League of Legends Akali Champion Guide by CheezWhizX

7/28/2019 League of Legends Akali Champion Guide by CheezWhizX

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------------INTRODUCTION------------

Hello, I'm CheezWhizX. My ingame name is Vave and I've been playing League ofLegends since December 2009. I'm currently playing on the NA servers and reached1500 ELO during Season 2. Currently, I am 1700 ELO in Season 3. I've beenplaying Akali since she was released and have been playing her through all ofher buffs and nerfs. She's my favorite champion and that's why I'm writing aguide for her.

This guide is intended for people interested in learning how to play Akali. Iwill already assume you know the basic mechanics of League of Legends, whichincludes but isn't limited to: terminology, hotkeys, movement, and lasthitting. This guide will also assume you are Lv. 30, are able to afford therunes, and are fill out the mastery page completely. This guide is mainlyinteded for playing on the 5v5 map of Summoner's Rift, but can be applied tosome degree of success to Twisted Treeline and Dominion.

------------------------OVERVIEW OF THE CHAMPION------------------------

Akali is a high-risk but high-reward AP assassin. Akali has some of the highest

damage potential in the game, but risk is she has to go in melee range. Withher base stats being average-slightly above average across the board, goinginto melee range is dangerous for her. Luckily, she comes equipped with anarray of defensive tools, including stealth, an armor/magic resistance buff,and innate life steal and spell vamp. She also utilizes the Energy resourcewhich has it's benefits and drawbacks.

Akali has a good early game and decent lategame, but her true power lies withinher ability to completely dominate mid game. Typically, mid game is the pointwhere a lot of champions are still trying to farm up and obtain items in orderto play for the later game, but Akali is generally excluded from this. Her baseabilities' damage coupled with how well she can synergize with 1 or 2 itemsallows her to take on nearly any champion 1v1 and come out winning.

Akali is generally taken top, but recently has had a surge of popularity inplaying mid lane. Rarely, you can even see her in the jungle or in a kill lanebottom. This guide will be focusing on the top lane match-up.

----------BASE STATS----------

As of January 9th, 2013, Akali's base stats and abilities are as followed:


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HEALTH: 445 (+85 per level)HEALTH REGENERATION: 7.25 (+0.05 per level)ENERGY: 200ENERGY REGENERATION: 50RANGE: 125ATTACK DAMAGE: 53 (+3.2 per level)ATTACK SPEED: 0.694 (+3.1% per level)ARMOR: 16.5 (+3.5 per level)MAGIC RESISTANCE: 30 (+1.25 per level)MOVEMENT SPEED: 350

---------ABILITIES---------

PASSIVE - Twin Disciples

"Discipline of Force: Upon obtaining 19.5 ability power, Akali's auto attacksdeal 7.916% bonus magic damage, increasing by 1% for every 6 ability powergained thereafter. (This bonus damage affects all targets, includingstructures.)"

"Discipline of Might: Upon obtaining 9.5 bonus attack damage, Akali gains

7.916% spell vamp, increasing by an additional 1% for every 6 attack damagegained thereafter."

This passive is what allows Akali to synergize so incredibly well and output alot of single target damage with only 1 or 2 items. This passive provides herwith extra magic damage as well as spell vamp, which allows you to regeneratehealth when fighting or last hitting. However, the drawback to this passive isyou need to dedicate specific runes and masteries to Akali in order to activatethis passive at level 1.

Q - Mark of the Assassin

RANGE: 600

COOLDOWN: 6/5.5/5/4.5/4COST: 60 EnergyINITIAL MAGIC DAMAGE: 45/70/95/120/145 (+40% of AP)MAGIC DAMAGE AFTER HIT: 90/140/190/240/290 (+80% of AP)ENERGY RESTORE: 15/20/25/30/35

"Akali throws her kama at a target enemy, dealing magic damage and marking thetarget for 6 seconds. Akali's basic attacks or Crescent Slashes against amarked target will consume the mark, dealing the same damage again andrestoring energy to Akali."

Mark of the Assassin is Akali's bread and butter ability. This ability has amultitude of uses, such as last hitting, harassment in the top and mid lane, the

ability to spell vamp and thus regenerate health from it, and is her highestbursting skill. Luckily, with the way energy regeneration works, you are more orless able to spam this ability over and over without running out of energy. Theincredible scaling on this ability and it's rather high base damage is alsowhat let's Akali have such high damage potential.

W - Twilight Shroud

RANGE: 700COOLDOWN: 20


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COST: 80/75/70/65/60 EnergyBONUS ARMOR/MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10/20/30/40/50SLOW: 14%/18%/22%/26%/30%

"Akali creates a smoke cloud in the target 300-diameter area for 8 seconds.While within the cloud, Akali is granted stealth, and bonus armor and magicresistance. Attacking or using abilities reveals her for 0.5 seconds. Enemiesinside the smoke suffer slowed movement."

Twilight Shroud is Akali's only defensive ability, but it's really all sheneeds. Her ability to stealth on will is an incredible tool that allows her totrade really well early game when your opponents do not have the resources toafford a pink ward or Oracle's. This ability is also great for escapes andretreats, as well as keeping on the enemy via the slow. You always want to fightan enemy in the sdhroud if possible. An extra 10-50 armor and magic resistanceisnothing to scoff at. If you're able to, you'd also want to place the shroudrightbefore the enemy decides to harass you with an ability in order to take lessdamage.

E - Crescent Slash

RANGE: 325

COOLDOWN: 7/6/5/4/3COST: 60/55/50/45/40 EnergyPHYSICAL DAMAGE: 30/55/80/105/130 (+30% of AP) (+60% of AD)

"Akali flourishes her kamas, dealing physical damage and triggering any Marks ofthe Assassin on nearby enemies."

This ability used to be considered a waste of energy on Akali until they buffedit by allowing it to trigger Marks of the Assassin. Now, it's an essential partof her burst combo, as well as a good farming tool. A thing to note about thisability is that it's physical damage, meaning it's incredible hard to builddefensively against Akali due to her ability to output both magical and physicaldamage.

R - Shadow Dance

RANGE: 800COOLDOWN: 2/1.5/1COST: 1 Essence of ShadowNEW ESSENCE OF SHADOW EVERY: 25/20/15MAGIC DAMAGE: 100/175/250

"Akali uses an Essence of Shadow, dashing to and dealing magic damage to atargetenemy. Akali gains an Essence of Shadow periodically, affected by cooldownreduction, up to a maximum of 3. Additionally, Akali gains an Essence of Shadow

for each kill or assist she obtains."

This ability is what allows Akali to be the assassin she is. This abilityprovides a decent amount of damage, but more importantly allows Akali to chasedown her targets with incredible ease. Even better, the dash will reset upon akill or assist, potentially enabling Akali to ult around for a good amount oftime. This ability also allows her to juke extremely well via dashing to creepsor other enemy champions in order to escape. However, this ult has Akali dealwith another resource system, making it a bit tricky to handle.


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SKILL LEVELING BUILD:

R > Q > E > W

The reasoning behind this skill build is that Akali's job is to do damage, plainand simple. By maxing Q and E first over W, you maximize Akali's damagepotentialas early as possible. The stealth is really all you need out of W, the defensivebonuses are just a plus and the slow is redundant when you get your ultimate. Ofcourse, we take the ultimate at every point possible.

-----------------------------------RUNES & MASTERIES & SUMMONER SPELLS-----------------------------------

SUMMONER SPELLS:

FLASH

Flash is pretty much a required spell on everyone. It just has so many uses:Escaping, Getting over walls, Flashing out of abilities, etc.

IGNITE:

This adds a bit of true damage to your arsenal, but more importantly, it's useactivates the Summoner's Wrath mastery, which adds +5 AD and AP to you whenIgnite is on cooldown. This is usually what accompanies Flash.

TELEPORT:

In the top-lane, you're incredible far from bot lane, so having teleport on handto counteract a gank or dragon is an incredible tool.

CLEANSE:

Cleanse is very strong if you against a champion whose main damage source comes

after a hard CC, such as Jax or Kennen. You may want this if they have achampionwho is able to disrupt you in teamfights constantly, such as Amumu or Morgana.

EXHAUST:

If you find yourself facing a hard match-up with a heavy burster, Exhaust may bebeneficial if you can time it well. Otherwise, it isn't recommended to take thisover any of the above 4.

RUNE PAGE:

+26 ABILITY POWER

+175 HEALTH AT LV. 18+6.6 PHYSICAL DAMAGE+1.7 MAGIC PENETRATION

x7 Greater Marks of Damagex2 Greater Marks of Magic Penetrationx9 Greater Seal of Scaling Healthx9 Greater Glyph of Ability Powerx3 Greater Quintessance of Ability Power


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This is typically the rune page that most Akali players utilize. This is tomaximize Akali's damage potential by allowing her to activate both of herpassives at level 1. I personally utilize Health per level Seals mainly becauseAkali's base stats in both Magic Resistance and Armor aren't TOO bad, with theadded bonus of having bonus armor and magic resistance in her shroud. If youwant, you can switch out the Seals for whatever you like (such as flat Armor,flat Magic Resistance, etc.). It's really personal preference.

MASTERIES:

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OFFENSE TREE:

1/1 Summoner's Wrath4/4 Sorcery4/4 Blast1/1 Arcane Knowledge3/3 Havoc2/2 Brute Force1/1 Spellsword4/4 Archmage1/1 Executioner

DEFENSE TREE:

4/4 Durability1/3 Hardiness3/3 Resistance1/1 Veteran's Scars

This is my most utilized mastery build. This gives Akali a good amount ofoffensive power as well as giving her a bit of defense. The 2 points in BruteForce are especially important because that talent, coupled with the runesabove,allow Akali to activate Discipline of Might at level 1 without any items. Therunes chosen in the defense tree are interchangeable. Depending on your personal

preference and and lane match up, you may wish to go 3/3 in hardiness or 3/3 inPerseverance, the health regeneration mastery.

---

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OFFENSE TREE:

1/1 Summoner's Wrath4/4 Sorcery4/4 Blast1/1 Arcane Knowledge

3/3 Havoc2/2 Brute Force1/1 Spellsword4/4 Archmage1/1 Executioner

UTILITY TREE:

1/1 Summoner's Insight3/3 Wanderer


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1/1 Improved Recall3/3 Mastermind1/1 Biscuiteer

This mastery build is more for defensive purposes. You get a free potion at thestart of the game, as well as a faster recall and more movement speed. Also, ifyou enjoy utilizing Flash more often, this build shaves off around 40ish secondsoff the 300 second cooldown. Really, the masteries here can be changed around abit like putting points into the item active cooldown one. Overall, I wouldn'trecommend using this mastery build very often, since it's more technical andrequires a bit more knowledge of the game than if you're just learning.

----------ITEM BUILD----------

NOTE: There are no set item builds for ANY champion. This is just a guideline ofwhat you can build if the game is going smoothly without anything happening. Ifyou feel as though you need defensive items, don't try and rush that Rabadon'sDeathcap before a GA and so on.

STARTING ITEMS:

==============

Boots of Speedx3 Health Potions==================

This start is mainly if you need that extra movement speed to dodge skill shotsor you feel you don't need the extra sustain. This used to be the mandatorystartfor nearly all champions during Season 2, but Season 3 shifted some of themovement speed on this item to every champion's base movement speed, so thisisn't as mandatory. It's still the most preferable item if you are facingextremeburst damage, however.

=================Crystalline Flaskx5 Health Potionsx1 Sight Ward=============

This start is the safest start. It's great for anyone just learning to playAkaliand needs a crutch. This start provides an incredible amount of sustain as wellas an early ward to catch junglers with. It may seem like a waste to buyFlask when it regenerates mana, but it's still cost effective even if it onlyregenerates health. This combo is also great if you feel as though you're laningwith a strong early-game harasser.

===========Cloth Armorx5 Health Potions=================

This start is mainly for Akali in the top lane when she's facing a strong,physical harasser such as Jayce or Darius. The extra armor, however, usuallyisn't worth it compared to the Boots or Flask start, but if you feel you needit, it's always an option.


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==================x13 Health Potions

OR

x9 Health Potionsx2 Sight Wards==============

This start is basically an all or nothing start vs. heavy harassment. Whilethesestarts do provide an incredible amount of sustain (2500 or so extra health), ifyou fall behind with these items, it's going to be very difficult to climb backup.

EARLY GAME:

When you've farmed a bit and maybe even got a kill or two, you should go backand make your first purchases. Besides wards and health potions, here's a listof good items for your first buys. Of course, if you can't afford the item, youcan always buy the parts leading up the item.

CORE:

================Sorcerer's Shoes

OR

Mercury Treads==============

These are the two shoes you should be looking at to build as Akali. Sorcerer'sShoes are generally the to-go item as Magic Penetration is an incredible statforwhat it does and allows Akali to do even more damage. Mercury Treads are for

those situations where your opponent bought a pink ward and has enough CC tocounter your high burst with. It also provides a decent amount of magicresistance.

================Hextech Revolver================

This is a key item in Akali's build. Not only does it build into HextechGunblade, but it also provides a good amount of spell vamp and AP that allowsyouto sustain in lane even further, adding on to your passive.

EXTRA:

==============Haunting Guise==============

This item is ridiculously good early game if you can afford it. It has a goodamount of magic penetration (which is now much stronger due to Season 3 changes)and gives a bit of health and AP to boot. If you intend on snowballing hard orhaving the tankiness and damage output to trade well with the bruisers up to,


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consider buying this item.

===================Mejai's Soulstealer===================

If you're just running train on the enemy team as Akali, I recommend this item.This item is looked down upon for being a pubstomper item that literally isbasedoff snowballing, but that's essentially Akali. By no means is this item core onAkali, but consider that Mejai's becomes worth it's price with only 5 stacks.

MID GAME:

THis is the part where Akali starts to shine. All she really needs is one or twoitems to get going and being able to outburst nearly anyone in the game.Consider the following for those one or two items.

CORE:

================Hextech Gunblade================

This is, by far, the single best item on Akali in the game. It provideseverything that Akali needs: Burst, Spell Vamp, Lifesteal, AD, AP, and a Slow.It's ridiculous how well Akali can synergize with this item. This item should beyour first completed item with Akali.

EXTRA:

===============Abyssal Scepter===============

This item synergizes extremely well if you built Sorcerer's Shoes and/orHaunting

Guise. The magic resistance reduction that you provide can make you hit nearlytrue damage with your abilities. It also gives a good amount of AP and magicresistance. Consider building this vs. an AP-heavy team.

=================Deathfire's Grasp=================

This item makes Akali's burst insane. With this, your already strong burstbecomes strong enough to finish off anyone in 1-2 combos. If you're snowballinghard, consider this.

============

Twin Shadows============

This is a really underrated item in general. While it gives a decent amount ofmagic resistance and ability power, it's true strength lies in the movementspeed bonus and active. It's active sends out two ghosts that look for enemies,even through fog of war and not only reveal them, but slow them as well. Ifyou roam a lot as Akali, consider this item to make your roaming much stronger.


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LATE GAME:

Here is where Akali's power starts to diminish. She still has a strong burstoverall, but really everyone starts to have the damage and tankiness to contendwith her. Besides getting more of the above items, consider these to makelategame easier.

==================Rabadon's Deathcap==================

If you feel as though you aren't doing enough damage as Akali, this item easilydoubles your total AP and makes you hit like a truck. However, the Season 3nerf hit it hard and you may want to consider more defensive item options.

==================Zhonya's Hourglass==================

This is a great second buy if teamfights start to break out frequently. Beingable to jump into teamfights and burst their AD carry, then Zhonya's forinvincibility is incredible. The armor it offers is good for surviving well andit gives a good amount of AP. Personally, this is usually my second choice ofitem after Hextech.

==========Void Staff==========

With the way magic penetration was changed, Void Staff became much stronger.Withthis, you'll still be able to hit your opponents hard even if they build magicresistance. Coupled with Abyssal Scepter, Haunting Guise, and Sorcerer's Shoes,consider yourself to be doing true damage.

=======================Rylai's Crystal Scepter

=======================

This item makes Akali extremely tanky and basically ensures that her target willnever be able to get away. I find the slow redundant due to Twilight Shroud'sslow and her ability to stick on people regardless of their movement speed, butwho knows? You may need the extra tankiness to survive, especially in a metawhere high-health bruisers are running around.

=========Lich Bane=========

This item sounds like it synergizes well with Akali, so why is it not core?

That's mainly because the mana is wasted on Akali and her burst is alreadystrongenough without having to drop 3,000 gold on this item. But it does make herstronger and the movement speed bonus is always a plus.

================Guardian's Angel================

Akali is going to be in the middle of teamfights very often, so having a GA on


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hand to revive her is going to help a lot. The resistances aren't much, but evenif you revive at 30%, her ability to get back to full health via spell vamp andlife steal is incredible.

--------------LANE MATCH UPS--------------

========TOP LANE========

vs. Akali

This is a straight-up skill match up. Basically, whoever can get the first killusually wins the lane. Try getting an early Vision Ward to counteract herstealth.

vs. Cho'Gath

You want to take him out early and reach level 6 before he does if possible. Ifyou simply let Cho'Gath farm and turn the lane into a farm lane, he WILL scalemuch stronger than you going into lategame. Burst him down before he buys anydefensive items.

vs. Darius

This match-up is very rough for Akali. Darius has his AOE and pull to mess youup, even if you're in Twilight Shroud. Even at Lv. 6, Darius easily has theburst potential to put you down. Your jungler is really what makes or breaksthis match-up.

vs. Gangplank

This is a really easy match-up. His Parrrley does outrange your Mark of theAssassin, however, so be wary of that. Gangplang is really weak without items,however, so he's simply food for Akali at level 6.

vs. Garen

This is another match-up that Akali should dread. Not only does Garen's silenceprevent you from stealthing or jumping away, but his spin damage and executionult can easily kill you considering Akali's base armor. His innate sustain andincredible tankiness from his W also make him very hard to harass and burstdown.Do not expect to win this match-up without assistance from your jungler.

vs. Irelia

You're going to want to kill her early game, a lot. Without significant items,

Irelia ismuch less of a threat, but once she's able to start building tankier andtankier,do not consider yourself able to win 1v1 with her.

vs. Jarvan IV

This is another skill match-up. Jarvan has a lot of early game strength and agood amount of tankiness to back that up. While your ult CAN counter his ult byyour dashing away, you should be wary while fighting him.


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vs. Jax

Jax's ability to dodge prevents you from being able to burst him effectively.Notto mention his tankiness and straight insane-damage output. Don't expect to winthis lane very often. You're going to want to try and harass him with Mark ofthe Assassin as often as possible. Jax's only way to trade back is to jump onyou, which you can counter with stealth.

vs. Jayce

Another strong top-laner. I used to think Akali stomps Jayce, but now I see itmore of a skill match-up. Jayce's ranged early game will cripple you if youget anywhere near him. Luckily, your Mark outranges his ranged attacks, so abusethis to your advantage. Jayce isn't innately tanky either, so consider trying tokill him once you get your ult and before Jayce gets his AD items. Shadow Dashalso counters Jayce's only ways to to escape (his knockback and movement speedbonus), so keep that in mind.

vs. Kayle

This is a rather uncommon match-up because Kayle doesn't see much play. Earlygame, you do have the damage to straight-up kill Kayle, even if she ults. She

doesn't have the damage to fight back until she gets her items.

vs. Kennen

A battle of ninja. Kennen's incredible CC allows him to easily take-on Akali ina straight up fight. Unfortunately, all of his abilties can hit you despitestealth, so be wary stealthing near him.

vs. Kha'Zix

His burst is INSANE. In fact, I consider Kha'Zix one of the few champions abletooutburst Akali. If you can, try to hit Level 6 before he does. Kha'Zix needs a

few seconds to add a point in from his ultimate to his other skills, so try toexploit this.

vs. Lee Sin

Lee Sin straight up counters Akali. His damage and tankiness early game allowhimto easily trade with you and two of his abilities reveal you in stealth. He alsohas access to nearly as many ways to retreat as you do to chase him. Sit backand try to farm as much as possible.

vs. Malphite

Malphite's shield is annoying, but you can spam Mark all day against him. Hislevel 6 burst is something to be wary of, however.

vs. Mordekaiser

Before Mordekaiser gets any tanky items, he's pretty much food for Akali.Depending on his summoner spells, however, be careful trying to kill him atlevel6. His ult + ignite is a significant amount of damage and Akali doesn't have themeans to mitigate it very much.


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vs. Nasus

Nasus loses lane to practically everyone. Akali isn't an exception. Kill him asmuch as possible early game, because he can scale ridiculously into lategame.

vs. Nidalee

A skill match-up. Back in season 1, the best Akali (Westrice) and the bestNidalee (HotshotGG) faced off 1v1 and Hotshot ended up winning. There's beensignifcant changes to both champions since then. If Nidalee is smart and buildstanky vs. you, don't expect to be doing a lot of damage vs. her.

vs. Riven

Riven's kit allows her to fight Akali very well. Her on-demand stun can mitigateAkali's burst very well. Try harassing her from ranged and going for the killwhen she's low.

vs. Olaf

Another hard match-up. Because of how Olaf can straight build health, the onething that can nerf Akali's burst hard, he ends up being a hard match-up. Counton your jungler for this one.

vs. Pantheon/Renekton

You're not going to fight either of these two unless you're absolutely sure youcan 100-0 them quickly. They both have abilities that cut through your stealth,stuns to keep you in place, and gap closers to make harassing from ranged not apossibility. Another one to count on your jungler for.

vs. Rengar

An easy match-up since Rengar's nerfs. He doesn't have the damage to put youdownor the tankiness to stop you from bursting him.

vs. Rumble

Hard match-up with all of Rumble's abilities. However, he relies on sustainwhileyou rely on burst. You CAN outburst him, but don't expect to win any fights ifthe fight drags on.

vs. Shen

His tankiness and damage output early game as strong and unfortunately, you donot have any abilities to shut down his Stand United. This lane will probablyturn to a farm lane unless you can lane a kill on him.

vs. Singed

One of Akali's easiest match-ups. You simply crush him early game enough so thathe's unable to work his way into lategame. He has no signicant abilities thatoutdamage you, so feel free to kill him as much as you can.

vs. Teemo

Another easy match-up, although this can rely on the skill of the Teemo. Try


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this time to roam around. Push your lane hard and constantly be on the move.Moveto mid and bot. Even your mere presence can force a lane to miss CS if the lanepushed to your side's towers. Akali can reach some incredible damage ranges withonly 1-2 items, so farming isn't as important for you as, say, the AD carry. Icannot stress this enough, you want to roaming around as Akali. I've seen toomany Akalis that don't push their kill advantages to other lanes or don'trealizethat even if they're behind in their lane, they can go to other lanes and stillkill them.

Lategame is where you make it or break it as a great Akali. Being able to divetheir AD carry and make it out alive is a miracle in itself. However, if you cantrade yourself for their farmed AD carry, go for it. This may leave you dead,butthis leaves your team with an AD carry and the enemy team AD carry-less.

----------LAST WORDS----------

Hopefully you have learned a bit more on playing Akali today. I do plan toexpandthis guide more, such as going more in-depth on match-ups and the playstyles of

mid Akali, when I do have the time. If I did make any mistakes, please messagemeand I'll try my best to fix it. Thank you for taking the time out of your day toread my guide!

CREDITS:

-http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/League_of_Legends_Wiki

For having a good amount of in-depth info on Akali and all the other champions,including their base damages, base stats, ratios, etc.

-http://na.leagueoflegends.com/

For being a great game. Special thanks to the forums for having odd bits ofinfo,like general opinions on lane match-ups and various graphs and charts!

-http://www.gamefaqs.com

For hosting this guide!

Documents

League of Legends Akali Champion Guide by CheezWhizX