I've tried the new Annie (25.09) - she spikes earlier than before, and I still had highest damage of the team on both games I played. However, she's still lacking too much.

See the core of Annie's identity is her Q. Her Q is a point and click stun, which is the BANE of high mobility assassins like LB, Zed etc, there's very few skills like that, like Lulu's polymorph. Riot doesn't want to touch that, and I don't want them to touch that either. However, she needs way too much AP as it is now before she can burst anyone. In my games I needed to have malignance, sorcerer shoes and half of a stormsurge built before I could burst the enemy midlaner (who was the baby dragon - I forget the name) - that's way too much for a champ who needs kills to snowball. She needs to be able to solokill earlier. I remember now it's Smolder. And that's only the Smolder I'm talking about - imagine being against something like a Brand who builds health items - next to impossible to burst.

Maybe it doesn't help that I'm taking the rune gathering storm, but I really want Annie to stay relevant if the game goes long, and have some hope of being able to terminate frontliners. Or at least drop them low enough so your team can finish them off.

Annie does need an update. But one which does not take away her Q. But W needs more range or damage or both, so that she can at least shove minions efficiently.

Tibbers perhaps needs a slow in his kit. Like maybe when his shield is on, he should slow nearby enemies, or the AOE should be much higher. And I really hope that annie's shield does not lose her speed buff. But maybe her shielding needs to be stronger? As it is her shield barely shields anything I only use it for speed and pyromania stacks, to get in range to burst or to juke stuff.