I don't think that Crystal Scepter is unviable because of the high cost caused by the slow, simply because you don't actually pay for the slow, you get it 'for free':

Giant's Belt: 380 HP for 1000g -> 1 HP for 2.63...g
Blasting Wand: 40 AP for 860g -> 1 AP for 21.5 g

Rylai's Crystal Scepter: 500 HP -> 500*2.63 = 1315
80 AP -> 80*21.5 = 1720
Passive = Free!

1315 + 1720 = 3035g
Actual Cost = 2900g

RCS gives you 135g of stats and an awesome passive for free!

Most of this guide is good, however i disagree with some of your build. The reason rylais and liandrys are so good on annie are purely because they all work with tibbers immolation. Tibbers immolation is probably the most under appreciated part of annies kit and can deal a lot of damage, and having an aoe slow and huge % burn can be invaluable. Commanding tibbers to run alongside fleeing enemies or people diving on you to keep up the slow and burn can be the difference between winning and losing. Obviously it wont be the best in every situation, but i feel that you have overlooked parts of annies kit. Also you did not consider maxing your q first. Obviously it has lower base damage but due to its shorter cooldown you can use it twice in your burst whereas you can only use w once. This qwq (+r post 6) gives more damage but potentially opens you up to more counterplay. You have also neglected to talk about annies role in teamfights and how to play her after laning. And lastly you discourage building lich bane. This item works so amazingly on her and this is why; annies attack range is GREATER than her q range, this means that if you are going to q someone you can also aa to proc lb. Once you have lb you can combo qwr+aa then use your shield to reactivate lb a second time. There is absolutely no reason to discourage buying lich bane as annie is one of the few champs who can utilize it seamlessly and given her having exceptional attack range makes it very easy to proc. Overall i think this guide shows only one ( and fairly narrow minded ) way to play annie and fails to consider vital parts of her playstyle and skillset and it really only gives a brief explanation on how to play her.

Thank you for this very well written en understandable post. As a total Rook it is very helpfull.

It is totally false that you can't do anything to Kassadin. You can destroy him before level 6, gaining even 2 kills and level 7 when he is still level 5. If you zone him right you will don't have problems.

However, this strategy doesn't work when this build is used because if Zhonya's Hourglass or Rabadon's Deathcap is rushed you will dont have sustain.

The best idea against Kassadin (and most of the champions that is marked as counters in this guide) is to rush for Rod of Ages because this will give a good amount of AP and almost 2.2 k hp (without ROA you have only < 1.5 k HP) .

I like the look and thoroughness of the guide, I have been playing awhile and never really got into Annie, and was thiking about doing it, but you have me afraid to play her after reading the lane opponents section lol, just seems like she has so many hard counters.

Very nice guide, been maining Annie with this guide alone for the past 15-20 games. Went 8-0-6 with a triple kill. :)

That definitely sounds like beginner games. Annie is a mid champ, she shouldn't really be played with a lane partner, and when you get to higher levels when the meta is used you will have a hard time if not played on mid. Basically you should focus on farming(through last hits) and pick up kills when it's possible. Annie is a powerful nuker, which also means she's squishy so in teamfights you need to position yourself well. The game will become more clear when you level up more, but annie should help you learn some ropes. Also, you need to understand kills and deaths don't mean that much. It's not COD where 75 kills win you the game. Each enemy will drop so much gold depending on how many kills they have. If you shut down someone who gives 500 gold it's worth it even if you die(as long as your not worth 500). Sure, carrying a game means having more kills then deaths generally, but you should aim to have 6 or less deaths in a normal game. I hope some of this helped you out.

What I do is build up my Mana Regen and AP. I go top/bot and rack up minion kills. If a Champ comes near, I usually try to lure them near one of my turrets and hit them with a W then chase them with a Q to finish them. I'll summon Tibbers if no turrets or near by or to help out destroying some enemy turrets. But it really all comes down to the items I buy. If I can start early getting minion kills and gold, I can usually go 1-5/<10/10+ if I have a decent lane partner and about 125-150+ minion kills.

Annie is great Champ for me being a beginner but I would love to find another Champ with a nice set of ranged attacks but more starting HP. I die quickly if I'm not focused even the slightest.

Loved this guide, used it when I needed to get good with Annie right before a match. I just went 12/1/6 the first time using this guide. They surrendered after 25 minutes.

First of all, why Rabadon's before Sorcerer's? Second, I think that you should include the uses of Tibbers in tower-diving.

Used this as a base of a build, Changed a few minor things (mainly runes) but over all this has worked great for me last few games 11/2/8 28/8/8 15/3/9 17/2/10 9/0/0 12/6/8 I have to say I am please lol .