Mid-Year Mage Rework and Annie

Some of my suggestions are kinda crazy, and I'm still learning Game Design (because being a Developer and Designer is AMAZING), but please, be nice about it and give me your opinions.

In my opinion, I was both looking foward and scared to see Annie potentially rework.

I love my main. She isn't mechanically intensive, so I can worry more about her counters, vision, and all the other information I can get, than having to dash every auto. She is a Mage, a burst crowd-control one, and I love that about her too.

I wanted for her to get some changes however, because she doesn't have a lot of depth to her kit and her theme needs some polishing. What makes her unique is Tibbers, but that's it. Even Tibbers is boring after you press R. The burst is great, but then thats it. Its only kinda funny when you build Rylai's and watch the perma-slow when people walk near him. He needs some more interactions. Interactions for Tibbers could include (pick a favorite):

• Bear is Here!: Annie gains increased movement speed when near her Tibbers
• Brutual Shadow Bear: When Annie casts an ability, Tibbers gains 40% attack speed for 2.5 seconds and does bonus on-hit damage for 5% of Annie's Ability Power
• Scorched Earth: When Tibbers dies, he will leave scorched earth on the ground that burns enemies for 30 (+5% of Annie's Ability Power) per second, staying there for 5 seconds
• Like Mother like Bear: Tibbers takes 50% of Annie's Resistances, 25% of her Attack and Movement Speed, and has his health increased 1% for every 150/250/350 health difference.

There is also little counterplay to that ability. I suggest some variations:

• Make the land time scale with the distance she throws it (Ekko's W is a flat 4 seconds after cast), with a max land time of 1 second since it has a short cast range
• Cannot be blocked by Wind Wall or Braum's Shield (Like Ekko's W)
• Like in the Cinematic, have Tibbers become wild and animated when he is about to land, and when he does, its crae crae
• Only see the throw in the last 0.5 seconds of it land time if thrown from the Fog of War (Like Ekko's W, might be a bit to much but meh)

Her Q is meh, it makes farming and locking down targets ez, which is fine for a beginner champ, but its not as exciting as like a Syndra Q, knowing how it can lead for opportunities, like to stun away enemies, deal more damage with your ult, or getting poke or finishing a combo on an enemy. While her Q can do that, it doesn't interact with her kit. Its only interaction are combo's, and that is meh for really.

Annie's W is just there, and doesn't provide much for me. It makes up for an AoE stun that Tibbers can get you. Otherwise, I use it for damage or clearing waves. Her E is probably the most underrated and, at the same time, most boring part of her kit. Its so good because its an Ability Power scaling Thornmail, great for wave clear, gives her some good tank stats, but lacks value in a way that people use it to just charge her passive, since:

1. You don't want Annie to be up close unless she has her Passive is ready or has the damage
2. Unless she went Rod of Ages (which isn't that good on her as much as everyone thinks), she won't be as tanky against Marksman and Fighters champs
3. It deals noticeable damage, but not consistently to everyone; An Auto-Reliant champ will feel it a lot worse than an Ability-Reliant Champ
4. The damage is noticeable when your AP is +300

As for Annie's Passive, it needs to be kept as CC for a way for her to counter Hyper Mobility. Kalista and Yasuo are what she counters pretty well because of her passive, but I can definitely see how oppressive it is in duo lanes and team fights. My suggestion might be dumb, but its a thought ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

• Make her Passive like Syndra's/Viktor's/Kha'Zix's where their abilities are amplified when conditions are met, but with Annie, it triggers after 4 stacks
• When Annie gets five stacks, her abilities are amplified, and reset after the amplified ability is casted
• Her Q slows enemies by 75% for 1.5 seconds
• Her W deals 10% extra damage as a DoT
• Her E grants 20% movement speed decaying over 2 seconds
• Her ult will stun for a second if it hits 2 or more enemies

As for her theme, it needs to be more fire or tibbers centric. I think visually improving how she burns stuff could rectify that in that sense. You could also just go straight up the Dark Child and get rid of the burn aspect. Make everything shadowy and dark. I would still prefer fire though. As for her identity, you pick her for reliable burst and crowd control. From a game-design aspect, its healthy because her reliability is counterable. You can itemize or pick champs that negate her burst attempts or get rid of her easily.

The reason why I don't want Annie to be looked at though, is because she is a beginner champ. She is supposed to be easy and simple. She deals a lot of damage, she has strong CC, all because its for those who want to learn a simple Mage playstyle. Not only that, but some of the community wants to gut her damage or utility, but then, not only does it make the first or new experiences with Annie or Mages feel unsatisfactory, but makes her not viable in midlane, where her mains and even common players like playing her the most.

Its kind of a sad thing for me that she is doomed as a one, since I can never get as much depth with Annie as I can with like a Zed or Syndra. I don't want complex. I want depth. The thing is though, its hard to give depth without adding complexity. That's up for a seasoned Designer to handle.

As for the Mages who got picked, Malzhahar, Brand, Vel'koz were kind of suprises because they need more quality of life changes in my opinion. Champs such as Veigar, Xerath, Ziggs, Fiddlesticks, or (cough) Annie *(cough)*might have been better choices.

Cass, Zyra, and Vladimir need reworks. Cass's identity is to be a DPS Burst(?) Mage but it takes forever for her to get to that state, and by the time she does, its too late. Zyra's plant interactions need working, and her kit isn't plant focused enough in my opinion. Vladimir I hate, since he is the reason my Mages don't get smell vamp (Mana Burn abilities on the other hand, call me rito) so fix it.

TL;DR Annie is for beginners, and while some of her aspects are showing the start of her preteen years, there needs to be a thorough look at her first, and then work her around her niche and theme. I am generally sad she is not getting looked at for a major change this Mage Rework.