Akali top wins lane by making bruisers whiff the trade shape they wanted: land Q, step out for the passive ring, step back in for the empowered auto, then use W to break the long exchange when they try to force it
A landed E1 is pressure, not permission; only taking E2 once their answer spell is gone or after shroud already bent the fight is one of the most Akali-specific habits in the report
Good Akali top games come from using side lane as a threat of disappearance rather than sitting there as a tower bot, because her lead is strongest while the map is still messy and gets less reliable once the game settles long
Use E2 when it ends the trade, not when it merely continues it. If their pull, stun, empowered return hit, or jungle follow-up is still available, the mark is often doing more work by threatening them than by sending you in. I would take E2 in three spots: their answer spell is already gone, shroud has already bought enough time to break target lock and shorten the fight, or they are low enough that the dash becomes the finisher. If none of those are true, keep the mark as pressure and win another Q -> passive cycle instead of donating the long trade they wanted.
Dealing spell damage to a champion creates a ring of energy around them. Exiting that ring empowers Akali's next Attack with bonus range and damage.
Akali throws out five kunai, dealing damage based on her bonus Attack Damage and Ability Power and slowing.
Akali drops a cover of smoke and briefly gains Move Speed. While inside the shroud, Akali becomes invisible and unable to be selected by enemy spells and attacks. Attacking or using abilities will briefly reveal her.
Flip backward and fire a shuriken forward, dealing magic damage. The first enemy or smoke cloud hit is marked. Re-cast to dash to the marked target, dealing additional damage.
Akali leaps in a direction, damaging enemies she strikes. Re-cast: Akali dashes in a direction, executing all enemies she strikes.