Best Annie counters in League of Legends: How to shut down Annie’s lane and match presence

Annie is one of the oldest Mid laners in League of Legends and is still being used today at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship. She has been a staple pick in the Mid lane for the entirety of the 2025 season due to her ultimate being used to clear waves and give the team priority for major objective fights such as Dragons and Atakhan. Her stun passive also makes her one of the more dangerous teamfighting champions in the game. So how to stop here? We present to you the five best Annie counters and how to use them against her!

Best Annie counters: The five best picks

Although we are going to provide you with the best Annie counters, you first need to understand how to counter her kit, which is one of the deadliest in the game. Annie is considered an easy champion to pick up in League of Legends; her kit revolves around her stun passive, which charges up after each time you use an ability. Once the passive reaches four bars, the next ability usage will stun champions hit by the ability.

Therefore, the way to ensure you are not taken down by Annie is to play around her passive. If she has her passive stacked, then you shouldn’t be entertaining a fight with her. Also, when her Tibbers is on cooldown, that is when she is at her most vulnerable, and you and your team should be looking to punish this cooldown.

Now that you have some of the basics down, let’s look at the five best Annie counters in League of Legends.

Fizz

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If there is ever a champion that Annie players do not want to come up against in League of Legends, it’s Fizz. Fizz counters Annie in every way thanks to one ability: Playful Trickster. This allows him to dodge when Annie goes for an ultimate engage. And once Tibbers is out of the way, that is when Fizz will strike.

Fizz not only has a devastating ultimate of his own, but he also has gap closers with his Q, which can dash to a target if they are close enough. And once Fizz has scaled, he can one-shot Annie even if she has Zhonya’s Hourglass.

• Also Read: How to counter Jinx in LoL?

Diana

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As you can tell by now, mobility is the aim of the game when going up against Annie in the Mid lane. Although slightly weaker before getting to level six, once Diana unlocks her ultimate, it’s goodnight and goodbye Annie. The problem Annie players consistently have is that their moves are choreographed; a half-decent player will be able to tell what Annie is looking to do from a mile away.

Once you have dodged Annie’s engage, you can close the gap quickly with Diana and burst her down before she has a chance to react. In the wider teamfights, Diana can do a much better job at assassinating the backline.

Zed

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Zed has the range advantage over Annie which is why he is one of the better counters to her in Mid. Zed can poke from afar and not allow Annie to try and stun him. Once her ultimate and/or stun is out of the way, that is when you go for the kill with your Ignite plus ultimate combo. Living Shadow, Zed’s W, puts him at a safe distance from any engage from Annie while also dealing damage without the risk of being ulted.

Mel

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Mel is a great counter to Annie due to her long-range poke and W, which repels an incoming ability, such as an Annie stun. This means that when Annie goes for an engage, Mel will be able to turn it back onto Annie, leaving her vulnerable without her main damage threat. What makes Mel great is her poke, which can be fired from a long distance and can be done consistently in the lane without long cooldowns.

Annie players find it difficult to teamfight effectively when Mel is in the game. This is because Mel is great at zoning Annie out of the fight and not allowing her to do a standard Annie ult combination. Sometimes, it’s not about the one-versus-one matchup at all; it’s about the ability to stop the other champion from getting off their abilities, something that Mel can do to perfection in the mid-to-late game.

• Read Also: Who are the best champions to counter Garen in LoL?

Syndra

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If you’re looking for an excellent champion that is not a gap closer but still puts out a great amount of damage against Annie, then Syndra is the choice for you. Syndra’s abilities are all about poking from a distance. So even if Annie can scale up, you’ll be able to handle her without getting into her stun range.

Your Q is a great poking tool that can be used quickly to deal consistent damage, and your E, Scatter the Weak, will stun Annie if she is in range. Because you can keep Annie at a distance, you’ll be able to stack Syndra’s passive, which stacks Spheres that can execute a champion if their health is low enough.

Anytime Annie wants to move up in the lane, Syndra will be right there to push her back with either E or a consistent poke from her Q, which is one of her main sources of damage when combined with her W (the ability to pick up a minion or sphere and throw it, doing damage). Like Mel, Syndra is great at zoning Annie, which is why so many pick her. And with neutral objectives being so important, you need a champion who is going to control the tight angles.

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