Anivia Build Guide by Seagrove

Introduction

Welcome to my Anivia guide! I have changed the text color throughout the guide so that you know what is very important, of normal importance, for new Anivia players, and unimportant.

As soon as I picked up League of Legends, I looked through the champions and saw her. I knew I had to play as her so I saved up to buy her immediately. From the beginning, she has always been my main champion. Even now that I have gotten to higher elo levels, I will still have 15 kill and 0 death games with her from time to time.

Runes

9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration -See quintessence explanation.
9x Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration - Anivia is probably the most mana needy champion in the game.
9x Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction -Cooldown reduction- just trust me on this one, we will get to it later.
3x Greater Quintessence of Magic Penetration -I have always used magic penetration instead of the standard Ability Power on Anivia. I was ridiculed for this, so I tried AP and I had much less success. It also allows me to skip Void Staff (usually) and have more defense in my items without sacrificing damage output.

Masteries

When the new masteries came out, I was very excited about the idea of offensive mage masteries for Anivia. However, I quickly realized that she actually can put out more damage by climbing the utility tree. Although offensive masteries can cause her to do more damage with each spell, she is able to cast more spells more frequently (and thus actually do more damage) with the cooldown reduction and mana regeneration from the utility tree.

Using defensive masteries is not a bad idea for new Anivia players. This will allow you to stay alive longer and take less punishment for mistakes. You may also want to put a couple points in Good Hands or Greed instead of Swiftness .

Items

to keep you from needing Void Staff, and obviously for the movement speed.
for survivability, mana, and ability power. It is a must for making it through the laning phase, and I get it early so it has time to build.
for some much needed cooldown reduction and some more ability power. I love this item and always get it. *HOWEVER IF YOU ARE GETTING BLUE AND KEEPING IT, THIS ITEM IS NOT PARAMOUNT. It will give you over 40% CDR when you have blue, but I love the full 40% and it helps TREMENDOUSLY between blues.
for ability power and ability power.
for magic resistance, ability power, and magic penetration (more or less). This item is our replacement for Void Staff. It gives you the same ammount of ability power as Void Staff, but it gives you a good amount of magic resistance. Rather than giving you magic penetration (which we have with runes and boots) it actually lowers the magic resistance of nearby enemies.
for armor and more ability power. The active is nice as it lets your cooldowns come back, and it does not turn [Glacial Storm] off (this cannot be used while Anivia is in her egg).

With this build, you will end the game with over 600 AP and decent armor, magic resistance, and health


Alternate items- these can replace [Zhonya's Hourglass] or [Abyssal Scepter].

Use this if your jungler won't give you blue, you keep losing blue, or you are leaving your ult on too long. This is also a good item for beginning Anivia players, since you are probably using your ult too much. If you plan on buying this item, get Tear of the Goddess early.
Use this if you are being disabled too much.
Buy this if there are three or more opposing champions who are building a fair amount of magic resistance.
Only get this if you are doing well early game, and you know you are going to continue to win your lane (consider the possibility of the other jungler ganking). Last time I bought this I was 3-0 when I bought it, and I went 13-0-3. It is risky, so do not buy this item if you are new to Anivia.

* I only buy this if the other team is lacking an ability power carry. In that case, it can replace Morello's Evil Tome. They both give cooldown reduction and the large amount of mana from Frozen Heart can make up for Morello's Evil Tome's mana regen. The major difference is you are getting armor instead of ability power.

I start with boots and 3 health pots in games vs. champions like Ahri and Karthus who have skill shots that I will be trying to dodge frequently.

Skill Sequence

Glacial Storm> Frostbite> Flash Frost> Crystallize

We level up Glacial Storm first. It is called an ultimate for a reason. It is a large area of effect (aoe) damager and slow (chill). The damage is per second and increases with each level. It also has a great cooldown for an ultimate ability.This ability is a toggle and it will drain mana very quickly, so do not leave it on for more than you need to.

Of our normal abilities, we level up Frostbite first. It is Anivia's main source of damage. Even though Flash Frost can do more damage with a double hit, it has a much longer cooldown. This ability does double damage to chilled opponents, so it should only be used on a chilled opponent, ( Glacial Storm and Flash Frost chill) unless it is your last option for killing a very low hp champion.

Our next priority skill is Flash Frost. After this ability is released, you may press q again to detonate it early. If not, it will detonate at its full range. The ability slows(chills) and damages all units it passes through before detonating, and it stuns and damages all units in a small radius of its explosion area. The ability can damage the same unit twice. But remember, the explosion area is larger than the shard area, so it is possible to damage with the explosion and not the original shard (the shard slows, the explosion stuns). It is ideal to let the shard pass half way through the target before detonating. This will guarantee the double hit.

Crystallize, although our lowest priority skill, is totally awesome! This wall of ice creates a thin and long area of impassable terrain that grows in length upon leveling the ability. Let's discuss the many uses of this ability.

-Running Away: When you are being chased, put this wall up between yourself and your attacker. If your pursuer is a melee fighter and is faster than you, stun them first. If they have a gap closer, make sure they use before you use your wall, or they will jump over the wall to get you. If they have a stun/pop up/ etc. like Xin Zhao, you may have to let them pop you up before stunning them and walling because once you have shot Flash Frost, you cannot detonate it if you are disabled.

-Chasing: you can use crytsallize to put up an obstacle for your prey to run around or to completely wall off a small path. If you place the wall outside of your range, Anivia will fly so that the wall is in her range before placing it. Make sure that your target will still be on the right side of the wall before doing this or your team will hate you forever. Also, if the champion you are chasing has an ability (or Flash) that allows them to jump over obstacles, you could be creating a road block for only yourself.

-Keeping a Target inside Glacial Storm: This is similar to chasing, but you can do it when you are not planning on pursuing your target. Just place Crystallize just beyond the center of Glacial Storm to keep your target in your ult for a bit longer. You may even have enough time to land another double damage Frostbite.

-Separating Your Opponents: During the later stages of the game, your wall gets pretty long. You can use this fact to wall off two or three of your opponents (especially if a high priority target is in front or a crowd control tank is in the back). This can turn a 5v5 into a 2/3v5 which is much more desireable. One cast of this spell can win you a game.

Ability Combinations

Combinations: Most of the combinations are about getting off as many double damage frostbites as possible. This is why cooldown reduction from your runes, masteries, blue buff, and Morello's Evil Tome is so important. It really takes the timing from being awkward to perfect.

1) This is the most ideal combination, and it almost never happens. You are right beside your target. You initiate by throwing down Glacial Storm and immediately use Frostbite (double damage). Get both hits from Flash Frost off and stun your opponent who is still in your ultimate, Glacial Storm. As they begin to run, keep them in your ult even longer with crystalize and with your high cooldown reduction, you should be able to land a second double damage Frostbite before they lose their chill from Glacial Storm.

2) This is the second most ideal combination, and it only happens a few times per game. It is basically the same as the first, but you are not quite as close to your target to start, so you have to use Flash Frost to keep them in your Glacial Storm before using a double damage Frostbite and Crystallize.

3) This is the most realistic and common combination. You initiate from further away with the stun of Flash Frost. You follow up with a double damage Frostbite and Glacial Storm. As they run towards or away from you, keep them inside Glacial Storm with Crystallize. If you have Morello's Evil Tome, you should be able to get a double damage Frostbite to finish the combo.

4) Lastly, (and this one is oh-so-fun) if you have a target that keeps far away from you so that they have time to outrun your Flash Frost's slow movement speed, use this. Initiate by dropping Crystallize on the opposite side of the target. When the target chooses a direction to take around your wall, lead their path with Flash Frost for a slow/chill and stun. Glacial Storm Can go down here (or before Flash Frost-that is even better). Then do a double damage Frostbite.


*If you are quick enough, you can use Frostbite and then throw down Glacial Storm before your Frostbite hits to trigger the double damage.

Rebirth (Anivia's Passive)

Rebirth is kind of a big deal. You die, but your only seconds away from full health, and the opponent didn't even get a kill. The problem is you are super vulnerable in your egg. You will only live to be born again if: 1) You are protected by allies. 2) There is only one Champion around and he/she can't really deal damage. 3) It is very early game (and even then some champions like Cassiopeia will still kill you). 4) It is early or early-mid game and you are close to a turret. Some champions (like Caitlyn) can kill you if you are even a bit on her side of the turret when you go into your egg.

Summoner Spells

I take Ignite for the early damage, the extra AP with the mastery, and the Tryndamere kills. It is also good for early game kills, or for forcing your opponent to go back and heal. Also, it stops a lot of annoying healers.

Flash is a must with Anivia. She is too slow for Ghost to really cut it. You need to be able to Flash in for the kill, or flash away from a ganking Rammus (or whatever jungler). In long distances, you have to get over a wall. If there isn't one, make your own to flash over (after it gets long enough).

For new Anivia players, I suggest Clarity. It will help you with the mana problems that you will have.

Farming

Last hitting minions is difficult to do with Anivia. Get used to her slow attack speed. After you get your ult, you will be tempted to use it constantly on creep waves. Although it is fun, and you do want to do it sometimes, (e.g. to push the minon wave into the turret while your laning opponent is back healing so he misses experience or you don't have time to spare) you usually want to save your mana for other purposes. After the mid game, you will be able to kill minion waves with a double hit from Flash Frost.
Remember, because Baron Nashor and the Dragon cannot be chilled, Frostbite will not do double damage, but you can score a double hit from Flash Frost. You can completely wall in the Ancient Golem with Crystallize to keep him from hurting you while you take his blue buff.

General Play

You may have trouble with certain opponents before you reach level six. Because your ultimate, Glacial Storm is on such a low cooldown, you receive a tremendous and consistent advantage in you lane at six. Do not be afraid to ask for a gank if you need one. Once you are six, do not go crazy with your ultimate, Glacial Storm. Primarily use it for a spell combo. OR if you miss with Flash Frost and you are close to your enemy, use it to chill them before a double damage Frostbite.
You will need blue buff pretty quickly after level 6. Most of the time your jungler will let you have it after the first or second. If not, consider buying a Tear of the Goddess and eventually building it into an Archangel's Staff (or stealing blue buff when your jungler is ganking- "Idk what happened").
With her ult, Anivia can defend a tower against two or three champions easily during the mid game. Take advantage of her ability to clear minion waves to make sure that your opponent's cannot get near you without taking tower hits.
During team fights, stay behind the tank, but try to get your combos off on their squishy champions. It should take no more than two spell rotations (which come around every 5 seconds) to kill a Graves, Veigar, etc. by yourelf, so you will probably only need to do one per champion.
When you get an ace, if someone needs to defend, it's Anivia. Glacial Storm has the aoe damage to take out twenty minions in 3 seconds (use Frostbite on any super minions).

Pros / Cons

Pros:
Incredible Burst Damage
Awesome Passive
Super Fun and Game Changing Wall
Very Balanced (won't get nerfed)
Looks Like Articuno
Great Champion For Controlled Aggression
Not Overused

Cons:
Hard to Last Hit for Beginners
Slow
Squishy
Mana Hog
High Difficulty

Summary

Anivia is a fun champion to play. I hope my guide helps you to understand how to become a better Anivia player no matter where your skill level is. Thank you for your time. Any advice or constructive criticism is welcome.