'Eye 'm the str... oh wrong game.

Hello everyone, i am MoltenTruros and this is my first guide. I have been playing Anivia quite a bit, since lv 13 and forward. I decided to write this guide because Anivia can be a tricky champion to learn properly. And before i begin with things i have to say that im not a pro and that im still learning the game.

Well then, hope you enjoy.

Anivia is a surprisingly durable AP burst caster that requires good positioning to prevail in combat. As a AP caster, her main method of of damage is her spells. She is also somewhat of an utility bot with 3/4 spells having some other use then just blowing people up. She is also quite competent even with little-to-none AP ( as long as she isn't very far behind the enemy team's AP )

Pros:
Extremely potent caster
Great kit
Great presence in teamfights
Great passive, basically an extra life.

Cons:
Somewhat Blue-buff dependant if not building mana regen.
Squishy

So, what's Anivia's skills?

[Passive] Rebirth:Upon dying, Anivia will revert into an egg and will get an armor and magic resistance modifier of -40 / -25 / -10 / +5 / +20. If the egg can survive for six seconds, she is reborn with the same percentage of health that her egg had left. This can only happen once every four minutes regardless of cooldown reduction.

This let's you play aggressive in the early game, since it's when it is strongest, but this will save you many times from that guy who tries to go for the ignite kill on you.

[Q] Flash Frost: Anivia summons a shard of ice that flies on a line. The shard will deal magic damage and slow by 20% for 3 seconds to anyone in its path. The shard will detonate when reaching its max range or if the ability is activated again. When the shard explodes it will deal magic damage to all enemies nearby, stunning them for 1 second. The magic damage done by both the shard and the detonation is the same, and both will apply the "chilled" debuff on enemies hit for 3 seconds.

It's a stun! So, it's a skillshot which you can detonate at will or until it reaches it's max range. To maximize the damage of this spell you will need to let it pass through your target so that you can hit it with both the projectile and the explosion.
Also, utility!

[W] Crystallize: Anivia condenses the moisture in the air into an impenetrable wall of ice to block the movement of all units. The wall lasts 5 seconds before it melts.

This is a wall made out of ice. It's used to block enemies. Use it tho split the emeny team or to trap targets out of position. Even more utility!

[E] Frostbite: Anivia blasts her target with a freezing wind, dealing magic damage. If the target has been "chilled" by Anivia's other abilities, they will take double damage.

Sadly, this spell has no utility. But it deals loads of damage if it hits a chilled target.

[R] Glacial Storm: Anivia summons a driving rain of ice and hail on a nearby target area to continuously deal magic damage to enemies on it, slowing their movement and attack speed by 20% for 1 second, and "chilling" them.

The ultimate, the #2 area control spell in her kit, the massive damage. This is a must-use in every teamfight, everyone of them. It has a really low cooldown and it is the reason why you should give blue buff to Anivia. Because then she can keep it up, forever. Also, even more utility.



Now, here's an explanation of my skill sequence.

Reason for maxing [Q] first:
This is your Main damage spell. It is also a stun and a skillshot. Personally, im usually really good at aiming so i hit with it most of the time. It's cooldown is also reduced for each rank. And if i recall, it's good to have a stun on a somewhat short cooldown.

If you really want to you could max [E] before [Q] if you aren't good with skillshots. Maxing your [E] first is also a plan if you want to harass with your ult.

[W] The frost wall and you:
This spell, it's almost the sole reason why Anivia is so hard to master. Generally you want to use it to split the enemy team so that your team can kill them easier. Just be careful, one missplaced wall can screw your entire team over if bad enough.

For summoner spells i take Flash and Ignite.

Flash:
Since Anivia has no real escape spell, this is quite a good spell to take, even though it has been nerfed. Combine this spell with Crystalize[W] and you can pop down a wall, flash over it, keep running and hope that the enemy team don't have their Flash/es off cooldown.

Ignite:
As if Anivia didn't have enough damage already. This will let you finish off a fleeing foe or perhaps get rid of that pesky Tryndamere/Mundo/Volibear.

As with my runes, i go with Mpen reds, Mp5/lv yellows, CDR blues and HP quints.


Reasoning:
Anivia is a caster, casters deal magic damage, Mpen is generally good as an caster. The Mp5 ones is because she can be bit mana hungry, especially with that ult up so it's nice to have. CDR is so that you can stun and burst more often and the HP quints are because Anivia has really poor hp.

I generally try to get my Catalyst as soon as possible, as least after first recall. after that you just grab a pair of Boots and then rush Deathcap, finishing your boots after that. After this point you just build what you need to counter the enemy team while still getting reasonable damage. The Catalyst should be upgraded to and Banshee's Veil but when you do that is up to you, though you will probably have to do it when their AP start to hurt.

If you find yourself with low mana very often the pick up either and Chalice of Harmony or a Morello's Evil Tome. If you need armor then you should be thinking of perhaps getting a Zhonya's Hourglass. And if they start to get MR then top of your build with an Void Staff.

Anivia is a beast in teamfights. not because of the fact that she is a bird, but due to her massive damage and area control. Crystallize functions really well with any sort of chasing champion. And if fighting in the jungle, even a rank 1 of her wall can block an entire path in the jungle.

Her ult ( if the enemy team stays in it ) has the potential to deal "massive damage" so use it when you are sure that there won't be any more movement.

I hope this guide was of use for someone. Feel free to give me feedback on it and perhaps i will write a guide on another Champion some other time.

See ya!