Introduction

Annie wasn't always traditionally played as support. You didn't need to put fear into your opponents by bursting them down with a DFG(RIP) in the mid lane. The dark child rose to prominence as a support during late Season 3 and the earlier parts of Season 4 by rivaling other supports in regards to lane dominance and hard engage. Her return to the current meta reminds us as to why she always had the ability to single-handedly win games. In this guide, we will be discussing optimal rune and mastery set-ups as well as itemization and playstyle against counters.

Runes

A good balance of mixed damage and defense.

x9 Hybrid Penetration Marks

One of Annie's strengths is having access to a such high attack range of 625, the second highest range behind Caitlyn with 650. This means Annie is able to safely harass with auto attacks and with the armor penetration, she would be hitting like a truck each time. The benefit of running hybrid penetration marks is so she can take advantage of both her AD and AP strengths.

x9 Health Seals

Standard health seals to ensure Annie can take an extra auto attack or two and survive through ignite ticks.

x9 AP Glyphs

AP glyphs are used in conjuction with the the magic penetration portion of hybrid penetration marks and helps increase your chances in winning damage trades and successful all-ins engages. Normally, magic resist glyphs could be substituted instead but her Molten Shield can make up for that deficit by providing both armor and magic resist.

x1 AP and x2 Armor Quints

An additional AP quint helps further your increase your damage output. Using 3 AP quints instead is nothing out of the ordinary if you prefer the damage route, but having 2 armor quints will, in most cases ,be more reliable as you are likely to be entering a 2v2 lane where you are absorbing AD damage.

Masteries

9 Defense

Standard set-up to allocate 9 points of defense into.

21 Utility

Putting 3 points into Meditation will alleviate some of Annie's mana issues during the laning phase. Investing points into Fleet of Foot and Wanderer helps immensely in providing her additional movement speed for engaging fights. In addition, the 10% CDR of summoner spells means Annie can flash engage more often than usual. However, if you prefer the gold that Bandit offers, you must take a point out elsewhere.

Summoner Spells

Ignite

Standard offensive summoner spell that could very well be the difference between whether or not kill will happen. In a few situations, exhaust may be another option to consider to counter assassins but in general, ignite is go-to summoner spell.

Flash

Must-have summoner spell to close the gap to engage or escape from danger.

Itemization

Start off with Spellthief's Edge to take advantadge of the gold it grants during laning phase. Eventually, you will want to trade it for a Talisman to help Annie in her mobility boots engage reliably with the speed active. In no particular order, purchase standard support items to deal with different situations(e.g. locket against heavy AP compositions or mikael's against heavy CC). Also consider purchasing the Distortion enchantment on the mobility boots to further reduce the CDR of her flash summoner spell. If you feel you are ahead and have enough gold during some point of the game, purchasing an AP item is a viable option to output additional damage.

Abilities

Maxing Priority: R>Q>W>E

Maxing Q first increases your single target damage output and allows you to safely output that damage from a distance. Alternatively, you can start W and charge it 4 times in base to ready her stun offered by her Pyromania passive if you are planning to invade the jungle.

Playstyle

Laning Phase

During laning phase, take advantage of you high attack range by harassing often at a distance and zoning. To combat minion aggro after auto attack harass, weave in and out of the brush(assuming it is not warded your enemy) to reset their agro and avoid taking unnecessary damage.

Passive

Part of why Annie is so strong is that she is able to make use of her stun offered by her Pyromania passive. You can charge up your passive with your Q and W but you can charge it with your E at a whim since it only costs 20 mana if you plan on engaging for a stun. Once you reach 4 stacks on your passive, your character model will be engulfed in fire which indicates to the enemy that you have your stun prepared and will alert them to play carefully. You can see how you can surprise your opponents with a stun at only 3 stacks in the video below...

<iframe style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bWM05Pv1xuM" frameborder="0" width="425" height="350"></iframe>

Tibbers

Your ultimate is more than just an ultimate. Other than being used to swiftly and instantly engage and stun enemies in teamfights during mid and late game, Tibbers can be controlled to move at whichever direction you need it to be at. For example, it could be positioned to block skillshots for you and your team or minion block enemies if you are clever enough. Additionally, you can summon Tibbers to tank turret damage if you do not have a creep wave to tank the damage and your team is present to follow up and take down the turret. In some extreme circumstances, you can throw down your ultimate to quickly take down the dragon or baron in time.

Counters

Champions

Morgana - Nocturne - Sivir

With Annie's most crucial strength being her ability to stun without giving her victims time to react, it is not a surprise that the likes of Morgana, Nocturne, and Sivir naturally counter her ability to CC. Morgana can black shield herself or any of her teammates to make Annie's CC useless while a good Nocturne or Sivir player can anticipate a stun and spell shield in time rendering your engage ineffective.

Summoner Spells and Items

Cleanse - Quicksilver Sash- Mercurial Scimitar - Mikael's Crucible - Banshee's Veil

An alert player can quickly counter and render your stun useless after activating either Cleanse, Mikael's, QSS, or Mercurial Scimitar. Against Banshee's, look for a 40 second window of opportunity when it is down to successfully land your stun.

Conclusion

Annie is unmatched when it comes to lane bullying and having the best hard engage CC as a support. There is a reason why she has outclassed Sona in the hard engage CC department because of how it is almost impossible to avoid an instantaneous Tibbers ult unless you anticipate it. Once you have mastered the tips and tricks of utilizing Annie's passive stacks as a surprise factor and how to micro Tibbers around as a 6th member of the team, you will have unlocked Annie's maximum potential. Be careful about your counters and look for ways to play around it. Just remember, don't be a scaredy cat!