Anivia Build Guide : So Young and So Naïve (S3): The Standard Bird

~Introduction~

Hello, Summoners; I am known as Notorious--FearsomeFoe@NA--and I will be discussing in

this guide.[/color]

I am not a high ELO player, however, I have a comprehensive understanding of champions that I have

played a few times. Let me be honest, I have not been using for very long, and I don't believe I am yet that knowledgeable about her. That being said, I hope you at least take the time look at my guide, as it is from a different perspective. This is how I play and not how any one person SHOULD play ; your feedback and criticism is still appreciated, of course. Right, this is my first guide too. Thank you for listening.

~Pros / Cons: Anivia~

Pros

[+] Free ()
[+] Strong team presence
[+] Great wave clearing/pushing with
[+] A lot of AOE CC
[+] Amazing game staller with
[+] Long auto-attack range
[+] has a super-low CD
[+] High potential burst with
[+] Scales great.
[+] Harrass with annoying taunt
[+] She flies with frozen wings

SPACE

Cons

[-] Mana dependent
[-] can be hard to aim
[-] Squishy
[-] Hard early game
[-] Low health pool
[-] Low movement speed
[-] No decent escape
[-] is dangerous to allies
[-] Farm dependent
[-] Can be difficult to farm with pre-six
[-] Difficult to play and difficult to be good with.

~Runes~

Runes

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Phase Rush

These are the runes I prefer to use on . There is, of course, more combinations to take, and I

will discuss a few others to think about. These particular ones are what I usually take with though. I use 9 , 9 , 9 , and 3 . Since I do not build a lot of magic penetration, I do enjoy having magic penetration marks to make up for it. Mana regeneration is a huge focus of playing and this should help for quite a while. I like scaling ability power in my rune set, it is helpful when you start getting more items. I use the flat ability power quints for the most ability power without using all my rune slots on ability power.

These are pretty cool, too, if you like starting with a lot of ability power, I just don't recommend it.

It used to be my preference, however, since exists, I do not need it so much.

Not the worst thing for , I have never used it, however.

This is not bad for the mid position. It's not necessary by any means, though, because you should be able to win your lane as long as out you play them. This is an okay decision for your runes still.

Movement speed quints are always viable runes in the mid lane and should never be overlooked.

Recap

There are a lot of runes you COULD use, but you really SHOULDN'T use. Don't get me wrong, you

can still make it work, it just helps knowing what runes benefit your champion and compliment your style of play. The runes I picked compliment the style I use, so don't think this is the best possible choice for runes. Test 'em out.

~Masteries~

Offensive

I have one point in for a little extra help in last hitting and to get to the bottom of the offensive tree. It's not the greatest mastery but it helps.

I have four points in . Cooldown reduction is nice on any mid. Just note that does not need it too terribly.

I have four points in . This for the extra ability power, of course. It's +1 ability power per level, which is pretty cool.

It is magic penetration and likes magic penetration. Since her burst is a bit lackluster. .

I have three points in . It increases your overall damage output by 2%.

I put three points in . There is not a whole lot left to get that benefits , and it'll move you down the tree more.

I have three points in . 5% ability power increase.

5% damage increase to targets below 50% is pretty nice.

That's it for offensive masteries.

Utility

I have one point in The extra movement speed nice but it is only given when you are out of combat.

I have three points in . +3 mana regeneration is a given on .

I have three points in . It's mana per level.

I have one point in . It reduces the cooldown of your summoner spells.

really needs blue buff. This is clearly a mastery made for her.

~Skill Sequence~

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

Take your first point of at level 1. Max it second. is a good ability to get first. Out of the three abilities you could start with, makes the most sense. It is a slow/minor stun and sets up your . Take your next point in at level 8, since you can't level or , for the extra damage/stun duration. Max it by level 14.

Take your first point of at level 4. Max it last. is pretty awesome. It's a solid wall. It helps with ganks, team fights, peeling, and all kinds of other things. You don't need to put many points into it for it to be an effective tool. Put a second point into at level 10 for some extra width. Max it by level 18.

Take your first point in at level 2. Max it first. is your main damage source--your bread and butter ability. Its base damage is rather low, if you look at it, but the real damage comes from the target being chilled. How are they chilled? Well, using any of your abilities (except ) will give the status "chill". If they're chilled, this ability does double damage. Get this as quickly as possible (when you can't level ).

Take your first point of at level 6. Get it at 6, 11 and 16. Pre-six is no where as scary as 6/post-6 . is a low-cooldown ultimate, that uses 75 initial mana and uses mana to stay active per second. It's a large area of effect that slows enemies inside the circle. can clear waves incredibly fast with this or to just farm. It is an active, and can be interrupted by stuns, silences, knock-backs, knock-ups, dying, and moving too far away from the inital cast point. It is channeled very briefly, so it does not spawn instantaneously.

~Items~

Starting

Sight WardSight Ward

This is what I usually get on all my mids/tops starting the game off. The mana potion will differ between champions, of course. Where's the boots!? Well, they're really not that important to get first anymore, seeing as how every champion is faster and boots provide less movement speed than before. Flask gives a total of 300 health points and 120 mana every time you go back to the beacon, for only 225 gold. That's extremely cost efficient as time goes on. The is because I'm playing , and 120 mana is not enough when playing . Wards are wards, they save lives and your own life; Sight Wards should be purchased throughout the game. You may also pick up another or pick up a .

Early Game

Catalyst the Protector

Make sure on your first back you pick up a Catalyst the Protector, it's very important that you do and leads to an early/mid game core item. The item provides additional sustain in lane along with more mana and health. After you pick up Catalyst the Protector, you should move on to getting your tier 1 boots and a . This gives you more mobility in lane, gives you more ability power, and builds into your first core item. You need to pick up a before laning phase ends. It leads into an important core and provides additional sustain in and out of lane. You should get your tier 2 boots by now as well. It is more magic penetration and movement speed. It is self-explanatory--except--for why it comes so late now.

Mid Game

Pick up a and build it into a . You have the sustain for being in lane now, however, you need the damage now. should be just fine for this moment. You need to finish , so pick up a . should fix the rest of your mana problems and a bit more ability power for the rest of the game. It gives a lot, even with its ability power nerfs, it is still a important buy on .

Late-Mid/Late

I recommend you get this item. I think it is important on for the potent damage potential that comes out of it. A whopping 35% magic penetration is huge, and playing as , your damage is not instantanious.

Last Items to Think About

Now it's time to pick your last item. I recommend as your first pick, if you want to lavish with a finishing defensive item. is a strong item, it burns 5% of their current health points in magic damage, and does double damage to enemies who are slowed, which is nice for . 's range was nerfed, but by no means is it a bad item because of it. It still provides the magic resist debuff, ability power, and magic resist. As , you are rather ranged, however; you can still be fairly close with your . is once again pretty good. I mean, it's not the greatest item to get on but you never know. is a where you can choose what to remove, like . It's magic resist and has a great active. I see no reason to overlook the item.

Items That You Could of Built/Strange Items

LOL

In order to consider getting this item, you pretty much needed to get early on in the game, which I did not include in my early game. These are definitely not bad items on , but you definitely should not build if you get a . It's still important to get a too, just get first, , and then a Catalyst the Protector. I just prefer .

You can get this, apparently, in conjuction with . You just have to pick up your after your .

It changed, it kinda got buffed. The active is now a passive that inflicts grievous wounds on targets with health points below 40%, with magic damage.

Absolutely useless on .

This will have no use for you, unless, you are jungling , and even then I don't think it's that good for in the jungle.

Yep. Why not? If your team is not very good with warding, by all means, these are great. It's important to know where your enemies are at all times. The issue with getting this is it will delay your core items longer, so get them at your own risk.

It's not the worst thing to get. It helps if your team does not have one, or even a , but it will hurt your damage output by a bit.

Philosopher's Stone

Do not get these. I'm sure you know this, however, if you play normals, you see a lot of strange things. You should never get if you are an initiator.

~Matchups~ (In Construction/Editing)

Key

Easy: An Easy win. Be aggressive.
Easy-Medium You have a slight advantage. You can be aggressive, just be careful not to overextend. Usually a farm lane.
Medium: A skill matchup. Wait for the enemy to make a mistake before being aggressive. Usually a farm lane.
Medium-Hard: Your enemy has a slight advantage. Play defensively, but don't be afraid to hold your own. Usually a farm lane.
Hard: A losing lane. Play passively and don't fight them until you have to.

This section was entirely contributed by Foo/Foo18@NA and edited by me.

Difficulty - Medium-Hard

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~Early Game~

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Okay, so you're playing now. You have just helped leash your jungler (hopefully) and have

arrived in your lane. Your laning opponent has probably already arrived, or will be arriving shortly. You cannot be aggressive at all at level 1, so just try to sit back and last hit with your auto attacks. Remember, has a pretty long auto attack range. I recommend that if you are against someone who is melee, use your auto-attack range against them. Once you hit level 2, you will put a point into . This is where a majority of your damage comes from. You should try to avoid being aggressive still, you should be last hitting still and using to last hit those pesky minions after you have used your auto attack. Remember, you can use even if they are not chilled, it just won't do as much damage. You CAN hit your Q+E on the enemy laner for some harass damage or to interrupt their last hitting, but do not use it too often. You can get a point in if your jungler has decided to gank your lane at level 2. You might possibly get the wall down behind them and stun them with your Q, otherwise take your E. This is pretty much all you can do until you hit level 6. Try to farm as much as possible and play safe. If you are getting harassed, you do have your passive, but you are not a god either. Remember to ward at least one bush, or in the river to avoid being ganked easily.

~Mid Game~

By this point, you have your ultimate and a core item or two. Farming with is very

easy but be aware of your mana. You have great pushing power and at the same time, great defensive power. When placing your ultimate on a wave, you may last hit a minion with your , as it does double damage to the minions as well. You can also set minions with your your but it is not necessary to use. You can be aggressive now, depending on your laning opponent, of course. You should still try to focus on farming, however, you can possibly do a bit of roaming now with your pushing power. You should also continue to ward in order to help your team out and yourself. You harass much easier now. You can put your ultimate down on someone and deactivate it just as quickly, to just throw a in their face. That's just an example, however. You should make sure your jungler is giving you the blue buff, really needs the blue buff in lane for the mana regeneration.

~Late Game~

has a very strong team presence with and . You have a giant

area of effect slow and a solid wall. You have a stun too, of course, but it is just not as strong as the two in teamfights. You should be well farmed up by now and have most of your items, if not all of them. You should be grouping up with the team, pushing lanes, wave clearing, getting baron, and winning teamfights. Dragon is still there, but it is not as important as before. You need to be extra careful when using , as strong as it is in teamfights, it can be quite the opposite if used poorly. You should be placing your ultimate down where most of the fight is taking place, hitting as many as possible and using on the high priority targets. and can initiate before a fight as well, if used properly. For the same abilities ( and ), you are a defensive master, you can quickly clear waves and wall off the opposing team from your turrets. can be a real pain to deal with when pushing into the enemy's base. If you are focused down quickly in a fight, know that your can save fights if the enemy is choosing to focus your reviving egg. I see it a lot, when the enemy just focuses the egg but they lose the fight because of their thirst for blood.

~Warding~

I would like for you to take a brief moment and read about warding for a mid laner. Please, do not be a scrooge with your gold when it comes to warding. That extra 75 gold you have left over from buying an item? Spend it on a ward, don't save it. Warding is really important for more than just yourself, you ward for your team, the enemies position, the enemy jungler, where your enemy laner has gone, and the objectives. So, buy a ward or two whenever you can, please.

I'm sure you know there are two bushes that are connected to the mid lane, one on each side of the river. Yes, these bushes are important places to ward but not the only place you can ward. In the upper river you can ward in the small circular bush to see more (i.e. the enemy jungler coming into your jungle). On the Blue half of the upper river, there are a lot of bushes that are passable warding positions, however, if you are on the Purple, you need to be careful when warding them. On the lower half of the river, you can ward the bush that is directly against the impassable terrain connected to the mid lane to watch for potential counter jungling or ganks. You can also ward the narrow strip further down to watch for potential ganks and counter jungling. As a mid laner, if your top laner is not warding , you HAVE to ward it. It is one of your jobs--yes--not the supports job, YOURS. It is the supports job to ward their lane and dragon until later on.

Alright? Good.

~Summary~

In the current meta, you will not see that much. She is still a viable pick, however, I have not

played much against the new AD-Caster match-ups yet. Against regular AP mids, she is still a normal pick and should not be overlooked for any reason. She can be squeezed into a lot of team compositions, especially with nerfs of annoying mid champions. She has a strong team presence but can easily be shut down if you are not attaining the farm you need. has a high skill cap as well, so keep that in mind when you're playing her and having trouble. As long as you are playing safe as , you can pretty much reach late game with no problems.

Thank you, Sincerely: Notorious.