Akshan Counters: Who Beats Akshan

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Akshan counters are mid laners who block his shots, lock him down after Heroic Swing, or shrug off the Comeuppance burst. He’s a 500-range marksman-assassin who fires double attacks, throws a boomerang, swings around terrain while shooting, and stores bullets for an execute-style ultimate that can bring dead allies back.

Shots that can be blocked, a swing that can be interrupted and an ultimate that minions soak: those three facts from his patch 26.21 kit chose the five. No statistics were consulted.

Why is Akshan hard to counter?

• Dirty Fighting (passive): every third hit from attacks and abilities deals bonus damage and shields him if the target was a champion; each attack fires a second, weaker shot, and canceling that shot gives Move Speed instead.
• Avengerang (Q): a boomerang that damages on the way out and back, extending its range each time it hits an enemy. Cooldown 9/8/7/6/5.
• Going Rogue (W): enemies who kill his allies become Scoundrels; killing a Scoundrel revives those allies and pays bonus gold. Active, he camouflages and gains Move Speed and Mana Regen toward Scoundrels. Cooldown 18/14/10/6/2.
• Heroic Swing (E): he hooks terrain and swings around it, shooting the nearest enemy; colliding with champions or terrain knocks him off. Cooldown 18/16.5/15/13.5/12.
• Comeuppance (R): he locks onto an enemy champion, stores bullets, then fires them all for damage based on missing Health at the first champion, minion or structure hit. Cooldown 100/85/70.

Akshan’s lane is quick poke and quick escapes (and a lot of swinging around walls). Avengerang extends on every hit, Dirty Fighting shields him on every third hit against a champion, and Heroic Swing gives him a moving shooting platform. Then there’s Going Rogue, which can undo a fight by reviving allies. So what slows him down? His damage arrives as shots and boomerangs, and some kits block or reflect those. Heroic Swing ends early if he collides with a champion, so anything that steps into his path or roots him at the end of the swing is a problem for him. And Comeuppance stops on the first champion, minion or structure, which means a body in the way absorbs it.

Which champions are the best Akshan counters?

Yasuo

Yasuo’s W, Wind Wall, puts up a drifting wall that stops enemy projectiles for 4 seconds. Avengerang is a thrown boomerang, the extra shot from Dirty Fighting is a shot, and Comeuppance releases a burst of bullets. A wall in the right spot eats a lot of Akshan’s damage. Sweeping Blade (E) dashes through enemy units to close the gap, Steel Tempest (Q) knocks up at 2 stacks, and Last Breath (R) blinks onto the airborne target and holds them there. Walking charges his passive shield, too. Riot’s text doesn’t label every one of Akshan’s shots a projectile, so test it in practice first (it won’t take long).

Mel

Mel’s barrier, Rebuttal (W), throws projectiles back. The ideal moment is Comeuppance: Akshan stores bullets, then releases them all, and a barrier that sends them back changes the whole trade. Solar Snare (E) roots at its center, which catches him at the end of Heroic Swing, and Radiant Volley (Q) explodes repeatedly in an area. Every hit stacks Overwhelm from Searing Brilliance (passive), and Golden Eclipse (R) cashes in all marked enemies at any distance. The catch: Rebuttal’s cooldown is long, so don’t burn it on a single boomerang.

Lissandra

Lissandra’s Ring of Frost (W) roots everyone close to her, and Akshan’s Heroic Swing ends when he collides with a champion. Swing into her and he stops, rooted. Her ultimate, Frozen Tomb, works both ways: freeze Akshan solid, or freeze herself into an untargetable, invulnerable block that heals while a whole Comeuppance goes to waste. Ice Shard (Q) slows and passes through the target, Glacial Path (E) lets her teleport to a claw she sends out, and Iceborn Subjugation (passive) turns dead enemies into slowing, shattering thralls. Honestly, she has an answer for each of his three tools.

Malzahar

Call of the Void (Q) silences champions hit, and a silenced Akshan can’t start Heroic Swing or Comeuppance. Nether Grasp (R) suppresses an enemy champion for its duration, Malefic Visions (E) is a damage-over-time infection that refreshes with his other spells, and Void Swarm (W) sends Voidlings after nearby enemies. Void Shift (passive) gives massive damage reduction when Malzahar hasn’t been damaged or controlled recently, which blunts Akshan’s opening poke. Long story short, Akshan’s burst depends on casting freely, and Malzahar takes that away.

Galio

Justice Punch (E) is a short wind-up and charge that launches the first enemy champion in its way. Shield of Durand (W) taunts enemies around him on release. Both answer an Akshan who swings in close. Hero’s Entrance (R) gives allies at the landing spot a magic shield and knocks up enemies near it, a strong response to a roaming Akshan who’s using Going Rogue to chase someone down. Winds of War (Q) creates a damaging tornado, and Colossal Smash (passive) adds area magic damage to his attacks. To be fair, Galio rarely wins the lane outright; he wins the fights around it.

How do you play the lane against Akshan?

• Stand behind minions against Comeuppance. The bullets hit the first champion, minion or structure, so a minion in the way soaks them.
• Dodge Avengerang on the way out. Every enemy it hits extends its range, so it comes back further.
• Step into Heroic Swing’s path if you can stop him. Colliding with a champion or terrain knocks him off.
• Don’t feed the third hit. Dirty Fighting’s bonus damage and shield trigger on every third attack or ability hit against a champion.
• Kill him before he kills a Scoundrel. Going Rogue revives allies when he takes down the champion who killed them.

Which items counter Akshan?

Spell shields, Armor and anti-burst. Edge of Night and Banshee’s Veil block the next enemy ability with a Spell Shield, which can absorb an Avengerang or, better, the first part of Comeuppance. Plated Steelcaps give 25 Armor and reduce damage from attacks, and Akshan’s passive doubles up his attacks. Death’s Dance spreads part of a burst over 3 seconds, helpful against a Comeuppance that scales with missing Health. For mages, Zhonya’s Hourglass turns a lethal bullet volley into 2.5 seconds of golden statue (the bullets keep flying, you just don’t care). Prices and exact stats for all of these live in our items database.

When is Akshan at his weakest?

Right after Heroic Swing. It’s his main escape and engage, an 18 second cooldown at rank 1, and once it’s spent he’s a 500-range marksman standing in the open. That’s when Lissandra, Malzahar and Galio want to lock him down. His kill pressure mostly disappears without it, since the swing is how he reaches and leaves a fight.

He’s also weak when his shots can’t land cleanly. Avengerang has to hit to extend, Dirty Fighting needs three hits, and Comeuppance stops on the first thing it touches. Does a lane full of minions help you? Very much, since minions block the ultimate.

New to mid lane? See our guide to LoL roles for the basics. Other champions are covered on the main guides page. Curious about his outfits? The Akshan skins page lists them. Playing him on one lane with random teams is a separate topic, handled by the Akshan ARAM guide. Put simply, Akshan counters block his shots or catch him after the swing.

FAQ

Who counters Akshan the most?

Mid laners who block his shots or lock him down: Yasuo, Mel, Lissandra, Malzahar and Galio.

Can minions block Akshan’s ultimate?

Yes. Comeuppance fires its stored bullets at the first champion, minion or structure hit, so a minion between Akshan and his target absorbs them.

How do you stop Heroic Swing?

Akshan is knocked off Heroic Swing when he collides with a champion or terrain. Roots and stuns at the end of the swing also stop him.

What does Going Rogue do?

Going Rogue marks enemies who kill Akshan’s allies as Scoundrels. If Akshan kills a Scoundrel, the allies they killed are revived and he gains bonus gold.

How were these counters chosen?

Every pick blocks his shots, interrupts Heroic Swing or punishes it, based on the patch 26.21 ability text. No match statistics were used.