PROS + Amazing zone control + Great damage + Great wave clear + Good scaling + Guardian Angel passive but better Anivia's greatest attribute is zone control, this is why she's amazing in teamfights and impossible to siege against. Use Glacial Storm and Crystallize to separate the flanker or engage from their team in a fight. It's worth noting that not many mages can match anivia's damage output either.

CONS - Weak early - Very squishy - Bad walls screw your team - Bad roams - Mana reliant She has the lowest base hp in the game at level 1 and her range requires her to get closer to the action than many other mages, unless you want to be missing Flash Frost and having them walk out of ults before they fully form. You'll want to compensate with your item build.

Overview x Build Overview x Threats & Synergies x Pros & Cons Build in Depth x Runes x Item Building Notes x Items

Gameplay x Combos x Mid/Support Laning Phase x Mid/Late Game Conclusion x Outro x Credits x Final Note

Electrocute's great kill pressure makes it the best keystone in the laning phase, helping make up for Anivia's weak early game Arcane Comet offers better poke, lower cooldown and hits multiple enemies making it more ideal for teamfights along with Transcendence boosting her teamfight utility. As support, because you'll be teamfighting much more I usually take this keystone. Gathering Storm Is better on Anivia than most champs because she can prolong games to the point where it becomes useful. It's just impossible sieging an inhib turret against her zone control and if they do succeed her ult makes clearing mega minion waves easy. Biscuit Deliveryis a must in this path. Cosmic Insight's reducing flash cooldown by 40 seconds is underrated, but you have options.

Presence of Mind and Coup de Grace have better scaling than the inspiration path but are significantly worse in lane.

Remember Anivia has the lowest base hp at level 1 in the game.

If you plan to build Liandry's Torment or Luden's Tempest as your mythic, I highly recommend getting Seeker's Armguard or Giant's Belt on your first back. As I mention in Items, you never want Banshee's Veil as a first item.

However, after the first back you don't have to finish Zhonya's Hourglass/ Demonic Embrace right away. Instead, for optimal sustain consider Lost Chapter into your mythic. Unlike Demonic Embrace, while Zhonya's Hourglass is cheap and may leave you time to get Lost Chapter for the laning phase, this tip especially applies to Demonic Embrace, as completing DM first will not, leaving you with little mana to manage your lane.

If you're confident in lane, building into Luden's/Liandry's first is an option however.



+ On top of her being naturally squishy, offensive ults actually require you to get closer and more vulnerable than you might think (unless you want them easily walking out). To compensate, if you only have one defensive item consider offensive items with a bit of hp, like Cosmic Drive or Morellonomicon.

+ Boots aren't needed urgently in mid lane, as she doesn't roam too much early

Spellthief's Edge

VS

Relic Shield

• Standard support item, much needed AP and mana

• Great item, stacks easier but no mana regen TT. Get this if you need survivability, consider Tear of the Goddess with this as well.

Tear of the Goddess

VS

Doran's Ring

• Standard mid item, builds into Archangel's Staff

• Better all around item but does not build into Archangel's Staff. Take this if you don't plan to build it

Boots of Mobility

VS

Boots of Swiftness

• Highly recommended for support Anivia, as roaming is necessary and Anivia sucks at it.

•You can take this instead of Mobility Boots if you're already running Relentless Hunter.

Sorcerer's Shoes Standard for Anivia mid. As support, take this only when snowballing.

Plated Steelcaps Take this against a fed AD carry.

Mercury's Treads Take this against a fed AP Carry.

Liandry's Torment

Luden's Tempest

These will be your go to Mythics in mid, but a good option as support as well. Choose between them depending on how tanky their team comp is (with Liandry's Torment for tanks).

Everfrost For extra peel and utility, good against mobile team comps. Build this with Cosmic Drive for a great cc lock. Imperial Mandate Great support mythic. Stats, passive and low price allows you to build optimal sustain and damage in lane but not as good as other mythics for snowballing. Night Harvester A great snowballing item with better burst and movement speed bonus than Luden's Tempest. However mana is very valuable so only consider this if you're really snowballing, you'll need Archangel's Staff to compensate. Because Archangel's Staff has an especially awkward build path as support, with Tear of the Goddess pretty unnecessary if you're already running Shard of True Ice, Night Harvester isn't recommended for support.

Mejai's Soulstealer

Void Staff

Rabadon's Deathcap

For big boom. When snowballing get Dark Seal, then Mejai's Soulstealer if you're doing well on stacks Don't get Rabadon's Deathcap early

Archangel's Staff Scaling + mana item. If you're running Spellthief's Edge, the already awkward build path is made even more awkward with Tear of the Goddess so similar to your starting item. Not recommended for support for this reason, though consider it if you're starting with Relic Shield. Morellonomicon Anti-heal. Cosmic Drive VS Horizon Focus • Excellent all around item stats, almost feels like a core item. Try with Everfrost for a better cc lock. •You can take this instead of Cosmic Drive if you want to be greedy with your damage output. Defensive Zhonya's Hourglass Another item that almost feels like a core. You'll almost always want this as support The active does not cancel your ult so remember to cast ult first Banshee's Veil Great counter to mage's damage and cc Not a great item to build very early because you'll almost never get Verdant Barrier on a first back, when you do it takes time to stack and without it you don't have much magic resist anyways. Demonic Embrace If you're struggling against an AP carry, as mentioned, Banshee's Veil sucks as a first item so you'll want Giant's Belt into Demonic Embrace instead. Get Banshee's later if Demonic Embrace isn't enough. Great tank shredder

MID LANING PHASE

Anivia's level 2 burst is insane, you should be able to out trade at level 2 most of the time. Be sure to relax when melee champs turn level 3 though, most melee adc's and assasins can all in by then and will be looking to punish.


Glacial Storm is such an important part of Anivia's kit and damage, so playing against champs with high mobility that ignores your ult, easily getting out or around it, can be tricky. Usually in this matchup, ults should be cast on yourself for defence. Be very aware of abilities that can interrupt your ult, Q should typically be saved for defence as well. Only consider using your abilities with more liberty when the wave is near your turret.


SUPPORT LANING PHASE



As a support, compared to her performance in mid lane, Anivia is even weaker pre 6 but also much stronger at 6. Playing against engage supports you will want to play safe (usually) at level 3 when they'll be able to all in, typically saving q for defence pre 6 and using e to poke the adc. You aren't banned from using q offensively but know your cooldown and play safe. To help freeze the wave faster, with a level 1 Crystallize you can wall off the lane directly next to your turret while standing on the opposite side of the turret to completely block off your minion wave. Yes, I realize these type of mage supports (like Brand, Vel'koz, Xerath etc.) usually do fine against engage supports but pre 6 Anivia just doesn't poke anywhere near as reliably. With q having a fairly slow missile speed, high cooldown and being her only source of real damage, using q leaves you vulnerable for a while. Anivia isn't great at roaming but this is no excuse not to find opportunities to help counterjungle or establish vision control.

In virtue of Anivia's incredible team fighting potential and zone control found in her Glacial Storm and Crystallize synergy, at level 6 you are now an offensive monster in lane and during objectives, with great peel. On top of this, the high mobility matchups in mid lane where Glacial Storm and Flash Frost feel largely useless outside of defence have mostly dissapeared in bot. Congragulations, you have reached the sole reason people play anivia support. Use your ult and wall to isolate the support from the adc or vice versa, turning fights into a 2v1 for burned flashes and easy kills. Always be cautious of abilities that can interrupt your ult.


MID/LATE GAME

Here, you want to push in lanes while looking for kills and objectives.

During team fights it's especially important to have a birds eye view of the fight, as opposed to tunneling in on one or two champs. You can cut off the engage from his team with your wall, use wall or ult to cut off a flank, peel for your adc or get a pick, punishing bad positioning with your wall and turning the fight into a 5v4. Always be very cognizant of who can interrupt your ult. There is more to do during a team fight than bursting whoever is nearby and walling to escape or chase a kill once the fight is over.

Anivia is a very strong pick with the new buffs, both in mid and support. Because of her unreliable damage pre 6, low hp and enormous mana problems in season 10, she was too weak early to be considered viable in bot lane despite her incredible team fight utility. On top of that, unlike in mid, a supports income was always too limited to build Anivia's mana pool with both Archangel's Staff and Rod of Ages, meaning you could never completely compensate for your mana problems. Now, with the buffs to anivia's missile speed and mana management, I think Anivia has exactly what she needs to be a top tier support and mid laner and I hope this guide will encourage more people to try her as a support as well.

I will be updating this guide as any changes happen, as well as aesthetic changes so keep updated!