Hello League and Mobafire. I'm Reason, a Mastery 7 Anivia player, with (currently) a bit over 500,000 Points on her, and climbing. Anivia was one of the first champion shards i ever got when i joined league, and i fell in love with her kit, playstyle, and flexibility in game. I know this guide is big, and i apologize. I was just wanted to make sure to get in everything i could about Anivia, and there's no reason you have to look through it all in one sitting.

I remember the frustration of trying to learn league when i first joined, so as a result of that this guide is aimed slightly
more at new players rather then experienced ones. While this guide is more directed at people who are new to Anivia (or league in general), i still hope experienced player's alike find it interesting. This guide will be updated, at the very least, every patch. If you have any opinion's, advice, or question's of any sort, feel free to leave a comment, i'm here to learn same as anyone else.

NOTE: UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, THIS GUIDE IS CONSIDERED "OUT OF DATE". with the mass item changes and the introduction to a new item type (Mythic's), im planning on updating and redoing a LARGE portion of this guide, but it'll take time for the dust to settle and new items to be messed around. as long as this message is on the guide, consider it old. not necessarily all irrelevant, just old. it will be updated ASAP.

PRO'S
+Incredible amounts of Crowd Control
+High burst damage that most people tend to underestimate
+A free extra life (on a cooldown)
+Easy to pick up, hard to master
+Able to be useful even if behind
+extremely low cooldown ultimate


CON'S
-EXTREMELY mana hungry
-easy to punish if you misuse your abilities
-Super slow skillshot ability, making it easy to dodge
-super squishy when caught out
-no mobility options and very slow
-hard to farm with early game
-easy to learn but hard to master I'm of the opinion that Anivia is one of these most underrated champ's in Leauge of Legend's. Anivia has so much she can do in so many situation's, and control's the ebb and flow of a fight in a way almost no other champ really can. You don't just play around the battlefield as Anivia, you make your own. You can 1v1, have an amazing teamfight, Have enough CC and an amazing AOE zoning ult that you can use to single-handedly hold back an enemy team, and bring so much in sheer utility to a team that you're flexible enough to fit into almost any team comp. Your only real weakness in a game as Anivia is just the lack of mobility you have, and you have enough in term's of terrain making, stun's and slow's to make up for it if you play right.

plus, i mean, come on. You're a bloody god of the frejlord and all thing's ice and snow. That's just cool.

Basic Combo's

Q+E

Your basic combo for poking your opponent down in lane. Q to stun, which set's up the double damage for your E. Back off after that unless you have a lot of pressure on your opponent. If you have the luxury, you can get an auto or 2 in with this combo, but for the early poke just connect your E to the target and then get out of their range before they try to retaliate. This combo will be your bread and butter pretty much all the way to level 6. While it may be tempting to throw in your Crystallize to try to keep them close and get off more damage, remember that it is super easy to get around at level 1, so it may be best to save it for more defensive use's.

Other Secondary Tree Options

Early game

Core Item's

Liandry's, Morellonomicon, and Void Staff are all great item's for Anivia, but that doesn't always mean you should build all of them. How do you know when to build Liandry's over Morellonomicon? If i get magic penetration from Morellonomicon and Sorcerer's shoes, why should I build Void Staff? What exactly does Liandry's passive's even do?

Ill go over each item and try as best i can to outline when you should build each and which item's you should prioritize over the other's from game to game. In general, you'll build one of these three item's 3rd or 4th, depending on how the game is going so far. If you're a bit behind or struggling some, you can finish your Archangel's Staff first to get the active shield on it. If you're doing well or ahead, hold onto Tear of the Goddess and finish upgrading it after.

you'll want to choose at least one of these to build every game. you can pick two, if you feel like you need both. A tank who has a lot of healing plus a few magic resist items? Void Staff and Morellonomicon. One person on the enemy team has a lot of healing but you also want the burn from Liandry's? take Liandry's plus Morellonomicon then. None of will be useful in 100% of game's, so play it game to game and see which you need.

Starting a New Round

A start of a round should always go pretty much the same no matter who you play. Find a position where you can safely keep an eye out for a possible invade, and don't get distracted by IRL stuff like your phone or videos or what not. The moment your in game, you should be committed to that game. This should really go without saying, but considering how many times first blood is lost to someone running out into the jungle at the start of a game and then going to the bathroom, i guess it does need to be said.

Your level 1-6 should be focused on you and your lane. Farming up, poking down if you feel safe to do so, and trying to just avoid too much in the way of fighting. Obviously you can't avoid everything. Just focus on trying to avoid as much poke as you can, and use your Health Potion and any other healing item's you have wisely.

When you have the ability to, you can push your lane and try for a tower plate. This is even easier if your lane opponent is gone, either from backing or roaming. When pushing up in lane, play around your Rebirth and Flash. Having one, or preferably both of, these will greatly increase your overall security. It's perfectly acceptable to burn both of them just to make sure you get out alive, as your life is always more valuable then any amount of gold or summoner's spells. Keep your river brush's warded and a close eye on where the enemy team is on your map. at the first inkling of someone coming back to your lane, RUN. do NOT play hero, do NOT stick around trying to rush another plate. While Anivia has an amazing amount of siege potential, the keyword here is "siege" potential. Tower plates are nice, but you're ability to take tower's directly is slow, as you have nothing in your kit that can help you chip it down faster. No attack speed buffs like Jayce or Udyr, no auto attack enhances like Nasus or Twisted Fate. A siege is a slow, methodical taking of an objective. remember that. You can't risk a plate when you know someones coming. just run.



Get a good kill on your opponent? keeping them pushed in hard and losing little to no ground? Then capitalize. While Anivia isnt known for her early game or snowballing per say, keeping your opponent on their backfoot is never a bad thing no matter who you're playing. First, focus on how you're winning lane. There are two main ways, winning a lane in kill pressure and winning in push.

If you're winning by killing your opponent soundly, then keep the kill pressure on them. Harass and scare them into playing back, and don't let them start to get comfortable. Punish them for trying to CS, either with a quick Q+E combo or by making them have to risk your blizzard to get the gold they need. Remember to keep an eye on your mana, as winning a lane through this way will cause you to burn mana quickly, and trying to poke them down only to run out of mana mid trade will immediately give them a chance to capitalize.
The key to capitalizing on kill lanes is winning the kills SOUNDLY. if you get a kill by the skin of your teeth, or by them making a mistake, don't fool yourself into thinking that mean's your suddenly one-uping them. Take a free kill if they give it to you, and punish mistakes, but do no try to apply kill lane pressure to someone who want's to fight in a kill lane. Assassin's like Zed, Talon, and Fizz are hard enough to 1v1 when everything is going for you, don't EVER underestimate them and think you have the upper hand in a 1v1. Take the early game win's when you can against champs like these, but never forget that isn't the type of champ you are.

If you're winning lane through superior push and farming, then honestly just keep doing exactly that. Push them into their tower and try to starve them from all the CS you can. Even just auto'ing them when they dip in to CS will widdle them down and make them weary, but a well landed stun or a blizzard to cut them off is even more painful if you have the mana. Having said that, this strategy work's better after you've gotten a slightly bigger mana pool from Tear of the Goddess. Setting your opponents behind in farm and keeping them from the item's the need can help you and your team get an edge.

If you'd rather not burn a ton of mana on farming, you also have the option of roaming to other lane after you've push the mid lane in some. When it comes to roaming, you must check your map. see who on your team is pushed in and could use some help, or check to see if someone on the enemy team is vastly out of position. Check to see if your jungler needs help with any jungle objectives, or if he's on his way to gank somewhere, see if you can catch up in time to add another person to the fight. And always, always keep in mind that a roam has a ton of risk attached to it. Losing farm, losing lane priority, traveling through the jungle without vision... there's always an issue, and you need to decide if it's worth it.

Winning lane doesn't always have to be a big thing. If you want to just keep playing lane as you have been, farming up and poking down, there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes the best thing to do is maintain the status quo. Snowballing as Anivia can be a lot harder then it would seem at first, so even if you win a lane, don't feel the need to push it if you don't know how best to do so. Your early game is pretty basic simply because it's easily your weakest part of the game, so most game's you're gonna end up just farming up and focusing on your own lane.

The Queen of Versatility

Many people don't realize just how flexible your kit can feel as Anivia if you know how to use it. Between the decently sized AOE stun that isnt stopped by minions or walls, and the ability to create terrain and a giant AOE slow and damage zone, all of your kit (with the exception of your Frostbite, rip) has a ton of potential ways you can utilize them. Mid game is where this versatility can REALLY shine, assuming you didn't fall hard behind in lane anyway. so now it's just a matter of deciding which role you wanna fill in your team.
Obviously, you can fill almost any or all of these roles in any game, but there will definitely be times one will be a better pick for you then the others. Keep in mind what they have and what they don't have on the enemy team (CC, movement, engage, backline divers, etc) and choose accordingly.


Sometimes, you just can't beat the classics. this will be the role you fill if your team is well rounded and either all even or if someone on your team (who isn't you) is SUPER fed. You'll stick to the middle of your team of the backline, and just follow up on your engagers push. Try to drop your blizzard around your engager to punish anyone trying to punish them, and keep an eye out for any good stun opportunities. Use your wall to cut off the enemy teams backline before they can join the fight, or to keep them in the fight if they make a break for it. If you have any experience playing immobile or slow AP mages, then this should be familiar to you, as it means hanging back and just looking for good chances to pick a fight. Stun as many people as you can, E the weakest member, and just hover around behind your blizzard and frontline to pepper the enemy with E's and auto's.




It should be noted that even in game's when this role isn't your primary goal, you will always to some degree be a APC, so don't think when i say "don't fill this role" i mean do something crazy like starting building different or anything. It simply means it shouldn't be your FOCUS, if you can be more useful somewhere else.



Sometimes, your team is gonna be squishy and have no real good engagers. it happens. people pick weird champs, or don't fill when a tank is needed, etc. Obviously Engaging yourself (be an immobile mage) seem's absurd, but through clever use of your CC it's actually completely practical.
Now, it should be obvious that i don't mean "run in and draw their attention". Even when playing the frontline's, you're still a no-mobility mage, and you're only fall back's in an emergency are gonna be your Flash and your Rebirth. Rather, hang out in the frontline, but don't push up into them. Look for opportunities to catch someone as they come in, or if they push up just a littttlllleee to far for CS or poke. Your Flash Frost can stop someone in their tracks when they try to start a fight if you're careful with your timing, and your Crystallize wall can stop or slow any potential help from coming to save them. Your wall can also be used to start a fight instead of your stun, dropping it behind someone when they leave their team too far behind, and giving your team a better chance to catch them out. Use Glacial Storm carefully, as your be punished even harder for misusing it the closer to the enemy team you are.






This role will be best when your team is on the backfoot and the enemy team is starting more of the fights then you are, or if your backline is in desperate need of peel. It'll sometimes feel like a chore having to babysit others on your team, but it needs to be done, especially if they're a hypercarry.
Whats the difference between normal catching and engage stopping? well, catcher is a peeler. If your backline is a prime target for someone on their team, you need to be there to stop them from dying. Keep an eye on the jungle around you and always be wary when someone on their team who want's pickoff's ( Kha'Zix, Talon, etc) is missing. Stick to the middle or backline of your team and be ready to throw a stun in their face when they decide to dive. A good Flash Frost+ Glacial Storm+ Frostbite Combo will hurt these squishier champs a lot on it's, and of course you have your backline who you're protecting to help finish them off as well. After their diver's and assassin's are dead or have to run off to their fountain to lick their wounds, your team will be a lot safer to push up or even to take a fight while they're gone.


Engage stopping will have you positioning more or less the same, but looking more at the enemy team you can actually see rather then worrying about who you can't. If they have someone who want's to hard engage for their team ( Maokai, Leona, etc), wait until the engager makes a move on your team, then drop your storm behind them, between them and anyone on their team hoping to follow up on it. Don't waste time trying to stun a hard engage champ, as most of them don't have enough damage for you to worry. Just try to not be the focus of their engage either, as being CC chained will make it a nightmare to try to keep a Glacial Storm up. So focus on their follow up instead, slowing it down and stunning it as it try's to catch up to their frontline, or even just walling it off entirely. Most people following a hard engage champ like this will assume the engager is the stun target, so throwing a stun at them but letting it pass over them will catch a lot of people by surprise.
There's obviously a lot of different type's of engager's though. Thresh, Blitzcrank, and Pyke hooks are a lot different them someone coming into your team, and the biggest thing for them is just avoiding the hook entirely. This sound's obvious and redundant, yes, but that really is all their is to it. Try to bait it out by giving them false predictions, moving in a straight line and then dipping out of the way in the opposite direction when they launch their hooks. After they miss, it's a good time to start looking for counter engages with your Flash Frost stun, especially if they way pushed up to try to land that hook in the first place.
Ult engages are another matter entirely. Malphite, Sejuani, engagers like these who are just looking to land one good ult to end the fight before it starts, there's only so much you can do against them. Just not tightly grouping is really what it comes down to, and maybe even walling them off so they can't follow up on the ultimate if you can. Letting them blow their ult, reseting and grouping after a short retreat, and then press them since they no longer have those hard engage ultimates to use.





A sort of last resort, for the game's where you fall WAY behind and aren't able to be much help in term's of damage yet. These game's where be the one's where you just focus on keeping target's down and in range for the rest of your team. Drop a wall to keep them from running, stun them to CC chain them with your teams CC, blizzard them to slow them down and make them easier to kill, all while hanging back yourself. it's gonna happen that you'll end up behind sometimes, no one plays every game perfectly, it just doesn't happen. So on these games, just focus on helping your team primarily through your stun and other CC rather then your damage, and try to avoid making a target of yourself. This is the route you should always take any time you fall behind, even though it's frustrating.

Time to End This

While you still maintain versatility in your kit, late game punishes your team hard for dying, so it's overall a much bigger focus on playing safe. One death on a team can lose the whole game at this point, so no matter how aggressive you were in the early and mid game, rein it in some here.
Focus on catching mistakes. an enemy pushed up too far, someone pathing badly, champs off in the jungle or a lane by themselves, etc. there's also MUCH more pressure on you to stick with your team then there was before now, as at this point most of the enemy champs are all item'ed up, so your chances of surviving off by yourself, even with all your CC, fall off. it's just better overall not to risk it.
You're gonna pop like a balloon in teamfight's, so try to default to using your abilites more defensively then offensively, and switch to pushing your advantage again once they're down in numbers. Focus on trying to keep enemy minion waves cleared as well, since you melt through them easy and have a lot more mana at this point to work around with.
This point in the game pretty much come's down to who has the better players and who's team makes a mistake first. DO NOT be your team's mistake, play safe, make smart choices. There's very little else to say other then all that, especially since all it's gonna take is one team fight to make or break the game now. Your blizzard and stun are gonna be great assets to your team if you use them properly, so be ready with both.

I wish i could be more helpful, and there's obviously a lot more i could go into, so ill keep trying to improve all of this as i get feedback and experience. Until then, Good luck, and remember that a game is NEVER over until that nexus falls.

Other guide's i've created for other champs!

Malzahar
The Phrophet of the Void