How to counter reworked Akali

New Akali may not be very good this patch, but it’s never too early to think about how to beat her eventual buffs. Thankfully, there are a few champions who really excel at against her particular brand of stealthy play.

Right now, Akali’s win rate — in plat and above — is somewhere around 40 percent, according to u.gg. That puts her in the lower end of assassins but not too far out of line with their usual expectations. As a higher finesse class of champions, it’s natural that assassins would have a lower win rate, but that doesn’t make them easy to play against. So in hopes of helping players out, we’ve got a list of good champions to play against League’s newest assassin.

As a general rule, any champion who can lock Akali down when she rushes them and has good AOE skillshots to hit her in her Twilight Shroud are going to be great against Akali, but here are some specific examples.

Annie

Annie has always been the perfect assassin counter. Despite being a mage, Annie excels at close-range fighting and odds are, if you get caught by her stun you probably aren’t getting out alive and Akali is no different. On top of that, she’s great at counter Akali’s shroud because she can use both Tibbers and her W to hit Akali when she can’t be targeted, giving Annie all the tools she needs to deal with the assassin.

Lissandra

Riot Games

The reasons for this pick aren’t much different from Annie except that they require a little less set up. Lissandra also has skills shots to deal with Twilight Shroud, but she can also simply walk up and use her W to root Akali in place. If worst comes to worst and Akali is flying toward Lissandra a quick Glacial Path in the opposite direction, or even a Frozen Tomb, will make short work of the whole situation.

Vladimir

Vlad’s always had a pretty big advantage over melee champions in lane, so this choice shouldn’t come as a surprise. With his E, Vlad can deal damage to Akali no matter where she is hiding, and even if things get a little too spicy for him, safety is just one Sanguine Pool away. Along with all of that, his Q is actually damaging enough — and cheap enough to cast — that he can keep Akali from ever getting comfortable in lane or even using her Five Point Strike to farm effectively.

Between these three champions, there should be an effective counter to Akali within almost anyone’s play style. So even if she isn’t strong now, you should know exactly what to play against her when she gets a few buffs. Unless, of course, you are a marksmen player, then you’re on your own.