Rework of Annie: My Idea of how she could change
So, as a support main I have seen a lot of champions get thrown down botlane, elise, zyra, velkoz, even fiddles from as long ago as season 2. Annie has always been a strong presence whenever she is in the meta, be it support or mid lane, but like many champs such as ryze and malphite, she is only strong when her numbers are buffed, and only weak when reduced. Where as more complex champs like Jayce, Ezreal, and Nami can be nerfed or strengthened through a variety of ways, Annie's lock-on and short-stun strategy makes her very plain and difficult to change. She is a monster in the bot lane at the moment, her large instant aoe stun destroying enemies in team fights. Me and a friend came up with a concept of how she could change though. The following is a possibility for a complete overhaul of her kit and mechanics:
Passive: Pyromania After casting 4 spells, Annie's next offensive spell will stun the target for a short duration. All of Annie's spells heal Tibbers for 40% of the damage. Whenever Tibbers dies, He will spawn 40 seconds later after a flame appears near Annie.
Q: Disintegrate: Annie fires a skillshot fire ball (note: not lock on anymore). This skillshot can pass through enemies and returns 50% of the mana cost for each enemy unit killed, can surpass initial cost.)(More aoe, more range, higher Cooldown)
W: Incinerate: Annie releases a cone of fire. (no changes here)
E: Molten Shield: Annie creates a molten barrier around herself and tibbers, giving her increased resistance and hurting attackers, while giving tibbers a speed buff and immunity to crowd-control (small change at the end).
R: Summon: Tibbers (This is where the big changes are so I'll try to cover it all and explain the other passive and Q changes as well.) Annie summons tibbers as soon as she puts a point into 6. Tibbers can be controlled or will move around in response to Annie's focus. If Annie presses R, Tibbers explodes with an aoe blast (Bigger than Annie's normal R ultimate and just as fast). So now to explain all this. The first and foremost that comes to mind is the nerf. Annie loses her Q lock, and Tibbers is no longer a instant nuke machine against enemy teams. While he can still nuke stun for huge damage, because he needs to get close in order to make a real impact. However, Annie's Q will now have some aoe, a little more range, and can rewards even more mana back for sustain in lane if used properly. Her strategy after hitting 6 will be to force Tibbers onto the enemy players at all times, using your spells to heal him. When you want to engage, molten shield him to speed him up and knock the enemy team out with hard aoe, This overall kit will remove her instant nuking capability, and turn her more into an Orianna-esque playstyle, but less protective and more offensive. I think it would be a fantastic change for her and take a lot of pressure of other supports and mid laners.
