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Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Teleport
Items
Ability Order
Rebirth (PASSIVE)
Anivia Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Azir
He can stay way out of your range and poke, making it hard to get anywhere close. You can try to take advantage of his early game. See how he plays; if he's disrespecting your ability and playing like trash, you can fight. Otherwise, stay close to your turret and play safe.
Introduction
Hello everyone, I'm lllIllIIIlII and welcome to my Anivia guide! I've always found it hard to climb out of low-elo. I decided I needed to get my champion pool in check, so I started to one-trick Anivia on a new account. To my pleasant surprise, I found myself quickly and easily climbing to Gold(eventualy getting there with a 67% winrate). She's a really fun champion to play and though I'm not the best player out there, I'd like to contribute to the small amount of Anivia guides out there to hopefully help some of you improve your play. I find that playing Anivia's control really makes her a strong pick in lower-elo games. If you're just looking to get out of Bronze or Silver, I hope that my guide can help you climb out! This is my first ever guide, so if you have any suggestions for me to improve it, please leave a comment. If you found the guide helpful, please leave a rating. Any and all feedback is very much appreciated! |
Why Anivia?
Anivia has great waveclear, making her a great champion for pushing and defending against sieges. She has the ability to completely control certain areas of the map with her abilities, and coupled with ridiculous burst damage, can completely decide the fate of a fight. In the hands of an experienced player, Anivia can easily win games single-handedly. Her strength in grouped fights is rivaled by few, especially in the disorganized nature of low-elo Solo Queue. On top of all this, she's incredibly safe to one-trick with only a 2.2% pick rate and 0.1% ban rate.
Pros
+ Great Waveclear + Amazing Control with Crystallize + Crazy Burst with Frostbite + Constant AoE Slow and Damage with Glacial Storm + Relatively Safe Early Game with Rebirth + Scales Well + Very Safe Champion to One-Trick |
Cons
- Hard to Master - Slow and Immobile - No escapes - Requires Front Line Support - Must be Very Careful with Crystallize - Have to Rush Stacking Items - Can be Very Mana-Hungry - Slow Travelling Flash Frost |
- Greater Seal of Health: Helps you to stay alive, especially in the late game. You can take flat armor for the early game if you're against AD.
- Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: I like having that extra bit of AP in my glyphs, but CDR or Magic Resist Glyphs can also work quite well.
- Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Again, I personally like the extra damage that AP quints offer. Lots of people take Movement Speed which also works well. You can experiment with both and see what you like better.
- Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Gives you good damage in early trades.
Ferocity
Sorcery: No need to take Fury on Anivia.
Feast: Helps with sustain. You can take Expose Weakness if you want, but I haven't experimented much with it.
Natural Talent : I feel like the added damage from Natural Talent is more useful than the 2% Spell Vamp from Vampirism
Double Edged Sword : Gives you better flat damage. Battle Trance can be a decent alternative for long teamfights.
Cunning
Savagery: Easier time farming.
Secret Stash : Better laning sustain.
Merciless : More damage, but you have to be more careful about your mana if you're taking this over Meditation
Meditation : Better mana sustain, but you might not need it so much in late game if you're careful with your mana use and have access to blue buff.
Dangerous Game : Good mastery for teamfighting. I would take Bandit if I'm playing Support.
Precision: Magic Pen is overall just better than CDR if you actually want to be dealing damage.
Thunderlord's Decree : Hands-down the best keystone mastery on Anivia considering how easy to proc with her abilities(a bit more on this later).
Flash
Teleports your champion toward your cursor's location.
Range: 425
Cooldown: 300
Flash: Your must-take summoner spell. You need this to get out of bad situations, especially seeing as you have no mobility built into your kit. Rarely should you ever use your Flash offensively; it's mostly just there for escape. You can try Ghost, but you will have to adjust your playstyle accordingly.
Teleport
After channeling for 4.5 seconds, teleports your champion to target allied minion, turret, or ward. Cancelling a Teleport in progress reduces the cooldown of Teleport to 200 seconds.
Cooldown: 300
Teleport: You can use Teleport to get back to lane and farm minions, gank other lanes, or get out of fights. You can cast Teleport before you die, and if you go into passive, the spell will continue channeling until you get hit by hard CC. I take this spell most of the time in mid lane and always take it in top lane.
Ignite
Ignites target enemy champion, dealing 70-410 true damage (depending on champion level) over 5 seconds and applying Grievous Wounds to them for the duration (Grievous Wounds reduces all healing received and regeneration rates by 40%).
Range: 600
Cooldown: 210
Ignite: A good spell to take if you plan on playing aggressively. I may take this against some melee matchups such as Fizz in order to get an easy early lead.[/columns]
Rebirth | Passive
Upon dying, Anivia will revert into an egg and will get an armor and magic resistance modifier of -40 / -25 / -10 / +5 / +20. These values change at levels 5, 8, 12 and 15. If the egg can survive for six seconds, she is reborn with the same percentage of health that her egg had left. This can only happen once every four minutes regardless of cooldown reduction.
Cooldown: 240
In the early game, you can take advantage of Anivia's passive by playing more aggressively. Many champions will not have the ability to kill your egg in the early levels. I've gotten countless first bloods by playing around this passive. In low elo, many people will also be caught by surprise when your passive activates. You can often bait your opponents into diving you when Rebirth is up, which can end in your opponent getting nothing at the cost of a death or at least some summoner spells.
Rebirth also synergizes well with Teleport, as you can cast Teleport before you go into your passive and the channel will not be interrupted(as long as you aren't CC'd). What does this mean? It means that when you're in trouble, you can cast your Teleport on a faraway turret and be teleported safely away before anybody can completely kill your egg. Don't bother doing this if you know they have CC abilities up as you'll only end up wasting a summoner spell.
Flash Frost | Q
Anivia brings her wings together and summons a sphere of ice that flies in a target direction. The shard will deal 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+40% of ability power) magic damage while slowing movement by 20 / 30 / 40% (scales with rank of Glacial Storm) for 3 seconds to anyone in its path. The shard will detonate when reaching its max range or if the ability is activated again. When the shard explodes it will deal 60 / 85 / 110 / 135 / 160 (+40% of ability power) magic damage to all enemies nearby, stunning them for 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4 / 1.5 seconds. The magic damage done by both the shard and the detonation is the same and both will apply the "chilled" debuff on enemies hit for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8
Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120
Range: 1100
Your Q does damage as it hits the target and again when it stuns. Reactivating this ability as it goes through your target maximizes your damage against them. If you hit both parts of Flash Frost, it will count as two hits on Thunderlord's Decree . This makes Thunderlord's Decree relatively easy to proc.
Flash Frost is a slow skillshot that serves as peel and as a set-up for a double damage E. It's a good way to set up combos, but if you can't hit it properly, you will want to use your Crystallize or the slow from your Glacial Storm to aid you in hitting ths crucial ability.
Crystallize | W
Anivia summons an impenetrable wall of ice 400 / 500 / 600 / 700 / 800 units wide, blocking all movement. The wall lasts for 5 seconds before it melts.
Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8
Cost: 70
Range: 1000
This is one of Anivia's most defining abilities. Crystallize is impassable by both ally and foe, which makes for a very game-changing ability(for better or for worse).
You can use Crystallize to block enemy escape routes/jungle routes or make them go in a specific direction. Placing a wall in front of a running enemy will make them walk to the side towards the shortest route(the side closest to where they currently are). You can use this precognition to aim your Flash Frost to the shorter side after casting your wall. If done correctly, you will either get the stun off and burst the opponent, or force them to burn Flash. This concept can be applied to several enemies, not necessarily just one.
Crystallize can be used in a similar way to force people into your ultimate. If enemies try to run around your ultimate, you can wall them off, forcing them to walk into the AoE damage and slow. You can then quickly use your Flash Frost and Frostbite to deal massive amounts of damage.
Placing the wall on top of a champion will slightly displace them, so this makes it possible to block enemy dashes and jumps(such as Ziggs's Satchel Charge, Thresh's Dark Passage). To pull off this mechanic, you need to predict your opponent's jump/dash as it's close to impossible to cancel it with just reaction time.
Your wall also grants vision, so you can place it over walls and into bushes to scout for enemy champions.
This ability is in my opinion the strongest tool in Anivia's kit and should be used wisely. One misplaced wall can kill your entire team and lose you the game just as easily as it can ace the enemy team and win it.
Frostbite | E
Anivia blasts her target with a freezing wind, dealing 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+50% of ability power) magic damage. Deals 200% damage to targets recently hit by Flash Frost or a fully formed Glacial Storm.
Cooldown: 4
Cost: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90
Range: 600
Anivia's E, Frostbite, is a point-and-click skillshot that deals massive damage if the target has been affected by a Flash Frost stun or a fully charged Glacial Storm. This is really where all of Anivia's burst damage comes from. Without this bonus damage, your Frostbite damage is cut in half.
Use this ability in your combos for extra damage. If you want to kill a low-health enemy that you think may flash away, don't be afraid to cast your Frostbite without the double-damage.
Glacial Storm | R
Toggle: Anivia calls forth a driving rain of ice and hail, dealing 40 / 60 / 80 (+12.5% of ability power) magic damage per second to all enemies within while slowing their movement speed by 20 / 30 / 40% for 1 second and chilling them. The size of the area increases over 1.5 seconds. At maximum size, the storm deals 300% damage and slows enemies by an additional 50%.
Cooldown: 6
Cost: 75
Range: 750
Your Glacial Storm is a powerful ability on a short cooldown.
One common use of this ability to clear waves. Just Glacial Storm alone is able to clear any minion wave easily and effectively. However, be careful with using your ultimate in this way as it can drain your mana pool very quickly, especially before late game.
Glacial Storm deals damage in "ticks", one every half second. Each counts as a hit for Thunderlord's Decree , so simply by having your ult on an enemy champion for 1.5 seconds will proc it.
Do not underestimate the damage and control power Glacial Storm provides. If an opponent walks into your ult, you can easily wall them in, stun, and burst them down. If the enemy team is stuck in your Glacial Storm for several seconds, they will all take an immense amount of damage and/or be forced to burn summoners to escape.
I would recommend really getting used to positioning your ult to get the most control and deal the most damage. A good ult will make the rest of your abilities much easier to land, so getting comfortable with it is absolutely crucial to playing a good Anivia.
Most of the following items are merely suggestions. Take whatever items fit your situation and playstyle best.
Early Game | Upgrading Core | Mid/Late Game
Early Game
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On Spawn Always take this start in a solo lane. Doran's Ring is your standard mage start and provides you with the mana sustain you need. Grab some Health Potions with the rest of your gold and pick up a Stealth Ward so you can ward for enemy ganks. If you're playing support, take Frost Queen's Claim. |
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First Back/Early Core Get Tear of the Goddess on your first back to start stacking it immediately. Later, this will be upgraded into Archangel's Staff. If you have some extra gold, pick up your boots of sped. On your next back or whenever you have the gold for it, start building towards your Rod of Ages. |
Upgrading Core
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Core Items Upgrade that Catalyst of Aeons into a Rod of Ages as soon as possible. Usually I will aim to have Rod of Ages at 13 minutes. Archangel's Staff is your next big upgrade, but it's not too important to rush it before other items. Usually I will delay this purchase until my Tear of the Goddess is almost completely stacked. |
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Boots Upgrades When you get the chance, upgrade your Boots into one of these. Sorcerer's Shoes are your default boots since they give your abilities some extra Magic Penetration which can help your DPS in fights. Your next option is Ionian Boots of Lucidity if you want to have your skills up more often and be more relevant in that way. Mobility Boots can be a good buy if you're looking to roam to other lanes often. Of course, if you find yourself needing some extra survivability you can always get mercury treads or Ninja Tabi |
Mid/Late Game
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Damage Just the standard items for when you're looking to deal more damage on a mage champion. Rabadon's Deathcap provides you with great flat AP, and Void Staff gives you good Magic Penetration as well as AP. Take Void Staff over Rabadon's Deathcap if the enemy team is stacking Magic Resist. |
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Defense Liandry's Torment gives you good defense as well as AP and damage vs. tanks. This is overall a really solid item with great stats. Guardian Angel is another option if you need some tankiness and don't want to die. There's nothing more frustrating than having to kill an Anivia three times. You can get Zhonya's Hourglass against AD teams and you can make very good use of the AP and Cooldown Reduction. Using Zhonya's Hourglass will not stop your Glacial Storm, so you can use it defensively in the middle of a fight whilst still dealing damage. Abyssal Mask is good if you need Magic Resist, and it also grants you good damage and CDR. Zz'Rot Portal can work quite well if you're ahead since you can make good use of its active effect when you siege with your team. |
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Cooldown Reduction Morellonomicon's CDR stats are pretty good, and it also gives you some added Mana sustain as well as AP. I usually get this item in my games. As mentioned above, Zhonya's Hourglass and Abyssal Mask also provide CDR. |
Early Game
Generally against a ranged mid-laner, you want to play safe in the early game on Anivia. Your goal is to get your Rod of Ages as soon as possible and scale up to become a mid/late game teamfight monster...bird? The only time I will play aggressively is when I'm against a matchup I'm very confident against, to get an early lead and reach my spike earlier.
Try to roam to other lanes as well and get advantages there. Roaming bot lane will often end in a kill
In lane, you want to trade using Q-Q-E or Q-Q-Auto(Either of these will also proc your Thunderlord's Decree . When you get your Glacial Storm, you can substitute it into your combo for Flash Frost, since it's easier to land.
Mid Game
Get your Tear of the Goddess on your first back, then get your Rod of Ages as soon you can after that. Around 25 minutes, your Rod of Ages should be fully stacked.
Around this time, start to push out your lane and go for objectives around the map, utilizing Anivia's high siege power.
Keep the enemy team pressured and constantly look to make picks with Crystallize throughout the game. Usually catching out two people with your wall seems to be enough to transfer into an objective.
Late Game
Now your Archangel's Staff should be a Seraph's Embrace and you should have a few other items besides your core.
At this stage, force fights around the map and play for turrets and dragons. Stay in the backline and place your Glacial Storm on an impactful location, really focusing on controlling the fights.
Win fights --> Win game.
Thank you for reading through my Anivia guide! This is my first guide, so I would be very grateful for any feedback on the build and/or the guide! I am of course constantly trying to improve my own play, and open to all suggestions.
On the other hand, if you have any questions for me please feel free to also leave those in the comments!
If this guide helped you learn something, consider leaving a rating!
Special thanks to jhoijhoi for her Guide to Making a Guide!
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