Akali/Strategy

Skill usage

 * The buff lasts longer than the cooldown, allowing  to cast a  followed by . Finishing with another  allows for extremely high bursts of damage.
 * Due to the low cooldowns of abilities, the constant usage of  can easily make sure her energy issues are dealt with. This also applies to healing early game, due to her innate spell vamp.
 * The movement speed reduction of can be used offensively to provide cover and to allow her to chain skill combos on the enemy more quickly, but it can also be used defensively to prevent drawing enemy focus during team fights and to provide aid in retreating after a team fight or running from a gank.
 * is great for running from enemies in the jungle, especially near a brush, and can also be used for checking brushes for enemies as the stealth allows you to check the brush effectively without getting caught.
 * Using followed by  to go over a wall can effectively confuse enemies and following up with a  will create distance between enemies in pursuit allowing an easy escape.
 * is great for farming gold by last hitting enemies with it and pushing lanes as it deals AoE damage.
 * Once you hit your first 3 stacks of, look around the map for an easy gank. This is the time where starts to truly shine.
 * If an enemy is too far from your range, you can use onto a hostile minion to "bounce" from them, allowing you to get closer to your target.

Build usage

 * Starting off with a or  is useful because it will activate her passive . The alternative is activating one or both halves of her passive with runes and/or masteries.
 * Akali can deal a massive amount of burst damage with combined with her passive and auto-attacking an enemy with the.
 * Runes and masteries can be utilized in order to immediately activate her innate. Combined with mastery and,  may, with base 15 ability power and a , get both Disciplines up at level 1. This can be helpful if you want to start with  and  instead of choosing a passive to start with.
 * Without the necessary runes and masteries (because to effectively use Akali to her fullest potential, Akali needs her own specific rune page), is a good choice for a starting item, due to the added health and AD to activate your passive.
 * Purchasing early can make you really powerful late game if you are able to earn a decent number of kills without dying. Though this is extremely beneficial, it is situational, relying on your early game performance and continued success.
 * combined with is beneficial early game for greater lane sustainment.
 * is a great item choice for Akali for the added AP boost, as well as built-in life steal and spell vamp. It is usually built as a luxury or situational item.
 * is a great item to get because the slow is applied with her and  allowing her to stick to her target better and reducing the chance that he/she gets away. The health also helps keep her alive longer during a teamfight or a small skirmish.
 * does not suit most of Akali's play-styles. She usually deals her damage in large bursts and has trouble keeping the stacks up. When played as a burst champion, she rarely auto-attacks, so stacks will not be built up after her energy is low and abilities are on cooldown. An item that suits her quick-strike play-style would be better.

Countering

 * When uses ,she is very vulnerable because she will use  to hide and wait for her abilities to come off cooldown.  Having a  or  will make her vulnerable and easier to take down.

Gameplay

 * is most effective when making quick kills. The longer she has to stick around in a fight the more susceptible she is of taking a heavy amount of damage.
 * She isn't as effective against durable opponents because of her low base health and that she is a champion that has to burst a target down quickly.
 * After burst, she has to wait for her cooldowns in order to deal her burst damage again, which takes a while, even with cooldown runes and masteries. If fighting against her, use this time to take her down.
 * When you are chasing her, make sure you are aware of the amount of HP you have, due to the fact that she can nuke quite easily and score another kill on you.
 * Against an, play more offensively until she reaches level 6; try to deny her early game, as she usually has the advantage once she gets her.
 * As against any stealth champion, an is a nice counter to.

Champion Spotlight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8UjQ_hYfh4