High in the sky the Cryophoenix soars and just as high a League player soared with her to challenger. That player was Troy “FreezeSnakePit" Curtis and today we climbed the mountains of Freljord to get an interview with him.

How did you first get into League of Legends?

Troy: Before League I was really into Real Time Strategy games like Warcraft and Starcraft. I was always trying to get my friends to play Starcraft with me but eventually they convinced me to try League and then I was hooked.

What were the reasons you decided to main Anivia?

Troy: Those same friends that got me into League were all already level thirty, but I was a measly level one noob. They told me to pick a champion from the list to learn properly and that was when I saw her, the Bird. Was attracted to her immediately because I like Pokemon and she is a freakin’ Articuno.

In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of being a One Trick Pony?

Troy: Some of the pros would be knowing each lane and matchup inside and out. You get used to most champions damage much faster and can get a feel for the damage at all stages of the game which helps very much in learning your limits. Another is playing one champ can allow you to focus on other aspects of the game more easily. Being used to one champ can make things like warding and map awareness much easier. Some of the cons however are things like getting banned out easily. It isn’t so much an issue at lower elo, but the higher up you get the more often you’ll see people you recognise from previous games.

If you can't get midlane, do you play Anivia in other lanes, and to what degree of success have you experienced?

Troy: If I can’t get midlane I have been known to take Anivia top or support or in rare cases even ADC. Top lane has one of my higher win rates because usually you are against a melee champion and it’s easy to kite them back with Q W and R. Support works pretty well too because Anivia has high base damages and and can almost 100-0 an enemy ADC at level three. As for ADC Anivia… well… it is great early game because again her high based damages plus now her auto attacks actually do damage. With an aggressive support you can win most 2v2 lane matchups but since she has no attack damage scaling she doesn’t scale well into late game. Weirdly enough I probably have the highest win rate on ADC Anivia at around 80% though it is a much smaller sample size.

Have you noticed any pro players taking your play or builds into consideration when they play Anivia?

Troy: I have had a fair few streamers send people my way when people in their chat asks them about Anivia. Two of the bigger streamers would be Voyboy who told people to add me and check out my stream, and BoxBox who actually hosted me.

What build do you think is currently the best on Anivia and why?

Troy: The standard build I see most people use is Sorcerer’s Shoes, Rod of Ages, Archangel’s Staff, Rabadon’s Deathcap, Void Staff and Zhoyna’s Hourglass. This build does an insane amount of damage as well as gives you defensive actives and health to not be so squishy. That said, my personal preference trades out Sorcerer’s Shoes for Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Rabadon’s Deathcap out for Liandry’s Torment. You still get plenty of ability power but now you have the Liandry’s passive to melt tanks and extra cooldown reduction. Try both and see what you like!

What are some of Anivia's weak or strong lane matchups?

Troy: The weak lane matchups would be anyone who can shove in a lane from a safe distance, examples being Ziggs, Lux or Xerath. It isn’t any fun if I can’t walk up to them and R E them. As for strong matchups it’s the opposite. Anyone who can’t farm from a distance such as Fizz, Diana or Yasuo. With Anivia’s long auto attack range you can constantly harass them as they farm and then Q E them whenever they try to trade you can win those matchups very easily.

What would you say Anivia's biggest strengths and weaknesses are?

Troy: Anivia’s biggest strengths are her waveclear and teamfighting. She has very good waveclear with her ultimate that can be used to stall out games and she can stay fairly safe doing it. Her teamfight is also very strong because she has high consistent damage and her wall can be used to win a teamfight by walling the enemies damage off from the teamfight or be used to secure objectives safely. Her weaknesses are many. She’s slow and has no gap closers or escapes, her auto attacks are hard farm with, her crowd control is unreliable and easy to dodge. All that and her mana can be hard to balance between farming and trading early game and your teamfight damage can go from insane to nothing due to poor teamfight positioning. Crowd control stops you from reactivating her Q and it cancels her R.

If something could be changed with Anivia, what do you think would be good but not make her overpowered?

Troy: I love how Anivia is already! She’s hard to play but is rewarding when you’re the one to carry the team and win. I would really only change Anivia’s Q interaction with Braum shield. When her Q hits his shield the stun doesn’t go off so he gets to just walk away. Also, make Anivia’s ultimate global. That’s not overpowered right?

What advice would you give to any fledgling Anivia players out there?

Troy: USE YOUR DAMN WALL MORE! In so many Anivia guides I see tell you not to put a point in wall until level eight or sometimes even as late as possible. I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten a kill from a little misstep in an enemy gank that allows me to wall them under turret for one to three extra turret shots and that’s at level four. Don’t be gun shy with the wall. Use it lots and get a feel for it as fast as possible. You WILL accidentally wall off your teammates from getting a kill and sometimes get your teammates killed but one good wall can mean the game winning play as well.

What is your opinion of the current itemization options for mages and are you looking for anything specific in the upcoming mage changes?

Troy: I love Athene’s Unholy Grail and it used to be part of my regular build but now it’s too expensive and doesn’t give enough ability power compared to Rod of Ages and doesn’t give the utility of Frost Queen’s Claim or Morellonomicon. So I hope Athene’s gets changed. As for seeing newer items I would want Riot to come up with something completely new. Let’s say like an item that removes the crowd control from an ability and adds damage.

Do you have any final words or shoutouts?

Troy: Well first off, thank you for interviewing me. This is something new to me so I hope people like it. Also, thank you to the whole League community for all of your support that I have received over the years. Hope you Anivia players don’t ever betray the bird and stick with her and I hope any new Anivia players can enjoy playing her as much as I do.