How to win lane as Annie against Malzahar · 51.15% win rate over 1,130 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Annie | Malzahar's lack of any dash, shield, or hard CC means Annie's stun-into-burst lands nearly uncontested at level 1. |
| Level 2 | Annie | Same story at level 2 — Void swarm poke is too slow to punish Annie's aggression. |
| Level 3 | Annie | Annie's combo keeps landing freely since Malzahar still has no way to escape or interrupt at level 3. |
| Levels 4-5 | Annie | Levels 4-5 favor Annie even harder as her item and level lead compounds while Malzahar stays purely reactive. |
| Level 6 | Annie | Tibbers gives Annie a real follow-up threat at 6 while Malzahar's ult is passive damage, not a fight-changer. |
| First item | Annie | Annie's first item burst combo threatens a full kill on the immobile Malzahar with no counterplay available to him. |
| Two+ items | Malzahar | Only once Malzahar is fed and peeled for does Nether Grasp become a genuine teamfight-winning lockdown tool. |
Levels 1-2 are all yours: Malzahar has no way to stop you from walking up, landing your stun, and burning him down before he ever gets a real trade off. His Void swarm is slow to ramp and Null Zone requires him to stand still, so punish any greedy farming attempt immediately. He'll try to play passively behind minions, but your Q-W poke plus stun threat means he's constantly on the back foot.
The full Annie vs Malzahar report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Malzahar vs Annie guide →
All Annie mid lane matchups →