3. Rylai's guarantees kills on ad carrys and or people out of position because of its strong slow and it makes you a little beefier which is never a bad thing on akali. 4. The loss in spell pen from using ad marks is pretty much negligble as you have 15% from the offensive tree.
gunblade first is okay think the best is boots hextech depending on lane rylai sheen lichbane rabadon finish gunblade last item can be hour glass or Ga or whatever
what the hell? why are people going gunblade AND rylais? it is unnecessary to have two slows. you are not being efficient your items and wasting money that could be used on other things. rylai is also a much more consistent item, as you slow anyone you touch and the hp boost is essential for a fragile champion like her. going revolver + rylai is okay, but typically you will only get revolver if things are going back to base before you have farmed well enough.
the best ap items on akali imo are rylai then lichbane...that is enough ap to burst down most champs that you should be targeting, like casters and carries. the slow on rylai will help you perma slow a champ for your team to clean on up on beefy heroes after a fight as well.
westrice plays one of the best akalis out there, if you are looking for a proper reference please refer to his videos/guide.
Akali does a fair amount of auto attack damage, and the Gunblade has some of the best stats on an item out there if you can utilize all of it. Even if you discount the slow (which would still have it's uses with Rylai's), it is extremely effective due to the volume of stats on it. I typically upgrade it after a Lichbane and have never regretted it. The sheer spell vamp and lifesteal you have lets you use your burst for thousands of health regenerated during a team fight. With the increased auto attack damage, effects from her passives, her increased E damage for a burst combo, and the a single shot of the Gunblade Active you do nearly the same amount of burst damage as you do with a Deathcap instead but you have a whole lot of spell vamp and lifesteal. Not to mention, finishing the Gunblade after having a Hextech Revolver is a lot cheaper making a Deathcap.
The Deathcap is great, but overrated I feel. Utility and Defense are often a lot better. I sometimes won't even get a Deathcap in a full item build, because I value a Guardian Angel and a Void Staff so highly as well. With a Guardian Angel, underneath a shroud, you have over 200 Armor and Magic Resist with 35 Tenacity while still putting out ridiculous damage. Not to mention the rebirth can win you many team fights you should've lost because Akali is an aggro magnet. Now the choice between a Void Staff and Deathcap is purely situational. If their carries are still in the 30-80 MR range then Deathcap reigns supreme. If their carries are Tanky with 120+ MR then the Void Staff will do more damage even with all the lost AP.
A lot of the best Akali's out there (including Westrice) will pick up the Gunblade. It's important to note that you shouldn't necessarily stick to your core build all the time however. Making changes depending on how the game is going is important. Skipping the Gunblade to get an early Guardian Angel, or adding a Zhonya's in there instead can be smart too.
Edit: Seems few people realize how awesome Blue Buff is on Akali. The enhanced energy regen and cooldowns make her insane. Maybe I wouldn't take it over an equally farmed Brand or Anivia, but I get a little sad inside when Nocturne yells at me for taking it on "someone who can't use it at all".
I hate akali's Ratios. Makes her feel so useless after early-mid game. It feels like all she does is snipe maybe one target down, maybe if she gets enough burst to fight through mr. All her builds don't go magic pen either.
Akali does a fair amount of auto attack damage, and the Gunblade has some of the best stats on an item out there if you can utilize all of it. Even if you discount the slow (which would still have it's uses with Rylai's), it is extremely effective due to the volume of stats on it. I typically upgrade it after a Lichbane and have never regretted it. The sheer spell vamp and lifesteal you have lets you use your burst for thousands of health regenerated during a team fight. With the increased auto attack damage, effects from her passives, her increased E damage for a burst combo, and the a single shot of the Gunblade Active you do nearly the same amount of burst damage as you do with a Deathcap instead but you have a whole lot of spell vamp and lifesteal. Not to mention, finishing the Gunblade after having a Hextech Revolver is a lot cheaper making a Deathcap.
The Deathcap is great, but overrated I feel. Utility and Defense are often a lot better. I sometimes won't even get a Deathcap in a full item build, because I value a Guardian Angel and a Void Staff so highly as well. With a Guardian Angel, underneath a shroud, you have over 200 Armor and Magic Resist with 35 Tenacity while still putting out ridiculous damage. Not to mention the rebirth can win you many team fights you should've lost because Akali is an aggro magnet. Now the choice between a Void Staff and Deathcap is purely situational. If their carries are still in the 30-80 MR range then Deathcap reigns supreme. If their carries are Tanky with 120+ MR then the Void Staff will do more damage even with all the lost AP.
A lot of the best Akali's out there (including Westrice) will pick up the Gunblade. It's important to note that you shouldn't necessarily stick to your core build all the time however. Making changes depending on how the game is going is important. Skipping the Gunblade to get an early Guardian Angel, or adding a Zhonya's in there instead can be smart too.
Edit: Seems few people realize how awesome Blue Buff is on Akali. The enhanced energy regen and cooldowns make her insane. Maybe I wouldn't take it over an equally farmed Brand or Anivia, but I get a little sad inside when Nocturne yells at me for taking it on "someone who can't use it at all".
I remember when I was lvl 15 playing normals with more experienced Tlers, and someone told me to take blue and I was like "wtf, why?"... yeah... since then I've learnt how awesome it is to hog all buffs on akali (if you stay alive... if youve got a suicide playstyle, then let someone else get more mileage out of them).
On August 17 2011 03:01 0123456789 wrote: I hate akali's Ratios. Makes her feel so useless after early-mid game. It feels like all she does is snipe maybe one target down, maybe if she gets enough burst to fight through mr. All her builds don't go magic pen either.
Late game problem is mostly oracles/pink spam limiting the fights you can win. I don't really like mpen on her since Lichbane and to a lesser extend Gunblade do a lot of physical damage.
So, I'm considering Akali. She looks like a lot of fun.
Is she worth investing in? She's a gold digging biatch. Purchase cost, AD and AP runes (I dont have them) and I need a new runepage all for her. Also, maybe a skin. Stinger is so awesome.
On September 24 2011 19:17 Cuddle wrote: So, I'm considering Akali. She looks like a lot of fun.
Is she worth investing in? She's a gold digging biatch. Purchase cost, AD and AP runes (I dont have them) and I need a new runepage all for her. Also, maybe a skin. Stinger is so awesome.
On August 17 2011 03:01 0123456789 wrote: I hate akali's Ratios. Makes her feel so useless after early-mid game. It feels like all she does is snipe maybe one target down, maybe if she gets enough burst to fight through mr. All her builds don't go magic pen either.
actually the ratios are good considering the very low cooldowns. she can be godlike in lategame fights or terrible, mostly depending on initiation/positioning.
EPT
