Anivia the Cryophoenix is a strong mage who scales exceptionally well with AP. While she has a weak early game, Anivia brings a lot of utility to a team fight with an AoE stun, an AoE slow, and a devastating wall that can protect allies, trap enemies, and separate teams. Anivia is also very capable in sieging enemy towers and defending her own by demolishing entire creep waves in a matter of seconds. Her passive is a free Guardian Angel which can be used to bait enemies or finish off unwitting enemies who tower dive her.

I feel one aspect of Anivia's kit that is largely overlooked is her ability to do significant damage mid-game. Many Anivia players tend to build her slowly, going catalyst the protector into Rod of Ages or Tear of the Goddess into Archangel's Staff. While these are good items on Anivia, I feel as though there is more utility by building damage early and I rely on Chalice of Harmony and Hextech Revolver to give me damage and sustain.

Anivia is a very strong champion; however, due to her high skill cap, weak early game, and mana problems, many players avoid using her or underestimate her. This guide is meant to give you a better understanding of how Anivia works so that you can appreciate her strengths.


Note of Caution:
This build focuses on sustain through spell vamp and Chalice of Harmony. Due to this, you will have less overall health compared to other builds. You won't need the extra hp during laning phase due to your in-lane sustain. Having more hp in a team fight helps, but it's unusual for Anivia to be amongst the first taken down in a team fight anyway, so I don't feel as though having less overall hp is a problem. Playing Anivia well means mastering your positioning and controlling your enemy's position. If you're out of position, it's likely either you or your team did something wrong to put you in that position. Learn from your mistakes and try again. Good luck. ;)

PROS

• Brings a lot of utility to a team.
• High burst damage.
• Hard to kill due to her passive.
• Ability to bait enemies through strategic use of her egg.
• 1 AoE stun and 2 AoE slows.
• Very strong pushing power.
• Very strong defensive capabilities.
• Her wall.
• Ability to user her wall for vision.

CONS

• Her wall.
• Easily countered or interrupted.
• Squishy.
• Very slow movement and projectile speeds.
• Weak early game.
• Mana/blue-buff dependent.
• Short range on her single-target nuke.
• Combo-dependent.

I choose the following runes on Anivia:

• x9 Greater Marks of Insight
• x9 Greater Seals of Potency
• x9 Greater Glyphs of Potency
• x3 Greater Quintessences of Transmutation

These give me a total of +8.5% Magic Penetration, +16 AP, and +6.0% Spellvamp.


Why use flat AP runes instead of per level runes?
The reason I use these runes is very simple: Anivia scales with Ability Power extremely well and has a weak early game. The more ability power she has sooner, the better. There is a huge difference in the damage output of Anivia at level 2 with 20 AP to Anivia with 0 AP.

Why use spellvamp quintessences?
Anivia has a great single-target nuke and very strong pushing power, yet no innate sustain. To fix this, I opt to utilize her strengths and give her 3 Greater Quintessences of Transmutation, which allow her to stay in lane much longer by ulting a creep wave and nuking a minion to regain hp.

Here are the effects of the spellvamp in-game. My items in this video were a Chalice of Harmony, a Hextech Revolver, and a Deathcap:
Note:
This build is a bit unforgiving on your mana pool without blue. Choose when to use your abilities wisely.

The mastery page is a bit subjective and can be modified to your liking; however, I feel that it is a necessity to take a point in Runic Affinity to maximize Anivia's use of the Blue Golem Buff and avoid going out of mana.


Why put 3 points in Transmutation?
I prefer to take 3 points in Transmutation to bring Anivia's starting spellvamp to 9%, which once combined with a Hextech Revolver, will give her 21% spellvamp. This really allows her to sustain in lane. Even if Anivia is pushed to her tower, she will have the ability to defend it handily between that and her passive.

And the others?
The mastery points in the offense tree are geared to increase Anivia's Ability Power and Magic Damage. At level one with the runes and masteries I've laid out, Anivia will start with 21 AP and 9% spell vamp. Not too shabby. If ignite goes on cooldown, she'll gain an extra 5 AP which is always nice.

If you have difficulty last hitting with Anivia, take two points in Butcher, otherwise put those points somewhere else (like Havoc or Brute Force so your autoattacks will hit enemy champions harder.)

For the masteries in the utility tree, you can switch these as you like, but since I don't use any mana regeneration runes, I prefer to take 3 points in Meditation to compensate for it. You should never take points in Good Hands (you shouldn't be dying!) and there's little incentive to take Scout over something else.

Explanation:
What needs to be said about Ignite and Flash that hasn't been said before? Use flash to hop over walls (including your own!) and avoid ganks or take down enemies. Use ignite to finish an enemy off.


Other options:




Use ghost if you feel Anivia's slow movement speed is holding you back, but just note that Anivia doesn't have to stop to cast her ultimate [imgsmall=skills/anivia/r.png], which slows enemy movement by 20%, making her good at kiting enemies.

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Passive: Rebirth

This is easily amongst the best passives in the game. Its utility is so high it's hard to appreciate its variety of uses. It's great at baiting an enemy into a duel, only for them to revert you to an egg while your jungler comes in and cleans up. In team fights it can cause the enemy to hesitate about whether or not to focus you or someone else. It's very difficult for a character to kill both Anivia and her egg before she hatches at early levels. Overall, this is a very strong ability.

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Q: Flash Frost

Wow. An AoE stun that slows people it goes through and can hit twice? Almost sounds too good to be true. Well...there's one thing about Flash Frost which really holds this ability back. The projectile speed. Flash Frost is SLOOOW! It's very easy to dodge, especially once your opponent has tier 2 boots. Many champions can simply outrun it.
Wait until your enemy is going to last hit a minion before using this skill, as that will be your best chance of stunning them pre-6. If you're using this at maximum range, it is very likely your opponent will be able to avoid this easily. Move in closer than you need to autoattack creeps and lull your opponent into a false sense of complacency. When they don't expect it, attack!

Once you hit level 6, use your ultimate. Once you find out which way your enemy is going to run, aim Flash Frost ahead of them and stun them, following up with your Frostbite (E) for a combo.

Note: While you are stunned/silenced/suppressed, you cannot detonate Flash Frost, which can be extremely frustrating.

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W: Crystallize

Anivia's wall. One of the hardest moves to master in the game. Crystallize is what separates a pro from a pub and an eight-year-old from a troll master. In order to master Anivia, it is imperative that you know when, where, and how to place your wall. At higher levels, Anivia can block off almost the entire river or entire lane.

Using crystallize will also give your team vision of the area for the duration of the wall:


For a better explanation of this skill and a map to see the viable places you can wall, head over to the "Learning to Use Your Wall" section of the guide.

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E: Frostbite

This is Anivia's single-target nuke that can deal massive damage to an opposing player. Unfortunately, in order to deal that massive damage effectively, you need to combo this with another one of Anivia's moves. Pre-6, you'll be forced to combo it with the incredibly slow-moving Flash Frost. Once you have your ultimate, you should be able to combo this much more easily. You can slow your opponent in your ult, catch up and E them, or if you're fast, you can press E first and ult them while the projectile is in the air. This combo is very effective, especially on champs who underestimate Anivia's power.

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R: Glacial Storm

This is Anivia's best utility ability. Not only does it help set up all of her moves, it provides an AoE slow and Attack Speed Reduction debuff to the enemy team while potentially dealing a ton of damage to those who stand in it. It's very effective at destroying minion waves, forcing enemies to reposition themselves, and good at kiting enemies AND it has a short cooldown to boot. What's the drawback? It's a channeled ability, meaning it breaks if you're cc'ed and...the mana. It is very easy to forget about your ultimate and before you know it, you can end up with no mana in a matter of seconds. You really have to manage your mana well and keep an eye on your ult to be effective throughout the game.

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Skill Combinations

Here's a quick video I edited together to show a few of Anivia's attacks chained together. Learn from it and use this to your advantage.

Grab one point in Flash Frost(Q) at level 1. It deals the most damage out of all your abilities, has the longest range, and can stun multiple opponents. Good for leashing, good for invading, good for harassing. There's no reason to get any other ability at level 1.

Next, grab your Frostbite(E) and max it by level 9. This will be your main damage ability. Only use it on a chilled target, otherwise you will be doing less damage and wasting mana as a consequence.

Grab points in Crystallize(W), your wall, at levels 4, 8, and 11. Learn which paths you can block off in the jungle with each point of Crystallize. Most of Crystallize's utility can be reached by rank 3. I choose to level Crystallize early because it allows you to block off an enemy's escape route, land your stun easier, and protect you from ganks (most notably Udyr, who has to get into melee range to stun you. Place your wall between you and it will be very difficult for him to catch you.) It will protect you from ganks and secure you more kills than leveling Flash Frost ever could by itself.

As always, grab a point in your ult, Glacial Storm, whenever it becomes available. It's your choice whether or not to finish leveling Flash Frost by 15 or put more points into Crystallize. Both have their uses.

Starting Items:

x2 OR x3

Explanation:
I start with a Meki Pendant to provide early mana regeneration. I build it into a Chalice of Harmony early. You can also start with a Null-Magic Mantle, especially if it's a tough lane. I like the extra magic regeneration.

Depending on your opponent, you may need to start with boots in order to avoid their attacks (e.g. , , .)

Core Items:

OR +

Explanation:
Chalice of Harmony is a great item on Anivia because it increases her Magic Resistance in a lane where she's likely to fight against an opponent who is going AP and dramatically increases her mana regeneration, which she desperately needs to use her skills the most effectively.

Hextech Revolver, in conjunction with Chalice of Harmony, will keep you in lane by allowing you to quickly push and heal at the same time. Once you have your revolver, you do not need to build it into a WotA immediately. You can instead rush a Deatchap since that is where the main source of your damage will come from.

Final Items:

Explanation:
This is a generic setup that gives you a little bit of everything to combat most teams while retaining high damage output. I prefer to pick up an Abyssal Mask over a Void Staff because it provides MR which adds to your survivability and reduces more magic resistance than a Void Staff if an enemy has 75 or less MR. Your allies will also benefit from the reduction in enemy MR, making it a really great item to have.

Optional/Situational Items:

Explanation:
I'm sure you can figure out which items will work best for you depending on your situation.



Closing Note:
I prefer building Chalice of Harmony and Hextech Revolver over Rod of Ages or Archangel's Staff because it gives Anivia damage and sustain at a time when I feel she could use them best. Nothing makes me cringe more than seeing an Anivia who only has 70 AP 30 minutes into the game.

Compare build costs:
2855 for
3035 for
For 3190 gold, you can buy , which I feel puts you in a better position and allows you to ramp up to a Deathcap faster.

As I've said before, learning to use your wall is essential to playing Anivia well.

I've created a map of the various placees in the jungle Anivia can wall effectively for the first two ranks of Crystallize. Once you hit rank 3, you'll be able to wall off virtually any part of the jungle.

Most of these are doable with a little bit of positioning. Spots where it's difficult/unnatural to position yourself, or where you need to place your wall perfectly have been marked with the red dots.



Now, for some visual aids in helping you place your walls effectively.

Anivia's wall is always cast parallel to her relative position.

Rank 1



Proving you CAN block off the Dragon's den at rank 1.


Although my character was trying to run into the cove, she couldn't get past the wooden sign.


Rank 2




Walls don't need to be placed perfectly to work; they just need to stop champs from getting through.




Rank 3
Your basic rank 3 wall can block off any part of the jungle almost completely, and if placed properly can block off almost all of mid lane.


Rank 4


Rank 5
At rank 5, it's easy to control where the enemy champs will be, possibly guaranteeing a 5-man stun.



Wall Tips
You can avoid taking damage from the melee jungle creeps by placing your wall and trapping them while you attack from afar.





You can see the user attempting some of the more advanced combos like using E before R in the video.




Final Note:
One thing you HAVE to be aware of as an Anivia player is your ping and server latency. If you have over 200 ping, by the time you place your wall, the enemy isn't going to be where he
was. There are too many times where I've missed placing a wall and lost a very easy kill by accidentally walling the enemy to safety when I've been chasing them. The moral of the story is to place your wall ahead of a fleeing enemy and to be mindful of latency.

Early Game
Anivia is fairly weak against competent opponents who can dodge her skillshot early game. Take your time and make sure you're last hitting enemies. At level 2, you can try harassing your opponent with your Flash Frost -> Frostbite(Q->E) combo which can deal a significant amount of damage. Try waiting until your opponent is going to last-hit before you use your Q. If your timing is right, you can pull off your combo and deal significant damage or force them to miss killing creeps.


Some champions can make early laning difficult ( , , etc.) so play intelligently and passively until you hit level 6. Against other champions try not to push the lane since Anivia is vulnerable to ganks. You should not have to worry about your mana until you hit level 6.


Mid + Late Game
Once you hit 6, you need to keep an eye out for how much mana you have. You generally do not want to push the lane too hard unless you're facing a champion that's poor at pushing waves and farming creeps (Fiddlesticks, LeBlanc.) Instead, continue to last hit creeps with your autoattacks until your opponent gets close enough for you to combo them and take a chunk out of their health. If you don't have blue, quickly activate your ult, land your E, and turn your ult off.

Once you have blue, you can begin pushing more aggressively. Ult the enemy minion wave and let your creeps push to the enemy tower. Back off when your wave is pushed to avoid getting caught out of position, or make use of your time by counterjungling the enemy or ganking other lanes. If you keep backing out of the enemy's sight range, they are more likely to forget calling mia to their allies later on, which can lead to an easy gank.


Depending on your team composition and how often you're getting into team fights, you may want to grab WotA earlier than I've specified.

If your team is at a stalemate, send someone to split push a lane. The enemy will be forced to send one or two champions to that person, which gives you an advantage to use Anivia's either Anivia's wall to split the enemy (and maybe catch one roaming in the jungle) or superior pushing abilities to force a fight while you have the advantage.


What to do in Teamfights

Anivia's role in a team fight is very important since she has one of the strongest initiations in the game--her wall. It can catch and isolate an enemy from his/her team, split an enemy team apart, or even trap your allies. You need to be careful in how you use it since chances are, you're not going to get a second chance.

In teamfights, your priority is to position yourself and nuke down high priority targets like enemy AD carries and enemy AP carries. Since you're squishy, it's better to position yourself like an AD carry would and rely on your team for protection. If the enemy overextends, make them pay. Make sure to turn off your ult when the action gets away from it to conserve mana and to get it off cooldown so you can use it again. Of course, try to stay alive because if your team loses the fight, you can still defend your turrets against enemy attacks. It is possible for Anivia to defend a turret 1v5 for a decent amount of time, depending on team composition.

Ahri
Laning against Ahri can go either way, depending on individual player skill and jungle involvement. Try not to stand in your cluster of minions, since it gives more incentive for Ahri to use her skills. Make her choose between hitting minions or yourself. Be cautious. Once Ahri hits level 2 or 3, she'll be more likely to try chaining her taunt and her orb to burst you down. Fortunately for you, Anivia has one of the longest auto-attacks in the game and you can hang safely in the back, last-hitting creeps. Be cautious of using your Q->E combo against Ahri since it may leave you exposed to a counter-taunt from Ahri. Once you hit level 6, you can push harder than Ahri, although it's not a good idea to push the lane since it will leave you more exposed to a gank. Ahri is good at tower diving, so you don't want to be caught unaware by the enemy jungler.

Ahri has strong burst potential, but it's usually not enough to take down Anivia and her passive unless you're already low on hp. It's very difficult to bait Ahri with your egg, so be careful. Your goal should be to outfarm Ahri or force her into a position where she needs to ult or flash away. Once those are down, you can push more comfortably. Hit Ahri a few times with a combo and she'll be sure to play passively until she can get health back through her passive.

Ahri's taunt is one of the few forms of cc that doesn't break channeling Anivia's ultimate.



Annie
I find laning against Annie to be easier than laning against certain other champs because she telegraphs her moves so much. Is Annie about to last hit a minion? Send a stun her way and follow it up with a Frostbite for heavy damage. You should be able to outlane Annie no problem pre-6. Post-6 the only time Annie is scary is when she has her stun up. (This is visible by a small white aura in a donut-shape around her body.) Play cautiously while her stun is up, or keep track of how many spells she has to cast before her stun is available again. Counting spells is the safest route since Annie can cast her shield, get a stun proc up and then throw a massive teddy bear onto your face, ruining your day.

You should be able to push a lane fairly well and then fall back to roam and counterjungle as you please when laning against Annie. If you're getting beaten in lane for whatever reason, play passively and stay out of the range of Annie's spells. Ult the creeps and win via a battle of attrition. You bring more to the table in a team fight anyway, so it's not the end of the world if you lose your lane.

Anivia should win this lane unless she's against a skilled Annie who has very good coordination with her jungler to stun->gank.



Brand
Brand is extremely annoying to lane against. Pre- and post-6. His pillar of fire hits very quickly and it's very hard to dodge. Laning against Brand necessitates that you start with boots just to avoid it. He can push lanes very well pre-6 which gives him an advantage early game and his stun can ruin your ult post-6, making it difficult to counter push. Stand with minions between yourself and Brand to avoid his skillshot stun...which is easier said than done since he can use his pillar of fire to push you out of position.

You really need to capitalize on the enemy's mistakes, or else you're going to have a very annoying laning phase. Try not to get caught out of position against Brand, or you'll end up paying for it. Anivia beats Brand by bringing more to a team in a teamfight than he does, she can also do more or comparable damage in a duel, provided she avoids Brand's attacks.



Cassiopeia
Ugh. Cassiopeia is just as bad as Brand. You really need to pay attention when you're facing Cassiopeia to avoid her skills. Watch where you're running and do not run in such a way that you'll get set up for Miasma, which will slow you and allow Cassiopeia to do heavy damage with her Twin Fangs. Cassiopeia can push lanes extremely aggressively, so you really need to last hit with Anivia, even under your turret. Post-6 you will be able to push back and deal significant damage yourself, evening out the playing field. What you need to watch out for is Cassiopeia's ult, which can stop your ult and leave you exposed to Cassi's damage and a gank as well.

Play passively when Cass has her ult, play aggressively when it's down and harass her as much as possible.



Fizz
Fizz, while he causes problems for many champions, he isn't too hard to lane against. At levels 1-3, harass Fizz heavily with your autoattack. Kite the enemy minions so you don't take too much damage from them. Fizz will not be able to deal much damage to you at this point in the game. Save your stun for guaranteed hits (after Fizz troll poles away) and then follow up with your E. The same applies post-6, where it's easy to deal heavy damage to Fizz after he comes in and tries to leave.

Once Fizz hits 6 is where things get interesting since he will be able to deal enough damage to kill both you and your egg, even if you have a decent amount of health. Use your pushing power to your advantage so that Fizz will have to focus on killing creeps. While he's doing that, back off, rinse, and repeat. If you get hit with his shark bait, you better run and/or flash your way into safety or else you'll take extremely heavy damage.

Facing Fizz is like facing a burstier version of Vlad without the incredibly annoying sustain and pushing power.



Galio
Galio can be a very difficult match up since he's able to deal a significant amount of damage to a squishy character at level 1, has fast, long-ranged skills, not to mention his build counters AP carries. You need to completely shut him down early or you will have a long game ahead of you. It's advisable to switch lanes with another champion that will either cause Galio to build differently, or who can bully him out of lane.



Gragas
Gragas is similar to Galio where it's harder to harass him out of lane the longer the game goes on. Gragas can deal significant damage with his barrels, so it's best to avoid standing next to your creeps. His long range makes it hard to land any of your skills and his innate tankiness and sustain can be hard to deal with. You can push harder than Gragas and force him to miss a few creeps here and there, but this should be a very low kill match up. Watch out for his ult which can throw you out of position into a gank.

If you're playing against a passive Gragas, it should be easy enough to win your lane. If you're playing against an aggressive one and you just can't seem to hit him or dodge his barrels, it can be a very tough lane.



Karthus
Karthus' abilities give him fairly good mobility and pushing power. To beat Karthus in lane, you really need to focus on reading his movements to land a successful combo. Try not to get caught by a wall and eat too much damage. With the extra ability power at early levels, it should be fairly easy to force Karthus out of lane if you land two or three combos. I recommend starting boots to make it easier to dodge lay waste.



Kassadin
Pre-6 Kassadin is fairly straightforward. Try not to get silenced and harass him as much as possible between your autoattacks and your stun. Post-6 becomes much more difficult since he will be able to hop on your face, silence you, and hop out before you can deal significant damage back to him. Fortunately for you, you can push much harder than he can. Play very passively against Kassadin. Ult a creep wave and back out of range of Kassadin's ult->silence combo. Let the creeps push the tower while you recover. While Kass can deal some damage to you, you should be able to regain your health each time you push a wave and outfarm him.

Make sure you absolutely let your team know when Kassadin leaves lane. Since there's no way you'll be able to do follow him in a timely manner. Your job is to then either gank a different lane or push down his turret as quickly as you can...which isn't too difficult when you're Anivia. Watch out for the enemy jungler and hope your teammates can handle Kassadin's roaming capabilities.



Katarina
Katarina is a fairly easy lane. Pre-6, save your stun for when Katarina shunpos to you or away from you. Autoattack her at early levels, then just harass her with your E->R combo post-6. Make sure to save your stun for her ult once she hits 6.

It's easy to outpush Katarina and go gank another lane. If she follows you, you can always turn on her and deal more burst damage than she can. Don't get ancy and use your skills early. Wait until you can place your ultimate on both her and yourself before using it since you don't want her to shunpo to you and out of your ult or out of your stun.



Kennen
Kennen can be a challenging lane against a skilled player. Stand behind your creeps to avoid his shurikens. If he wants to dive you, stun him and throw your E. Pay attention to when he stops last hitting creeps with his autoattacks. This means he's saving his passive's proc to get a cheap autoattack on you that he'll follow up on with a chain lighting. Stay at max autoattack range to avoid it. Eventually he'll start missing cs or start attacking again.

Kennen is highly mobile, so be careful where you place your ultimate. Try not to leave yourself exposed to his ultimate since his stuns can really mess you up. Fortunately for you, it's difficult for Kennen to kill both yourself and your egg. This matchup falls down to jungler involvement and player skill.



Kog'Maw
Pre-6, Kog is fairly easy to handle. Watch out the range on his W and try not to get hit by his puke. Post-6 it becomes more difficult since Kog'Maw doesn't need to ever go into your skill range to be effective. Fortunately, AP Kog is blue-dependent, just like you, so he won't be able to spam his ult which is just about the only thing that could deal real damage to you.

Kog is squishy and easy to kill. If he overextends, place your wall, your ult, land a stun, and he should go down in no time, whereas it's very difficult for him to kill you while you have your passive up.



LeBlanc
LeBlanc is one of the hardest, if not the hardest champion to lane against as Anivia. She is able to dodge your stun, your ult, and your frostbite combo fairly easily. Once you can't land your skills, you're worthless. The ONLY thing you can do to LeBlanc is play passively until you get your ult and then push the hell out of a minion wave since lb's terrible at last hitting and stopping minion waves.

Try not to get caught against lb, or you will end up paying for it. Definitely start with a Null-Magic Mantle.



Lux
Lux, Lux, Lux. Why is your range so long!? There will rarely be a time where Lux will be in range of your skills, making this a very passive lane. Just another farm-off. You may want to start boots to avoid some of Lux' skillshots, which have quick projectile speeds.



Malzahar
This matchup depends upon the build and style of the enemy Malzahar. If they're passive and it's a farm fest, it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with. If he's aggressive and can deal a lot of damage early, he might be able to force you out of lane and press an advantage. It's a lot harder to stun passive Malzahars than aggressive ones, and pre-5 Malz will have a pushing power advantage unless the chain on his E gets broken for whatever reason. Post-6, you will be able to push faster and deal more damage than he will, but it's fairly negligible for the most part.

At levels 1 and 2, watch out for dueling Malzahar simply because of his voidling. It has the same AD as Malz and hits deceptively hard. It's also easy to forget about, and while Malz is very unlikely to kill you and your egg at this level, you don't want to lose your egg for a stupid reason.

Whoever makes a mistake first is likely to lose the lane. Whatever you do, don't tower dive Malzahar, or else you may find yourself suppressed under an enemy turret. Not even your egg will save you then.



Master Yi
AP Yi is a joke for Anivia to lane against. While Alpha Strike does a fair bit of damage, its cooldown is waaaay too long to make it effective, especially against this spellvamp build. If he meditates, stun him. If he alpha strikes again, put your ult where he'll be, or throw your stun for that matter and follow it up with your E. While Highlander makes it so that he can't be slowed, he still can't walk through walls. Advantage Anivia.



Mordekaiser
Mordekaiser can be a tough opponent to lane against, especially early, where he'll be able to outpush you and ignore your harassment due to his shield. Don't stand close to your minions and try to avoid his skills to the best of your ability. Post-6, you can try harassing him while his shield is low or down and you can deal a decent amount of damage, but as soon as Morde finishes his Revolver and starts to build tanky, expect to find yourself in a farm-off.


Morgana
Morgana can be annoying to lane against since she can push a lot harder than you 1-5 and can avoid your combo with her spell shield. Keep one creep between you and Morg at all times to avoid getting snared and pooled unless you're good at dodging skillshots, then you may want to bait her into wasting mana on trying to hit you. Post-6, wait until Morgana pools or for your creeps to scrimmage before you ult a wave. You should be able to clear the wave faster than Morg, denying her some very easy cs. Once you get some decent items, it's fairly easy to break Morgana's spellshield with an E->R combo and deal a little bit of damage on the side. Either way, it's difficult for both Morgana and Anivia to kill one another without outside help.

I say this lane is a stalemate, but Morgana has a slight advantage because it's harder to gank her than Anivia.



Orianna
Orianna's abilities move very fast, can slow or interrupt you, deal nice damage, and are unpredictable. This makes her horrible to lane against. However, Orianna doesn't have very good range. Pre-6, try to stun combo her if you can, but otherwise play passively until Ori goes oom. Once you hit 6, I still encourage you to play passively until you get enough AP to really start chunking away at Orianna's hp, or enough spellvamp to trade with her and then heal off a creep wave. Watch out for Orianna's ult, as it can really mess up your dueling potential and set you up for a gank.



Rumble
N/A, sorry. :(



Ryze
Ryze generally isn't difficult to lane against since his abilities have short range and he doesn't deal much damage early. It's fairly common to be able to kill Ryze early-mid game, but there will come a point where he'll just be the most tanky s.o.b. ever and be able to take you out 1-on-1, even if you were beating him before. Where you used to hit him like a truck, you'll hit him like a feather duster. You want to take Ryze down early so you don't have to see him late game. Watch out for his click-snare and enemy ganks, or you could be in a world of hurt.



Sion
AP Sion is fairly easy to lane against as Anivia. If he stuns you, he'll have to walk into you to use his shield...exactly what you want to deal tons of damage in return between your stun, nuke, and ult. Once you get a small amount of ap, it becomes really easy to burst down Sion's shield with your combo, which severely nerfs his farming potential since he's a melee champion. Once you hit 6, it should be easy to bully Sion out of lane. I suggest just last-hitting minions and waiting for Sion to get in range before comboing him out of lane.

As always, watch out for enemy ganks since Sion has a click-stun and can ruin your day.



Soraka
Soraka is a beast. She will wreck your face all day. I'm not kidding. Her starcall pushing power is very underrated and she can push you to your turret if she so chooses. Infuse will ruin any chance of you landing a combo or counterpushing. If you want to beat Soraka in lane, you will need to enlist the aid of your jungler and you better hope you can get a kill or an assist out of it, or else you'll be in trouble. Soraka's team fighting abilities are awful though, so it's entirely possible to make a big impact on the game, even if Soraka has been bullying you around the entire time.



Swain
For some reason, Swain is one champion I always have problems laning against. Start boots to avoid his stun and play fairly passively until you hit level 6. Then the war of attrition will begin. Play cautiously, getting last hits or ulting waves. Eventually Swain will get ancy and start to dive you a bit. Keep your cool and try to harass him with your ult. Ideally you want Swain to be at 1/3rd or less health before you engage in earnest. You'll probably be a little low yourself at this point. When Swain ults and begins to dive, make sure you've saved ignite to use now, to reduce his incoming healing by half. Unload your spells onto him and hope it's enough to take him down. I seem to have bad luck where the last tick of Swain's DoT finishes me off, so don't be afraid to carry around a spare potion for such an occasion. Hopefully your luck will be better than mine.



Veigar
Veigar's a little jerk. (No, that is not a short joke.) Whatever you do, you don't want him last hitting minions with his Q. To ensure this, harass him with your stun and/or your autoattacks every time he does. Throw your stun early if you need, so the enemy Veigar will hesitate before going in or end up walking directly into your stun. Eventually, the enemy Veigar will get annoyed or aggravated with you and proceed to try stunning you and landing spells on you instead. He may start leveling his AoE instead. This is a good thing. If Veigar's total AP is low, he's not going to be doing nearly as much in a teamfight beyond stunning people.

I recommend getting Merc Treads and an Banshee's Veil for the tenacity, health, and magic resist.



Viktor
Viktor is a fairly even match unless you're really good at landing the E->R combo before Viktor has time to shield himself from some of the damage. Start boots to avoid his AoE stun. Avoid that damned thing and you should be fine the entire game, especially since he can't push as well as you. Just don't stand next to your creeps and get hit by the enemy laz0r.



Vladimir
Meh. Vlad. He's one of the most annoying characters to lane against as Anivia since he can troll pool away from pretty much everything you're doing. He can push almost as hard as you can, and he has nice sustain without mana to worry about to boot. You'll really want to get good with your wall if you want to deal significant damage to Vlad by keeping him in your ult. Try to hang back and not take too much harassment. Don't even bother using your stun until Vlad's pool is on cooldown unless you're baiting him into an easy E->R followup combo.



Xerath
Xerath, like Lux, also has very long ranges and will seldom, if ever, be in range for your attacks. His attack is fairly fast, so you may want to grab boots to start off. I feel as though Xerath can't defend towers as well as Lux, so press your advantage. A mounted/rooted Xerath is a prime target to ult, stun, and combo, especially in a team fight. Be sure to watch out for his ulti, or you can find yourself stunned and egged.

Since Xerath stands so far back normally, it's easy to push and leave yourself exposed to an enemy jungler. Make sure you ward well.


Yorick
N/A, sorry. :(



Ziggs
Ziggs, like Cassiopeia can push a lane very hard and is extremely annoying to deal with. The burst damage from his bombs is significant and they can be very difficult to dodge. Luckily, Ziggs' only form of cc is a satchel charge with a very small knockback. While it's enough to ruin your ult, its cooldown is fairly high and it's fairly easy to avoid as well. I recommend starting boots against him and standing behind creeps to avoid bomb blasts. Luckily, Ziggs is also squishy and susceptible to getting walled out of safety.



Zyra
N/A, sorry. ;(

Tips & Tricks

• Flash Frost(Q) can hit an enemy twice; once when it passes through them, and twice when it explodes.
• Don't use Frostbite(E) unless it's on a chilled target since you'll deal less damage.
• You can Frostbite(E) your opponent first and apply your Glacial Storm(R) before the projectile lands to add the chilled effect to the target, causing your E to deal double damage.
• Use your wall to force your opponent to run in one direction, aim ahead, and stun them.
• Using your wall and hitting an enemy with it can grant you an assist. If you also hit an enemy with your wall under their turret, the turret will target you. D;
• Your wall can provide vision of a surrounding area, allowing you to check for enemies hiding in bushes and unattended jungle buffs.
• You can also use your wall to temporarily trap jungle creeps, allowing you to attack them without the melee creeps being able to retaliate.
• You don't have to stop moving to cast your ult. Cast it behind/on top of you while enemies are chasing you to slow them
• Remember that the jungle is your friend. It's often difficult to catch Anivia in the jungle due to her ability to slow down and wall off her opponents.
• If you're getting chased, placing a wall on your tail or in front of your enemy can be enough to get to safety while they're forced to move around it.
• You can recall while you're ulting. Ulting a creep while you recall is a good idea if you're alone since you'll get the mana back shortly from your base. This also allows Anivia to push and get back to her lane without her tower taking damage.

If you missed it before, here's a quick video I edited together showing a few of Anivia's combination attacks.

Synergies


Jarvan IV synergizes with Anivia really well for one obvious reason: his ult which can lock down multiple enemy champs into Anivia's Glacial Storm.

Nocturne synergizes well with Anivia because of the potential for Anivia to eggbait an enemy. She can duel them and once she gets egged, Nocturne can pounce on the enemy for an easy finish.

Blitzcrank also synergizes with Anivia, particularly if Anivia isn't very good at using Crystallize. Miss a wall? No problem! Blitzcrank can pull your enemies right back to you!


Anivia synergizes well with junglers who are manaless or are not blue-dependent.



Counters


Champions like Kassadin and LeBlanc, who have blinks and disrupts are very problematic for Anivia since they can easily evade her skillshots and interrupt her ultimate.

Champions like Cassiopeia and Brand, who can push minion waves aggressively or force Anivia to constantly move out of their attacks make laning against them very difficult.

Vladimir also does well against Anivia since he has great in-lane sustain, pushing power, and can avoid the heaviest part of her harassment by pooling away from it.


It's very important for Anivia to take a vested interest in her own jungle and whether or not her jungler is getting counter-jungled. Quite often, if her jungler is getting countered and she's losing blue buff, SHE's getting countered.

While there are a few champions who can counter Anivia, she remains a strong champion whose kit can lead her team to victory even if she loses her lane. Her walls can single-handedly win games and team fights. Of course, it's also possible for a few misplaced walls to wreck her team as well. Thus Anivia needs to be played--and picked--cautiously.

I feel Anivia is a great champ to learn to play because she has a perfect balance of active and reactive gameplay. When you play as Anivia, you will learn to position yourself to either capitalize on your opponent's mistakes, or force them into a worse position. These skills will follow you to any other champion and if you can last hit with Anivia, you can last hit with anybody. ;)