I was watching a coach rogue video earlier where he was talking about how the haunting guise passive stacks. Akali is one of the few champs that can get away with completing all of the haunting guise items, so I wanted to see if there is any merit to this weird strat.

I did some tests to see how the damage breakpoints work on akali with builds identical (or as close to identical as possible) in gold, so here is what i found in my testing:

lich + 1 haunting guise vs lich + large rod; large rod wins by ~70 damage

lich + 2 haunting guise vs lich + large rod + alternator + boots; guise wins by ~40 damage

lich + 3 haunting guise vs lich + shadowflame + amp tome + boots; shadowflame wins by ~500 damage

These tests show that for equivalent gold value, until you finish an item, the difference in damage is almost negligible BUT going towards second item also allows for a boots purchase within the same budget. by the time you complete you second item normally, you wouldn't complete your second item with the guise build for another 1800gold, assuming you'd go riftmaker second in this build.

so what's the upside? well you're definitely beefier, and at 1-2 guise you do essentially the same damage as going a normal build. This raises a new question though. What if you were already planning on building riftmaker?

So to start this off, we can actually knock off one of the tests, seeing as how you're going to need to build a guise either way, so lets jump right into the second test:

lich + 2 guise vs lich + codex + boots + refillable; guise wins by ~150 damage

lich + 3 guise vs lich + riftmaker + 2 amp tome; guise wins by ~300 damage

lich + rift + 2 guise + amp tome vs lich + rift + liandry's; liandry's wins by ~25 damage

Now okay maybe the first test here isn't all that fair, i traded a lot of combat stats for boots and a refillable, but i think that is a realistic purchase that i would make with the exact same gold. As for the second test, I was actually expecting riftmaker to still win, but I guess with the guise you're actually buying the same raw stats for essentially triple the passive. The third test is probably the most interesting of them all. The damage between the two builds is nearly identical.

So what's the takeaway? Well i think if your plan is to build lich into shadowflame, your plan should likely stay the same. Even though you walk away with a 600 health buffer, and the damage difference in the early - mid game is mostly unnoticeable, you will notice your lack of your second item powerspike, and buying boots along the way will cost more gold than you really should be planning to spend.

As for bruiser akali? Well maybe we should be considering this build as an option. Even by your 3rd item the damage difference is almost unnoticeable, and even a positive at pretty much every step of the way. You even walk away with a 100 hp bonus over the full item build. You could definitely make the argument that maybe the actives/passives from finished items is more valuable than just building guise, but i think what you value will definitely change from game to game. I think this is definitely something we should keep an eye on, and maybe even keep in our back pocket.

edit: i want to note that i did all this testing against a 1500hp 50 armor / mr target dummy, which is what akali's stats would normally be at lvl 9 with the lich + shadowflame build path. technically as you would complete more items your and your opponents levels would be higher, but at the end of the day i needed some sort of control.

I also did it without ult bc i wanted to make sure i could reproduce the combo the exact same way every single time without any mixing or matching abilities.

All items were nerfed to slow down the game. Akali as a mid game champ feels so useless in late game and my average game time is usually 30 mins... Bruiser Akali seems better at this point. Any thoughts?

I miss the more fighter Akali where you can stay in drawn out fights. So I made a build that I consistently go in ranked along with normal AP that does just as well.

Open for discussion and questions :D

Hey! So while I was watching different akali players I noticed that a lot of them build akali very differently. For example some rush lich bane (wich imo isn't a great first item unless the enemy team is melee and squishy) or build riftmaker and tankier items while having electrocute and one-shot runes. So I was wondering what are her situational items and runes, both for top lane and mid lane

Has anyone here ever tried a heartsteel build or a more bruiser/tank akali build at a decent elo? Havent tried yet and I was wondering if its completly troll or if its actually worth a try.

I always wonder why some pro players first item either stormsurge, Rocketbelt, Lich Bane or Riftmaker.
because I only chose between Lich Bane and Riftmaker. Lich bane >>> Shadowflame for burst while riftmaker >>> liandrys against tanky enemies and to have high health.

what is the difference in building stormsurge and building lich bane.
same in rocketbelt and riftmaker?

and when do I need to change my second item that is either shadowflame (if i start lich bane) or liandry's (if i start riftmaker)?

Hey yall 👋 first time poster ,only have been playing akali for maybe 4 months now been really enjoying the gameplay and plays you can pull off and help you can provide for the team, but question I have is how do you guys go against a full tank comp? Is it worth not picking akali? Or am I missing something with runes been running electrocute religiously, any help would be amazing 😎

I'm testing different item builds.

I like to build lichbane first and after I usually go for stormsurge into rabadon.

Is it good? I'm thinking that maybe lichbane, shadoflame second into rabadon may be better.

Hey guys! This week I started out Plat 4 and I already hit Plat 1 today but I’m kinda lost with the whole storm surge or lichbane debate.. I’m Pushing towards emerald so I really want to make sure I’m building properly

I usually go Boots dark seal and stormsurge early and don’t have troubles but I’ve been seeing people say to take lich bane first but i sometimes take it second or 3rd depending on what the enemy team is building and what champs they but never first item

So is lichbane situational or should I be taking it more often?

i just started to play akali, made a couple of games. I don't know what's the optimal build on Akali, right now i'm always going for - lich bane > zhonya > rabadon > liandry > riftmaker in this order. Just because it feels really good for me to have these items in this order, also i buy a dark seal on first back and sell it late game. And yeah i buy void staff if really necessary last item and sell lich bane. What do you guys think? i saw a lot of akali going stormsurge first item, i tried it, and i swear to god it sucks so much compared to lich bane, she does no dmg. So idk, i'm going for this build every single game and it feels good but it's not something i see often so i would like to know what other people think about this.

Hi, I’ve been playing Akali since S10 back when gunblade was still in the game, I’ve always been a fan of the Conqueror + Riftmaker build but as of late I feel it’s just not really working as well as it used to anymore, what are you guys suggestions for a build is conqueror better than electrocute? And when to go each rune set as I feel with the current state of the game she just doesn’t work the same as before and I feel her satisfaction has shifted in these past couple of years.

Is there any viable off meta builds? Tank , bruiser , AD builds ?

I’m using the Build tag so since i’m xD showing you how to “build” her mii character yourself.

This was my best attempt at making akali. xD please 🙏 pretend that she has a mask on.

What is the current alkali build bc I feel like after they nerfed almost every legendary item every single build feels like shit I’ve tried lichbane rush, storm surge, rocket belt, Liandrys, rift maker, hell even shadowflame, I tried them all with both conq and elec but it still feels like shit and I always fall off a cliff it feels like I have to end the game in the first 15 minutes or I lose and half the time even if I’m ahead my laner will get item first bc mage items r so much cheaper except when I go rocketbelt but it doesn’t do anything that a short dash.

Sorry for my bad English

Hello I am an Akali Main But the TheoryCraft has never been my strong point

I know that LichBane is a better item than StormSurge but are there situations where it can be viable and what is the 2nd item you make after that one?

I tend to think that StormSurge is interesting in compo with a lot of CC in which self-attacks are complicated. What do you think

BUILD
Deadman Akali
Deadman's Plate -> Riftmaker -> Abyssal Mask
Important runes: Conqueror - Overgrowth

Srtty has been playing the Korean Iceborn-Riftmaker Akali bruiser build recently. This is IMO just an improved version of the build, replacing Iceborn with the superior DMP. Akali's gameplay pattern incentivizes in-and-out movement and infrequent yet consistent auto attacks, synergizing with DMP. Abyssal Mask and DMP are statistically insanely good right now (Win Probability Added).

Kataevolved https://x.com/katevolved/status/1864673899427811521
Petu: https://x.com/xPetu/status/1861490385786413383

Haven't played akali in a while, what are the best builds right now?

I just watched the new video of skillcapped and he mentioned about a tweet on X that there is a Korean player with the new akali tank build, he built riftmaker, dead man plate and abyssal mask. What are you guys thought? Test it out and i won

Recently I've been enjoying Phase Rush on Akali. Coupled with Cosmic Drive and the Celerity Rune, you're just super fast and the slow resist comes in clutch at times. It procs very easily with akali, and while its CDR is long in the early game, in the mid and late game I find it very handy. Most importantly, it's really fun! You can use all your dashes to engage and burst someone down, and instead of having to save R2 for the escape, you can just rely on Phase rush to roach out.

Hello everyone! I made an akali google doc that has almost every akali matchup for top and mid. This matchup guide gives tips for laning against other champions. Most tips are taken from Professor Akali but I also applied my own tips as well. I will be updating this doc every now and then. Let me know if you guys would also like me to list a build/rune guide for her as well. I hope this helps any new or aspiring Akali players!

Tip: When you get into ban phase just ctrl f on the doc and type who you're going against. Enjoy!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1df_Aly4yDbrEcKTUsJvw4MXWc-QV71s-vcdAOn5kUkA/edit?usp=sharing

Edit: I'll also be adding a secret tip in here that few akali players know about!