The reworked Akali was chosen five times last week in the North American and European LCS regions, with varying results. In Europe, she was selected in three consecutive games on Sunday and won all of them, while in NA she lost both of her games. Her overall win rate in both regions is 60 percent, which is much higher than her solo queue win rate of 41.34 percent according to champion.gg.
So why is Akali performing better in professional play?
Azir Syndrome
Azir and Ryze are two difficult champions in League of Legends. Despite their low win rates in solo queue, they are incredibly strong in professional play due to their high skill ceilings. If Riot were to buff them for solo queue, they would become the only mid lane champions picked in competitive play.
Akali seems to suffer from a similar problem. Her kit is challenging to use effectively, and she doesn’t play like a typical assassin. She can’t flank as well as Talon or Ahri and needs to position herself differently in fights to maximize her damage. Professional players, who have dedicated hours to playing her, have a significant advantage when it comes to understanding her playstyle.
Communication
In most of the games she was played last weekend, Akali was used as a powerful split pusher who could apply pressure and escape quickly using her ultimate and Twilight Shroud, similar to old Akali. In solo queue, especially at lower ranks, players don’t have the communication necessary to play around split pushing.
Additionally, a lack of vision control in lower ranks makes it much harder to avoid getting caught when in a side lane. Pushing out side waves is risky when you’re alone and can’t receive backup if the enemy team sends multiple members to deal with you. Without wards, this playstyle becomes even scarier and often leads to the split pusher getting caught and killed.
Akali’s win rate in solo queue will likely improve as players become more familiar with her unique kit. However, in competitive play, she should be an instant ban against top-tier mid laners, similar to how Azir and Ryze were last year.
Akali, reworked Akali, win rate, professional play, Azir Syndrome, difficult champions, League of Legends, skill ceilings, solo queue, Ryze, playstyle, communication, splitpushing, vision control, side lanes, wards, win rate improvement