Hey, it's Arzndragon here and today I'm going to show you how to play one of my favorite casters of all time, Annie the Dark Child. She's known to be annoying because of her long stun and immense damage. She is almost always targeted first in team fights because she has an aoe stun which gives your team 2 seconds to unleash the fury. Remove her from the fight and it will be a much smoother victory.

Pros:
-High damage output.
-Has a long stun.
-Extremely good pusher with Incinerate.
-Extremely good farmer with Disintegrate.
-Molten Shield gives a lot of armor and magic resist to survive ganks.
-Her ultimate is AoE. Have your stun active and cast it can give you time to use Incinerate and Disintegrate and Ignite which should kill someone.
-Tibbers is a great pet to help push and tank tower shots while your team is pushing.
-Amazing help in team fights.

Cons:
-Very squishy
-Constantly needs to spam Incinerate and Molten Shield to get a stun ready.
-Poor mana management late game as I said above^
-Almost always targeted first in team fights.
-Very poor early game (High cooldown time, low damage which means sometimes trying to last hit with Disintegrate won't last hit, cannot build stun fast.)

For my runes, I have Magic Penetration marks, the classical choice for marks for any caster. For Seals, I put mana per level to achieve the most benefit at lvl 18 when you should have your Archangel Staff and to just help around during the game. For Glyphs, I have CD reduction runes per level so at late game, when you need to charge up your stun & and Tibbers the most, you can have it sooner. These runes work extremely well late game. And for quintessences, I have flat HP since Annie is very squishy early game and unless you start with Doran's Ring; HP runes are the definite choice.

My summoner spells are Ghost and Ignite. Ghost saves you in a lot of situations with Annie. Hit a group of champions chasing you down with Incinerate with a stun, then get the hell away. It's worked for me a lot of times. Flash is a great option too if you'd like. Make sure to take blink of an eye if the utiliy masteries if you do so. Cleanse is not bad either. But I really don't think Annie needs clarity. Maybe late game, but seriously, it's late game, you won't use it much. That's why we have archangel staff.

For masteries I have 9-0-21, the typical caster build. Shouldn't require much of an explanation. If you have questions, ask below.

Let's talk about Annie's skills.

After every 5 spell casts, Annie's next spell will stun its target for 1.75 seconds.

The reason Annie is Annie. Make sure to time a stun correctly and it will ensure your team a kill. Spam Incinerate and Molten Shield on the summoner platform at will to charge your stun up.

Annie shoots a mana infused fireball dealing magic damage. Disintegrate's mana cost is refunded if it kills the target.
Cooldown: 4 seconds
Cost: 60 / 75 / 90 / 105 / 120 Mana
Magic Damage: 90 / 130 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+0.6 per ability power)

Her early game farming skill. Use it correctly, and you'll be in lane for a long time. Great skill with low cooldown.

Annie casts a cone of fire dealing magic damage to all enemy targets in the area.
Cooldown: 8 seconds
Cost: 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 Mana
Magic Damage: 85 / 145 / 205 / 265 / 325 (+0.6 per ability power)

AoE, high damaging skill. This skill can learn minion waves fast. Plus with a stun on, it can hit multiple enemies when Summon Tibbers is on CD.

Places a shield around Annie for 15 seconds, increasing her armor and magic resistance, and dealing magic damage to enemies who attack Annie with auto attacks.
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Cost: 25 Mana
Armor & Magic Resistance: 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50
Magic Damage: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+0.2 per ability power)


Decent defense spell for Annie. Gives her defense when she needs it. Not too great with the damage back effect. But still an ok skill.

Annie releases her bear Tibbers from his toy prison, dealing damage to enemy units in that area. For a limited time, Tibbers can attack, while continually dealing magic damage to surrounding enemies.
Cooldown: 120/120/90 seconds
Range: 600
Tibbers' health: 1200/1600/2000
Tibbers' attack damage: 80/105/130
Cost: 150 / 200 / 250 Mana
Magic Damage: 200 / 325 / 450 (+0.7 per ability power)

If you follow my item set and you have at least Rylai's, Summon Tibbers will do about 1k damage. I really, REALLY, advise you use this when you have a stun charged. It lets you activate Incinerate and Disintegrate. Tibbers can help attack a tower while you kill minions so the other minions can focus on the tower. And who wouldn't love a little teddy bear transform to life size to aid you in battle?

For my first item, I like to take Sapphire Crystal because it obviously gives you mana and lets you make up Disintegrates that you didn't last hit with. Besides, it's also an ingredient for Catalyst. If you want to play defense, buy a Ruby Crystal if you think you're going to die fast due to many DPS on the other team (especially Ashe at mid...sooooo frustrating.)

Take mid if you can. Katarina or Mordekaiser may prove to be better (they may), but if no one wants mid, take it.
Who to face in Mid:
Anivia
Fiddlesticks
Karthus
Heimerdinger (Turrets=easy gold)
Morgana
Ryze
Sivir
Who NOT to face in Mid:
Ashe (Volley will do a lot of damage, seriously)
Gangplank (So does Parley)
Katarina
Miss Fortune
Mordekaiser
Teemo

Now the items you start first with are Catalyst Protector, Sorcerer's Shoes and Mejai's Soulstealer. You should always build Rod of the Ages first for the Health and mana boost. Plus, it's quite useless if you don't get it first as the full effect probably won't max due to the time. Also, do not underestimate Archangel Staff. If you take it with Rod of the Ages you should have about 3.5k mana. With 3.5k mana, Archangel Staff's passive gives 3% of that 3.5k mana into AP. 3% of 3.5k is 105. That's 105 AP plus the 45 AP Archangel Staff already gives. That's a nice 105 AP to your already big AP number up there.

What item to get next...
Rylai's for slow.
Zhonyas for for AP.
Void Staff if the other team has items such as Mercury's Treads, Chalice of Harmory.
Archangel Staff if you have Mana problems, which you shouldn't.
Deathfire Grasp for a mix of everything.

If you are encountering problems...
Abyssal Scepter for Magic Resistance.
Frozen Heart for some Armor.
Banshee's Veil for overall Magic protection.

That's all for today on my guide on how to play Annie. Vote up, comment and ask questions. Crucial criticism is helpful!