Viable. Better. Worse. etc.
Anivia's always interested me, but her horrendously terrible speed made me avoid buying her, but when I do play her (during Free Week), I always do have fun provided my opponent isn't anyone mobile.
But anyways back to the point. With mana items being changed, how's League's most mana hungry champion?
Kowe The Ewok5 votes
and 
(and some more) took a huge hit.
They can build 
and another Mreg item - and yet run out of mana... With 5k gold investment.
Meanwhile 
,
dash through midlane, spamming abilities like there is no tomorrow.
5G8Nri0B543 votesIn other words...Riot didn't think the changes through...
I will admit, I was confused why they changed all these mana stuff so much without thinking about the manaless champions.
metaworldpeace102 votesThe mana regen nerfs really hit the wave clear mages hard. Although, watching Orianna, Ziggs, Syndra, Anivia, Lux and Xerath clear waves for 40 minutes each game was boring and uninteractive, so the mana regen nerfs were justified. The big issue now is that manaless champions (akali, Zed, Katarina) dominate the mid lane because they have enough tools to dodge/sustain the poke these long range mages can dish out, only to bide their time until the mage runs out of mana and gets blown up by said assassins.
5G8Nri0B541 votesAgain, Anivia is quite different.
Orianna, Ziggs, and Lux are understandable. But some champions, heck even Veigar, didn't need this change in mana regen...
Riot's point was obvious, some champions needed to be brought in line (but let's face it, even when mana was hardly an issue, they were toe-to-toe against manaless champions anyways). But those who were already forced to manage their mana carefully right now got screwed harder than they should have.
DJ Siamak1 votesThey wanted mana champions to not be manaless and they succeeded.
SeargentAnus1 votes
still builds 
and still never runs out of mana :P.
5G8Nri0B543 votesA lot of champions can still manage their mana.
However there were champions before who struggled with their mana in the first place. These new changes did them no favour...
And in an indirect way, it's a direct buff to the likes of Yasuo, Gnar, and other manaless champions as their competitors are suddenly faced with an extra obstacle that they before were relatively even or outright advantageous against to begin with.
SeargentAnus1 votesA lot of champions can still manage their mana.
However there were champions before who struggled with their mana in the first place. These new changes did them no favour...
And in an indirect way, it's a direct buff to the likes of Yasuo, Gnar, and other manaless champions as their competitors are suddenly faced with an extra obstacle that they before were relatively even or outright advantageous against to begin with.
Manaless champions definitely need to be looked at. They seem to be gaining popularity with the most recent mana regen changes.
5G8Nri0B543 votesThey've been gaining popularity since...ever :/
With very few exceptions, most of them do not exactly pay for being manaless. Have you ever seen a single Lee Sin or Akali think about their Energy usage?
SeargentAnus1 votesThey've been gaining popularity since...ever :/
With very few exceptions, most of them do not exactly pay for being manaless. Have you ever seen a single Lee Sin or Akali think about their Energy usage?
Lee Sin-Yes Akali-No
Skia Asteri1 votes
And then mana stops being a problem around level 15.
Kowe The Ewok3 votesEver played } post patch? Even if you add in a to those two you will run out of mana in a teamfight.
Skia Asteri1 votes[{quoted}](name=Kowe The Ewok,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=BaTeFBKm,comment-id=00030000,timestamp=2014-12-31T01:56:15.619+0000)
Ever played
I have, and did not have an issue.
Kowe The Ewok1 votesI can't believe you.
(Checking your game history I might do so though, it's mainly Co op vs Ai and since bots neither buy def nor dodge abilities...and are commonly 3 levels behind...)
5G8Nri0B542 votesIt doesn't matter if he can play those champions without issues with mana.
I can play Swain with my mana at 50% or above all game long if I wanted to. But it's a matter of whether you can play those champions right. Whether you are capable of keeping that mana up without it adversely affecting your ability to go up against the other champions that aren't nearly as mana-hungry.
For instance, every Veigar has mana-problems. If you don't have mana issues as Veigar, then your Veigar sucks.
WolfBV1 votesVeigar has his own mini chalice, so that's nice.
Sciaphobia232 votesHis theory is correct, Anivia for example using her ult at a higher level means more damage therefore less time needed up which means less mana consumed.
Its not reliable unless you have some regen to fill up again when its down but I pretty much get blue now whenever I can, I feel like a crackhead talking with my jungler dealer.
'Hey mannnnnn, can I get some of that sweet blue stuffffff'
Past that, yeah Anivia is definitely a pain to play properly due to mana.
Skia Asteri1 votes[{quoted}](name=Kowe The Ewok,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=BaTeFBKm,comment-id=0003000000000000,timestamp=2014-12-31T02:17:47.644+0000)
I can't believe you.
(Checking your game history I might do so though, it's mainly Co op vs Ai and since bots neither buy def nor dodge abilities...and are commonly 3 levels behind...)
http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/NA1/1647858237/218693738?tab=overview
Hardly the only game with her, however I usually lose because I am fail at positioning in team fights. However, I usually crush lane with her.
Kowe The Ewok1 votesYou recived 3 succesfully ganks against your enemy laner within the first 6 minutes in the game...
That should be a 2 level lead. With a 2 level lead at such an early stage in the game ANY champion can force an enemy out of the lane with a few 3 spells (level 4 and 6 is a BIG difference)....
If your enemy is so far behind you don't need much mana to make him leave...
Sciaphobia231 votesI feel this issue would be easier solved by lowering mana costs on the two champions key abilities slightly rather than doing anything with the items themselves again. It wouldn't exactly be gamebreaking.
5G8Nri0B541 votesThere is logic in what you just said.
But now remember that Riot has this tendency of...never ever paying attention to champions like Anivia and Veigar that nobody ever plays.
Lucian will get a rework within a month or two after release.
Yuumi or Lose1 votesWhy would you want to play Anivia anyway when it's nothing but Zed, Leblancs, and Fizz mid? You're just asking to get outclassed.
5G8Nri0B541 votesBecause we're barely getting any new champions since this Season and it's starting to get boring playing same old same old, or playing what everybody else is playing.
Plus very few champions are as wildly different from the mold as Anivia is...even if she's kind of a struggling champion.
DWT123451 votesyeah, i can only play anivia when zed, fizz yas ahri and akali are all banned. Otherwise, they compleatly burst her down.
Saevum1 votesRod of Ages. Rod of Ages everywhere.
Dark Nephthys1 votesHonestly the changes didn't hurt me when I play Anivia. I honestly never liked Athenes on Anivia...The CDR just doesn't feel like it has much impact to really justify buying it (with the wall being the only skill over 10 seconds, CDR feels practically wasted). I've always rush Tear into RoA and almost never run out of mana with Anivia. After your Tear and RoA is stacked, if you can get blue then you honestly will never run out of mana...Hell some times I'll even tell my Jungler that he can have blue if they're playing a mana based champion as well.
Then again the way I usually build her is a bit on the tankier side. Tear RoA Rylai's Liandry's Sorc Boots Whatever you need for whatever situation. Usually either Rabbdon's, GA or even a Warmog's.
As far as "Viable" goes...I still think she is very strong and the fact that she is so rarely played, it's easy to win lane because people will always underestimate you or just straight up not know how to fight Anivia.
Also Teleporting Egg is always fun and it's always a good laugh at the reactions you see from players who have not faced that before xD