Hi guys!

My in-game name is snu***z and I've been playing league since season 2. I'm currently in Platinum Elo on the NA server, but I will be in Diamond very soon ;)

I've played many games of Annie mid in the past, I've watched countless challenger level solo que games (link to challenger Annie game), and read all the good Annie guides on Mobafire and decided I should make a guide of my own and share the insights I've picked up from playing and what I've learned from others.

The reason I love Annie Mid is because she does absolutely insane burst damage once she gets to level 6, and because the enemy always has to be on guard when her stun is up.

My mission with this guide is to cover the most important bits of information that will help you succeed when playing Annie Mid. The early, mid, and late game sections will tell you exactly what you should be doing at all points during the game in order to win.

Let's get on with the rest of the guide!

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Pros

+ Super high burst at level 6 and beyond (can delete squishies from full HP) + Great at getting picks with single, or multiple target stun + Great AoE damage with Ult & W + Easy champion to start playing & can quickly be mastered + Tibbers can tank turret shots & Dragons/Baron + Great selection of skins to choose from xD

Cons

- Squishy without items - Very immobile (susceptible to ganks) - No sustain in lane - High mana costs - Short/Medium range, so disadvantaged against long range champions

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* Predator is a great rune for Annie because it gives her a bunch of movement speed to catch up to enemies and gives her a lot of extra burst damage when she catches them. Electrocute is also a great option for Annie because it gives a bunch of extra burst damage, has a much lower cooldown than Predator (which means you can do more damage more often), and you don't need boots to use it. The downside of Electrocute is that you don't get the extra movement speed, but this can be partially made up for by the likes of Mobility Boots, and/or a combination of other movement speed items like Lich Bane & Spellbinder.

* Cheap Shot is a good choice here because it will add a little extra true damage burst to anyone that you stun. Taste of Blood is also a good option here because any time you damage an enemy champion you will get healed a little bit, making your trades more favorable.

* Eyeball Collection is my favorite rune here because you can build up extra AP the quickest, as long as you are getting kills and assists.

* Relentless Hunter is my favorite rune here because you get a bunch of extra movement speed, which means you'll be able to get in range more often to land your stun and get picks for your team.

* Absolute Focus is a good option here because it will give you additional AP/Burst damage as the game progresses.

* Gathering Storm is one of my favorite runes in the whole game. This rune will give you a ton of AP as the game progresses making your burst damage always relevant, and scales well with your extra 40% AP from your Rabadon's Deathcap.

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PASSIVE ABILITY

PYROMANIA (Passive): "After casting 4 spells, Annie's next offensive spell will stun its target for 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 seconds. The duration changes every 5 levels." This is Annie's passive ability and is what allows her to keep her enemy in place so that she can land her full combo. One trick you can do is once you have 3 stacks built up you can use your Q and then hit E before the Q lands. This will cause your Q to stun and is a good way to catch your opponent off guard.

Play Video

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Q

DISINTEGRATE (Q): "Annie flings a mana infused fireball at her target, dealing 80 / 115 / 150 / 185 / 220 (+80% of ability power) magic damage. If Disintegrate deals a killing blow, the cooldown is reduced by half and the mana cost is refunded." This ability makes farming/last hitting on Annie much easier and doesn't cost you any mana as long as you get the kill on the minion. You'll generally want to use this ability set up your stun combo because the enemy cannot dodge it (even if they flash), unlike your W and ultimate.

Play Video

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W

INCINERATE (W): "Annie casts a cone of fire dealing 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+85% of ability power) magic damage to all enemy targets in the area." This ability has shorter range than your Q and ultimate so make sure you step a bit closer to the enemy when using it. This ability is AoE so if your stun is up you can stun multiple enemies at the same time with it.

Play Video

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E

MOLTEN SHIELD (E): "Places a shield around Annie for 3 seconds, reducing the damage she takes by 16 / 22 / 28 / 34 / 40% for the duration. Additionally, enemies will be dealt 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+20% of ability power) magic damage whenever they use auto attacks on her while the shield is active." The main purpose of this ability is to gain stacks of your passive cheaply (low mana cost) so that you can use your stun more often. However, it also reduces the damage she takes from all sources for 3 seconds, and reflects some damage when enemies auto attack her.

Play Video

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R

SUMMON: TIBBERS (R): "Annie releases her bear Tibbers from his toy prison, dealing 150 / 275 / 400 (+65% of ability power) magic damage to enemy units in the summon area. For the next 45 seconds, Tibbers can move and attack at Annie's will, while continually dealing 10 / 15 / 20 (+10% of ability power) magic damage to surrounding enemies. Tibbers has 1200 / 2100 / 3000 health, 30 / 50 / 70 armor and magic resist and deals 50 / 75 / 100 (+15% of ability power) magic damage per auto attack. On summon, using Pyromania on an enemy champion or if Annie dies while Tibbers is summoned, Tibbers becomes enraged, ignoring unit collision and gaining 275% bonus attack speed and 100% bonus movement speed which decays over 3 seconds. In addition, Tibbers regenerates 50% of his missing Health and automatically targets Annie's killer if she dies while he's summoned. While out of combat for at least 5 seconds, Tibbers gains movement speed when moving toward Annie and regenerates 6.0% of his maximum Health every second." This is Annie's ultimate ability and it does a lot of damage and can stun multiple targets at once. This ability will instantly spawn Tibbers so as long as you are within range it's very difficult for the enemy to dodge, unless they flash preemptively. Tibbers is nice to have up when seiging turrts, or taking Dragons/Baron, because he can take a lot of damage before dying.

Play Video

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Doran's Ring is a great starting item for Annie mid because it's going to give us extra AP, HP, mana regen, and basic attack damage to ensure we get those last hits.

Sorcerer's Shoes are a great choice for Annie because they are going to reduce the enemy's magic resistance by 18 and thus increase the amount of damage you do to them. When the game starts the enemy has about 30 magic resist, and this means 18 magic penetration will increase your total damage by about 10-15%.

Mobility Boots are also a good choice for Annie because Boots of Mobility will get you within range to land your stun more often. Another great benefit of Boots of Mobility is that they will allow you to more quickly roam around the map to help gank other lanes. Lastly, Boots of Mobility + Predator will give you so much movement speed that you're practically guaranteed to get within range to land your combo and delete someone.

Luden's Tempest is a great item for Annie mid because it's going to make sure you always have enough mana to clear minions waves and enough mana to always be able to drop your full combo onto an enemey and get a kill. Luden's will also give you a bunch of CDR so that you can get your ult up more often, and keep getting kills. Luden's second passive will help you clear waves quicker so that you can roam more often. All around then is a great item for Annie mid.

Morellonomicon is a good choice for Annie because it's going to give you HP, AP, magic penetration for increased overall damage from all of your abilities, and will reduce the amount the enemy is able to heal, which is especially important against champions with a high amount of sustain (Vladimir/Akali). Often I will build Oblivion Orb early, and if they don't have heavy sustain champions then I will wait to finish Morello's last.

Rabadon's Deathcap is one of the best items for Annie mid due to the sheer amount of AP it's going to give you. Rabadon's will give your burst a way bigger punch, allowing you to much more easily 100-0 the enemy squishy targets.

Void Staff is a necessary item to pick up if the enemy is stacking magic resistance. This will usually happen if your team has 3+ AP champs, or if you or another AP champion on your team is fed. If you don't think the enemy team is going to build magic resist then just get Oblivion Orb/Morello's and skip building Void Staff.

Spellbinder can be a great item to jack up your burst and increase your movement speed. One way to build Spellbinder is you can sell your boots and build Spellbinder as your last item. The movement speed from Spellbinder will replace the movement speed you lose from selling your boots, and you'll gain a ton of additional AP.

Lich Bane is a great choice for Annie because it's going to give you CDR, movement speed, mana, and a ton of extra burst when auto attack your opponent. Annie has one of the longest auto attack ranges in the game, so you can fairly safely proc Lich Bane. Also, your opponent is usually stunned so proc'ing Lich Bane is that much safer.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a great item that will save you in a pinch. This item is not always mandatory, but it is required when you play against high AD burst damage champions like Zed/Rengar. This item is also nice versus high AP burst champions (LeBlanc/Evelyn), or champions with long duration CC where you'd likely get killed before being able to move (Morgana/Lux).

Banshee's Veil is not mandatory on Annie, but it is necessary when playing against high AP burst damage champions like LeBlanc/Fizz/Malphite/Etc.

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Levels 1-5

Levels 1-5 for Annie Mid is about farming with auto attacks and Q, and harassing the enemy laner when it makes sense. Put pressure on the enemy laner when you have 3/4 stacks of your passive up by moving just a bit closer to them, that way they are forced to back off a bit and potentially lose CS, or risk getting stunned, W'd, and auto attacked by you (a great combo for Annie early is to use Q to stun, then use W, auto attack, and back off, this will proc Electrocute if you are using that rune). Be careful not to be too aggressive though as you are an immobile mid champion and can be ganked easily if their jungler comes for a gank (especially if your stun is down). The reason you want to harass the enemy is to get them low enough for a kill pre-level 6, or to get them low enough that once you hit level 6 you can get an easy kill and start snowballing.

Try to always keep a ward in/near one of the bushes in mid, and try to hover towards the side of the lane your ward is in, that way if the enemy jungler comes for a gank on the side you have warded you'll know and you can run away, and if they come for a gank on the side you don't have warded you'll have more time to run away.

Abuse melee & shorter ranged auto attack champions with your auto attack. Annie has the 2nd highest base auto attack range in the game, only second to the ADC Caitlyn.

*Pay attention to the mini-map! If your jungler starts a fight with the enemy jungler you'll want to get to the fight first to swing the tide of the battle in your favor. An early kill on the enemy jungler, or just securing the scuttle, will make a massive difference in the eventual outcome of the game, as small leads early turn into big leads by the end of the game. (I repeat, early kills are more important than a few missed CS in the mid lane!)

Level 6+

Once you reach level 6 and beyond you will want to start looking to kill your enemy laner. Your burst once you get your ultimate is insane and you should be able to kill most opponents you face if you've been harassing them and they're not at 100% HP.

Don't be afraid to aggressively use your flash to initiate a 1v1 fight and get the kill, you want to start snowballing once you reach level 6.

If you don't think you can solo kill your enemy laner, ping your jungler to come gank mid and let your jungler know that your ultimate is ready. If it's just one of those games and you don't think your jungler will, or will be able to help you, then kill your minions as fast as you can and try to roam to top or bot and get your kills there.

Before you roam bot or top you'll want to think about which lane will be easier for you to roam to and get a kill in. Does their bot/top lane have escape abilities (like Ezreal E, or flash), or CC that could keep you from getting in range to use your stun? Ideally you'll want to gank bot because there's a potential to get 2 kills for your team instead of 1, which means more gold for your team, and thus a bigger advantage.

If your spawn is on the top side of the map (aka red side) then ganking the top lane will tend to be easier (due to being able to more easily flank the enemy via Tri-Bush), and if your team spawns on the bot side of the map (aka blue side) then ganking the bottom lane will tend to be easier.

In summary, early game for Annie is about farming, snowballing your lane by getting kills (especially after level 6), or by snowballing other lanes by roaming.

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Mid game is where Annie shines. She's started to get a few items and has a ton of burst, but the enemy hasn't yet built too many defensive items to counter her damage.

Whenever your ult comes up you want to be looking for a kill.

Always keep an eye on the mini-map as your team, and the enemy team, will be looking to secure dragons/baron and you'll want to rotate over and help out your team in securing the objective and/or winning the fight with the enemy team. Annie is very good in scrappy 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 situations because she can negate the damage and movement of one or more enemies at a time with her stun.

Whenever possible use your stun to catch enemies that are out of position and give your team a numbers advantage when taking an objective.

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Stick with your team!

Getting picked in the late game is often the reason the enemy is able to secure a baron or inhibitor, and about ~90% of the time the first team to get an inhibitor wins the game.

That said, don't be afraid to be proactive and try to pick someone on the enemy team (especially if your team is behind and is going to need a numbers advantage to win a team fight, or secure an objective).

Annie is very good at getting picks due to her ability to stun someone for 1.25-1.75 seconds and her high burst damage. Get Oracle's Lens if needed, wait in a bush (anything in or near river is fine) for an unsuspecting enemy, and delete them to create an advantage for your team (ping an ally or two to come with you if you think you'll need them).

In summary, stay safe, try to pick someone if needed, take objectives with your team (Barons/Dragons/Towers/Inhibs), and win.

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That's it! Thanks for reading guys!

Don't forget to hit that like button at the top of the page if you learned some useful information here :)

Try out Annie mid for yourselves, she's easy to pickup and a bear-y good champion!

If you have any additional questions, or want to see me play live, come join us on the stream.

That's it guys, peace!