Anivia vs Malzahar
You are stronger early. Look to snowball before your opponent scales.
Build vs Malzahar
The champion's reference build, for lack of enough games in this matchup
Recommended items for Anivia: Tear of the Goddess, Rod of Ages, Seraph's Embrace, Boots of Swiftness, Malignance, Zhonya's Hourglass, Liandry's Torment, Dark Seal.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Malzahar's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
When he hasn't recently taken damage or been crowd controlled, Malzahar gains massive damage reduction and crowd control immunity, lingering for a short period after taking damage.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6s | 8s | 11s | – |
| 6 | 6s | 8s | 11s | 2m20 |
| 9 | 6s | 8s | 11s | 2m20 |
| 11 | 6s | 8s | 11s | 1m50 |
| 16 | 6s | 8s | 9s | 1m20 |
| 18 | 6s | 8s | 7s | 1m20 |
Playing as Anivia
Tips to maximize your impact
- Detonate your ice on the target
Recast Flash Frost (Q) when the orb reaches your target: it explodes at once and stuns, without waiting for the end of its range.
- Frostbite a chilled target
Cast Frostbite (E) right after Flash Frost (Q), or inside a fully formed Glacial Storm (R): against a chilled target, its damage doubles.
- Cut off the escape with your wall
Place Crystallize (W) behind a fleeing enemy: the ice wall blocks the path before it melts.
- Play aggressively while your egg is up
Play more aggressively when Rebirth (passive) is available: instead of dying, you turn into an egg, and if it isn't destroyed, you come back at full health.
Playing against Malzahar
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Get out of his portals
Get out of the Call of the Void (Q) zone quickly: its two portals fire after a short delay, and their projectiles silence you.
- Break his Void Shift first
If you have CC, hit him first with a cheap attack, then wait a moment: Void Shift (passive) still ignores CC right after the first damage.
- Avoid minions hit by his Visions
Stay away from minions hit by Malefic Visions (E): if they die, the visions jump to the nearest enemy, and his Voidlings follow them.
- Trade before he hits 6
Take your trades before he hits level 6: after that, Nether Grasp (R) can lock you down from range while his team hits you.
- Focus him during his Grasp
When he casts Nether Grasp (R) on an ally, focus him: he channels in place, and any CC interrupts him and frees your ally.
Other Anivia matchups
Patch 16.21.1