Counter Guide

How to Beat Akshan

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

Akshan swings around a wall shooting you the whole way, and if he kills whoever just killed his teammate, that teammate gets back up.

He's miserable to lane against because he never has to stand still to deal damage. Every attack fires a second shot (it's a weaker shot that still adds up), the swing keeps him moving while he shoots, and his ultimate finishes anyone he's already chipped down. He's got a soft spot, though. Almost everything he does is a projectile or a dash, and there's a whole set of champions built to punish both. If you're deciding whether he's worth a ban, check where he sits on our solo queue tier list this patch.

Matchup Snapshot Akshan, the Rogue Sentinel

Where You Meet HimMid lane

Damage TypeMostly physical

Why He Is FrustratingShoots while he swings

MobilityA wall swing and camouflage

Biggest ThreatComeuppance [R]

Hardest CounterVex

What a Counter Needs

Crowd control that lands while he's mid-swing, which drops him out of it
An answer to projectiles, since his attacks and his ultimate are all bullets

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Akshan on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Akshan

Vex561 games57.0%
Yasuo1,130 games56.3%
Diana453 games55.4%
Ekko539 games53.2%
Lissandra527 games52.9%

Picks Akshan Beats

Mel450 games46.7%
LeBlanc760 games47.0%
Orianna461 games47.3%
Akali822 games47.8%

Win rates are for the champion listed, in the mid lane against Akshan. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 23,993 Akshan games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Akshan Overview

Strengths: What Makes Him Dangerous

Heroic Swing [E] is an escape that keeps firing. He hooks a wall and swings around it, shooting the nearest enemy every 0.2 seconds. A champion takedown drops its cooldown to half a second (so one kill buys him a second swing).
Comeuppance [R] executes. He locks on for up to 2.5 seconds while storing bullets, and each bullet hits harder the more health you're missing. He can walk the whole time.
Going Rogue [W] brings teammates back. Anyone who kills one of his allies gets marked, and if Akshan takes that champion down, the fallen ally is revived.
He disappears near walls. The camouflage from Going Rogue [W] lasts as long as he's hugging terrain or sitting in brush (out in the open it's gone after two seconds).

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

The swing breaks on crowd control. A root or a stun during Heroic Swing [E] knocks him down, and he stops if he runs into a champion.
Everything he fires is a projectile. His attacks, Avengerang [Q] and every Comeuppance [R] bullet can be blocked.
His ultimate hits the first thing in the way. A minion between you and Akshan eats the bullets meant for you.
Going untargetable ends the lock-on. Comeuppance [R] cancels outright, and a silence stops the channel too (he gets no bullets out at all).

Countering Akshan

Any of these will do. You don't need all of them:

Punish the swing. A root or a stun while he's hooked to a wall takes the escape away and leaves him stuck next to you.
Stop the bullets. Anything that blocks projectiles blanks his damage, ultimate included.
Fight him away from walls. Heroic Swing [E] needs terrain to hook, and without it he's a short-range marksman who can't dash.

Stuck in the matchup without one? It's still playable.

Playing Into Akshan Without a Counter

When Comeuppance [R] locks on, you've got a couple of seconds before the bullets come (he can fire early, but the volley's smaller). Step behind your own minions. The shots hit the first champion, minion or structure in their path, so a caster minion in the right place takes the whole volley.

Don't give up the side of the lane with the wall on it. He swings off terrain (a wall behind you is his route in), and if you're standing in the path of the swing, it stops when he hits you.

Ward the brush near mid, too. He'll sit in it camouflaged for as long as he likes, and you won't know he's there.

Best Akshan Counters

Three picks, three different ways of shutting him down. Take the one that suits how you play mid.

Vex Feeds Off Every Dash

Vex's passive marks any nearby enemy who dashes or blinks with Gloom, and her next attack or ability on a marked target detonates it for bonus magic damage while shaving a quarter off her fear's cooldown. Heroic Swing [E] is a dash, so every swing Akshan takes near her feeds her next combo.

The fear side of that passive is what ends his escape. Her empowered ability knocks enemies down and makes them flee, and a knocked-down Akshan comes off the wall mid-swing. Personal Space [W] even reaches a bit further against enemies who are dashing (which he usually is).

Yasuo Walls Off the Bullets

Wind Wall [W] destroys every enemy projectile that touches it for four seconds. For Akshan that's close to everything he's got: his attacks, his boomerang, and the stored-up volley from Comeuppance [R]. Throw it the moment the lock-on starts and the ultimate he's spent two seconds charging vanishes into it (and it's gone for a long while after).

Yasuo also doesn't have to walk into Akshan's range in a straight line. Sweeping Blade [E] dashes through minions, so he can close on a 500-range champion who'd rather kite him (and in mid there's always a wave to use).

Lissandra Freezes Him Mid-Swing

Lissandra's got two answers in one ultimate. Cast on Akshan, Frozen Tomb [R] knocks him down and stuns him for 1.5 seconds, and that ends a swing on the spot. Cast on herself, it puts her in stasis for 2.5 seconds, and Comeuppance [R] cancels when its target can't be targeted. Ring of Frost [W] roots everything close to her as well, so a swing that passes near her ends there. It's a short radius, though (you'll want him coming to you).

Itemizing Against Akshan

Plated Steelcaps take 10% off every attack, and Akshan's attacks come in pairs, so they're worth more here than usual. Frozen Heart cuts the attack speed of every champion near you by 20%. Seeker's Armguard and Zhonya's Hourglass both put you in stasis for 2.5 seconds, and a Comeuppance [R] aimed at someone in stasis simply cancels. Armguard's the cheap version (it breaks after one use) if you need it early.