Annie, Dark Child Starter Guide - Best Decks & Cards

Table of Contents

1 Overview
2 Spiritforged Annie Deck
3 Annie Signature Cards
4 Annie Staple Cards and Synergies

Dangerous, yet disarmingly precocious, Annie is a child mage with immense pyromantic power. Even in the shadows of the mountains north of Noxus, she is a magical outlier. Her natural affinity for fire manifested early in life through unpredictable, emotional outbursts, though she eventually learned to control these “playful tricks.” Her favorite includes the summoning of her beloved teddy bear, Tibbers, as a fiery protector. Lost in the perpetual innocence of childhood, Annie wanders the dark forests, always looking for someone to play with.

Overview

Alongside her life-sized teddy bear Tibbers, Annie is now in the world of Riftbound, operating in the domains of Fury and Chaos. Unlike Jinx in those same two domains, Annie isn't built around a specific synergy. Instead, the Dark Child focuses on the fundamentals of most dominant card game decks : Initiative and perfect Rune efficiency.

Annie is a great early game legend, looking to snowball a strong position before the opponent finds a way to stabilize. Cheap removal through red cards, alongside plenty of utility spells amongst purple cards, allow Annie to both conquer battlefields, but also remove opposing early units. Typically, her turn will be dedicated to proactive development, while the two runes Annie readies at the end of her turn allow playing action or reaction spells during the opponent's turn.

With that in mind, Annie is a great legend for those looking to be aggressive early on, but not necessary play in a rush. Indeed, with OGN-039, OGS-010, or OGN-201 in the mix, Annie won't run out of cards so easily.

Seize the initiative early on, keep your opponent at bay with your cheap spells, and force them into an uncomfortable position as you get closer to the win. That's how you want to play Annie.

Spiritforged Annie Deck

Annie Signature Cards

Annie isn't using many of her signature cards. One could argue the only one in Annie lists, OGS-010, is played simply to have one champion unit starting next to our deck, although the ability to return a spell is quite valuable at times.

Instead, OGS-017 has been posting her best results using cheaper, less value-oriented cards. Also, it doesn't help OGS-001 and OGS-010 to be in the same colour as other great champion units such as OGN-039 or SFD-020, typically the preferred option in red decks.

Annie Staple Cards and Synergies

A good Annie deck will be looking to do multiple things:

Score quickly to force her opponent on the back foot, unable to develop as they wish due to feeling pressured. OGN-176 will represent a way to score immediately when going second, mitigating the typically reactive position you adopt when your opponent goes first.
Find ways to keep scoring turns after turn, especially once at 6 points to close the match. Early on, opposing units can be taken out through showdown, with the help of OGN-004 if needed. Down the line, OGN-172 and SFD-145 will deal with larger units.
Support a card consuming play-style, as we typically play card both during ours and the opponent's turn. OGN-185 is a draw if your hand is empty when it moves, while OGN-039 remains a stellar unit in this second set.
Another way to keep resources available is to protect our cards in play. OGS-011 is particularly effective in that regard, but there are plenty of spells in the Chaos domain to get our or the opponent's unit out of a showdown.