Hello everyone,
I am The Raven.
Welcome to my Annie guide. (Annie is my best champion of all time and first I ever played).

I am a Gold Ranked Chinese Server player (or Platinum American Server player).

I play on both Chinese and American Server.

I live in North East China and am A mid main player. However, I can play every role and every lane. I prefer mid and amongst my top mid champs are Annie, Fizz, Akali, Diana, Nidalee, Ahri, and Katarina. (I am very good with other mid champions and other champions as well but do not feel like listing them all).

I am super friendly and love to play with everyone also you can check out my videos on youku on this clickable link at Quoth The Raven-Nevermore

Although Annie in season 5 is a very underplayed champion, this does not mean she is a weak one. In fact, she is anything but. Annie actually counters most mid champs in the game and is also a viable support. Annie has very high burst and a great kit for crowd control (CC). Although Annie is under-picked, this is only the case due to the fact most people cannot play her correctly, lack positioning skills, don't ward, and have no map awareness. Annie is a very squishy champion and due to this fact has a slightly higher skill cap. She leaves very little room for mistake or you can completely be put so far behind it is hard to recover. This does not mean she cannot recover. Due to her high CC effectiveness she can become a very useful member to her team even if it means just building some health to survive. Dropping a 5 man stun can turn the tide of battle to favor your team.

A note about skill sequence: Usually start with Q when in middle (support start w and charge stun in fountain). However if your team wants to counter and gank the opposing jungle. Starting with a charged W stun can land an easy kill with an ignite to secure.

The main nuke spell Annie uses because of its damage, range, and stacking ability with her passive (as well as being a virtually free spell when finishing a target off) is Disintegrate, so maxing this skill first is imperative. W is the only other directly controlled damage spell outside of her ultimate and therefore maxed second. The defensiveness of E is important but since she is not a tank, it is the least important as her role is a burst mage.

Tibbers can be useful in many ways.

Parachuting Tibbers -The first and most common of many ways is using the bear is simply put an AoE stun. This means charging Annie's passive and then casting the bear on one or many targets.Tibbers the Wall - Tibbers is a large minion. This means that he can block in coming skill shots and be a useful escape for teammates that have jumps. Tibbers can also serve as a totem to teleport too (note: this will stop Tibbers movements).Tibbers the Terrible - Since Tibbers deals AoE magic damage when he lands, although not the most useful use of the skill, he can be used to clear large waves of minions. Usually only use this in dire situations to save towers. Annie's W should suffice for most other situations.Tibbers the Ward - A very unusual way to use this skill however another option is to use alt and right click to move Tibbers into brushes or onto traps. Tibbers is YOUR minion and therefore always grants you vision of his location. Note this means that he is also worth gold when he is killed by an enemy. So blatanly giving them gold for free is pointless. Also keep in mind Tibbers built in sunfire cape (Constant AOE magic damage).

Pros +Good Early Game +Strong Mid/Late Game +High Burst +AoE Damage +Longest stun in the game (2.5 Secs) - Now 1.75 secs

Cons +Very squishy early game +No real escape spells (while stun not up) +Cannot deal much damage to towers

Annie has very good farm potential as Annie's Q cost no mana (mana refunded) if the spell lands a killing blow on a minion/creep.

If a spell is used on the fourth cast Annie's passive will activate (noted by a whirlwind around her visible to all players) granting Annie's next cast spell to also stun the target for 2.5 secs. This is the longest stun duration in the game. Use this to harass your opponent.

Avoid using W to clear minion waves unless you are pushing.

Note: Annie is one of the highest burst damage champions in the league and is less item dependent than some of the other champions in league. However her skill cap is not to be underestimated. I see a lot of ****PY Annies :P

First of all, whenever possible make sure that your passive stun is active (denoted above your spells with a fire wave symbol and a whirlwind around your champion). Then the question is are you facing a single target or many?

Single Target: First Open with a Q to initiate damage and stun > next follow up with a w to add more damage > then AA and use E to reduce incoming damage and add a retaliation damage into the mix > drop your bear (if you have it) and AA and Q with ignite> Player is dead!!!
> > AA > >

Multiple Target: Open with a Bear Stun as close to the center hitting as many of the players as possible without getting too close to the fight > Follow up with a W to hit them and then focus down one target with Q and AA. Ignite to secure kills. E only if you are targeted and attacked or need to stun (see hidden stun trick in next section)
> > > AA > > > AA > >

If a player is low and the bear will kill them drop it on them and stun his nearby Idiots (ermmm - i mean teammates) :P

Ignite- The main go to spell as it reduces the usefulness of healing spells and finishes off a target as they are running away.

Flash- The best get away skill in the game. Gets over most walls in the game.

Teleport - Always a good choice to get back into lane and farm quicker. Also good for porting to other lanes to Tibber stun.

Heal- also useful but not as quite because even though it gives a movements speed increase for 1 sec. Most middles run ignite which lessens its usefulness.

Barrier- A decent early game shield but falls off mid to late game in its usefulness.

Ghost- An alternate option to Flash, but more suseptable to stuns. More for chasing than running.

Mana problems are solved by blue buff and rod. However if you are playing Annie correctly this should not be an issue. Bringing a summoner spell to grant mana is ill advised as are the other fairly useless spells. Vision of area can be fixed by a lens trinket if you are really worried about this.

This is for champions that neither counter you nor do you counter them. These matchups are about skill over most other things.

Ahri - Difficulty 5 (even match) Ahri's main source of defeating you is landing her Charm followed by a Fox-Fire and a Orb of Deception. However if you dodge this then countering it with your combo is pretty easy. Flash + passive stun + Summon: Tibbers completely counters her escape Spirit Rush. If you play Annie correctly she actually counters Ahri and Ahri is actually difficulty 1 and not really even matched. (Count,count,COUNTERED!!!)

Anivia- Difficulty 5 (even matched) Anivia has a similar skill set to you in that she is a stun burst combo. Avoid getting caught by Crystallize and Flash Frost as she will use these to lock you down and hit you with her ultimate Glacial Storm and her burst spell Frostbite. If you can avoid this, your spells have a quicker spell animation and therefore actually land faster than hers. Save flash to escape wall + ultimate or to flash bear combo. Remember Anivia gets an extra life with her egg Rebirth. Make sure you can still kill her without taking turret damage when initiating.

Ryze- Difficulty 4 (Pretty even matched) Ryze is a tanky mage and can afford to build a lot of magic resist. Simply put, you out range him in every way. Watch out for his cage Rune Prison. Initiate while this is on cooldown and make sure to watch for Desperate Power. Other than that you should easily take this guy down after or atleast chase him from lane.

Karthus- Difficulty 5 (even matched) This is a pretty powerful mage middle however his main damage spell Lay Waste is a skill shot and very easy to dodge. Be careful when getting low and warn your team when he hits 6 because of his ultimate Requiem. Don't forget his passive Death Defied and you should easily win this matchup.

Kassadin- Difficulty 3 (Even matched after 6) Until this champion gets Riftwalk he cannot farm or really do anything. He is a melee champion and you can avoid and harass him if he trys to go in to Null Sphere. Overall this lane should go in your favor.

Veigar- Difficulty 5 (even match) The only scary thing about this champion is Event Horizon which has a delay and is dodgeable and his ulti which scales off AP Primordial Burst. To counter this start with an Abyssal Mask or build some MR before you get more AP.

Coming Soon - 25 positive votes required
Coming Soon - 50 positive votes required

New section where I will go in depth on which champions Annie DESTROYS and how to out play them.


Yasuo Difficulty 2 - Yasuo in middle is a joke. Once he has his passive is full Way of the Wanderer use an AA to remove the shield from range. Bait Wind Wall with AA and if he plays aggressively, punish him with Q and W + Stun Combos. Dodge the tornado when you see wind surround him. This occurs after his second use of Steel Tempest and will be used on his 3rd use of this skill. Once you have bear and he is half or less combo + Ignite= GG.

Fizz Difficulty 2 - Fried Fish with a side of chips. Fizz has absolutely no way of beating you if you play this correctly. First of all, fizz isnt very good at avoiding AoE spells which are harder to read. He only has one jump Playful / Trickster which he will use to dodge a spell/escape. Dodge Chum the Waters and if he misses he will not engage on you. Since fizz is melee and require gold and kills to do well and is a high skill cap champion, whenever he goes to last hit just harass him. Before 6 he can do little to avoid this harass and will lose a lot of cs. If he engages just stun and combo then back off as he comes towards you. Don't even let him get the dash from Urchin Strike and if he hops to get it, combo him with no way for him to escape without losing Flash.

Akali Difficulty 2 - This is a powerful stealthing ninja that can't beat a little girl??? Akali bases all of her power on picking at a champion and bursting it down. However, she needs to close space to do so. Annie is very powerful verse melee gap closers because she punishes champions that come within feet of her. Pre-6 just harass her with range AA and fireballs. Post 6, wait until she lands her Mark of the Assassin and jumps to you with Shadow Dance. When she does land your bear stun combo + Ignite = GG. Do NOT buy pink wards. This is a waste of gold. Just get your Rod of Ages quickly and stack health. Health is Akali's worst nemesis.

Katarina Difficulty after health nerf dropped from 2 to 1 - Katarina was recently given a -70 health nerf and now starts with a mere 560-580 health. Her health regen was also destroyed. Katarina is yet another gap closing melee champion. Pre-6 harass her and use Molten Shield to absorb her Bouncing Blade. If she Shunpo to you. Just stun and burst. Post 6 save stun especially bear stun. Death Lotus is easily interrupted without much damage to you at all. During the stun combo and Ignite easy win. She will try to gank other lanes. DON'T let her. Go with her and kill her. Abyssal Mask shuts down her damage very easily and keeps your AP high.

Xerath COMING SOON (changes to this champion actually changed him from a counter to be countered)- 50 Votes or Comments required.

In this section I will teach you how to counter Annie with more than just counter picking. A good player can still play around a counter pick, but finds it very hard when counter building and counter playing.

Annie Difficulty 0 - Lets face it, after reading my guide, you're a pro Annie and cannot lose a mirror match.

Annie is a high burst aoe mage which means that countering her takes one major stat. Magic Resist. Thats right MR is the key to beating mages, SURPRISE SURPRISE. First building items to your needs is a question are you a carry. If yes, then items like Abyssal Mask and Banshee's Veil are for you. If no, and you are a tank, items like Spirit Visage and Banshee's Veil better suit you.

After building against Annie it is important to understand her skills. After this knowing how to engage is important. Wait for her stun and watch for her cloud. If she has no stun and hasn't cast 3 spells before hand. Getting in close and ccing her is the best way to gaurentee a kill. Remember mages are generally high damage but low survivability. Annie has no real escape other then stun and run. Make sure not to engage Annie near her towers as this will only lead to your inevitable stun to die.

Note: Mercurial Scimitar and Quicksilver Sash both remove Annie's stun and are good pick ups verse Ignite and other crowd control effects. They do NOT remove knock ups.

In this section I will teach you how to counter the counters.

The best part about countering your counter is that your items are actually cheaper than theirs. Void Staff and Sorcerer's Shoes are your best friends.

Also note that ADCs cannot afford to build much MR as they will lose damage, this especially reigns true at the beginning of the game. In other words, GANK GANK GANK. Don't be afraid to leave your lane. You have incredible push potential with Incinerate.

Most importantly make sure to time your stun combos and come from places you are not seen to gain the element of surpise. That being said DO NOT forget to ward. Wards help you and your team to survive. This is NOT, contrary to most belief, only a support job. You can ward as well. Its basically 2 creep kills, which u can 1 shot.

There is a champion that goes mid that there is virtually nothing you can do verse early game due to the fact that Annie needs AP and cannot sacrifice it for armor in the beginning. If you face this champion it is best to request a lane change or play very passively. That champion is
TALON!!!!!

Surprise, League of Legends is not a solo game. Sorry if you are looking for one, Solitaire is a great recommendation.

Annie works well with the following Champions:

SUPERB Lord of the Tombs Amumu works well with Annie mid because of his great CC potential and AoE damage kit which adds to Annie's basically doubling the length of the CC. Allowing for more burst amongst more champions.

Excellent Flame Brother Due to the lack of Brand's CC (other than one stun after landing 2 spells), Annie guarentees a no escape for the enemy, while Brand uses his insane burst on top of Annie's to DECIMATE the opponents even multiple targets.

Good Demon from the Sky Aatrox's knockup and slow in addition to Annie's stun allow for quick kills that are very hard to counter. Since the squishy target with one life is now virtually unreachable. The mix of ad damage and ap damage make it hard to counter and the cc virtually unavoidable, leaving no escape

Great Wayward Prince Jarvan works well with Annie because of his ultimate, which allows Annie a free combo while champions have to flash out to escape. Flash is not useable while stunned (Tibbers).

Awesome The Living Stone Along with Malphite's slow and knock-up his tankiness allows for Annie to stand in the back while still catching her prey and Kentucky Frying them. (Don't forget the seasoning :D)

Wow The Blind Killer Lee sin offers not only a tank but constant vision with his skills. He counters invisible champions and grants Annie a second shield. Since Annie carries with her a minion. She also lets Lee Sin escape slippery situations just by jumping to her bear.

More Champions to come- Stay Tuned.

One great trick I like to use to get people, especially the enemy jungler, to initiate a poor fight is to walk around with only 3 charges on my passive. The fourth I activate by using my E shield as the engage starts (wether I am the one to initiate or the enemy) this way the enemy cannot tell or even forgets that I am one spell away from my stun as they cannot see the cloud around me until it is too late.

NOTE: Even though my Annie is quite Tanky, this does not mean you are one. For the most part Annie is a squishy AoE Burst Damage Mage. Meaning, Yes, you should be in the back behind your tanks.
The only time I will start in the front is for a bear stun engage. Then I will W in close and back off to pick off a target or chase the ADC/AP mid.
Since Zhonya's is the GO TO item for most AP mid carries, The ADC should be your first and foremost number one target. Unless Zhonya's is on CD.
DONT FORGET YOUR OWN :D

Nerfs Passive stun down from 2.5 secs at all levels to 1.25/1.5/1.75 every 5 levels.

Buffs Annie's Fire Shield now automatically extends to her bear Tibbers as well.

Have you seen my bear Tibbers, HEEHEE.

Thank you for your support, hope you enjoy this guide.
Please toss me a vote

And please only constructive criticism (AKA - Don't Be Nasty)

Enjoy
one Annie Video Link of mine - All Hail REIGNING TIBBERS

Vote, its just a guide, why should I vote?

Voting helps the author see whether or not the guide is helpful to others, what changes need to be made (through comments) and what is good to keep in future guides.

Also I will not be adding more match ups like malazhar etc. Until i get votes.

Reward system: New match-up champion added per 25 positive votes. Hows that for incentives :D

Annie Video Funny - Treat Annie and Tibbers Play Time

Special Thanks to JhoiJhoi and her guide on making a guide for the coding in this guide.