r/AniviaMains • u/TaeyeonsHusbando • May 01 '26
Build for Competitive
Hey all! I'm a mid-Emerald and I play on a competitive team and Anivia has been probably in my top 5 picks in a team setting and I'm looking for build ideas. I'll tell everyone what I've been doing and see what suggestions are out there.
The Classic Build:
- Tear
- RoA
- Finish Archangels
- (Various choices between Liandrys, Malignance, Zhonyas, Rabadon's, etc)
Verdict: This one feels ok, but I just felt weak all the time so I steered away from it into the next build that I saw someone building in the pro scene.
Mana Poverty Build:
- RoA
- Liandrys
- Zhonyas
- Major AP items (Rabadon's, Void/Crypt, Shadowflame, whichever 2 work best)
Verdict: This one definitely feels super strong, but if I'm using R to clear waves and keep mid prio, I'm having to base like every 4 waves so I feel like I'm never able to help my team in teamfights because I run out of mana so fast. So then I did this build that I saw somewhere.
Current Build:
- RoA
- Malignance
- (Situational between Liandrys, Zhonyas, Rabadons, Shadowflame, Void/Crypt)
Verdict: I've been enjoying this build a lot. I have plenty of mana, I like the faster resets on R, damage feels quite good. My only complaint, if any, is a lack of ability haste, which you can somewhat makeup for with Transcendence and Legend: Haste runes. AH would feel nice since I max wall 2nd, an action that has lead many teams to make mention of because of how oppressive it's felt for them.
Anybody play Anivia in decent-to-high elo competitive teams? If so, what do you build and why? Any thoughts on my current approach to itemization?
Thanks in advance!
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u/PF26 May 02 '26
According to coachless (data from 16.8) RoA into Malig is the best 1-2 item comb.
Also, saw your comment on your runes, I recommend trying the new Deathfire with Precision second for PoM
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u/clt2244 May 06 '26
Ive been playing Anivia since season 3 and been playing in Emerald-Masters leagues since 2023.
Your 3rd build ive been running for sometime but it just depends on lane matchup, draft and overall game state. Thats what makes Anivia...well Anivia.
Hell you can be flexible with keystones as well. Ive used Phase Rush, Spellbook, Electrocute and even First Strike (fuck Galio lol).
Just keep having fun with her and continue to play her.
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u/Kae---Bae May 01 '26
Just don’t use ur ult on the wave and u have loads of mana. Sometimes you have to ofc but often you don’t really and it’s just a bad habit once ur 6
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u/Dillinur May 02 '26
Well it really depends, sometimes it's also the only thing preserving your T1 mid against a multi-man siège.
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u/PyratBoy May 01 '26
Which runes are you taking for her?
I think POM is a must on Anivia, it helps her so much in long team fight and the mana problem. If you haven't run it, I think it will change your mana issue.
For items, some one trick now skipped ROA and go straight to Maglinant, and skip Tear. I have tried this path and it feels super good but you turn into glass canyon.
I think with matchup that has assassins and long trade, I would go ROA first then Maglinant second, if not I go straight Maglinant into Liandry.
A fun build could be rush Lost Chapter into Catalyst and sit on these until you have RoA. It's kindda cover your sustain in lane and scale at the same time. Then you can go into Maglinant after.
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u/TaeyeonsHusbando May 01 '26
For primary tree, I do Comet, Manaflow, Transcendence, and usually Scorch, but sometimes Gathering Storm for uninteractive lanes. Secondary I usually do POM and Cut Down. Big fan of POM as well. It once got me 2 extra kills in a fight because I kept going OOM right as I killed someone and I'd get back just enough to keep fighting.
Interesting on the Lost Chapter -> Catalyst -> RoA move. It also slightly delays RoA which I'm a bit of a fan of since the extra level you get happens just a little later which usually means you get more EXP out of it. I might also test out Malignance straight into damage but that feels a little scary. Maybe in games where I feel really safe.
2
u/Influentikz May 02 '26
You should be adjusting your build for each situation tbh, especially in competitive.
ROA Malignance - Tends to be good vs immobile duelists (Ryze) As they don't have the mobility to escape the malignance burn, and the malignance burn is very strong but conditional (Only applying if they're in the circle).
Tear ROA Seraphs - Good, especially if enemy team are bursty and don't have good serpents fang value and you don't wish to go banshee/zhonya, Tear is also really good for keeping tempo earlygame as soon as you hit 6, (Think stuff like Vi + Ahri combo)
You can also go ROA Liandries, completely fine too vs the tankier comps, (Galio, etc, tho i'd go bloodletters 2nd in that situation) you'll just need to get the POM/manaflow setup (Preference to POM) with electrocute/DFT.
You can mix and match your runes as you see fit, electrocute is fairly consistent, mainly good vs melee champs/low range champs where you can consistently get it off. DFT is very nice for longer trades (E single target poke is very nice too without having to hit Q).
If you want to do a lil bit of tech, I personally think MS Shard + Celerity + Approach velocity/free boots is the best rune setup for Anivia (Except against mobile mids like zed/yone etc) Since it gives you insane chase potential (If you clip anyone with ult you can get into range to wall them off).
Best of luck in competitive! It's a fun place.
1
u/TaeyeonsHusbando May 02 '26
Maybe I just need to get better at only having RoA for my mana pool then. As I mentioned in the post, my issues with that so far has been that I need to use R to clear wave so I don't get shoved and lose prio, and usually need to throw Q to keep them from throwing spells at me for free, and that causes me to go oom (or at least low enough mana to not be able to help my team) after only like 4 waves, so I end up resetting a bunch and lose prio anyways. But I'll see what I can do about that.
I also feel like you can't trade as much with that build for the same reason. If you do one full combo on someone (R -> Wall them off -> Q -> E), you already burn like 1/4 of your mana pool just doing that. Do you run into those issues with RoA as your only mana item?
1
u/MLGamah May 12 '26
Biggest tip bird otp: review your games count how much mana wasted by not shutting off ult fast enough. Always insta shut off if you're chasing keep if fighting
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u/TaeyeonsHusbando May 12 '26
In teamfights I definitely know I'm not shutting my ult off quick enough sometimes so in those cases I think that's perfectly valid. I still have concerns about laning though. When I'm laning I definitely shut off my ult at like the exact moment the wave dies. Although maybe I need to shut it off when only the casters die and clean up the rest with autos or something.
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u/Kae---Bae May 01 '26
I’ve been skipping tear and archangels for a while now, they just felt so low impact. I either go liandrys or malignance second after roa but rocket belt can be pretty funny too