Really like this build. I play Annie a lot and this how I usually do it.

Some wishes. You can now buy 4 pots at start.
Also I usually buy Distortion boots upgrade for Annie, after giants belt or Rylai's. They take 75 seconds off of flash cooldown. Very good for Annie who doesn't have other escape spells and also allows you to jump and burst enemy carry more often, if that's your thing.

I also buy Rylai's before Void staff, for more hp. With Rabadon's and Rylai's you already have enough damage to burst carry down when he's full hp, if you get a chance.

I don't like your reasoning too much, so I downvoted your guide. Don't get my wrong - it has a good presentation and AT LEAST you explain your decision-making, but I think your reasoning is flawed.

I'm by no means a pro player but as far as I've been playing this game (I'm Silver I in S3, roughly 1400 ELO and played all roles by now), you're killing part of Annie's purpose by leveling up Q rather than W.

Sure, you can land some extra burst for 60 extra damage in your final combo (not a lot) at the cost of sacrificing wave clearing. Now, Q has about 4 seconds cooldown and it's single target. You can last-hit in the early levels with it, but you can't waveclear fast and roam. Also you can't counter-push effectively against aggresive pushers (let's say you play vs Kha'zix or Gragas). You're trying to play Annie like a LB when she has no range or mobility for that. It's very risky and diminishes her potential.

The reason why 95% of competitive Annie guides advise to max W first is because without it your waveclearing is very poor, so you can't push fast to roam. Also, after stunning a target he's at your W's range and you can do aditional AoE damage, so your damage contribution to the TF will be superior.

And now you can reason why you need Rod of Ages. Of course if you play with Q max range you'll find better a Deathcap but personally, why not play Lux then who has far better ranged poke? W drains your manapool a lot, so that's why a Catalyst rush is so effective on Annie (gives you tankiness to get closer, good mana management for your increased costs). It's a noobtrap to think you're forced to raise Q first just because of the mana refund - do you hit minions with Taric's AAs just to regain mana? No because it makes you push right? So why would you reason otherwise with Annie?

^ epic indeed lol thanks for the laugh :)

A better juking example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AquHRzhZUIU

Great guide, have +1'd because it is very useful and a great read for understanding Annie and her mechanics!

I am a big fan of tear (just gives you that spam feeling) and was wondering which item you suggest would be the best one to sacrifice in the final build?

Cheers and great guide!

It is very very helpfull guide at least for me and except for the +1 vote i gave you i give you another one for the effort that you made and the time you invested to write this.Cheers man.

Id just like to tell you that you shouldnt use your q/stun to initiate a fight because your ult/stun is an aoe stun therefore great in teamfights and fights in general then your tibbers aoe is kill the opponent as well as your other abilities then if need be ignite but that shouldnt be necessary as most mid champs will die by this combo up too lvl 10 unless you are feeding. Nice guide though one vote from me

Thx bro! Your guide helped me get out of my losing streak! :)

Hurray for Annie visual update.

You should get Molten Shield at level 1 or 2. Here's why: It only takes up 20 mana, which you can more then likely recover in 16 seconds. So why level 1? You can get 3 charges on your passive before laning begins, farm with AA and keep safe in the beginning, hit level 2, poke harass a bit, and if jungler, or the chance comes up, shield, acquire passive, Q (stun) kill. Why at level 2? If you don't want that early stun charge, it still helps out through out the whole game (keeping it at level one till your other skills are maxed ofcourse). You can charge up your passive while roaming, ect. It give you more control over your passive, and an advantage of suprise if taken at level 1 to get passive to 3 stacks with out the enemy knowing.

WTF are you talking about?
What is a "stun counter hide" xD.

Annie CAN spam. Her W has only a 4 second cooldown which she can use whenever she wants and her Q has also a 4 second cooldown which she can uses in minion farming.
If you buy Tear at minute 10 you would have a fullstacked Tear by minute 18.
The fact that you mentioned proves that you didnt read the guide at all. You probably just saw the archangels and came to this conclusion. If you had read my entire guide you would have known that Archangels is a very very situational Item which I almost never buy. It CAN work, but in most cases not.

What is not to scale?
There is a graph with an Y-Axis (damage) and an X-Axis (defense). Which part of this didnt you understand. Well, you are the kind of guy who doesnt even try to understand (see point two), so I forgive you.

Trading stun counter hide for 30 damage? check
Archangels on champion without spamming capability? check
Bunch of graphs with no scale? check
yep, this is a mobafire guide all right.