Annie saw some changes with the recent patch, but let’s look at what it actually meant for Annie both in lane and towards the late game. Sorry i’ve not been around much recently. I’ve been promoted up to the blogs manager at Cloth5 so i’ve taken on more of an admin role! However i’m still around and hoping to provide some good content for you guys!

The Changes

Annie’s base damage has been lowered across the board but her scaling has been buffed. On a full combo at level 6 she’s lost 50 damage, minus an additional 10% of any AP you have. If we look at this logically, you’re likely to have a maximum of ~50AP at level 6, which will do an additional 5 damage per spell used for an actual drop of 35 damage.

So in the laning phase you’re more than likely going to end up in a situation where you do less damage. It might not seem like a huge deal, however Annie is a lane bully and she really needs the kills and assists in order to set her up for a stronger mid and late game. Or at the very least get her Marksmen ahead.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Once you get 300AP all of your spells, including your ult, actually do more damage and that’s not a completely unattainable figure with only a Deathcap and a Void Staff plus a few misc items and masteries.

Verdict

Annie is weaker early game, there’s no way about it. You’re going to have to make up for the missing damage some how if you want to remain as strong as you were previously, which could be anything from switching runes around in order to make up some of the deficit and being more aggressive with your auto attacks. Either way I don’t think Annie is a write off this patch and with the upcoming distortion boot changes I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the future.

Hold the phones, more Annie buffs?

Well no, not Annie buffs but they are changing how distortion boots work in a way that is huge for Annie.

The important part is the cast range of flash as Annie loves Flash-Tibbers initiations. It’s been seen countless times in the LCS and it isn’t that hard to pull off in solo queue. With an extra 80 units of movement when you flash you can catch people out even easier and having flash up in games will allow you to create a larger zone of control to potentially take objectives.

Overall, I wouldn’t rule Annie out just yet..