The Cryophoenix brings the coldness of winter wherever she goes. Anivia has been a popular specialty champion for mid laners and supports who are looking to showcase their mastery over the champion. She has a very unique kit that appeals to players that like to play around big bursts of damage and a lot of disruption at the cost of mobility. This Anivia guide aims to help players get a basic understanding of how to play her and set them on the road to mastering this champion.
The Winter’s Mother
Long ago before the Freljord was blanketed by snow, an egg made of pure ice hatched, giving birth to Anivia – the Winter’s Mother. It is said that at the time she hatched from her egg, the shards shattered into the sky and became the snow. The first beat of her wings gave birth to the chilling wind. Avarosan seers and prophets have passed down tales of how Anivia is the embodiment of the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth. For as long as the Freljord exists, Anivia will continue to be reincarnated.
Anivia isn’t one of the standard mid laners that are popular among the public. For beginners, she may be one of the hardest champions to learn in the game but with a little bit of practice, she can be extremely strong. She is considered a specialty champion because it takes dedication to master her and make her a real threat as a champion. This Anivia guide aims to give players an introduction on how to achieve that by giving tips and suggestions on how to properly use her in-game.
Anivia General Gameplay
Anivia is a low-mobility control mage that likes to disrupt the enemy’s movement with slows, stuns, or walling off their escape route. She can be pretty annoying to play against since a lot of champions like to be able to move freely around a fight but Anivia is able to cut off all major strategic points by applying AoE effects and walls. However, she is extremely immobile and can easily be taken down if an enemy manages to get to her. This Anivia guide will explain how to use her more in detail.
Anivia Guide – Skills and Abilities
First off on our Anivia guide, we’ll be taking a look at this champion’s abilities. She features a lot of ice-based skills that make it hard for the enemy to do whatever they want. She is an incredible zoner or warden that keeps enemies from escaping. Depending on the situation, you should use her abilities in a way that will benefit you or your team.
Passive: Rebirth
Innate – When Anivia takes fatal damage, she enters a resurrection state inside an ice egg for 6 seconds, restoring all of her health. This can only occur every 240 seconds.
While inside the egg, Anivia gains bonus armor and magic resist and is unable to act for the full duration. If Anivia is alive by the end of the duration, she is revived with the health she currently has.
Anivia players should play aggressively whenever they have rebirth but should watch out for their position. If you think you’re about to die, try to fall back to a nearby turret or an ally so that the enemy can’t freely take you down while you’re in the resurrection state. Remember that your defensive stats will be applied to you while you’re in the resurrection state so having some HP and defensive stats is a good idea. Also, Anivia’s teleport will not be canceled if she procs her passive unless she is CC’d.
Q: Flash Frost
Active – Anivia fires a chunk of ice towards a target direction, dealing magic damage to all enemies it passes through and slowing them for 3 seconds. Flash Frost can be recast while it’s in flight and will do so automatically at max range.
Recast – The ice shatters, dealing magic damage and stunning all nearby enemies as well as refreshing the duration of the slow.
Flash Frost is a difficult ability to execute because it requires positioning and timing. Make sure to hit as many enemy champions while Flash Frost is in flight so that you can slow as many enemies. Recast the ability nearby a high-priority target such as the enemy ADC or carry so that will take additional damage and be stunned for a short duration. Let the ice pass through the enemy first so that you will double the damage that you deal with the recast explosion later on.
W: Crystallize
Active – Anivia summons a wall of true ice perpendicular to the direction she is facing, knocking back all enemies away from it though not through terrain. The wall lingers as impassable terrain for 5 seconds.
Crystallize is probably one of Anivia’s best abilities and is extremely useful at the hands of a master. Anivia can use this to entrap enemies or prevent them from approaching your team. The player needs to learn which situation applies otherwise they might ruin their allies’ plans. Be careful not to screw your team over when applying your walls by giving the enemies cover or preventing your allies to move freely in a fight. This ability is extremely hard to master because of the unique situations that can be applied.
E: Frostbite
Active – Anivia blasts the target enemy with freezing winds, dealing magic damage upon arrival. If the target is previously afflicted by Flash Frost or Glacial Storm within the last 3 seconds, Frostbite’s damage is doubled.
This is Anivia’s main damage source and is the main combo to all of her abilities. Anivia players usually weave Frostbite in-between casting their abilities to maximize the damage output since it has a really short cooldown alongside any ability haste items. If you’re planning to go all out on an enemy, don’t use this ability as the starter. If you’re low on mana but want to harass, you can use this ability to do so since it can’t be dodged but it’s still a lot better to use it in combination with your other abilities for the combo.
R: Glacial Storm
Active – Anivia summons a vicious blizzard in a target area, dealing magic damage to all enemies inside the circle every 0.5 seconds and slowing them for 1 second, refreshing every 0.5 seconds while they are inside. Anivia can recast this ability while it’s active or does so automatically when she moves too far away from the ability, is interrupted by the enemy’s crowd control, or becomes unable to pay the mana cost.
The blizzard increases in size over 1.5 seconds. At full size, Glacial Storm’s damage is increased by 200% and the effectiveness of the slow is increased by 50%, which also instead lasts 1.5 seconds and refreshes every 0.25 seconds while they are inside.
Recast – Anivia deactivates Glacial Storm, dealing one final tick of damage.
Glacial Storm is an incredibly powerful ability but drains a lot of mana. Make sure to place it in an area that either catches multiple enemy champions at once, prevents the enemy from retreating/advancing, or both. Since it costs a lot of mana over time, it’s a good idea to only use it if you are ensured to catch an enemy or if you’ve stunned them with Flash Frost. When an enemy or a bunch of enemies are about to escape the AoE of Glacial Storm, deactivate it so that it deals an additional tick of damage before they escape.
Anivia Guide – Items and Builds
Next up on our Anivia guide, we’ll be discussing this champion’s preferred items and builds. Because of her immobility, she likes to have bulkiness in the form of HP. She also likes to have items that increase her CC capability and give her immunity. Overall, she likes items that give a high amount of Ability Power to make her deadly while gaining some survivability options in the form of HP, Shielding, Spell Shields, and invulnerabilities.
Starting Item
Doran’s Ring – A standard choice for AP users since it gives the necessary amount of Ability Power to make laning easier while having the option to regenerate mana. The extra HP is also really helpful in giving this champion some survivability both in Phoenix Form and Egg Form.
Core Items
Everfrost (Mythic) – The best item for control mages that like to disrupt or catch out the enemy. Aside from the fact that it gives all the best stats a control mage can ask for, it has a root ability that works well with Anivia. Once you catch an enemy with Flash Frost, Crystallize, or Glacial Storm, you can use this item to extend the duration of their CC. You can also use this to prevent enemies from reaching you by rooting them in place as they dash towards you.
Zhonya’s Hourglass – The best defensive item in the game. Use this item whenever you’re in the middle of the enemy team or if you’re about to be caught out by a game-breaking CC. It’s a good idea to release all your abilities before going into Zhonya’s so that you’ll have them available once you get out.
Recommended Items
Arcangel’s Staff – A good tip is to buy Tear of the Goddess early so that you can begin stacking it up early into the game. Once you’ve upgraded this item into Seraph’s Embrace, you’ll have even more survivability in the form of shielding. You’ll also gain a huge boost in your mana pool which is helpful for spamming your abilities.
Banshee’s Veil – We’ve mentioned how Anivia likes to avoid getting caught by CCs which is why this item is extremely useful. Spell Shields will help prevent you from getting caught by a powerful CC ability, giving you a ton of survivability.
Void Staff – Magic Penetration is a very important stat for magic damage carries and there’s no item that gives more of this than Void Staff. If you are extremely fed and want to extend your lead even further, buying Void Staff early over the survivability options will make you a one-shot machine.
Rabadon’s Deathcap – The final touch for any AP user. This item gives a massive increase of ability power making your spells hurt even more.
Demonic Embrace – A good item if the enemy team is trying to prioritize taking you down. Having this item will give you more health without sacrificing your damage output too much.
Cosmic Drive – If you’re having trouble trying to catch opponents with your spells, this item will allow you to become more mobile.
Anivia Guide – Runes
Primary: Domination
Keystone: Electrocute – The electrocute keystone is the best for Anivia as it allows her to deal massive damage since she can quickly lay down a barrage of spells at the opponent. If you want to win in lane and deal massive damage in teamfights, this keystone is definitely the best for you.
Taste of Blood – This rune gives Anivia some sustain during the laning phase, which is her weakest point in the game. Throwing out your skills will give you more HP and allow you to trade with the enemy.
Eyeball Collection – As a mid laner, it’s very easy to clear out wards. Buy sweeping lens early to stack this rune up quickly.
Relentless Hunter – As an immobile carry, you are very vulnerable to being caught out of position. Having extra movement speed is never a bad idea so that you can go in and out of a fight whenever you please.
Secondary: Precision
Presence of Mind – Anivia likes to spam her abilities and keep them on so it’s no surprise that she quickly runs out of mana. This rune will help her replenish her resources so that she won’t have to mind her mana output too much.
Legend: Tenacity – As mentioned many times already, Anivia is an immobile carry. If she is CC’d for too long, she will be useless in a fight. Having more tenacity will give her a fighting chance.
Anivia General Overview
Now that you’ve read our Anivia guide, you’ll have a general idea on how to play this champion. Remember that just reading about it won’t instantly make you a master of this champion so it’s a good idea to start practicing all of the stuff we’ve mentioned and discover some stuff that might not have been mentioned here. The champion has a steep learning curve but if you have the patience to continue, you’ll be able to be an Anivia one-trick in no time!
How to counter Anivia?
Anivia is a very immobile champion so having a mobile carry that has a lot of dashes or blinks will me the player’s life a pain. Avoid walking too close without an escape option ready otherwise you might find yourself getting chain CC’d. Don’t overcommit on the egg if you’re not confident about your damage output if it’s under the tower or behind the enemy team because you might find the tables turned on you very quickly.