Overview
The bird’s the word! Anivia is a champion who excels at stalling games and farming from a safe distance while still having very high playmaking potential. She also comes with a built in safety kit in the form of being able to self-resurrect. Anyone who wants to fulfill their high fantasy of playing a frost mage (even if it’s a bird) should look no further than Anivia. Click here for the latest data on her best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Anivia
Anivia's wave clear is extremely good after you get your ultimate online, especially if you have blue buff. You should be looking to push the wave and then disappear to create pressure.
In order to actually win the game, though, you have to do more than clear waves and stall. Anivia's Crystallize [W] can be a huge tool for securing picks for your team, especially around neutral objectives where you can split the enemy team in half.
Strengths
Once her items are online, Anivia is one of the best champions in the game at stalling out games, which means your team will always have a bit of hope for a turnaround even from the worst of spots. Glacial Storm [R] is the key to that as it can wipe out of a minion wave very quickly and she can do it from safety. This wave clear power is strong throughout the game as she can consistently push her enemy in, which will make it hard for them to roam. She is also fairly difficult to kill if she plays in a way that lets her get back to her tower, as her Rebirth [P] essentially gives her a second life at many phases of the game. Unless she’s completely caught out, it can be very difficult to kill her and her egg. And finally, the biggest playing making tools in her kit are Flash Frost [Q] and Crystallize [W], which when comboed together can catch multiple enemies in bad spots.
Weaknesses
She is extremely immobile, and the cooldown on her passive is very long, so if you’re able to proc the passive and then hit her again on your next rotation of abilities, she’ll be much easier to kill. And as long as you are aware of the potential for her to wall right behind you, it’s not super difficult to dodge out her abilities, which means her kill potential can be fairly low. She’s also a greatly mana dependent champion, so you may be able to outsustain her -- once she’s low on mana, she will have a very difficult time farming with just auto attacks.
Game Plan
Early Game: Play safe and farm. The goal with Anivia is to reach level 6 as quickly as possible so you can push your wave in -- at that point, you can then look to make plays on the map.
Mid Game: Continue to push in waves with your ultimate and then back off to look for plays with your team. She’s one of the best champions at stopping enemy pushes and should always look to manage waves. In fights, you can find picks easily with a good wall.
Late Game: Once she doesn’t have to worry about mana, she’ll be very difficult to deal with. Her Flash Frost [Q] and Crystallize [W] combo is extremely deadly in tight corridors especially.
