TOP 5 ANNIE COUNTERS MIDLANE

Annie is a burst control mage that thrives on simplicity and explosive power. With her stacked passive stun, Q (Disintegrate) poke + CS tool, and R (Summon: Tibbers) as an AoE nuke and zone threat, she’s the queen of low-risk, high-reward one-shots — especially with Flash + Tibbers.

But Annie is also immobile, short-ranged, and heavily reliant on Flash and passive stacks to win trades or get kills. If you play around her windows, manage spacing, and punish her when stun is down, you can break her early and make her a glorified waveclear bot.

The top 5 counters to Annie mid are: Fizz, Xerath, Swain, Kassadin, and Sylas. These champions either dodge or absorb her burst, scale harder, or punish her lack of mobility.

Top 5 Annie Mid Lane Counters

1. Fizz

• Playstyle: Burst assassin / anti-mage diver
• Why it works:
  • E (Playful/Trickster) dodges her full combo — including Tibbers.
  • Bursts her faster than she can stun or react.
  • Snowballs off early kills and denies her Flash kills post-6.

Play Tips:

• Farm safe to 3, then all-in with E + Q + W when she wastes stun.
• Post-6, go in before she stacks passive or bait it out first.
• Build Rocketbelt + Stopwatch and play aggressive in fog.

2. Xerath

• Playstyle: Long-range artillery mage
• Why it works:
  • Outranges her permanently — she can’t trade without Flash.
  • E (Stun) interrupts Tibbers engage if timed right.
  • You waveclear better and poke her out of lane safely.

Play Tips:

• Abuse range advantage — auto + Q + W poke to chunk her early.
• Keep vision and positioning in mind — she’ll only win with a Flash stun.
• Build Luden’s or Horizon Focus + Stopwatch to force her to guess her engage.

3. Swain

• Playstyle: Drain-tank mage / sustained DPS
• Why it works:
  • E pull interrupts Tibbers combo and punishes short-range play.
  • R (Demonic Ascension) turns her burst into a losing extended trade.
  • He outscales her in teamfights with better zone control and sustain.

Play Tips:

• Let her push and punish with Q poke + cannon zone control.
• Hold E until she steps up with stun or Flash — always punish with root.
• Pop R when she engages — she can’t out-damage your healing.

4. Kassadin

• Playstyle: Anti-mage scaler / mobile assassin
• Why it works:
  • Passive and Q make Annie’s poke completely ineffective.
  • After level 6, you outrange and out-trade with Riftwalk.
  • He scales better and becomes impossible for her to burst.

Play Tips:

• Farm with Q pre-6 and don’t overextend — she’ll Flash-stun you if you misstep.
• Post-6, start chipping her with R + Q, then commit all-in trades.
• Build Rod of Ages → Crown and take over mid lane from level 11 on.

5. Sylas

• Playstyle: Skirmish duelist / ult thief
• Why it works:
  • Trades favorably early with W sustain and E dodging.
  • Stealing her R lets you nuke her or out-teamfight with her own tools.
  • His scaling and side-lane pressure beat her burst reliance.

Play Tips:

• Trade after she uses Q or stun — bait it with minion movement.
• Steal R only when you know you can use it aggressively — don’t mirror Tibbers defensively.
• Build Everfrost or Riftmaker + Zhonya’s and take over skirmishes.

Bonus Tips to Beat Annie:

• Track her passive stacks: Don’t fight her at 3–4 stacks. Ping when it’s 4.
• Play spaced: Her full combo is short-range — don’t group or play front-to-back near her.
• Buy early MR or Stopwatch: Null-Magic Mantle or Seeker’s stop her early Flash kills.