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Anivia Build Guide by Dorryza

Middle Let's Soar- A Comprehensive Anivia Guide

Middle Let's Soar- A Comprehensive Anivia Guide

Updated on July 30, 2018
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Dorryza Build Guide By Dorryza 97 4 1,489,342 Views 66 Comments
97 4 1,489,342 Views 66 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Dorryza Anivia Build Guide By Dorryza Updated on July 30, 2018
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Runes:

Sorcery
Arcane Comet
Manaflow Band
Transcendence
Scorch

Domination
Cheap Shot
Zombie Ward

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction

Anivia is a utility mage best when soaring above Mid lane and is a late game monster. She specializes in locking down opponents with her 3 full forms of CC so that both she and her teammates can blast them down. However, Anivia is one of the highest skillcap champions to play, and as such, may not be for everyone.

Who Am I?


I'm Dorryza, a Diamond player on NA. I enjoy playing primarily mid, but I also like ADC. I got where I am mostly by playing Anivia, and seeing as I love my ice birdie so much, I thought I might share how I play her with everyone else here on Mobafire.

Pros and Cons



So Why Birdie?
  • Great Utility with three full forms of CC
  • Amazing Damage, especially in mid and late game
  • Decently Tanky
  • High Auto Attack Range
  • Nigh-infinite Waveclear with Glacial Storm
  • Game-changing Abilities such as Crystallize
  • Rebirth is quite possibly the best passive in the game

Why Not Birdie?
  • Low Mobility
  • Weak Pre-6 due to reliance on the hard-to-hit Flash Frost
  • Obscene Mana Costs due to her Ult
  • Crystallize can Backfire if used incorrectly
  • Damage relies on comboes
  • Hard to CS with due to a clunky auto attack animation
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Summoner Spells

The Big Two:


Flash is essential for Anivia. For a champion with no movement abilities and the lowest movement speed in the entire game, the ability to suddenly re-position is priceless. Try to avoid using it in lane if you can, as jungler will camp you if you use it too early.



Ignite is great for a burst mage like Anivia. Sometimes, you need that tiny little edge for a bit more damage to an enemy, and Ignite is a nice finisher. It even halves healing so you don't need to worry about that last HP pot in the middle of the fight! Nice!
That being said, it isn't as essential as Flash is- therefore, if you're going to change up summoner spells, get rid of Ignite first.

Other Viable Options:


Heal is now super-strong after the rework. It can give you that extra bit of HP to win a fight, or a nice burst of speed to get out of a tight spot. However, a lot of its power is the fact that it can also help an ally. Also, most mid laners carry Ignite, halving its effectiveness. Therefore, if I was to choose another defensive summoner, I would choose-



Barrier gives you a pretty significant shield. It's nice because it can "overflow" your HP bar- if you're about to get nuked terribly, but are still full HP, such as if Syndra is about to use her Unleashed Power, Barrier will help you, while Heal won't. Heal also gets affected by Grievous Wounds, which halves all healing, inflicted by Ignite, which most Mid Laners carry. It has better base stats in general. Lastly, Barrier is on a shorter cooldown.



Teleport is viable for Anivia. What she does is simply annihilate the minions with Glacial Storm and then teleport to a lane (usually bot lane) in hopes of getting a kill. Anivia's TP ganks are actually pretty strong- she has some great CC, nice damage, and the wall can be used to help your allies close the gap. Lastly, if you cast teleport and get Rebirth'd, your egg will still teleport. Hilarious when that Zed engages on you!



In case you need to keep that extreme damage-dealer down but you can't stun them reliably. I can see Exhaust being viable against mobile champions such as Zed or Yasuo where it's pretty obvious when they're going to do damage, but you just can't stun those slippery bastards.



You know that mobility problem that I was talking about? Ghost is capable of fixing that. I would still hesitate to take it, however, seeing as other spells (primarily Heal) can do much of what Ghost does, while still helping in other departments. Honestly, the only reason it makes it up to the "kinda viable" list is because Anivia is so gut-wrenchingly slow.
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Runes

The Standard Build:


As a burst mage that heavily relies upon either slowing or stunning an enemy to start a combo, Arcane Comet feels almost built for Anivia. Not only is the damage almost guaranteed if she lands Flash Frost, but it also deals AoE damage to further strengthen Anivia's capability of dealing damage to multiple enemies at the same time. Even even if she doesn’t land Flash Frost, activating it with Glacial Storm is still surprisingly hard to dodge. Arcane Comet is just all-around, the clearest match with Anivia's kit.

Let's face it- Anivia has a massive mana problem. Before she manages to build her first mana items, she’ll be struggling to cast spells. Additionally, she has issues maintaining effectiveness during long sieges, as each engagement will chew up mana reserves like no other. This mastery is a great way to deal with that issue- not only can she occasionally toss out Flash Frosts in lane without bankrupting your mana bank within minutes, it also restores %mana every use, which is great news for a bird that almost always builds Rod of Ages and Seraph's Embrace.

I found this group of mastery skills to all be somewhat unattractive, to be completely honest. None of them really stood out as good. Transcendence seems to me the least mediocre, though- more spells available means higher damage output, as well as more utility through Crystallize and Flash Frost.

Most people would be surprised that I don't choose Gathering Storm here. I prefer Scorch, which is admittedly a very early-game mastery- seemingly questionable when put onto a decidedly late-game champion. The reason I use it, however, is because people don't expect Anivia to put out that much damage- if she can land literally a single Flash Frost, Scorch, in addition to Arcane Comet and Cheap Shot can deal almost 2/3 of an enemy's HP bar, right there. That early-game threat can help generate space, and perhaps even get a surprise upset kill or two. Gathering Storm just helps Anivia win harder in late game, which Scorch helps her get to that late game in the first place.

Cheap Shot is another one of those abilities that just synergizes surprisingly well with Anivia's kit. Almost every time she deals significant damage, she's impairing the movement of the enemy champion she's targeting, either through Glacial Storm's slow or Flash Frost's stun, before tagging them with another ability (usually Frostbite). That means that every time she’s dealing damage, Cheap Shot activates- which is actually a pretty significant chunk of damage.

Additionally, Cheap Shot can be activated every 4 seconds. Due to her varied forms of CC, as well as the fact that she naturally wants to rotate spells or keep enemies trapped inside a Glacial Storm for that amount of time anyways for a multiple empowered Frostbites, Anivia is often already meeting the requirements for activating Cheap Shot more than once in a fight. In my opinion, it's simply too good to not take.

I personally really like Zombie Ward. Keeping enough vision in mid lane is always a perpetual challenge, as the lane itself has so many approach angles, but you only get the trinket and control ward to cover a few of them. Zombie Ward essentially adds 3 minutes to the duration of your wards, which really helps in keeping vision up in early game when your wards last for what feels like seconds.


Honorable Mentions

While Summon Aery has been nerfed significantly, there is still a niche use for it for Anivia. As the Aery activates not only on abilities but also on auto attacks, it could be used for a bird that’s very focused on auto-attacking rather than using Flash Frost + Frostbite combos in early game. However, as this mastery would most of the time simply provide less damage than Arcane Comet, I simply wouldn’t take this mastery on Anivia outside of very specific matchups where she’ll be auto-attack harassing a lot, and not doing much else.

Nullifying Orb is essentially the active effect from Hexdrinker- take a lot of damage, and automatically get a shield that absorbs magic damage. The problem is, Manaflow Band is so incredibly useful for Anivia that I’m reluctant to swap off for it, but I could see certain match-ups ( LeBlanc, perhaps Syndra) where I would be willing to at least consider it.
I would probably rather swap Ignite to Barrier over taking Nullifying Orb. However, there’s some times when she simply needs both Barrier in addition to Nullifying Orb, so it definitely worth considering.

4% movespeed is situationally useful, but not really that huge in my opinion. Celerity is mainly being considered because I frankly don’t really like Transcendence all that much, to be completely honest. I would mainly consider this into dodgeball lanes where I’d have to constantly dodge skillshots- think Ziggs, Lux, or Xerath.

Again, I don’t like Transcendence all that much, so Absolute Focus also gets a mention. It’s somewhat questionable - I don’t really like the requirement that I have to be above 70% HP, because I feel like that almost never happens. No one is ever full HP in early game due to standard trading, and Anivia is frankly a shorter-ranged mage liable to being poked down in the late game. That being said- extra damage is extra damage, and if Anivia can land that combo when she’s full, the enemy will definitely feel it.

While I do prefer Scorch’s early game power, there is something to be said for Gathering Storm. If Anivia can stall out to 50+ minutes, the amount of AP this gives her gets to be absolutely insane. I’d consider this in match-ups where there’s unlikely to be early fights or kills, and the lane is likely to simply lapse into a farm lane. Malzahar and Ekko both come to mind. Anivia can’t really go aggressive on them (because Malzahar has his shield passive and Ekko is Ekko), but they can’t really go aggressive on her either. In that case, a mastery totally built for late-game dominance starts to look a bit more attractive.

The effective replacement of Thunderlord’s, Electrocute is honestly not terribly difficult to activate for Anivia. The main issue is that whenever she’d effectively activate it, she’d also probably land the hit of Arcane Comet- and while I’m not terribly fond of Transcendence, I’m even more skeptical of the [ Ravenous Hunter/ Relentless Hunter/ Ingenious Hunter ] set, all of which totally suck for Anivia.

A good alternative to Cheap Shot is Taste of Blood. This mastery heals you every time you damage an enemy champion, on a 20 second cooldown. It's amazing for trading in laning phase. This effectively means is that you win any auto-attack trade really hard, because you heal back almost half of the damage dealt to you, while dealing damage to the enemy laner - and remember, Anivia's auto attack range is huge, allowing you to potentially poke and get HP back without even taking any damage in return. Additionally, the healing can help you survive in lanes that are focused on trying to force you out of lane. I still prefer Cheap Shot because of the synergy with Anivia's kit, and because Taste of Blood is useless past laning phase, but it's definitely something to consider.
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Spells

Rebirth

The most hilarious, and quite possibly the strongest, passive in the game, Rebirth has a long cooldown but is completely worth it. Essentially, if you drop to 0 HP, you turn into an egg. Then, if it survives for the next 6 seconds, you are revived with the amount of HP that the egg had left. It's great for surviving that last tick of ignite after a heated battle in mid lane, or baiting an enemy turret-dive. Your opponents also have a hard choice in a teamfight- do they burst you down twice, completely ignore you, or burst you down once, chase the ADC, and then deal with a full-health, angry bird?
Advanced Rebirth Notes:



Flash Frost

Flash Frost is Anivia's stun. It is a line skillshot that can be detonated at any time for extra damage and a stun. While it has the dubious honor of being the slowest skillshot in the entire game, it does have a large radius, high range, CC, and ludicrous damage when leveled.
Advanced Frost Flash Notes:


Crystallize

Anivia's "play-making" skill, using Crystallize instantly spawns a wall whose size depends on level. The intricacies of this spell are far too varied for me to be able to explain in this short area and Crystallize warrants a section of its own. So, check it out by scrolling down or clicking me!

Frostbite

Her main damage spell, Frostbite is fairly straightforward. At first glance, it seems relatively average- Mediocre range, targeted, hits like wet tissue paper. However, if you use it after you debuff an opponent with Chill by pegging them with Glacial Storm or Flash Frost, its damage suddenly doubles. As a result, you should pretty much always use this ability along with another one- never use it alone.
Advanced Frostbite Notes:

Glacial Storm

This is it. Anivia's waveclear button. It's what sets up most of those double damage Frostbites. It's one of the lowest CD ults in the game. It's also the sole reason why Anivia is the most mana hungry champ in the entire game. What Glacial Storm does is create a circular zone that expands the longer it's kept up. Enemies within that zone have their attack speeds and movement speeds slowed, and also take damage while they remain in that zone- these effects increase as the storm grows larger. Starting it has some up-front mana costs, and it can be maintained for as long as you have the mana for it, or until you stop casting it (either toggled off, move too far away, or CC'd).
Advanced Glacial Storm Notes:
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Skill Sequence

Your general skill order is > > >

There are two main level paths for Anivia.

The main level path is:
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Getting a second level in Flash Frost instead of one level in Crystallize at level four really helps in trading. You want to level up Frostbite first, as it'll be your main damage spell the moment you hit level 6. Get one rank in Crystallize at level 8 to ensure that you can both help your team in mid-game with CC, as well as giving you additional kill potential with forcing your opponents into a Flash Frost, or keeping them in Glacial Storm.

On the other hand, if you're against a relatively immobile but long range mage such as Lux or Xerath, you can get Crystallize at level 4. You wouldn't be able to hit them easily with just Flash Frost due to how far away they are- however, using Crystallize to force them into a guaranteed Flash Frost is a combo that does a lot of damage, yet is extremely hard to react to. As such, the level sequence in this case is:
Ability Sequence
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Note that these level-up paths are not set in stone. A early level in Crystallize can ruin a Fizz who used both his teleports to dive you under tower, and an extra level in Flash Frost can provide just that extra bit of damage damage to win trades against that Ziggs. It's quite simply, personal preference.

It should also be noted that if there is a lot of jungle pressure, from either side, I would get Crystallize at level 4. The extra CC provided by the wall might just be enough for you to catch out the enemy mid laner, or for you to escape to the safety of your tower.
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Crystallize


Accidentally clicked on me? Done with this section? Click here to return to the "Skills" section!

This one spell is what both makes Anivia one of the hardest champions in the game, as well as what makes Anivia Anivia. It's an ability whose versatility is almost unmatched, and I'll be talking about Crystallize in four different sections:
Note that in this section, I have some color coded lines, arrows, and circles in my pictures.
Blue ---->s indicate the direction in which I use Flash Frost.
Red ---->s show where my opponents are planning on walking.
Green -~~->s show my opponents' new pathing after Crystallize.
And Orange Circles show the approximate area where Flash Frost hits my opponents.


Engages:


Forces:


Pathing in LoL works in a very specific way; the computer analyzes the shortest distance between Point A (yourself) and Point B (your destination) constantly- if it decides that a different route is better, it corrects to that route instantaneously by human standards. Since Crystallize creates an impassible wall that changes the optimal route from Point A to Point B, you can abuse pathing and use Crystallize to make your opponent go in a direction which they don't expect, typically right into one of your spells, like the hard to hit Flash Frost. This is called a force.

Forces


Catches:


Every level of Crystallize can fully block off many jungle paths, and higher ranks can also block off a significant portion of the lane. This allows you to use Crystallize to block off the retreat of an out-of-position enemy, either starting a fight (or a slaughter, if you catch a lone Kog'Maw), or finishing one off by not allowing the last few survivors of a fight to flee. This differs from a force because you're not walling with the intention of hitting a spell, but stopping their retreat, which allows you (and oftentimes, teammates) to catch up and kill the out-of-position opponent. This type of wall is called a catch.

Catches


Disengages:


No team or person will play perfectly 100% of the time, and there will be times when you/the tattered remnants of your team will be fleeing for your lives against five angry full-health enemies. As Anivia, you could slow them with Glacial Storm and stun them with Flash Frost. Or, you could force them to walk around a gigantic ice wall!

Disengages


Peels:


In the middle of a fight/duel, you will occasionally have someone (typically melee) running towards someone you typically don't want them to reach, like a fleeing low-health team member, or that ubersquishy Kog'Maw. Oftentimes, a well-placed Crystallize will stop them right in their tracks, allowing that low person to escape, or that Kog'Maw to spit on everything without interruption and roflstomp entire enemy teams.

The line between a disengage and a peel is thin, but generally speaking, a disengage is when you want the fight to stop, while a peel wants the fight to continue, but with additional time/distance for the person that is being peeled to refresh cooldowns or auto attack more, respectively.

Peels


Other/Misc:


The Basics:

  • Use already-existing terrain to your advantage! Especially applicable to Level one Crystallize, but still relevant at later ranks, using wall in conjunction with terrain features such as the little gap between outer/inner turrets and the wall, that protrusion at river into mid lane, and narrow jungle paths just makes Crystallize be more effective.
  • Level one Crystallize can be used to effectively block off most jungle paths and entrances.
  • Be warned that using Crystallize to fully wall-off jungle creeps such as Blue Buff is no longer effective. While partially blocking their pathing to create additional time is still a viable strategy, due to the new patience system, fully walling off creeps simply means that they will start regenerating HP likely before you can kill them.
  • Crystallize used to give vision, but no longer does. No more face-checking bushes with wall.
  • Wall also does exactly one true damage to an enemy if put right on them. While this can give long range assists, it can also accidentally proc. tower aggro. Plan accordingly.
  • Crystallize is capable of interrupting channels such as Death Lotus, Requiem, or Destiny.
  • ***NEW*** Her wall now interacts with abilities that check with terrain. Basically, you can use Crystallize to combo with Vayne's Condemn, Poppy's Heroic Charge, Bard's Cosmic Binding, and Gnar's ult (heave thing) GNAR!.

Advanced Tips:

  • One of the most effective walls is "The Pincer"- where you try to get as close to a horizontal wall as you can get. This is extremely effective because it forces an opponent to backtrack instead of just walking sideways.
    Example:
    The Pincer
  • As Crystallize does take up space, targets that you place it on will be slightly displaced. If you're fast enough, you can use this to push enemies into slow-moving skillshots like Aqua Prison, or even into the fish for Chum the Waters!.
  • If your target is just past the max range of the wall, consider using the wall at an angle. It won't be as effective as a flat wall, but it might just slow down your opponent enough for you to get in range for a Glacial Storm or Flash Frost.
  • A properly timed Crystallize can stop dashes in their tracks. If the wall is already placed when the dash begins, then the dash will clear the wall. However, if you use the wall AFTER the dash begins, the dash does not clear the wall. I've personally confirmed this with abilities such as Jarvan IV's Dragon Strike+ Demacian Standard combo, Vault Breaker, 90 Caliber Net, and Bandage Toss.
  • A properly timed and placed wall can even interrupt both Sion's ultimate (as he slams into the wall instead of you), as well as Bard and his friends mid- Magical Journey!

The difference between a decent Anivia and an amazing one is how they utilize their walls. Don't be discouraged if you mess up the first couple of times- it does take a lot of practice before you get it right.
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Items

The Standard Start:

The Doran's Ring provides a nice health and AP boost, allowing for more effective trading early game. It also gives flat mana regen along with that useful passive, ensuring that Anivia does not run out of mana during early game. Seeing as it provides almost anything a mage needs during laning phase, this will be what you buy the majority of the time. Make sure to get health potions for sustain within the lane. And don't forget about your free trinket ward!



Alternate Starts:


The Cloth Armor start allows you to rush Seeker's Armguard or Ninja Tabi against those pesky AD laners. Do remember, however, that starting this isn't necessarily optimal- you lose out on a lot of potential mana regen and other combat stats. This choice is mainly for very defensive, passive play, where you're worried less about winning lane and more about simply not dying. Don't forget to get as many Health Potions as you can, as well as your trinkets.



The Boots start is viable against skillshot-heavy champions such as Lux. The boots provide additional movespeed as to ensure better dodging of skillshots. Make sure to grab four Health Potions as well.


Early Core:

Catalyst of Aeons helps scratch that mana itch that Anivia has. It provides nice stats, and has a great passive that helps you stay in lane even under heavy pressure. With the changes to Chalice of Harmony, this should now always be bought first.



I'll be completely honest- I hate that I have to do this, but the gutting of Athene's Unholy Grail means that Chalice of Harmony is no longer viable for Anivia. The next best thing is Tear of the Goddess.
Buy this before Catalyst of Aeons if possible, as the earlier you get it, the faster you can stack up mana. Also note that not only will you be squishy and lose out on trading potential in mid game, but you will also need blue buff now to stay in lane longer than a couple of minutes.
However, the early-mid game power slump will be more than recovered when you grab your Seraph's Embrace in the long run, as the mana shield gets you out of sticky situations, while the AP gained from the mana of both Rod of Ages and Seraph's Embrace will allow Anivia to bulldoze through almost any health pool.



Other possible early game items:

Seeker's Armguard is rather situational for Anivia- early game, she needs as much mana as she can get her hands on, and this doesn't give her any. It is, however, extremely efficient if you can charge it up, meaning that this is very viable against AD mids like Zed or Talon.



Grabbing a Lost Chapter early is tempting, as the mana regen per level up is really useful in lane and you will end up needing to build one for Archangel's Staff eventually. However, it's simply too important to first grab a Tear of the Goddess and then finish the Rod of Ages very quickly, as you need to start stacking them both ASAP. This might be worth considering if you have no blue buff control (or if your jungler simply isn't giving blues to you) but in most cases, I would only build this after I've finished the Rod of Ages.


Mid Game Core:

Rod of Ages is just perfect for Anivia. Everything that it provides is extremely useful to her- the health is great because she's relatively close-range, and it even beefs up her egg; the mana is mandatory; and the AP is great for an AP mid like her. Its passive also gives you great sustain within lane. Due to the nature of the item (it gets stronger the longer it's in the game), if you're going to get it, you want to buy it as early as possible. However, if you're ahead, you could skip it to get more damage faster.



If an AP caster doesn't have Rabadon's Deathcap, (s)he's doing something wrong. It provides not only a huge boost of AP, but also amplifies your existing AP. After getting this, your damage should skyrocket.



You should also have Sorcerer's Shoes by now. The magic Penetration is great, and the movespeed is nice for both dodging and getting to (and fleeing from) teamfights. However, this is much more situational- there are games when I get boots before Athene's Unholy Grail, and games when I get it after finishing Rabadon's Deathcap. However, there will be certain match-ups (such as Veigar) where you'll want to grab Mercury's Treads instead.



The logical extension of Tear of the Goddess for Anivia. It provides the mana that the bird needs to sustain those Glacial Storms. The extra AP from mana that also comes from Rod of Ages is quite welcome as well. And that shield can really save your bacon, especially since you have to get so close to use Frostbite.


Late Game Offensive Items:

A must have- Void Staff provides not only a decent amount of AP, but also a huge amount of %Magic Penetration. It's just the thing to deal with those pesky MR-stacking enemies in the late game.



This item feels made for Anivia. A bit more tankiness, some extra AP, and increased damage the longer a fight lasts, which synergizes very well with Anivia's lower-ranged but CC-packed kit. And you can't forget about that amazing %hp burn. The burn that does double damage if the target is slowed. Did we mention that Glacial Storm is a large AOE slow that Anivia excels at keeping enemies in?



While Morellonomicon grants a decent chunk of stats like AP, health, and Magic Penetration, the main reason to buy it is for the healing reduction on Anivia. However, because she needs both Rod of Ages and Seraph's Embrace maintain that mana bar, Anivia doesn't have very much extra item space at all, and outside of specialized cases, she tends to get more mileage out of building Liandry's Torment and Void Staff after the Rabadon's Deathcap. Only buy this against, say, a Dr. Mundo or Vladimir when no one else can (or will) buy healing reduction; otherwise,you'll generally be better off buying something else.


Late Game Defensive Items:

Not only does Zhonya's Hourglass provide a very respectable amount of AP, but it also gives armor for survivability, and that great activate. It's like Trollpole, but you don't feel dirty just for playing Fizz. A win/win if I ever saw one.



Unfortunately, the mana got removed from Banshee's Veil, but the shield is still gamebreaking. The extra health and MR are also amazing for a bird that has to be on the front lines constantly. Consider buying against people like LeBlanc or Akali.

Other:


Warding and Trinkets:


This will typically be the trinket that you start out with, as well as the trinket that you stick with as the game goes on. As it is now the only source of wards, barring the Sightstone, it's typically required in laning phase in order to help stave off early game jungle ganks, as well as to help gain map control in mid and late game.



This particular totem choice is rather situational. You typically want to get this only when a troublesome member of the enemy team has stealth. Consider this against enemies such as Akali or Talon.



Serving much of the purpose of Control Wards, the Farsight Alteration is best used to either maintain control of an area that you can lock down, or get vision of something far away you need to see right now (such as Baron Nashor). When it comes to the vision wars that teams oftentimes fight, however, the plain old Stealth Ward, by virtue of stealth, is oftentimes a greater investment, as it requires an enemy to expend either a Control Ward or one of the detection trinkets to destroy it (assuming they can even find it), as opposed to any member of the enemy team simply walking up and hitting it. Situationally useful, but you should never have more than one on a team.



Because of the changes to the warding and trinket system in the new season, in early and mid game, it is impossible for the trinket alone to cover both sides of mid lane, not to mention the multiple entrances for each side. Therefore, ensuring that a pink ward is placed at any given time (past the first back, that is), has become absolutely essential.

Good places for Control Wards are the little bush in the middle of the river on each side of the lane. If those spots are being regularly cleared by the enemy mid laner or jungler, consider placing it slightly farther back- in the small section of brush closer to your side of the map, or the bushes directly to the sides of mid lane. You can then use the Stealth Ward to make sure the other side of the jungle is also in sight.

It should also be noted that these are also very useful against characters that use stealth, like Talon or Akali.
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Early Game Play

I classify "Early Game" as levels 1-6, when everyone just stays in their lanes and glares at each other from their respective towers. Anivia's goal in early game is to CS better than your opponent, gain levels, and not die- if you're handed a kill on a silver platter, take it by all means, but that's not what you're here for. This is because, pre-6, Anivia is actually quite weak. While a Flash Frost+ Frostbite combo does do a large amount of damage early game, Flash Frost is relatively easy to dodge, leaving you completely helpless to enemy harass or all-ins.

However, just CSing is also hard too, because Anivia's auto attack not only does little damage, but is also slow, both in the particle (though Riot buffed this a bit), and also in the animation.

But it's not all bad. A slow projectile speed, along with an absurdly high auto attack range ( Annie is the only standard mid to outrange Anivia) makes auto attack harass a breeze, as you can attack, and immediately retreat, negating creep aggro and, if you're feeling gutsy, turret aggro. It's also hard for opponents to retaliate, as if they walk directly towards you to counterattack, they just eat a Flash Frost+ Frostbite combo to the face.

Therefore, your best bet is to harass your opponents with auto attacks. Keep in mind that if you have to choose between harrassing them once or getting a minion, the minion takes priority, as Anivia is one of the hardest-scaling AP mids in the game. If your opponent is being predictable and going forward for a minion, and you can hit a Flash Frost, be sure to hit them with a Frostbite as well as an auto attack to maximize your damage before falling back- just be careful that you're not being baited by a mobile champion that can take advantage of you like Fizz or Zed by dodging your q and going to town on you.
Spoiler: Click to view
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Mid Game Play

I classify Mid game as the time when everyone stays in their lane most of the time, but occassionally roams/rotates. It tends to be level 6-11ish. This part of the game is one of Anivia's strongest.

Access to waveclear means that she can push the lane hard when your lane partner leaves. Blue buff and mana items mean that you can farm Raptors for extra gold with impunity, while being able to buy boots allows you to roam decently. Having Glacial Storm also allows you to use your Frostbite much more easily, as you're not immediately blowing your only hard CC every time you want to trade.

This portion of the game results in many haphazard, running teamfights, and Anivia excels at this. She can lock down an area with Glacial Storm or Crystallize and not let anyone join the teamfight. Alternatively, she could use Crystallize and catch an unorganized team member off guard. Also, the unpredictability of the teamfights highlights yet another one of her benefits- her ult is always up, in stark contrast to most other mids' ults, which often have cooldowns of over one minute. More teammates also means more bodies to stand bodyguard in front of your egg.

However, not everything is perfect. Additional enemies means that an exposed egg will die every time. Your low, low mobility will mean that you could get caught out easily, or chased down at the tail end of a losing teamfight. Other enemies have greater sheer nuking power with higher cooldown ultimates. And mana will become a precious commodity to you- try to get Blue buff from your jungler every time it's up, because you need it to clear waves and fight effectively, at least until your mana items kick in.
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Late Game Play

Late game is when people stop really caring about lanes and start roaming in teams with the intention of getting kills or objectives. At this point in the game, Anivia is a downright powerhouse and I would venture to say that she is the hardest AP Carry in the game.

Right now, you have three main jobs, in varying order:
  • Kill enemies, especially squishies like ADCs or Mids
  • Peel for yourself and your ADC
  • Catch out enemies, allowing your team to pounce on them, and then forcing a 4v5 fight.

The order of this differs based on the team that you have, the team that your opponents have, and the relative farm of all parties involved. For example, if you're 0/4 but your fed Kog'Maw is 10/2, you're going to want to focus completely on peeling for him. On the other hand, if your 0/7 Lucian gets caught by Skarner yet again, you're going for the exposed Jinx instead of saving him.

Similarly, if your enemies are extremely mobile- say, Kassadin and Ezreal- you shouldn't focus so much on catching them with Crystallize, because they'll just Riftwalk or Arcane Shift over it, respectively. On the other hand, if they're relatively immobile, such as Kog'Maw or Brand, catching them out with wall will either force a flash, give your team a free kill, or force a unfavorable teamfight for the enemy.

Because of Anivia's great AP scaling (a full 1 AP:damage ratio for both Flash Frost and Frostbite), she's putting out some ludicrous damage. Her Crystallize can catch out people with ease, even in lane, due to how large it is- and those people tend to die when there's 5 angry team members whaling on them. Flash Frost, while slow, does have a rather long range and explosion radius- Stunning an enemy ADC at max range can be done if they come up to CS or harass at a bad time, and can result in a favorable engagement for your team.

Remember that Anivia's CC is just as strong, if not stronger, than her raw damage output. Landing a stun on the enemy ADC is a full second of them not attacking, which could be essential in a teamfight. Separating an enemy team with Crystallize within a teamfight can be devastatingly effective. And try to make sure that your Glacial Storm affects as many people as possible, for as long as possible- its damage is nice, but the attack speed and movement speed slow are essential for both peeling that pesky Jax off your fleeing Kog'Maw, or making sure you win that DPS fight against that enemy Jinx.
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Champion Match-ups

6/10
Ahri

3/10
Akali

8/10
Annie

4/10
Brand

5/10
Cassiopeia

3/10
OR
7/10
Diana

3/10
Ekko

3/10
Evelynn

6/10
Fiora

9/10
Fizz

1/10
Karthus

7.5/10
Kassadin

3.5/10
Katarina

3/10
Kayle

7.5/10
Leblanc

3/10
Lissandra

4/10
Lux

6/10
Malzahar

6/10
Orianna

3/10
Ryze

6.5/10
Syndra

3/10
Twisted Fate

7.5/10
Yasuo

6/10
Xerath

8/10
Zed

5/10
Ziggs

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Conclusions

I hope you enjoyed my (admittedly absurdly long) Anivia guide. I hope you learned a bit about how to play my favorite Ice Birdie.

The To-Do List: Champion Match-ups Updating Champion Match-ups, Synergies, a warding guide, a full Crystallize section, and Pwetty Pitures!

A couple of things to keep in mind:
  • There's always the chance I got something wrong. Feel free to tell me in either a PM, in game chat, or in the comments section below.
  • This is my first guide, so I would love feedback. Doesn't matter whether it's positive or constructive, every bit counts!
  • If you liked the guide, a great way to say it would be with an upvote or with a comment.
  • Above all- Bird is the Word.

Thanks for reading, and here's to hoping you soar to victory!
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Change Log

7/21- Guide Published!
7/22- Assorted edits and Clarifications. Also, Title change as it was pointed out that I was totally ripping off the title of the top guide >_< (sorry whomever wrote that)
Also champ match-ups from Ahri-Malzahar.
7/23- Additional assorted edits and fixes. Also added Champion match-ups from Orianna-Talon.
7/25- Updated cheat sheet, even more random edits/fixes. Champion match-ups from Twisted Fate-Ziggs added. Also, turned on C2V because it looked like everyone was doing it.
7/26- Finished and Published Crystallize section. Removed most of Crystallize in the Skills section to compensate. Even more random edits and fixes.
Added "Comprehensive" to Guide title due to finishing of Crystallize section.
7/30- Slight changes to reflect Patch 4.13
8/2- Fixed a minor formatting mishap. More minor errors and edits.
8/4- Fixed an out-of-place header.
8/8- Added more a bit more BBCode. Random edits
8/9- Large overhaul of guide based of the review from the Scouts de Mobafire (Thanks so much, Vynertje, GrandmasterD, and Janitsu!). If you want all the changes, just look at the comments section. Notably, Runes/Masteries have been changed significantly.
8/13- just realized some idiot mistakes. That's what I get for editing at 2AM, I guess.
8/25- some really really embarrassing typos.
9/4- it's really kind of surprising the kind of things you catch. More little errors
9/8- Even more little errors
9/12- Reworded some parts of the items sections, specifically the TotG section.
9/16- fixed a bit of broken coding
9/19- added in the patch change about terrain-checking abilities (Vayne, Poppy, Gnar)
11/15- I'm back! Finally completed overhaul of guide due to feedback from Meiyjhe (thanks for the review, by the way! I appreciate it a lot!) Namely, aesthetic and formatting things that weren't quite working before.
Also rewrote the Talon and Cassiopeia champion match-ups, considering their significant ability changes.
11/17- fixed a bit of cruddy spacing
11/20- more spacing fixes. Formatting is hard.
2/18/15- fixed some bugs, updated some out-of-date information about items and champions, added an Athene's/Morellonomicon portion to the FAQ due to the Season 5 changes.
3/2- assorted fixes, added trinkets, added rules to help separate different areas (notably in the item and summoner spell sections).
3/6- fixed some spelling/grammar errors, mainly in the matchups section.
3/16- found some outdated information, added other intricacies about Crystallize, added some interactions with Bard
6/25- added to the Athene's vs. Seraph's portion of the FAQ. I'll try to get in an Ekko match-up soon, but I haven't actually played against him enough to be comfortable giving advice against him.
11/25- Updated for Season 6! Changed masteries, the warding section, and added a (decidedly late) Ekko section!
2/4/2016- Fixed some broken hyperlinks in the Ekko section
2/17- Forgot to remove the Homeguards part in the items section >_<
3/9- Fixed some inconsistencies I missed due to the season change.
3/12- Fixed some masteries mix-ups.
6/5/17- Major overhaul! Accounted for rune/mastery changes, Anivia mini-overhaul, and mage itemization changes. I'm still going through the little stuff to make sure I caught all of the no-longer-relevant information- if you see anything, just let me know!
-As an aside, I still have not worked through the champion match-ups one by one yet. Part of it is that I'm still trying to actually play against some mid laners ( Taliyah and Aurelion Sol apparently don't exist). Updates on that pending.
6/6- renovated match-ups section. Removed some that I don't feel comfortable giving advice on anymore (s/a Talon)- we'll see if I can get some games in against them to see how they feel now.
9/7- Fixed some awkward grammar, and further modernized the guide. Updated Control Ward section, as well as the Ryze and Malzahar match-ups. Thanks to everyone who commented and pointed out some outdated information!
9/8- Fized a minor issue in the Ziggs match-up, being out of date.
9/13- Fixed a nonsensical sentence in the Crystallize section
10/3- Removed some extraneous wording
11/27- Reworked entire Runes/Mastery chapter to account for new preseason Rune revamp.
2/11/2018- Added Taste of Blood to the Honorable Mentions runes page.
7/29- admittedly belated update to the items to reflect mage item rework- primarily to Lost Chapter subsection.
7/30- Removed FAQ section (because there are no more relevant questions...)- added Morellonomicon to Offensive Items section. Changed Liandry's Torment descriptions
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