League of Legends’ latest update just went live yesterday, April 19, and a new challenger has appeared as a niche mid lane pick with a formidable win rate.
Akshan has quickly risen up the ranks with an impressive 54 percent win rate in Platinum ranks and higher, which is the best in the game through the opening days of Patch 13.8, according to League stats site U.GG.
The Rogue Sentinel has also seen a steady rise in his win rate over the last five patches, starting from 51 percent and slowly rising to the peak we see today. He hasn’t seen as much playtime compared to other, more popular mid lane picks like Ahri, Zed, or Viktor, but he is currently at a 3.1 percent pick rate. Last patch, Akshan had a 2.8 percent pick rate with over 72,000 matches played globally.
Related: Popular LoL jungler became one of the worst in the game after Patch 13.8 nerfs
Akshan is a good mid laner in specific matchups, including champions with a lack of hard crowd control who are unable to lock him down. Since he has a relatively good amount of mobility with his Heroic Swing, the sentinel can swing away from a gank or can swoop in to support an ally in a well-timed skirmish.
He also has a ton of roaming potential since he can run to both side lanes and activate his W ability, Going Rogue. This ability camouflages him indefinitely while he is near terrain or inside a bush and gives him increased movement speed when moving toward marked Scoundrels who have killed an ally of his.
The only way to counter Akshan is by warding to manage where he is at any given moment. Additionally, playing champions with hard crowd control abilities like Annie, Gragas, or Lux could help minimize his effectiveness by locking him down in one spot. Yasuo is also a great choice since he can completely negate Akshan’s damage with a single, well-placed Wind Wall.
