Long ago in a distant past, everyone complained how Akali was too OP because of her dashes.
How naïve we were to think that it was her final form.
At least she looks way better now, so I can see a cool design one-shotting me. But what’s the coolest design to witness while being sent to the fountain for the tenth time?
That’s the question we hope to answer here as we rank all of Akali’s skins, considering a few things: what they bring to the table, what’s great about them, and their prices.
13. All-star Akali
Released: June 24th, 2010
Price: 975 RP
This skin is rather simple and completely outmatched by every other skin in Akali’s catalogue.
There are no new animations or voice-lines, so we just have to look at the base character model design. And the design is just meh.
She has a sporty jacket on, the shortest shorts ever, and high socks.
The skin might have been cool were it not for the fact that Akali has been given plenty of urban looks already, all of which look way more badass.
I will say that the splash art is quite good, though, with Akali blasting Alistar away like he was nothing.
12. Silverfang Akali
Released: November 29th, 2011
Price: 975 RP
Silverfang Akali shares one of All-star Akali’s fatal flaws: and that’s not being the best in your niche.
Akali is already a badass ninja, and Silverfang Akali tries to make her an even bigger badass.
Her hair is now white, her getup very dark and edgy, and her splash art just down-right menacing.
However, if you want to be a badass ninja, I think there are other Akali skins that make a clearer point.
And if you want to look like an edge lord praying upon the weak, there are better choices for that as well.
Granted this skin does offer some new animations, but they’re not nearly as distinct as most of the others, and they just feel like a color swap – so I just can’t put this skin any higher.
11. Stinger Akali
Released: May 11th, 2010
Price: 520 RP
Not much to say about this one, as it’s mostly a color swap type of skin.
That being said, it is extremely cheap. So we can’t ask for too much.
Stinger Akali gets white hair (eat your heart out Silverfang) and a yellow-blue getup. The Scorpion reference is quite clear too.
So if you’re a big fan of Mortal Kombat and don’t feel like shelling out too much money, this could just be the skin for you.
But if you just want a good overall Akali skin, there are still quite a few better options – even at the same price tag.
The splash art is pretty nice here, though.
10. Nurse Akali
Released: January 4th, 2011
Price: 975 RP
When I just look at the in-game model of this design, I’m quite conflicted.
On the one hand, the skin looks completely ridiculous. She’s a ninja, not a nurse.
Is she going to a Halloween party? Who knows!
But on the other hand, she does both attract and terrify me, which is what ninjas usually do, I think.
The determining factor for me was her splash art, as it definitely put all my questions to rest and helped me accept that death is inevitable.
Like seriously, that is an S-class splash art.
Her animations were also slightly altered so that the particles are a light blue instead of green – but that’s about it.
I didn’t expect it to work, but it did.
9. Sashimi Akali
Released: September 7th, 2016
Price: 750 RP
Speaking of whacky skins with excellent splash arts, we have Sashimi Akali.
Although the skin concept is a bit on the weirder side, considering that you’re on the Rift to murder people and all, it works surprisingly well.
The character model design is absolutely gorgeous, with some spikey red hair, a cute lunch box, and a literal hunk of meat that she carries by her side.
It gives off such strong Food War vibes that I’m already rendering the food-gasm scenes in my mind.
And the fact that I can call every skirmish a food fight gives me overwhelming joy.
8. PROJECT: Akali
Released: August 1st, 2019
Price: 1350 RP
If I know anything about the PROJECT skinline, it’s that these skins always bring it when it comes to animations.
And this skin only further proves my hypothesis.
It’s a very futuristic rendition of Akali complete with hologram knives, literal teleportation backing animations, and plenty of robotic sound effects.
The animation they used for her W is especially cool, as you can actually see something like a drone dispersing the smoke.
We’re well into the good skin territory of our ranking, so the only real reason I ranked this skin here is because there’s a different skin that also covers the futuristic vibe in a slightly better way…
7. Infernal Akali
Released: May 11th, 2010
Price: 520 RP
In my opinion, this is the best value skin you can get if you’re balling on a budget.
The theme is very simple to understand and get behind, as it just consists of making things be on fire.
Akali’s hair is on fire, the animations are all made to resemble fire, and even the sound effects go along with this theme.
It’s also worth mentioning that Akali is a literal demon with this skin.
She has the horns – and if you take a really close look at her face and body, you’ll see that she’s anything but human.
All of this for only 520 RP is nothing less than a steal.
And the skin even has an epic splash art!
My only regret is that her W doesn’t summon actual fire. But I guess we can’t have everything.
6. K/DA ALL OUT Akali
Released: October 29th, 2020
Price: 1350 RP
If you want to see the selling points for this skin, look no further than the sound effects.
Every single ability has such a distinct tune in this skin that it honestly feels like a concert most of the time.
From your backing animation being absolutely glamorous, to your W giving a somewhat eerie yet hyped vibe, this skin really leans into the musical thematic.
I also have to complement the effect Riot used for her impowered auto-attack – it is by far one of the most recognizable ones in her catalogue.
All of that being said, there are some downsides here.
First off, everyone was quite livid that after so much promotion, Akali still doesn’t get her bike as a homeguard animation. Or at least in her backing animation if nothing else…
Secondly, the character model and color palette feels a bit underwhelming and “basic”.
Overall, yes this is a decent skin – especially if you value crisp sound effects. But it really should have been made into a legendary and given a bit more love.
5. Crime City Nightmare Akali
Released: August 26th, 2021
Price: 1350 RP
Crime City Nightmare Akali is sort of a hit or miss depending on who you ask.
If you wanted Akali to be demonic, this skin definitely delivers.
But if you wanted more of a mafia vibe, you’ll be disappointed.
You get a rather eerie voice filter, a backing animation that’s nightmare fuel, and plenty of satanic eyes watching you from your shroud and even your ult.
Even the character model brandishes an eye on her back & shoulders.
Overall, I’d say Crime City Nightmare Akali is really cool. And it does give Akali a distinct vibe that we haven’t seen before.
But the theme does feel a bit forced & probably would have suited a different character better.
4. True Damage Akali
Released: November 10th, 2019
Price: 1350 RP
This skin gets overlooked quite a bit compared to a certain other music-themed skin, but it still deserves all of the praise.
This is how you make Akali look hip and modern!
The animations on this thing are just to die for:
Her passive literally draws a cool graffiti design on the floor, and her W is a mini party whenever you step into it. And by that I mean it plays some high-beat music.
In fact, most of her abilities have some bass-boosted effect tagged to them.
It all combines beautifully – but ultimately I do have to say that I prefer a certain other music skin.
3. Blood Moon Akali
Released: June 7th, 2011
Price: 975 RP
Now this truly hypes up Akali’s ninja background.
I mean, just look at the thing!
The mask resting on the side of your face already makes you like 10 times more mysterious, badass, and deadly. But when coupled with the red kimono and those slick animations, this skin pretty much guarantees you’ll get your money’s worth!
Her W is the only ability that received no change.
But considering how slick all the others are, it’s not a big blow.
The use of blue and red colors looks really nice too, and just really helps with the immersion of being a deadly kunoichi.
2. Headhunter Akali
Released: March 23rd, 2015
Price: 1350 RP
Now this is the futuristic look I was yearning for!
It has very similar animations as PROJECT Akali, with the exception of her W. But the base model just sells the theme a lot better in my mind.
It makes complete sense for Akali to be a headhunter, on the prowl and looking for blood to spill.
And when you literally look like the Predator, there’s few skins that could come out ahead in this department.
Like seriously, Google this skin in-game and look at the model up close.
The skull on her pouch, the dreads, the armor, it all fits in perfectly!
It’s a shame that you can’t really see these details in-game all that much – but I guess it’s the thought that counts.
1. K/DA Akali
Released: November 3rd, 2018
Price: 1350 RP
Maybe it’s because this skin came out before True Damage, but it will always be THE music, underground, urban skin in my mind.
Just like with the True Damage skin, there are subtle bops that accompany most of your abilities, with her W being the absolute crowning jewel.
The smokescreen is not just made by a graffiti canister in the middle, and the shroud not only plays some music, but it also makes you glow like in the music video.
I don’t know, that animation alone just puts this skin so much higher than all the rest that I don’t even know if I can come up with additional arguments.
Note: this content was created under Riot Games’ “Legal Jibber Jabber” policy using assets owned by Riot Games. Riot Games does not endorse or sponsor this project.
