Europe’s toughest pros fear nothing more than a little girl and her damn bear

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In League of Legends, the heroine Annie is experiencing a renaissance. “The Child of Darkness” has been in the game since 2009 and has long been considered a typical beginner heroine. But the update 13.3. has now made her the feared pick in the European professional league LEC. She is particularly strong as a supporter, although she was never intended for the role.

Why is Annie considered feared?

  • Annie is the only hero in the LEC to have a 100% pick and ban rate during the 2023 Spring Split: In every single game played by the European Pros, Annie was either banned, meaning completely eliminated from the game, or played. The “next heroine” Xayah only comes in at 87% (via oracleselixir).
  • Annie is used in 2 roles: mid laner and support. However, she was banned from the start in 84.8% of all games.
  • When she did get to play, she won 2 out of 3 games as a midlaner and 3 out of 4 games as a supporter.

    • Faker has only played Annie in the LCK 3 times in all the years since patch 4.20 – won 3 times, of course:

    The Life of Faker – That’s why he’s a living legend

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    What makes Annie so strong? As dotesports knows, in patch 13.3. properly buffed on February 8th. Most notably, her Molten Shield ability has been significantly boosted:

  • Previously the shield had stats of 40/80/130/175/220 (+35% Ability Power)
  • After the patch, the shield is at 60/100/140/180/220 (+55% Ability Power)

    • Her dreaded bear, Tibbers, now scales with Annie’s ability power, gaining more health and resistances.

    What is the result? The new “Annie” is much harder and tougher than its previous releases. Her shield now makes her a strong support in early botlane fights and helps her in endgame fights.

    In addition, she now deals a lot of damage and still has her friend Tibbers at her back who she can send into the fray of a battle.

    Also, as Dotesports knows, Annie has strong synergies with hot heroes like Zeri, whom she can further support with her shield.

    Is Annie really that strong or is it just fear? No, it’s obviously that strong. Annie currently has the highest win rate at the rank of Platinum or higher of any support.

    She is one of the big beneficiaries of the fact that the LoL botlane currently prefers to play magicians as supporters:

    LoL: Support champs fight for their right to still be on the team

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