Hi all! Welcome to my Annie guide which also happens to be my first guide ever! ^^ This guide is to show you how I play Annie in middle lane and hopefully you will see how effective it is!

First, let's cover the Pros and Cons of the little Girl, with a fiery will, Annie.

Pros

Annie is very powerful very early because of the Tibbers Pyromania stun technique.
Annie has one of the largest basic attack ranges and is great at pocking.
Annie can damage opponents whilst running away by activating Molten Shield.

Cons

Annie is very, very squishy.
Annie isn't as strong as she is at the start of the game and the later periods of the game.

To start of with, is Incinerate. Incinerate does not need a target to be used at the start of the game. Why would you use it at the start of the game though? It is actual a neat trick! Annie's Neutral: Pyromania, makes it so her spell will stun the enemy or enemies on hit after four spells have been used. This means at the start of the game you can wait in the pool after buying items, and use Incinerate to charge Pyromania as for you will regenerate health and mana for free (as you should know) from your base. In addition to this, you will have just enough time to charge it up just before you get to Mid lane and the Minions spawn.

Next is items. As Annie is rather squishy I like to make it so I can handle myself easily in battle by being able to constantly (or near constantly) output damage and pushing through to the enemy base. However being a squishy character means that it is always a good idea to have some sort of defense or recovery. To start off with, I buy Doran's Ring, 2 Health Potions and a Warding Totem. After getting to about level 3 to 5, if it is safe, I recall to restock up on Potions and hopefully, I can afford Boots of Speed. As said before Annie is squishy so Health Potions are very helpful. As soon as I can I upgrade my Boots of Speed to Sorcerer's Shoes and get the Furor enchantment. Sorcerer's Shoes are almost s given for every Mage and the Furor enchantment makes it so I can keep a somewhat increased movement speed if I need to escape after attacking the enemy or dealing out pocking damage (because Annie has one of the largest basic attack ranges). Once that is completed I like to move onto the Blasting Wand. Some may prefer to go get the Needlessly large Rod first but personally, I believe it is better to have something rather than nothing for a while. Afterwards I get the Needlessly Large Rod or the Rabadon's Deathcap already if I can afford it. Rabadon's Deathcap increase AP by 120 and has a bonus effect where it increases your ability power by another 30%. This can be extremely helpful and can change the tides if you aren't doing so well in Mid lane. By this point in game you should be around level 8-12 and this is where other champions can start building up the pressure on Annie. Thus is a good time to save up for the Guardian Angel. Personally I don't feel like there is an order to what you buy first. Assess your opponent (or opponents) and decide which is better as the both components cost the same price. Once bought it will now make it so Annie can be resurrected once every 5 minutes so that her being squishy is less of a problem, plus has decent armor and magic resist too! Finally if the game is still going on, it is time to buy Lich Bane. Now if you can afford it, by all means get Sheen first otherwise though, get the Aether Wisp (because it is better than nothing). The Lich Bane increases movement speed, increases AP and increases mana making it a great contributor to your damage output.

As you can see, the runes a hugely based around AP and mana. This is because if you lay a Flash -> Pyromania Stun with Tibbers it will wreck havoc in seconds! Of course this is not the only purpose, as for this also keeps mana at a high level throughout the game with high ability power, meaning more damage output.

Annie is a very basic character to master. All that is really needed is a little practice. Now, most of the techniques have been mentioned before but let's recap them.

Ghost / Flash -> Pyromania Tibbers

This technique is very simple. If the enemy is kind off staying a safe distance away, once Pyromania is fully changed, Ghost or Flash to the enemy and summon Tibbers on top of them. This will stun them. Then attack them with Incinerate first as it does more damage the Disintegrate and has less range then use Disintegrate so if they have made a run hopefully you can get them. Also having Ignite may help too (and is also ironically a very fitting Summoner spell to match Annie ^^ )

Molten Shield Retreat

This technique is also simple. When you are low on health and don't feel comfortable return to a safe area to recall but on the way to the safe area you choose, activate Molten Shield so that if they do come chasing after you hopefully you will survive and they will take damage for attack you. Of course Health Potions are also a good idea to use in succession with this technique if you need health because of the damage the enemy is dealing.

Pyromania Charging

Yet another easy technique. To put it bluntly, wait at the base as use Incinerate and Molten Shield until Pyromania is ready.

To conclude, Annie is a great Mid laner. Although her weakness of being squishy, she deals a huge ton of damage. Be as offensive as possible but keep as aware as possible to avoid getting killed and avoid those unexpected ganks. Prioritize life over kills.

Anyway, thanks a lot for reading my guide and I hope it teaches you 'How to Annie' a bit better! If you liked the guide and found it helpful please be sure to give this guide a vote up!