Annie/Strategy

Skill usage

 * strength as a mage comes from her decent laning phase with allowing her to last-hit without mana problems, and her exceptional AoE damage potential from  and . Her  allows her to lock up multiple targets in an area for a decent duration with her  giving her both a convenient way to charge it and a good defensive boost.
 * weaknesses include her short spellcasting range, which makes it difficult and risky to land a combo on the key targets in a fight. is  only form of crowd control, and while it is charging up she is very vulnerable to getting initiated upon.
 * During the laning phase, try to find a good balance between storing your stun for use on the enemy champions, and continuing to use your spells to maintain a strong creepkill count.
 * If you expect a level 1 teamfight, a good tactic is to use 4 times to get a stun ready before you leave the fountain. This can help turn the tide of an enemy invade or supplement your own to get you first blood.
 * Whenever you respawn or to the fountain, use  and  to gain charges on.
 * Sometimes it is smarter to approach an enemy with 3 charges instead of 4 to appear vulnerable. You can then quickly charge the stun with . It can also allow you to break  with a weaker spell before using a spell (especially ) that stuns them.
 * This can also be an effective strategy to lure enemies into a false sense of security.
 * During the laning phase, use to last hit minions since it refunds its mana cost and halves its cooldown when it kills a unit. Use this to quickly stack.
 * can be used once is available to lock down a single target, as it is a targeted ability, saving more powerful abilities for follow up.
 * It is often better to use to stun as its effect is almost instant, compared to  which has travel time and a disjointable projectile. On the other hand, it can be easier to miss if you misjudge the range.
 * While can take down groups of low health minions early game, positioning the cone so that it also routinely damages the enemy champion can be very useful. Dropping their health like this can be followed up with a big + burst for the kill.
 * Don't rely solely on to keep you alive. Its damage isn't great for countering AD carries with life steal, and early game its defensive properties are minimal at best. It is mainly used to charge up a stun.
 * When you have 3 charges you can cast  while  is in mid-flight to prime the stun and land it when your Q hits.
 * can be controlled, like most pet units, by holding Alt or activating the ability again before moving.
 * or used in combination with  results in  having an AoE stun effect.
 * can be used as an AoE stun in replacement of, guaranteeing Tibbers to land and damage all the intended targets.

Build usage

 * As a mage, benefits greatly from ability power, cooldown reduction, and mana-pool and regeneration bonuses. But because her abilities are relatively short ranged, she may also want to build some defensive stats - health, armor and magic resistance.
 * can quickly build up mana in items like or.
 * is a great item for, as the health and area of effect slow allows Tibbers' AoE damage aura to constantly apply the slow debuff, making Tibbers excellent for chasing and kiting.
 * Combined with this, can help in extended fights as  aura does constantly apply the health burn.
 * works well for as a purely offensive item because of her high AP ratios.
 * is a good option for when the enemy team has lots of magic damage. It provides magic resistance, but still contributes to her burst potential with AP and a magic resistance reduction aura and since none of her abilities exceed the 700 range, she can capitalize the aura to its full potential.
 * As ranges are very short compared to other mages,  can be an excellent choice for roaming to other lanes or closing the distance on key targets.
 * can be a good choice in giving a bit of extra durability to accommodate her abilities forcing her to be relatively close to the action.
 * and its build paths, and  can be viable options for providing a slight increase in mobility and an extra burst on autos or chasing potential respectively.
 * Note that has a very long basic attack range, which coupled with her low spell range means  is particularly easy to use.
 * can supplement the and  initiation combo that  is feared for by decreasing the cooldown on the spell and providing a small boost in mobility.
 * Because 's reflects back auto attacks as magic damage in addition to armor and magic resistance boost, a  works relatively well on her (especially against a basic attack or attack damage heavy team).

Supporting

 * While has been traditionally played as a solo lane champion, she can also excel as an aggressive support alongside a marksman in a duo lane. The combination of a long duration AoE  from, instant casting or targeted damage spells, and her high basic attack range makes  a great threat even without gold and items.
 * However, provides no sustain. Poke-based champions such as, , , and  can chip away at Annie and her laning partner's health from outside her range.
 * Since you will not be taking last-hits, charging is not as simple in the support role. With its low manacost and disposable nature,  should be used to make sure  is ready as much as possible.
 * and its upgrades serve Annie well, since she can easily proc the gold bonuses with her long range basic attacks. 's active is a great way for to get close to targets for her combo, or simply buy time til she can charge  for more crowd control.

Countering

 * All of spells deal magic damage, therefore any form of magic resistance will mitigate her damage significantly.
 * offers a spell shield to negate 1 spell from . Its magic resistance and health will help tremendously in surviving burst, while possibly blocking  initiation. As such, it is a recommended buy if going against Annie.
 * is a cheaper alternative that allows you to cleanse her stun specifically instead of just one ability; however, it does not prevent the damage.
 * Do not underestimate the damaging aura from . The longer the fight lasts, the more damage you will take from it.
 * Avoid focusing her when attacking .  has a lot of health and damage, and killing  kills  as well. Focusing  allows  to finish you off with her spells if she is ignored.
 * Do not disregard completely, however. Its attack damage and damaging aura can easily put a tense fight against  in her favor if left to attack you.
 * Alternatively, use ranged attacks and abilities to kill while keeping out of range of  spells, the advantage to this being that  will most likely be easier to kill.
 * is considered a minion therefore  and champion abilities that work on minions and monsters only (such as and ), will work on him as well.
 * At lower levels, a  that uses  and  can kill  immediately, and gain a stack of health.
 * Be alert for the visual effect that appears when the stun from is ready.
 * Because refunds mana when used to last hit minions, be cautious around an  using autoattacks on minions. She is likely to have 3 stacks on  and is waiting for someone to engage her. She will cast, allowing her to stun on her next spell.
 * acts similarly to . Be careful when engaging her if you are using a champion that relies on auto-attacks.
 * It can sometimes be hard to see the visual effect of if she has her  up.
 * Despite 's long basic attack range, powerful stun, and powerful burst in spells, Annie's spells are short-ranged. As such, long range mages such as, , , and , and long range marksmen like , or  can easily zone Annie out and prevent her from using her spells effectively.
 * If there is an Annie on the enemy team, avoid being clumped thogether with your team. Some players are known for making unexpected  when they have their stun ready, casting  and stunning your entire team. This can be potentially game-breaking, especially if the stun affects your allied carries.
 * Don't be deceived by Annie's lack of stacks, she may have three of them and she is just baiting you on thinking that she does not have enough stacks to stun you. This may lead to unexpected kills.

Annie/Strategy