Supports have been reaping free ranked wins by playing Annie support in solo queue for nearly two months.
League of Legends patch 13.3 was a pivotal moment for one of the game’s oldest mage champions who has been around since beta. Two abilities, Molten Shield and Tibbers, got buffed big time. Her base spell damage without items, combined with any marksman, is enough to terrorize bot lane.
Support Annie has been so strong that she doesn’t even need to run full offensive runes. Instead, she opts for the common support keystone, Summon Aery, which in turn protects her marksman when Molten Shield is used on them.
In that very same patch, she got nerfed during a mid-patch update. However, her win rate hasn’t reflected that.
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In high ELO, Annie’s win rate remains high at 53.7% according to Mobalytics
League of Legends patch 13.3 buffs
Passive – Pyromania
- First Flame: Annie will now spawn with her passive fully charged on game start and when she respawns
E – Molten Shield
- Shield Strength increased from 40/85/130/175/220 (+35% AP) to 60/100/140/180/220 (+55% AP)
- Cooldown decreased from 14/13/12/11/10 seconds to 12/11/10/9/8 seconds
- Retaliation Magic Damage increased from 20/30/40/50/60 (+20% AP) to 30/45/60/75/90 (+40% AP)
- (New) Retaliation Magic Damage Conditions: When Molten Shield is active, enemies whose basic attacks and spells hit the shield receive magic damage
- (New) Retaliation Magic Damage Details: E – Molten Shield will now only inflict damage against opponents once per target, per shield. (Note: Tibbers’ duplicated shield counts as a new shield and can inflict damage once per target, per shield.)
R – Summon Tibbers
- Tibbers’ Health increased from 1300/2200/3100 to 1300/2200/3100 (+75% AP)
- Tibbers’ Resistances increased from 30/60/90 Armor and MR to 30/60/90 (+5% AP) Armor and MR
- Tibbers’ Movespeed increased from 350 at all ranks to 350/375/400
League of Legends patch 13.3 mid-patch nerfs
- Armor Growth decreased from 5.2 to 4.7
- Mana Cost (E): From 40 mana at all ranks increased to 60/65/70/75/80 mana at all ranks
- Shield AP Ratio decreased from 55% AP to 40% AP
The nerfs only reduced her base stat armor growth, while increasing the mana cost of Molten Shield and reducing its AP ratio. It did not reduce the damage from her E or R.
Her shield strength remains strong, better than other enchanters who got nerfed at the end of Season 12. What’s more, unlike enchanter shields which merely protect, Annie’s shield is equally offensive as it is defensive.
All enemies who hit the champion or Tibbers equipped with Molten Shield will receive Retaliation Magic Damage. Tibbers himself was also made more resilient, on top of the shield, which makes him more difficult to take down. Gone are the days when he’d be taken out with three hits from the AD carry. In Season 13, you simply cannot ignore him as you did in the past.
In Platinum rank and above in high Elo on patch 13.4, Annie had a 52.9% win rate according to Mobalytics. In 13.5, it has risen to 53.2% at the time of writing, putting her ahead of Blitzcrank’s 51.4% win rate.
Unless Riot Games nerfs her damage further, the raw offensive power of support Annie, made even better by her ability to protect her marksman with Molten Shield, will continue to terrorize bot lane.
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