User blog comment:Ozuar/The 9 Health Potion Argument/@comment-5686533-20130423082609/@comment-3308937-20130423115000

That usually ends up being the main problem with 9 pots, especially in mid lane. Champs just can't keep expending the mana and risking the cooldown to keep someone down who has 9 pots.

Akali is a common abuser of the 9 pot start, due to the fact she has no mana she doesn't have to worry about mana costs or going oom so she can stay in lane pretty much until her health pots run out while the enemy laner has to constantly pump out mana in an uphill battle against pots.

Now this wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to consider that Akali's 1-6 being weak is what makes her balanced in lane. With 9 pots she can basically power through her weak-points and slide easily into the terror that she is known to be after level 6 with no real counters (pre-6 you're not going to be able to nuke her from full every time she comes into lane).

Restricting the amount of pots you can hold at once means that Akali can still run potions and stall out 1-6 but she won't be impossible to harass out of lane. Sure it'll still be difficult (as it used to be in top lane with cloth+5 pots) but at least now it will be attainable.