Annie vs Akali
Skill matchup
You are stronger late game. Farm safe and avoid early trades.
Build vs Akali
Build adapted to this matchup
Recommended items for Annie: Malignance, Hextech Rocketbelt, Shadowflame, Sorcerer's Shoes, Stormsurge, Dark Seal, Zhonya's Hourglass, Rabadon's Deathcap.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Akali's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Dealing spell damage to a champion creates a ring of energy around them. Exiting that ring empowers Akali's next Attack with bonus range and damage.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1.5s | 20s | 16s | – |
| 6 | 1.5s | 20s | 16s | 2m |
| 9 | 1.5s | 19s | 16s | 2m |
| 11 | 1.5s | 18s | 16s | 1m30 |
| 16 | 1.5s | 16s | 13s | 1m |
| 18 | 1.5s | 16s | 10s | 1m |
Playing as Annie
Tips to maximize your impact
- Farm with Disintegrate
Last-hit minions with Disintegrate (Q): if the target dies, the spell refunds its mana and its cooldown is halved.
- Stack your stun with your shield
Stack Pyromania (passive) with Molten Shield (E): after 4 spells, your next offensive spell stuns, without you having to step forward.
- Tibbers with your stun ready
Cast Summon: Tibbers (R) on a group when Pyromania (passive) is ready, after a Flash if needed: the summon then stuns the enemies hit.
- Control Tibbers
Recast Summon: Tibbers (R) to direct Tibbers: he burns nearby enemies, and each stun you land on a champion makes him enraged and faster.
Playing against Akali
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Trade after her smoke
Take a trade once Twilight Shroud (W) is used: she can't vanish again until its 20 to 16 second cooldown is over.
- Play hard before she hits 6
Play hard before she hits level 6: without Perfect Execution (R), her only spell to get back on you is Shuriken Flip (E), on a 16 to 10 second cooldown.
- Fire into her smoke
If you have AoE spells or skillshots, throw them into the Twilight Shroud (W) smoke: they hit her even while she's invisible, whereas targeted spells can't be cast on her.
- Punish her when she's low on energy
Take a trade when she has just cast Five Point Strike (Q) several times: each cast costs 110 to 70 energy depending on rank, from a base pool of 200.
- Hit her between her two dashes
Hit her right after the first dash of Perfect Execution (R): she has to wait a moment before she can cast the second.
Other Annie matchups
Patch 16.21.1