IntroductionImage by Riftbound ReportIf you'd like to check out more about Riftbound Report, click here.Akali's kit has been completely revealed, and it's clear she has everything to become one of the best legends in the game.She is in powerful colors and has interesting combat effects and powerful units, so she could inspire great, dynamic midrange strategies, similar to Irelia lists.Akali - Rogue AssassinThis was the first card in this set we had access to, though this only happened because it was leaked. Akali is Vendetta's main character: she is all over the promo artworks. So, it is no surprise she is this strong. The idea is to get the people interested in this set.However, at first she looked bad, as in, too slow and somewhat "weird", considering her effect.As new cards were revealed, though, we noticed that Akali has everything to become one of the most powerful archetypes this season. Mainly because of the many interesting synergies that we can set up with her effect, which returns a unit in a showdown, and the other cards in her kit.Her Empower effect is a bit slow, but it is extremely strong at the end of the game. After a lot of testing, it's clear this effect works as a "win-more condition", that is, a card that helps you win matches you would have already won.Her colors are really interesting, as in, they're the most aggressive color in the game and the most defensive color in the game. Like so, the units in Akali lists will always have the advantage in showdowns.And so, as Riftbound is all about showdowns, Akali has everything to become the best strategy in the game when the matter is "beating" enemy units.Akali - SilentThis card is really powerful, and it can only be removed in showdowns, which makes it very resilient. She'll force the opponent to face her directly if they want to remove her from play.Control decks and decks centered around removals that avoid direct combat, like Viktor and Lux, will struggle a lot against this card. Akali will certainly "dodge" many removal spells and make many cards in the opponent's hand unusable.This card and the next card we'll see will be your main picks for the champion zone. One suggestion we have if you want to play Akali is to play both of them. Play Akali - Silent when you're going first and red Akali when you're going second.Akali - Deadly WeaponThis is the best unit for your legend's effect. It's a great option to put in play when you're going second.This card enables excellent strategies. With it, you'll be able to attack a battlefield multiple times to deal damage to enemy units that are being protected by an enemy "tank". You'll remove the tank with it before you target the defender.In other words, Akali - Deadly Weapon can remove specific targets in the back row.Once you activate her Empower, she'll have 6 Might, and this will only cost you 5 energy and 1 Power. These are pretty good stats, considering you can activate Empower bit by bit.Overall, it's a pretty interesting unit. You'll probably play several copies of it in the main deck, and it will be your main way to deal damage.Shuriken FlipThis spell is really similar to Sett's signature spell because of its cost, speed, and effect. The difference is that, in this case, you'll deal damage to an enemy unit on a battlefield and then move an allied unit anywhere, not necessarily where the showdown took place.It will make Akali lists very rich, strategically speaking, as they could work as a red version of Irelia decks. This dynamic allows you to hoard resources on a single unit, attack with it, and then move it several times, protecting it with your combat spells and counters.Furthermore, you can cast this spell from your trash with Flow, which will make this deck more complex and consistent. You'll be able to reuse this resource whenever necessary.What to Expect From This ArchetypeAs we mentioned, red and green make for very dynamic and aggressive archetypes, full of combat tricks, support spells, counters, and removals.Akali will enter the meta with the best answers for certain strategies, like Thermo Beam, Vilemaw, Defy, Wind Wall, Falling Star, and many others.Akali's archetype will probably spawn multiple lists, and they will all be quite dynamic. Considering we can build them in so many different ways and with so many different cards that interact with the main legend and support cards, it's certain she'll find a place in the meta.Unless a tier-1 deck that is specifically designed to deal with Akali's strategy comes along, she should be quite dominant. She'll overshadow most of the low-tier decks because most of the cards that will see play in her lists are pretty incredible.This should make her one of the most popular legends in Set 4. Considering her prowess in showdowns and ability to beat most strategies (with a 50% win rate against most of them), she'll probably take over quite fast.Finally, please note that this deck will probably be difficult to pilot and rely considerably on card draw, like Irelia lists and green lists often are and do. If you can overcome these details and this list proves to be consistent, this could be the next "deck to beat".Final WordsWhat do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.Don't forget to share.Thank you for reading, and see you next time!
Reactions
0
0 Comments
Be the first to comment