Nami is a very versatile support champion that belongs to the enchanter sub-class. Her ability to play both aggressively and defensively makes her a highly contested pick in ranked games. Here’s everything you need to know to get you started playing the Tidecaller.

Nami has a lot of things going for her in her kit. She’s an ideal champion for players that would love to keep their lane partner alive while also having enough crowd control to peel for their team. She’s an excellent team player with lots of pokes that can help her and her ally win trades with ease. She has strong early kill pressure thanks to her CC plus she can heal her allies if they take too much damage. 

Abilities

Nami’s entire kit is geared towards helping her be the best Support for her team. She has everything you would want from an enchanter from heals, crowd control, and even buffs.

Passive – Surging Tides

When Nami’s abilities hit allied champions they gain 90 (+20%) Movement Speed for 1.5 seconds, decaying over the duration. Tidal Wave grants double the bonus Movement Speed.

Nami’s passive is pretty straightforward. Surging Tides boost allied champions’ movement speed whenever they’re hit by her abilities. It’s great for kiting and repositioning in the thick of battles.

Q – Aqua Prison

Sends a bubble to the target area, dealing magic damage to enemies, and stunning them for 1.5 seconds.

Aqua Prison is your main source of crowd control. It deals magic damage and stuns them for a decently long 1.5 seconds. It’s because of this ability that she can be a nightmare matchup for immobile Bot Lane champions. It’s also due to this ability that Nami can exert kill pressure as early as level 1.

W – Ebb and Flow

Unleashes a stream of water that bounces back and forth between allied and enemy champions.

On Self Cast: Heals Health and will bounce to a nearby enemy champion.

On Enemy Cast: Deals magic damage and bounces to a nearby allied champion.

Bounces to each target only once, and hits up to 3 targets. The damage and healing value is modified by 15% (+7.5% per 100) each bounce.

This is Nami’s primary poke ability. It’s great for healing yourself, your teammate, and dealing damage to an enemy. You should always max this ability first to make the most out of it. 

E – Tidecaller’s Blessing

Empowers an allied champion’s next 3 basic attacks or abilities, causing them to slow the target for 1 second and deals bonus magic damage. Lasts for 6 seconds. AoE abilities only deal a percentage of the bonus damage to non-champions.

Tidecaller’s Blessing allows Nami to buff up her allies. It synergizes really well with some of the support items we’ll be showing later on in this guide. It’s great for winning trades as well since the ally you’ll use it on will deal significantly more damage than your opponent.

R – Tidal Wave

Summons a Tidal Wave from Nami’s position. The wave knocks up enemies and slows them, dealing magic damage. The duration of the show increases based on how far the Tidal Wave has traveled, with a minimum duration of 2 seconds and a maximum of 4 seconds. Allies hit by the wave gain double the effect of Surging Tides.

Tidal Wave is an amazing team fighting ability for two reasons. First, it’s great for knocking up enemies and setting them up for your team. Second, it gives a movement speed buff to your teammates who are also hit by the wave. 

Runes and Item Builds

When it comes to items, you’ll build Nami like a traditional enchanter.

Starting Items

When playing as Nami, you start the game like any other enchanter; with a Spellthief’s Edge. This will later on turn into Frostfang which will allow you to hold charges of Wards that you can place around the map.

Mythic Items

For your Mythic item, you have two choices. Imperial Mandate or Shurelya’s Battlesong. Both of them give you the stats you need and they only differ based on the bonus passive or active they give. Imperial Mandate lets you and your team deal more damage affected by the crowd control you deal. Shurelya’s Battlesong, on the other hand, gives you bonus movement speed thanks to its active. Both are great on Nami and your choice would mostly boil down to personal preference. However, we would give the slight edge to Imperial Mandate since Nami already gives movement speed buffs thanks to Tidal Wave and Surging Tides.

Full Build

After purchasing your desired Mythic, go for tier 2 boots. In this case, that would be Ionian Boots of Lucidity for the ability haste. Next, go for Chemtech Putrifier for the stats and to help your teammates inflict grievous wounds whenever you use your abilities on them. After, go for Mikael’s Crucible for the resistances and the cleanse it provides. Top off your build with an Ardent Censer and a Staff of Flowing Water for more buffs to your teammates.

Runes

For runes, go with the Domination tree and take Electrocute as your keystone. This will drastically increase your trading power since your abilities have great poke. Next, take Cheap Shot for more damage to champions with impaired movement, Eyeball Collection to increase your damage, and Relentless Hunter to give you bonus movement speed. For secondaries, go with Manaflow Band and Scorch from the Sorcery tree. Manaflow Band allows you to sustain your mana early on while Scorch increases your overall damage. For rune shards, take double Adaptive Force and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Using Ebb and Flow correctly in the heat of battle can turn the tides in your favor! Make sure to use it wisely.
2. Nami is countered by Xerath, Zyra, Senna, Vel’Koz, and Pyke. If you’re matched up against these champions, try to play it safe instead of being aggressive.
3. For your summoner spells, take Flash and Exhaust. If you plan on playing aggressively, swap out Exhaust for Ignite.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Nami in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!