Garen vs Akali

Garen

54.5%

over 784 games

Akali

Analyze a draft with Garen

Skill matchup

Heavy AP damageHigh burstDive threatSplit push

Build vs Akali

Build adapted to this matchup

Starting items

—

Core build

1—

2—

3—

Standard

4AS

5—

Summoner spells

91%

Anti CC

4vs CC

Other options

—

50.8% WR122 games

Precision

Conqueror

Triumph

Legend: Haste

Last Stand

Sorcery

Axiom Arcanist

Celerity

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Akali's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Assassin's Mark (P)

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 Garen

Tips to maximize your impact

Silence, spin, back off
Trade with Decisive Strike (Q), then Judgment (E), and back off: the Decisive Strike silence stops your opponent from answering with spells.
Stay closest to your opponent
During Judgment (E), stay closer to your opponent than to their minions: the nearest enemy takes extra damage.
Back off to regenerate
After a trade, back off until Perseverance (passive) kicks in: without recent damage taken, you regenerate part of your health every second.
Courage just before impact
Activate Courage (W) just before the bulk of the damage: you first gain a shield and tenacity, then a longer damage reduction.
Save your R to finish
Save Demacian Justice (R) to finish: its true damage grows with the target's missing health.

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 Garen matchups

Patch 16.21.1