At the very beginning of the 2022 season, a seemingly “game-breaking” yet incredibly powerful playstyle known as Akali with Turbocharged Chemtech Armor emerged. Notably, a slew of top-tier players such as ShowMaker, Knight, Caps, Bjergsen… have continuously “spammed” this playstyle in solo queue. In fact, the win rate of Turbocharged Chemtech Armor on Akali far outstrips that of other items. So what makes this playstyle so powerful?
Typically, assassin champions in League of Legends do not benefit much from stats like health, armor, or magic resist as they do not provide additional damage. However, Akali is quite a special case, as her playstyle leans more towards that of a fighter rather than a pure assassin. Especially with the use of the Conqueror rune, Akali gains both additional damage and survivability in team fights to disrupt the enemy team’s formation.
Turbocharged Chemtech Armor is the perfect tool to help Akali become more “tanky,” easily stack Conqueror, and “shake up” team fights. Moreover, with the built-in movement speed boost from Turbocharged Chemtech Armor, Akali can fully utilize her abilities to deal damage instead of sacrificing one of them to approach her opponents.
However, the most frightening aspect of the Akali Turbocharged Chemtech Armor playstyle is that it addresses this champion’s laning weaknesses. Keep in mind that with the changes to Teleport, Akali can no longer teleport to the side lanes early on to “clean up kills” and use that gold to dominate opponents in the same lane.
Instead, by utilizing the Bami’s Cinder, Akali gains additional health and can clear minion waves extremely quickly without exhausting too many resources. With the nerf targeting Q – Five Point Strike when leveling up energy costs at early levels, clearing minion waves has always been a challenge for players. By taking advantage of Bami’s Cinder and then upgrading to Turbocharged Chemtech Armor, this issue has been completely resolved.
Regarding the rune setup for Akali, you should opt for the Conqueror rune along with the Presence of Mind, Legend: Tenacity, and Last Stand. In the secondary tree, 2 points in Bone Plating and Transcendence are recommended to ensure Akali’s safe laning phase. Even for the small rune points, you should select those that provide additional health.
When it comes to itemization, Turbocharged Chemtech Armor is the item you need to prioritize to ensure Akali’s ability to engage and be tanky. The next two items you should aim for are the Rylai’s Crystal Scepter and the Shadowflame. With the significant health from these items, Akali will gain a lot of ability power from the passive of Rylai’s Crystal Scepter to compensate for not using a magical Mythic item.
In summary, Akali with Turbocharged Chemtech Armor is a playstyle that makes Akali more resilient in team fights and addresses the champion’s laning weaknesses. If you want to “spice things up” with Akali, this is a playstyle definitely worth trying.