The 2017 League Of Legends All-Star series was full of awesome surprises, from a nail-biter 1v1 against Bjergsen and Uzi to a cavalcade of amazing matches between China and the LMS. 957, the top laner for Chinese team World Elite, stole the show with his Annie pocket pick. On the third day in the highly anticipated China vs. Korea match-up, 957 picked the redhead to the casters delight. “Oh no, oh no,” caster Pappysmithy screams, unaware of what’s about to happen on the Rift.
The little pyromaniac girl hasn’t seen much competitive play, relegated to the bottom lane for most of her pro career. She made her last appearance at the 2017 Summer European LCS in the support role by Unicorns Of Love Hylissang and has been MIA since. Why, all of a sudden, is she seeing time on the stage?
Annie has always been a good champion to play in League Of Legends because she’s simple to use. She’s the only member of the game’s giant roster to have a point-and-click stun, ever since Taric got glamorized with a rework. With Tibbers, she has explosive engage potential and great wave clear, but she’s always been outclassed by other mid laners. With no escapes outside of Flash, she’s a sitting duck against dash-filled champions like Yasuo and the newest pain in the ass, Zoe. In solo queue, that weakness can be overcome with smart play and team coordination, but at the highest level that’s just not an option.
Since the Preseason rework, she’s gotten a bit more power. Hex Flash, which gives her a second flash on a long cooldown, allows her to engage over walls and places where the enemy has no vision. The Ultimate Hat and Transcendence cut down her abilities’ cooldowns; Annie is most useful when she has Flash + bear. Combined with the tank meta we’ve got going on in the top lane, my favorite pyromaniac isn’t as useless as she used to be.
957 picked Annie in the top lane to counter Gnar, the prehistoric yordle who has become one of the strongest champions in that role. He’s got peel, engage and an escape, making him a jack of all trades, master of everything. Catching him can be hard with his Bounce, but that’s where Annie steps in. Gnar can’t escape if he’s been stunned and her ball of flame will follow him wherever he ends up. With a follow up from a Jarvan IV flag and Cataclysm or a Lee Sin Insec roundhouse kick, the orange doofball is going to die.
In game two of the series between Taiwan and China, 957’s Annie really put in work. In a top jungle team fight at eight minutes, Tibbers stuns Gnar and Lee Sin, allowing Tibber’s AoE damage to clean up the rest of the fight. Later, at the 15-minute mark, 957 flashes over a wall onto an unsuspecting Miss Fortune using Hex Flash. There was nothing that they could have done to prepare for it. Ziv on the LMS team picked her in game 3, but had less luck (and obviously less practice) on the champion.
Annie might not be a staple of the season 8 meta, but I loved seeing her play on the big stage. She’s always been my favorite mid lane champion, since she’s easy to use and aim. In my own games, I miss Tibbers and then tilt hard, but watching her get played at the top level gives me the confidence to try again. I’ll leave you with the words of Annie Bot, League Of Legends best Annie main.
Hexflash Annie in All-Stars? hmm...!
— Annie Bot (@AnnieBotNA) December 10, 2017
