Hello and welcome to my Annie guide. Annie is one of the most versatile champions currently in the game and is a very strong pick. She can be played in a variety of different roles and has many build options ranging from support mage to tanky CC mage to full damage burst mage.

In this guide I will explain everything you need to know about Annie. I will cover runes, masteries, items, playstyle, matchups and more. I will include explanations for midlane, toplane, support and 3v3.

I hope this guide will help you become good Annie players! Feel free to comment with any feedback or questions you may have. I will do my best to respond to every comment I get.

NOTE - READ BEFORE VOTING PLEASE

If you're going to vote, please comment and make sure you've read the relevant parts of the guide first. Please don't downvote just because you don't like X item, or X rune. I explain every choice in my guide and give many alternatives. If you don't like something, comment and I will reply and consider changing it.

16-12-13 Updated multiple chapters and made some changes to the build.

In this guide I will use some terms and abbreviations. It will be useful to explain them here. This list might grow.

AP

- Ability Power

AD

- Attack Damage

MR

- Magic Resist

AR

- Armor

MRP

- Magic Penetration

ARP

- Armor Penetration

HREG

- Health Regen

MREG

- Mana Regen

GP10

- Gold Per 10

MS

- Movement Speed

AoE

- Area of Effect

AA

- Auto Attack

DPS

- Damage Per Second (sustained damage)

3v3

- 3 versus 3 on The Twisted Treeline

If you want to know if Annie fits your style, this list might help you out.

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Pros Very versatile. Strong in lane. Can carry hard/strong in soloqueue. Insane burst damage. Huge auto-attack range.

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Cons Low range on abilities. No mobility. A bit weak if you don't get fed.

Annie can be played in a multitude of ways to fit the team comp. Her most obvious role is mid, but she is also a very strong toplaner and support, and she is one of the strongest mages in 3v3. Annie can also be built in different ways. You can focus on damage or tankiness, depending on your team's needs. In my guide I will discuss the following roles.

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Mid As a midlaner, you will most likely fill the role of a burst mage. You will get a lot of gold and will be able to buy a lot of damage items. You have a lot of kill potential at any point in lane against squishy mages or AD champions. You can play really aggressive against most opponents and outfarm them or kill them if they get too close. Later on, you will most likely focus on bursting down the enemy carries.

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Top As a toplaner, you might focus a bit more on tankiness. Most toplaners are a bit hard to kill, but against melee champions you can play very aggressive and zone them. Later on, you will still deal a lot of damage and become a very hard to kill stun bot. Your goal is to win lane and in teamfights stun as many people as possible. If you're doing well and your team comp allows it, you can also go full damage.

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Support Support Annie has less gold overall than solo-laners. However, with season 4, she will still get a lot of farm, allowing her to build AP items and get really strong. Annie is one of the strongest early-game support. Her insanely high damage (even without AP items), combined with her 1.75 second stun, gives her a lot of kill potential. Her auto-attacks have huge range, allowing you to poke from a safe distance very easily. Throughout the rest of the game, you will basically be normal mage, with the only exception being your Ruby Sightstone.

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3v3 In 3v3, your role will most likely be that of a tanky magic DPS champion. You can win most lane matchups because of your range and early-game damage. Later in the game you will need some defensive stats, because it is often very difficult for your team to protect you. Your ultimate goal is to land a 3-man stun combo in fights.

These are my rune choices for mid lane. They are pretty straightforward, but might require some explaining. I will also give other options.

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7.83 MRP

The obvious choice for mages. The flat MRP will be strong against low MR enemies. Early in lane this will increase your damage significantly, especially if your opponent doesn't have MR runes. Other options greater mark of hybrid penetration work very well if you can manage to poke with your auto attacks.

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3.69 MREG

Annie doesn't really have mana issues, but these will allow you to basically spam your spells and harass constantly. I think it's often worth it to take these over defensive seals. Other options a safer choice, especially against AD champions.

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12.06 MR

Another obvious choice here. You're most likely facing a magic damage champion, so these glyphs will help you survive in lane. They're very efficient. Other options if you're confident you can dominate your lane. if you're not that worried about taking too much damage early.

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14.85 AP

These are just too good on AP champions. They give you a good amount of extra damage. Other options Not much

These are my rune choices for top lane. They are pretty similar to midlane runes, with the exception of armor seals. Keep in mind these are just the runes I use most often. You will often have to change them up depending on the matchup.

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7.83 MRP

The obvious choice for mages. The flat MRP will be strong against low MR enemies. Early in lane this will increase your damage significantly, especially if your opponent doesn't have MR runes. Other options greater mark of hybrid penetration work very well if you can manage to poke with your auto attacks.

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12.69 AR

In toplane, you will often play against champions with physical damage (including the enemy jungler). The extra armor is pretty much required if you don't want to get out-traded in damage really hard. Also helps against minion damage which can be a big factor. Other options against AP tops or easy matchups.

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12.06 MR

Though not as important, these will often help. Many top-laners and junglers deal magic damage, and you never know when the enemy midlaner decides to gank top. These are a safe choice. Other options if you're confident you can dominate your lane.

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14.85 AP

These are just too good on AP champions. They give you a good amount of extra damage. Other options Not much

These are my rune choices for support Annie.

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greater mark of hybrid penetration MRP+ARP

Mainly to increase your early-game damage and burst. They work well with burst marksmen and potentially allow you to one-shot enemies with a stun and burst combo. Other options optional for higher burst.

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12.69 AR

Pretty obvious. You will almost certainly be playing against a marksman in lane so you will need the extra armor to survive. You will also take minion damage when poking with auto-attacks, as nearby minions start attacking you when you auto-attack an enemy champion. Other options Not much.

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12.06 MR

Definitely the most standard and safe option. Most supports you will be fighting deal mostly magic damage. You can't underestimate their damage. These will make your lane easier. Other options if you're sure you don't need the MR in lane. pretty risky, but might be fun to try out.

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14.85 AP

Good on Annie support because you can play very aggressive in lane. Other options if you want to go for late-game.

These are my rune choices for 3v3. They are the same as top lane Annie, since the environment of a 3v3 solo lane is really similar to top in 5v5. They do get their own explanations though.

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7.83 MRP

You're still a mage, so the extra damage is good. Even against tanky champions, you don't have much of a choice. Other options greater mark of hybrid penetration work very well if you can manage to poke with your auto attacks.

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12.69 AR

In 3v3, you will always take physical damage. Being from your lane opponent(s), the jungler or from minions. Other options Not much.

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12.06 MR

You will need good early stats in 3v3, since games can be won or lost quickly. Even if you're not directly laning against a mage, you will likely face magic damage in early teamfights. Other options if the enemy has a full AD comp. good against AP hypercarries that are weak early-game.

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14.85 AP

These are just too good on AP champions. They give you a good amount of extra damage. Other options Not much

Keep in mind I'm still trying different mastery setups so these might change

As a midlaner, you generally should go 21-0-9. Obviously, all the extra damage you get from the offensive tree is really important as a mage. The 9 points in utility will give you some important points too.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Offensive tree
In the offensive tree, you pick up the obvious points like Sorcery, Mental Force , Archmage , Devastating Strikes and Havoc . There are many other points to choose from, but I like the follwing ones. I get Butcher and Feast for easier last-hitting and extra sustain. Double-Edged Sword is really good in my opinion, since no other mage can use extra damage more than Annie. With this you just have slightly more kill potential. Executioner is really good too, as it significantly increases your damage. I take Dangerous Game to survive close trades. In a duel, you often will be able to kill your opponent and survive with very low health and Ignite on you. In these scenarios, this mastery point can very well save your life. If this happens even once, it's a point well spent. Arcane Blade is a pretty obvious choice on Annie because she gets large amounts of AP and has a huge auto-attack range.

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Utility tree
In the utility tree, you get some extra sustain from Meditation and Strength of Spirit . I like Phasewalker because the one second might just allow you to get away in close situations, or it will simply make you lose a bit less farm when you recall in lane. Summoner's Insight is really good to get since Flash and Ignite are just really important. The main point I want to get is Runic Affinity . Annie benefits ridiculously well from red and blue buff for obvious reasons, so the extra duration is great.

Keep in mind I'm still trying different mastery setups so these might change

In toplane, you are less likely to receive buffs, so the utility tree ( Runic Affinity ) is less important. I choose to go 25-5-0, because there are a lot of good points in the offensive tree, and you don't get that much from a few extra points in the defensive tree. Alternatively, you could also go for more defense or some utility if you think it's worth it.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Offinsive tree
Pretty straightforward. Just get everything that amplifies your magic damage. I don't take Expose Weakness here, which is a somewhat selfish choice, but you can choose to pick that up instead of another point if you want.

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Defensive tree
The main points you want here are Unyielding and Block . They make your trading much stronger, especially early in the game. The 2 leftover points are probably best spent on Recovery , but Enchanted Armor is also an option.

Keep in mind I'm still trying different mastery setups so these might change

For a support, I think the utility tree is just way too good to not get 21 points in. On top of that, you can choose between the offensive or defensive tree for the other 9 points, or even spend some of them on more utility. I choose for defense, since Annie is really squishy and can use the extra defense to survive lane more easily. It's also possible to take 21 or more points in offense if you want to play really aggressive (for example when laning with a Varus, Ezreal or Jinx).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Defensive tree
In the defensive tree, you Unyielding and Block are very important for trading. Recovery is better if you are going to build offensive, while Enchanted Armor is better if you plan on building a good amount of resistances. The extra health from Veteran's Scars are the only option left in the second tier. Finally, you'll get either Juggernaut or Hardiness . Which one is better really depends on the matchup and your item build.

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Utility tree
In the utility tree, I get almost all points that are good for supports. I get Meditation over Fleet of Foot to spam more in lane, though the latter is also a good option. Scout allows you to more safely ward without facechecking the entire enemy team and dying. I get Summoner's Insight because summoner spells are awesome. Alchemist and Culinary Master will provide some extra sustain in lane and might save you in close fights. The points for gold generation ( Greed , Scavenger , Wealth and Bandit ) are obviously nice on supports and don't require much explaining. You will often get 1 or more activated items, so Intelligence is really good. The final point is Wanderer , which allows you to roam more without losing a lot of time.

Keep in mind I'm still trying different mastery setups so these might change

In 3v3, I go 21-9-0, increasing my damage and getting some defensive stats. I don't go for mana regen, because you can more easily recall to regen your mana without losing too much in lane in 3v3. Similar setups like 25-5-0 are also viable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Offensive tree
I simply take most points that amplify your magic damage. I take Butcher and Feast for sustain and Executioner and Dangerous Game to win close fights. I don't take Double-Edged Sword because it involves more risk in 3v3, since you will most likely take more damage in general.

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Defensive tree
In the defensive tree, you can basically take whatever you want, but Unyielding and Block are very good. Other than that it depends on matchups.

As a midlaner, you will get a lot of gold from farm and potentially kills. I tend to focus on full damage items as a midlaner, taking the role of a burst mage for my team. By doing this, you can usually take out one or more enemy carries in fights instantly. This doesn't mean you can't get defensive items. You can also go for a more tanky build and still be useful, it's just a different playstyle.

START

Start 1 This is almost always the best start. Doran's Ring allows you to play really aggressive. It gives some very good stats. Health, AP and mana regen all make you very strong in lane. Annie deals more damage than almost any other mage during the laning phase. Some Health Potions are always important to have to not get forced out of lane by one bad trade or gank. Stealth Ward is in my opinion the best Trinket choice for solo-laners. It provides some protection from ganks, allowing you to play more aggressive without simply dying to jungler ganks.

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Start 2 Against AD champions, Cloth Armor is a safe start. Only get this if you're afraid of dying in the earlier levels. If you don't think you will die, you should just get a Doran's Ring. Annie is a very strong counter against melee champions because of her insane Q and auto-attack harass. If you can get your enemy low on health, he won't be able to go aggressive on you.

EARLY

Sorcerer's Shoes An obvious choice on Annie (and on most mages). The magic pen will increase your damage. I often get these early in lane, since that is when the magic pen is most effective. Also, if you have more MS that your opponent, you can abuse this by walking up to attack him and just walk away without taking a counter-attack.

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Blasting Wand I always go for some raw AP as early as possible. It just amplifies your damage greatly and allows you to dominate your opponent. Depending on how much gold I have, I go for either Blasting Wand or Needlessly Large Rod. Combined with early magic pen, this gives you the highest damage potential, which is really what you want in lane.

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Haunting Guise A solid item with AP, MRP and health. Combined with Sorcerer's Shoes and runes, this will give you a total of 38 MRP. This item is very easy to build with low cost components.

CORE

Liandry's Torment A great item on Annie because of the stats it gives and of course the passive. AP and MRP for more damage and health to make you harder to kill. The burn passive deals double damage to stunned targets, which makes it work very well on Annie.

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Zhonya's Hourglass This is always a good item for mages. If you're building mostly damage, you will be pretty squishy. With the active you can survive certain situations while stalling for your cooldowns to come back up. Learn to time it well. It can really make or break teamfights. It also gives nice stats obviously.

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Void Staff Just very strong. Whether you're behind, or really fed, Void Staff will increase your damage significantly, especially against tanky champions with a lot of MR. If the enemy team buys any MR, this will be a very cost-efficient item.

OPTIONS

Rabadon's Deathcap Just a straight up damage item. Not much to explain. It's really good to get when you want to burst people down. Together with other AP items, it gives you even more damage.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter I'm a fan of this item on Annie. It works really well. It makes you tankier and increases your damage. The passive is the most important part though. Obviously Annie's Q (35%), W (15%) and ult activation (15%) apply the slow, but also Tibbers applies it when he's running around next to enemies and so does your shield when enemies attack you. This allows you to keep multiple people slowed for a long time.

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Abyssal Mask Good to get if your team has multiple sources of magic damage, since it amplifies them all, or against a heavy AP team, since it gives you MR. It doesn't synergize well with percent MRP from void staff, since the flat MR reduction applies first (you can do the math if you want, or you can just trust me on this). Like flat MRP, it's best against enemies with low MR.

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Morellonomicon Good against teams with a lot of heals for obvious reasons. Also, CDR is a really good stat to have on Annie.

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Deathfire Grasp If you're just purely focusing on bursting people down instantly. The active allows you to do this. Build it together with Rabadon's Deathcap and other AP items for insane damage.

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Will of the Ancients A very interesting item on Annie. With your Q you can heal for huge amounts every time its off cooldown, by simply last-hitting minions with it without even losing mana. This gives you great sustain in lane and makes you noticeably tankier in teamfights. It makes you more of a DPS mage, focusing on staying alive while constantly dealing damage.

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Rod of Ages Basically an alternative to Rylai's Crystal Scepter, but weaker. Both items have around the same price. Rod of Ages has to be stacked to give full stats, it gives only slightly more health and some extra mana which Annie doesn't need at all later in the game. It also gives less AP. Can work in some builds though, most notably when you already have Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

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Twin Shadows A very situational item. Its active can be extremely helpful in some situations, but useless for most of the game. It just depends. Still gives good stats though.

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Banner of Command I'll have to try this out more, but I can see it being a good item for mages, especially in split-push comps. the stats aren't bad at all either.

ENCHANTMENTS

Enchantment: Homeguard The best enchantment by far, on any champion. Obviously best when your base is under attack, but you can also get it early to get to lane faster when you recall.

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Enchantment: Furor A solid option. By spamming Q and using auto-attacks, you can chase enemies very effectively, or kite them out.

As a toplaner, you will still fill the role of a mage. You get solo-lane farm, so you will get enough gold to build expensive items. However, I normally focus more on tankiness and helping my team with CC. Depending on your team and the enemy's, you should adept your build. There are definitely situations in which you can build full damage.

START

Start 1 In toplane, you will often face AD champions. Additionally, you will have to worry about the enemy jungler, who often deals physical damage, on minions. Going Cloth Armor and some combination of potions is usually a safe start. It's a bit harder to get kills with this though. A Stealth Ward will allow you to play aggressive for a period of time while being relatively safe from jungle ganks.

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Start 2 A more aggressive start. If you get a favorable matchup, Doran's Ring will likely allow you to dominate lane. Especially versus melee champions, this will allow you to just spam your Q and W and deny them farm. Again I get the Stealth Ward.

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Start 2 This start will have you outsustain almost anyone. You can just stay in lane farming and harassing for ages. Whether it's worth the gold is debatable. I'd recommend this in some situations.

EARLY

Sorcerer's Shoes An obvious choice on Annie (and on most mages). The magic pen will increase your damage. I often get these early in lane, since that is when the magic pen is most effective. Also, if you have more MS that your opponent, you can abuse this by walking up to attack him and just walk away without taking a counter-attack.

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Seeker's Armguard Since you'll probably get a Zhonya's Hourglass, Seeker's Armguard is a good early pickup. Get stacks for an efficient source of AP and armor. Helps a lot in lane.

CORE

Zhonya's Hourglass This is always a good item for mages. If you're building mostly damage, you will be pretty squishy. With the active you can survive certain situations while stalling for your cooldowns to come back up. Learn to time it well. It can really make or break teamfights. It also gives nice stats obviously.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter The signature item for toplane Annie. With a Rylai's Crystal Scepter, you will get really tanky and provide a lot of CC for your team. You will be able to kite enemies pretty easily, while dealing significant damage

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Void Staff Just very strong. Whether you're behind, or really fed, Void Staff will increase your damage significantly, especially against tanky champions with a lot of MR. If the enemy team buys any MR, this will be a very cost-efficient item.

OPTIONS

Rabadon's Deathcap Build this for a lot of damage (obviously).

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Liandry's Torment Good against enemies with a lot of health. Strongest against enemies with low MR, but it also works well with Void Staff, since the flat MRP gets applied after the percent MRP. Since you will probably have Rylai's Crystal Scepter and a stun, the passive will deal double damage most of the time.

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Will of the Ancients A very nice item, especially early in lane. It will make you an immovable object. Spell vamp is really effective on Annie's kit. It will give you a lot more effective health in teamfights, making your MR and AR more effective too.

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Abyssal Mask Good to get if your team has multiple sources of magic damage, since it amplifies them all, or against a heavy AP team, since it gives you MR. It doesn't synergize well with percent MRP from void staff, since the flat MR reduction applies first (you can do the math if you want, or you can just trust me on this). Like flat MRP, it's best against enemies with low MR.

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Deathfire Grasp If you want to play more like a burst mage, or have another burst mage in your team. The active allows you to kill squishy champions really easily.

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Morellonomicon Good item against teams with a lot of healing for obvious reasons. The stats are all very useful too.

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Rod of Ages Good for more tankiness.

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Spirit Visage A potentially good item to pick up together with Will of the Ancients. Works well against magic damage teams. It will make you very hard to kill with all the tankiness and spell vamp healing.

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Frozen Heart Good against AD heavy teams. A very defensive item, but it also provides CDR and mana to increase your offensive capabilities.

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Randuin's Omen Huge tank item that's obviously good against AD heavy teams. The active works well against AS reliant champions.

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Mercury's Treads Good if the enemy team has a lot of CC and/or magic damage. Generally better late-game than Sorcerer's Shoes so you might want to consider switching to these when you have full build.

ENCHANTMENTS

Enchantment: Homeguard The best enchantment by far, on any champion. Obviously best when your base is under attack, but you can also get it early to get to lane faster when you recall.

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Enchantment: Furor A solid option. By spamming Q and using auto-attacks, you can chase enemies very effectively, or kite them out.

Right now in season 4, you will actually get a lot of gold as a support. You will be able to get some AP items, while still warding and building support items to help your team. What you should build really depends on how the game goes. Some games you will get a lot of random kills and end up with more AP than your midlaner. Other games you won't do so well and only get your gold income from gold items/runes/masteries. Just adept to the situation and your team's needs.

START

Start Basically the best start in all situations. Spellthief's Edge is the way to go for mage supports. Your Health Potions will get upgraded to Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation, giving you more sustain. You need the Stealth Ward for more ward coverage if you only buy one ward. If you buy 2 wards instead of potions, you could start with Sweeping Lens to get a vision advantage in lane.

EARLY

Frost Queen's Claim The AP support item. I really like the active and get this item as soon as possible. It's easy to build, with low cost components. The faster you get this, the more gold you'll get, and the stronger you'll be in lane.

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Sorcerer's Shoes Still good as a support. You will be able to get a decent amount of damage, so MRP is good to get. Sometimes you might want to go Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads though.

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Sightstone Never forget your warding duties. The Sightstone will allow you to place 3 wards, which is the maximum amount you can place anyway, so you will hardly need to buy any additional wards (unless you plan on not recalling for a long time).

CORE

Ruby Sightstone The upgrade for Sightstone. It allows you to carry more wards with you and gives you a good amount of health. There's no need to get this early in the game, but later on you might want to get the upgrade.

Options

Void Staff Very efficient item, even without much AP. This will make you deal very good damage to all kinds of enemies.

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Liandry's Torment A good source of magic damage and easy to build up to. The flat MRP will be most effective early in the game but also works well with Void Staff. Buy a Haunting Guise early and upgrade it later in the game.

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Locket of the Iron Solari An item more focused on supporting your team and getting a little tanky. It has always been a strong support item and it still is.

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Zhonya's Hourglass You will probably be pretty squishy. With the active you can survive certain situations while stalling for your cooldowns to come back up. Learn to time it well. It can really make or break teamfights. It also gives nice stats obviously.

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Banner of Command I'll have to try this out more, but I can see it being a good item for mages or supports, especially in split-push comps. the stats aren't bad at all either.

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Twin Shadows A very situational item. Its active can be extremely helpful in some situations, but useless for most of the game. It just depends. Still gives good stats though.

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Abyssal Mask AP, MR and an aura to help you and your team. Good to get if your team has multiple sources of magic damage, since it amplifies them all, or against a heavy AP team, since it gives you MR.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter Always a good item on Annie if you want to provide more CC. It also gives great stats.

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Morellonomicon Good item against teams with a lot of healing for obvious reasons. The stats are all very useful too.

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Rabadon's Deathcap Good if you get really fed and are able to get a lot of AP.

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Deathfire Grasp Not only allows you to deal more damage, but also helps your allies. If you can time it well, you can contribute to bursting someone down.

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Rod of Ages Good for more tankiness.

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Will of the Ancients Good for staying alive in teamfights if you can deal some good damage.

ENCHANTMENTS

Enchantment: Homeguard The best enchantment by far, on any champion. Obviously best when your base is under attack, but you can also get it early to get to lane faster when you recall.

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Enchantment: Furor A solid option. By spamming Q and using auto-attacks, you can chase enemies very effectively, or kite them out.

In 3v3, your role is similar to that of a toplaner. You can build a lot of damage, but you shouldn't be too easy to kill. Provide magic damage and CC for your team. Bursting people is generally harder than in 5v5, since most champions will build at least a bit tanky.

START

Start The all around best start in 3v3. You can't really go wrong with this. There are other options, but they're more situational.

EARLY

Sorcerer's Shoes An obvious choice on Annie (and on most mages). The magic pen will increase your damage. I often get these early in lane, since that is when the magic pen is most effective. Also, if you have more MS that your opponent, you can abuse this by walking up to attack him and just walk away without taking a counter-attack.

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Seeker's Armguard You will build Wooglet's Witchcap and this will give you some nice AR and AP. Get it early so you can Wooglet's Witchcap fast.

CORE

Wooglet's Witchcap A must-have item in 99% of your games. It's just so strong. It has great stats and the active is great in 3v3. I always get this as my first or second item.

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Rylai's Crystal Scepter The best item for health and AP. It's great against bruisers, since you'll be able to kite them pretty hard. The health scales well with your AR and MR.

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Void Staff An important item in almost every game, at least later on. The enemy team will get some MR and this will help you negate that and deal great damage.

OPTIONS

Blackfire Torch Great against teams who focus on protecting one carry with the other 2 champions. It allows you to burst down their carry before they can do much.

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Liandry's Torment Good against enemies with a lot of health. Strongest against enemies with low MR, but it also works well with Void Staff, since the flat MRP gets applied after the percent MRP. Since you will probably have Rylai's Crystal Scepter and a stun, the passive will deal double damage most of the time.

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Moonflair Spellblade Great against teams with a lot of CC. It will make you tanky and hard to kill because of the tenacity.

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Abyssal Mask Good if you have another magic damage dealer in your team, or the enemy team has a lot of magic damage.

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Rod of Ages Good for more tankiness if you already have a Rylai's Crystal Scepter.

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Will of the Ancients A very nice item, especially early in lane. It will make you an immovable object. Spell vamp is really effective on Annie's kit. It will give you a lot more effective health in teamfights, making your MR and AR more effective too.

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Mercury's Treads Good if the enemy team has a lot of CC and/or magic damage and you don't have Moonflair Spellblade (it doesn't stack). Generally better late-game than Sorcerer's Shoes so you might want to consider switching to these when you have full build.

ENCHANTMENTS

Enchantment: Furor You can't get Enchantment: Homeguard in 3v3, so this is the best option. I don't recommend buying this until you have 4-6 items though, since it's not really an effective gold investment.

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Enchantment: Alacrity Another option if you want a bit more MS all the time.

Annie's abilities are pretty straightforward to use, but they do have some finer points. Managing your passive and correctly using auto-attacks in the middle of your combo are skills you need to master to become a good Annie player.

ABILITY EXPLANATIONS

Pyromania (passive) After every 4 spell casts, Annie's next offensive spell will stun all damaged enemies for 1.75 seconds. The stunning spell does not count towards Pyromania's counter. Annie's passive is an essential part of her kit. Paying attention to it and using it properly is one of the most important aspects of playing Annie. It seems pretty straightforward, but there are some tricks you can pull off. For example, you can use your Q when you have 3 stacks, and E before it hits the enemy. The enemy will be stunned without expecting it. In general, try to use spell combos in such a way that enemies don't expect to get stunned (this requires practice). Never waste your stun when a fight might break out soon, and in teamfights always stun multiple enemies with W or R.

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Disintegrate (Q) ACTIVE: Annie blasts target enemy with a fireball, dealing magic damage. If Disintegrate kills the target, it refunds its mana cost. Very simple point-and-click damage ability. It has a low cooldown and does high damage, making Annie one of the strongest early-game traders. A downside is the pretty low range.

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Incinerate (W) ACTIVE: Annie scorches all enemies in a 50º conic area in front of her with fire, dealing magic damage. An instant cast ability that deals AoE damage in a cone. It deals more damage than your Q at the same rank, even at a single target, but has twice the cooldown and lower range.

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Molten Shield (E) ACTIVE: For 5 seconds, Annie is surrounded by a shield of fire, increasing her armor and magic resistance and dealing magic damage to enemies each time they use a basic attack against her. It may seem like a strange ability for Annie's kit, but it is definitely an important part. It gives you a ton of survivability (20-40 MR and AR) and allows you to push minions or jungle with the return damage. Most importantly, you use it to stack up your passive quickly for unexpected stuns.

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Summon: Tibbers (ult) ACTIVE: Annie summons Tibbers to the target location in a burst of flame, dealing magic damage to enemies within 290 range. Tibbers remains on the field for up to 45 seconds, and Annie can control his movement and attacks. Tibbers deals magical damage with his attacks, and is also surrounded by a flaming aura that deals 35 (+ 20% AP) magic damage every second to enemies within 200 range of himself. There is no real need to explain why this ability is awesome. It deals a ton of damage in an AoE, potentially with a stun added. It is an instant cast ability and has pretty high range. After the instant damage of course, Tibbers is spawned. You can control Tibbers by using alt+click or R (default). Tibbers can be used to chase opponents from far away and makes pushing turrets a lot easier by tanking them and dealing damage.

ABILITY SEQUENCE

Whatever your role is, I think this should always be your ability sequence. At level 1, you can take W and start stacking your passive for a stun if you're going for an invade (which I always do in 3v3). Take a point in Molten Shield at level 4.

COMBOS

Harass combo: Q(stun)-AA-AA-W
This is your basic harass combo in lane. When your stun is ready, use Q on your opponent, auto attack twice while walking towards him, and use W. By walking in between auto attacks, you are still in range for your W after the stun wears off. If you don't want to risk a counter-attack, don't auto attack and simply use Q-W, or activate E to negate some damage.

Instant stun combo: Q-(E/W)
Use this combo when you have 3 stacks of your passive. Throw out your Q and before it hits, use either E or W (E is better). This will make your Q stun. If you're doing this using your W, it has to hit nothing, otherwise your Q won't stun (the fact that you can use W for this combo is a bug, but it always works).

MY CHOICES

Flash Simply the best summoner spell in the game, but it also has a lot of synergy with Annie. Nothing is a better engage than a Flash-Tibbers. Flash just has so many possible uses. Use it to get away, get the last hit on an escaping enemy or initiating fights by stunning people.

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Ignite As a solo-laner, you want kills. Annie's full burst combo is often not enough to one-shot someone completely. By throwing in an Ignite and a few auto-attacks, you will be able to kill people if they let their guard down for a second. Ignite is also an option as a support, if you want to play aggressively and get kills more easily. Also good on support Annie if you want to play really aggressive.

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Exhaust This is usually what I go for as a support. Use it on the enemy marksman in fights to make him basically useless for 2.5 seconds. Later in the game it can be used in many ways, preferably on the enemy marksman or assassins.

OTHER OPTIONS

Barrier Potentially good against high burst champions like assassins, that have kill potential on you. You can pick it if you want to play really safe.

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Teleport Can be a great spell if you want to help other lanes or split-push. You can use it to gank other lanes or get back to your lane quickly. Late-game, you can split-push easily with it.

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Heal You could get this on support Annie. I don't think it's the best option, but feel free to try it out and see how it goes.

Whichever position you play Annie, she is always a strong champion in lane. You can play aggressive and win lane against most champions. Always manage your passive well and stun as many people as possible in teamfights. That said, here is some role-specific advice.

MID

Start with your Q (unless your team wants to invande) and immediately look to trade at level 1. Almost no other champion has more DPS at level 1 than Annie, because her Q has such a low cooldown. Try to get level 2 faster than your opponent while trying to harass him. By using Q to farm and poke, you will get your stun. Don't waste your stun at level 1, you won't have much damage to follow it up with. At level 2, you can often get a kill with Q, W, three auto-attacks and Ignite. Otherwise, just zone your enemy if you can. Never miss farm if you don't need to. If you focus too much on hitting your opponent, you will lose too much.

Annie's next power spike is at level 6. With proper positioning and movement between auto-attacks and abilities, you will be able to one-shot almost any opponent. Leave your passive at 3 stacks. When your opponent walk up to farm, use E-R for an often unexpected stun. Keep using abilities while moving towards your opponent and attacking. Use Ignite if you can get the kill.

You will most likely build a lot of damage and will be squishy. Never get greedy, and keep your position in mind in teamfights. You can die fast if you get caught. Zhonya's Hourglass provides a good emergency safe, but don't rely on it too much.

TOP

In toplane, your main goal is to ourfarm your opponent. Play a little bit safe and don't push too much. If you get ganked it's hard to escape sometimes, so don't overextend without wards. You can dominate melee champions easily, but don't get too close to them, or they will win. Toplaners are genrally harder to kill than midlaners, but if you can get a kill without too much risk you should obviously go for it.

You will most likely build a bit tanky, with Rylai's Crystal Scepter being a core item in your build. You should focus on protecting your team and kiting. You will provide a huge amount of CC and will be pretty hard to kill. Still be wary of your position though, you will never truly be a bruiser or tank.

SUPPORT

Annie is a very strong support in lane. Her stun is her main strength. Paired with a marksman, you can deal a huge amount of damage in the 1.75 seconds of the stun. Poke as much as you can with auto-attacks while charging your passive. Never get too close though, Annie is really squishy early and a few auto-attacks or abilities from the enemy can destroy you. Also don't forget to ward.

Whenever you have stun available, try to zone the enemy together with your marksman. Always try to stun the enemy marksman, since he/she deals the most damage and is most important to kill (a dead marksman can't farm). Make sure your marksman is in position if you use your stun, otherwise it will be mostly wasted.

Later you will transition into a mage with some support items too. If you have enough damage, burst down the enemy carries in teamfights (if you can't kill them, at least deal as much damage as possible). If your carries are really fed, protect them with your damage and CC.

3V3

In 3v3, you fullfil the role of the magic damage dealer of your team. You will often build pretty tanky, similarly to toplane Annie, but you can also go full damage if the situation allows it.

At level 1, get your W and start using it in base until you have 3 stacks of your passive. Walk out and use W once again to get 4 stacks. This is great for invades. Walk through toplane with your team and walk into the enemy jungle. If you catch someone, you will usually be able to get a kill. This works best against inexperienced 3v3 players.

Annie can do well in lane and set up ganks easily. Farm as much as you can while poking your opponent. Keep your stun ready if your jungler goes for a gank, it can often result in a kill. 3v3 is a fast-paced game mode. You should'nt always stay in lane. If the other lane is gankable, go for it. Set up skirmishes with your team and pressure the lanes. At level 6, instantly try to group with your team and look for teamfights. Annie is very strong at this point. Avoid fights when your ult is on cooldown.

Warding is a very important part of the game. Not only as a support, but in any other role. The map above covers the most common and important ward spots. You can obviously place wards wherever you need them, depending on the situation. Wards offer many advantages to your team and should never be forgotten.

So what can wards do for you?

• Protect you from ganks. Wards are important in every lane. There's nothing worse than throwing away an advantage by getting killed in a gank. Don't rely on your allies to call missing. Take action yourself and ward around your lane.
• Provide tactical knowledge. If you know where members of the enemy team are, you can take advantage of this. See the enemy jungler on the other side of the map? Play aggressive in lane. See 2 members of the enemy team near bot at 30 minutes? Take Baron or push another lane.
• Win fights. Yes, wards can be used even in fights. If a low enemy runs into a bush, quickly ward the bush so you can still see and attack him. If you're getting chased, place wards behind you so you can see which path your enemies are taking.
• Reveal stealthed champions. If you're fighting, but don't see the enemy Twitch anywhere, place a Vision Ward in the middle of the teamfight so you can potentially catch him.
• Enable counter jungling or protect your jungler. Wards placed near buffs can allow you to set up invades with the knowledge you need. Time the buffs and ward before they spawn. If the enemy has a strong invading jungler, ward your own jungle to defend against invades.
• Much more.

TRINKETS

Besides wards, Trinkets also play a very important role in vision control. These are all the Trinkets you can get.


Usually best for laners. Helps protect you against ganks.


Good on ganking junglers or support. Allows you to clear wards and set up ganks or get lane control.


Good on invading or farming junglers, and potentially on supports.

Trinkets can and should be bought for free from the start of the game. They can be sold and rebought at the store but will go on a longer cooldown when you do this. At level 9, each Trinket will automatically upgrade to a greater Trinket. These Trinkets can then be upgraded to their final form for 475 gold.

When choosing your trinket, look at what the rest of your team has. In general, I think this is a good setup:

• Early-game: 3-5 and 1-2 .
• Mid-game: 2-3 , 2-3 and 0-1 .
• Late-game: 1-2 , 0-1 , 2-4 and 0-1 .

Here is a list of some matchups Annie either does exceptionally well or bad in. These are based on my personal experience from my many Annie games. I've included explanations and tips for the matchups that might be helpful. I will add as many matchups as I can whenever I have the time.

GOOD MATCHUPS

Kha'Zix (mid, top, general) Annie is great at bullying melee champions. In lane, you should be easily able to outfarm Kha'Zix or kill him if he overstays. As long as you stay at range he won't be able to do much. Keep him low on health so he won't be able to jump onto you aggressively (since you will just be able to kill him if he does). The worst thing you can do in this matchup is die to ganks (Kha'Zix can still deal insane damage with the help of his jungler), so ward up. In general, Annie is good against AD assassin type champions because she can buy Zhonya's Hourglass and kill/CC them before they will be able to kill her.

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Katarina (mid, top, general) Annie is good against Katarina for pretty obvious reasons. Katarina is very weak in lane, while Annie is very strong in lane. This allows you to deny farm very easily and get kills. Another very important point, is that Katarina can absolutely never use her ult against a good Annie player. Just keep your stun ready when you suspect she will use it and stun her instantly when she does.

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Kassadin (mid, general) Annie wins against Kassadin both in lane and in late-game teamfights. Kassadin can only last-hit with his Q, or he will die. Just play very aggressive and don't let him get any farm for free. There's not much else to explain here, since it's just very easy. In teamfights, stun Kassadin when he gets in range and destroy him within 1.75 seconds with your team. He doesn't have his ridiculous mobility when he's stunned.

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Fizz (mid, general) Another melee assassin. You can poke him very easily in lane and survive against him in fights. Just try not to fight him in melee range. Protect yourself and your other carries by stunning him in fights. Make sure you never try to stun him with Q, since he will be able to dodge it with Playful / Trickster. Just use W or R, which stun instantly and are therefore impossible to dodge unless Fizz predicts them.

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Anivia (mid) Anivia is somewhat weak before level 6 and relies heavily on skillshots for her damage. As Annie, you can pretty easily just walk up to her and Q/W/auto-attack. Push in the wave as much as you can early, since Anivia has problems last-hitting underneath her turret. Anivia is very squishy, so pretty easy to kill. If she gets egged, you can easily take her down before she revives by spamming Q and auto-attacking. At level 6, this matchup gets even easier. You will be able to zone Anivia when you have your stun and ult up. Use your ult/stun whenever she gets in range. You might not be able to kill her all the time, but if you force her out of lane it's worth it. Anivia can't detonate her Q while stunned. Buy Boots of Swiftness so she won't be able to kite you.

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Ahri (mid) This is mostly a skill matchup, but I think Annie has the edge. Ahri's kit is all based around dodging skillshots, but Annie has no skillshots (her W and R are instant so undodgeable). As long as you can dodge some skillshots (most importantly Charm), you will out-trade Ahri. Also, Annie's stun takes away a lot of Ahri's mobility. An important advantage Ahri has is her range and ability to safely farm. You might not be able to destroy her, but you should be able to win.

BAD MATCHUPS

Orianna (mid, general) Orianna is one of the few champions that can win lane against Annie fairly easily. She can really abuse her range and strong auto-attacks to harass Annie. Her shield gets really strong and will protect her from your burst or minion damage. That said, you can still kill her, especially at level 6 or with a gank from your jungler. The most important thing here is obviously to keep moving and try to dodge her skillshots. You should still be able to farm pretty well against Orianna.

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Brand (mid) Another high range champion with strong harass. Brand is a stronger laner in most aspects and similarly strong in teamfights. But it obvioudly comes down to skill too. As soon as Brand misses a skillshot, you can take advantage of it by going aggressive until his cooldowns are back up. Brand also has no escapes so try to coordinate ganks with your jungler for pretty easy kills.

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Morgana (mid, general) Morgana is mostly just very annoying to play against. She can just free-farm easily, without you being able to do much about it. Her Black Shield is obviously a very good counter to your burst damage and stun if she times it well. This lane will probably just be a farm lane for the most part. Just don't get too far behind and you'll still do well later in the game.

Annie is a very strong champion who can fill many roles. Her abilities are easy to use, but hard to master. I find her very fun to play and I hope you will too. If you want to learn multiple roles, Annie is definitely a good champion to pick up. She can fit many different playstyles.

Thank you for reading my guide, I hope you liked it and learned a thing or two from it. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Good luck and have fun playing Annie!