Guide · Mid

Anivia Guide

the Cryophoenix

Mage

Tier C Mid

Anivia, the Cryophoenix, is a mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 622 analysed ranked games, Anivia is mostly played in Mid (57% of its games), and more rarely in Top (31%) and as Support (12%), with a 52.3% win rate in that role: tier C among Mid champions (#33 of 42, ranked by win rate). Anivia's damage is mostly magic (88%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate stays steady whatever the game length (49.5% to 53.5%): a reliable pick in every phase of the game.

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.21

Averages measured over 352 Mid games played with Anivia, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Anivia is an area-control mage: Flash Frost freezes and damages everything in its path then stuns when it explodes, Crystallize creates an impassable wall of ice, and Glacial Storm damages and slows over an area. Her passive makes her be reborn as an egg with full health when she takes lethal damage.

The basic combo

Q › E › AA AA

When: An enemy is within Flash Frost range.

Flash Frost freezes and damages everything in its path, then explodes, stunning nearby enemies; Frostbite deals double damage to a recently hit target.

Area control

W › R › E

When: Enemies are advancing on your team.

Crystallize blocks the path for a short time before melting; place Glacial Storm to damage and slow those waiting.

See all 3 Anivia combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Frostbite deals double damage if the target was recently hit by Flash Frost or a fully grown Glacial Storm. Use Crystallize to block a path or protect an ally.

Common mistakes

• Casting Frostbite without hitting first: you lose the double damage.
• Placing Crystallize too late: its duration is short.
• Leaving your egg unprotected: it can be destroyed.

Riot's official tips for playing Anivia

• Timing Flash Frost with Frostbite can lead to devastating combinations.
• Anivia is extremely reliant on Mana for Glacial Storm. Try getting items with Mana or going for a Crest of the Ancient Golem buff on Summoner's Rift.
• It can be very difficult for enemy champions to kill her egg early in game. Seize the advantage by playing aggressively.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Malignance, Zhonya's Hourglass, and Rod of Ages (49 games, 69.4% win rate), usually with Swiftmarch (48.1% over 129 games).

Malignance+Zhonya's Hourglass+Rod of Ages

49 games · 69.4%

Malignance+Liandry's Torment+Rod of Ages

37 games · 62.2%

Zhonya's Hourglass+Liandry's Torment+Rod of Ages

20 games · 45.0%

Skill order

Max order : E > Q > W50.0% · 36 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●							●		●		●	●
W				●										●	●
E		●	●		●		●		●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 59 games).

Starting items

Doran's RingHealth PotionHealth Potion50.0% · 52 games

First completed items, in order

Rod of Ages›Malignance

20 games · 55.0%

Rod of Ages›Archangel's Staff

16 games · 68.8%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 3786 gold, 80 CS, 5052 XP. At 15 min: 5955 gold, 122 CS, 7826 XP.

Boots

Swiftmarch48.1% · 129 games

Spellslinger's Shoes58.6% · 116 games

Chainlaced Crushers45.2% · 42 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Teleport49.8% · 247 games

Flash + Ignite63.4% · 71 games

Most-played runes

Electrocute + Precision

51.2% · 125 games

Primary tree · Domination

Cheap Shot93%

Grisly Mementos71%

Relentless Hunter87%

Secondary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind99%

Coup de Grace55%

Shards

Attack speed98%

Adaptive force89%

Health scaling57%

Electrocute + Sorcery

58.8% · 80 games

Primary tree · Domination

Cheap Shot78%

Grisly Mementos62%

Relentless Hunter85%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band100%

Scorch85%

Shards

Attack speed94%

Adaptive force75%

Health59%

Deathfire Touch + Precision

57.1% · 56 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band98%

Transcendence52%

Scorch91%

Secondary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind75%

Cut Down66%

Shards

Attack speed73%

Movement speed57%

Health57%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Anivia's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team51.6% · 91 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Rod of Ages 47.6% ▼

Malignance 59.3%

Liandry's Torment 50.0%

Zhonya's Hourglass 68.2%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team53.8% · 104 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Rod of Ages 53.4%

Malignance 74.5% ▲

Liandry's Torment 58.6%

Zhonya's Hourglass 69.0% ▲

The item that stands out most is Malignance: 74.5% win rate, +13 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team51.6% · 157 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Rod of Ages 53.1%

Malignance 55.0% ▼

Liandry's Torment 57.8%

Zhonya's Hourglass 54.3% ▼

Void Staff 40.0%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

How to play against Anivia

• Try to gank Anivia when she's laning. With multiple people, it is easier to ensure that her egg dies.
• If you're playing a ranged champion, stay far enough away from Anivia so you can dodge Flash Frost more easily.
• Try to fight Anivia in the lanes. In the jungle she can block pathways with lower ranks of Crystallize.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Anivia's matchups.

Anivia Mid: what our games say

Laning phase against the Mid average

Measured over 59 Anivia games with a timeline; the average covers 72 champions played Mid in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: medium-length (25 to 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Anivia in another role

Role	Games	Win rate	CS/min	Gold/min	Most-built items
Top	193	52.8 %	7.5	396
Support	77	53.2 %	1.7	339

Roles where we have at least 40 Anivia games.

Abilities

PassiveRebirth

Upon taking fatal damage, Anivia reverts to an egg and is reborn with full health.

QFlash Frost

Anivia brings her wings together and summons a sphere of ice that flies towards her opponents, chilling and damaging anyone in its path. When the sphere explodes it does moderate damage in a radius, stunning anyone in the area.

WCrystallize

Anivia condenses the moisture in the air into an impassable wall of ice to block all movement. The wall only lasts a short duration before it melts.

EFrostbite

With a flap of her wings, Anivia blasts a freezing gust of wind at her target, dealing damage. If the target was recently hit by Flash Frost or damaged by a fully formed Glacial Storm, the damage they take is doubled.

RGlacial Storm

Anivia summons a driving rain of ice and hail to damage her enemies and slow their advance.

Other Mid champions to know

Most played

Syndra53.0 %Viktor48.9 %Ahri50.4 %Yone49.8 %Locke50.8 %Yasuo48.9 %Zed51.8 %Sylas48.5 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Vel'Koz54.3 %Kassadin54.0 %Twisted Fate54.0 %Lux53.0 %Diana52.9 %Katarina52.6 %Aurelion Sol52.1 %Vladimir52.1 %

Frequently asked questions

Full Anivia page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides