Laning vs Annie in a nutshell...

InSingedWeTrust·Apr 18, 2015·5 votes·860 views

Lvl 1 - Get auto attack harassed at 600 range with no way to really retaliate. Lvl 2 - Watch as Annie CSes with her Q for free, while building up her passive. Lvl 3-5 - Watch as Annie CSes for free, if you try to do the same, you either get stunned or auto attack harassed for free. Lvl 6 - Above 70% HP? Great, you can CS for now. Below? Wait for the inevitable Flash + Tibbers + Ignite combo while you try to CS, but can't because of the free stun that never fades.

Lvl 6-18, Watch as Annie oneshots your entire team with Tibbers/Stun combos over and over.

Literally the only counterplay to Annie is either Galio or "safe" ranged waveclear mages, because God help you if you try to CS or lane as anyone else vs her.

16 Comments

MoussetracksApr 18, 20156 votes

How to lane against Annie;

Pick long range mage.
Farm, and let her push as much as you can without losing CS to turret.
Harass like you're a debt collector. Plink down that 6 year old.
Even if she does flash you at six, if you're at full (which you should be because she can't touch you with her spells) she shouldn't just outright KILL you, and you've already put her to half health and have time to retaliate.

Remember, coming out of lane 0/1/0 to her 1/0/0 when you BOTH have 100 CS really isn't a big deal. It equates to 'Oh she has boots and I don't'. What IS a big deal is coming out of lane at 0/4/0 to her 4/0/0 with 50 CS to 100 CS.

SaltyToplaneGoatApr 18, 20153 votes

So... not only is she super easy to play, but simply PICKING her makes most other champions lose vs her? Not what I would call good design... if the only counterplay to a champion is "outrange them" and "wait for ganks" that's usually an idicator that SOMETHING is wrong...

EndlessSorcererApr 18, 20151 votes

Not really, since some champions or archetypes just have natural advantages over one another. For example:

Annie and Lissandra are strong against melee champions or assassins, but their short abilities range (compared to other mages) mean that they have to get in close to do damage and are susceptible to poke.

Assassins are typically strong against squishy champions who rely on skillshots due to their mobility and high burst damage.

Riven, Rengar, and Fiora can greatly punish squishy champions, but can have issues laning against tankier champions.

Kog'maw and Ashe can provide strong damage/utility for their team, but they are weak to champions diving them.

Graves is strong against squishy targets and is good at surviving diving bruisers/assassins, but he has low range and his ability damage falls off against tanks.

Every champion has strengths and weaknesses, so you are occasionally placed into unfavourable matchups but you can play around them with some experience and practice or teamwork.

ReikkenApr 18, 20154 votes

no offense, but this is a l2p issue not gonna rehash how to lane against annie here. there are plenty of other guides around

Drakzul the DarkApr 18, 20151 votes

{quoted}

no offense, but this is a l2p issue not gonna rehash how to lane against annie here. there are plenty of other guides around

Is every issue going to be a l2p issue?

BluePolarizerApr 18, 20151 votes

pretty much actually. you don't need to win lane to win game, and win lane=/= win game.

ReikkenApr 18, 20151 votes

nah but not knowing how to capitalize on your opponents' weaknesses definitely is

Miku Lv99Apr 18, 20152 votes

You seem to have forgotten that you can attack her. If she uses her q stun to kill a minion or something, then go get her, she's really weak for a while. Take advantage of when her q and/or stun are on cooldown. There are also ganks that can help you kill her. She isn't that tanky or anything and when her stun is down she's nearly defenseless.

BluePolarizerApr 18, 20152 votes

Annie is just a snowballing lane bully. She falls off late game due to her lack of tankiness, mobility and range if not ultra fed.

RenailleApr 18, 20152 votes

item 3001

GloriousKaiserApr 18, 20152 votes

Well that's LoL for you. Heavily versed in counterpicking without enough general counterplay.

SaltyToplaneGoatApr 18, 20152 votes

That's the problem with old LoL. Back then matches were so... predictable. You knew almost always which lane was going to win or which one was going to lose if not for heavy jungle pressure. I prefer it like right now, lane being unprdictable and dependent on the players skill is WAY better ^^

Too bad champs from that old concept still remain...

T RexHasLongLegsApr 18, 20151 votes

Anyone who can out trade her is at an advantage if they close the gap rather than getting auto attack harassed. Also her spells are pretty short ranged, yeah you can safely wave clear and that works, but if you have better range than her you can hit her with ranged spells (lots of skill shots out range her spells) and beat her up while she can't retaliate with anything other than auto attacks.