Ride the tides with Nami, a support champion who can switch from defensive to offensive and the ability to change the outcome of the game. While Nami doesn't excel at one thing, her kit allows her to be a support of all traits bringing movement speed, CC, healing, and slow. So, let's dive deep into the Tidecaller herself by looking at why you should be playing Nami in your next game of League of Legends

Abilities

Surging Tides (Passive)

Nami’s passive allows her allied champions to gain a boost of movement speed for a short duration (1.5 seconds) when touched by any of her abilities. This passive can be used defensively or offensively giving yourself and your teammates the movement speed to escape or to secure a kill. Movement speed is a difficult stat to come by, so this simple passive can create a big impact in the game.

Aqua Prison (Q)

Nami sends a bubble towards the targeted area that deals damage and stuns enemies by knocking them up for 1.5 seconds. Please note that Aqua Prison can be a difficult skill shot to land due to its slow travel, so a tactic to master is to predict where the enemy will be for it to connect. The beauty of Nami is that she can engage and disengage, and Aqua Prison is one of those abilities that allow her to do that.

Ebb and Flow (W)

Nami sends a stream of water that bounces between allies and enemy champions, healing allies and damages enemies. The reason I love Nami is her ability to poke and heal the concept of her W is unique and works beautifully during teamfights.

Tidecaller’s Blessing (E)

Nami empowers herself or an ally champion for 6 seconds, causing the next three basic attacks to deal additional magic damage and slowing enemy champions. Nami’s E is a spell for kill potential, you want to use this ability on the main attacker, applying Nami’s passive while having the slow from Tidecaller’s Blessing.

An advanced tactic is to synergize her abilities together. Starting with Tidecaller’s Blessing on the main attacker, using Ebb and Flow if possible, while leading the slowed enemy champion with Aqua Prison.

Tidal Wave (R)

Nami summons a tidal wave that knocks up damages and slows enemies. Allies hit by tidal wave receive double the effect of Nami’s passive. Tidal Wave is an engage or disengage ability. Please note that Tidal Wave is not as wide as you may think. If used incorrectly, enemies can easily dodge this ability, and so I recommend using Tidal Wave as a follow-up and not as an initiation tool.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The reason Nami does very well is that she scales and does well in prolonged fights. As long as Nami stays behind the team, she can safely support them through Ebb and Flow (W). If you synergize well with an ADC, you can bully your lane with Ebb and Flow (W) and buffing the ADC with Tidecaller’s Blessing (E).

While Nami has her strong traits, she still has her weaknesses. Aqua Prison (Q) is a slow spell, making it difficult to land and easy to dodge. Champions who have strong engage like Leona, Thresh, Nautilus, Blitzcrank, and Pyke are counters and can make the lane difficult in completing her item first.

Rune Pages

Depending on your match up there are two different rune pages you can go with. Nami depends on her spells, this means she eats through her mana fairly quickly. Much like any other mage support, mana is an essential part of their kit and maximizing that can determine the tide of the game. When playing Nami you want to capitalize on increasing her mana while utilizing CD’s maximizing her abilities, yet that may not always be the case, and in those cases, it would be because you are up against a counter.

Aery Rune Page

Summon Aery Rune page is a very typical and default Rune setup to run. This Rune page is most ideal when Nami is against another support she can trade with, such as Sona, Soraka, Yumi. You’d want to pair Summon Aery with Spellthief’s Edge, making it easier to complete your item.

Guardian Rune Page

The Guardian Rune page allows Nami to survive engages and not force her to risk trades to generate gold. You’d want to use Guardian when you are up against hard engage counters like Leona, Thresh, Blitzcrank, etc.

Flex Runes

When playing Nami you want to always take the first +9 Adaptive Force, though depending on your match up you may want to run at least one +6 armor Rune, while the last Rune page will depend on the enemy team. If the enemy team is primarily AD, take the extra +6 Armor Rune. If the enemy team is mostly AP take the +8 Magic Resist Rune instead.

Summoner Spells

You will always dedicate to having Flash as one of your Summoner Spells, but the second one will either be Ignite or Exhaust. By default, your Summoner Spells set up will be Flash and Ignite. As support, you always want to think of what is best for the team, so if the enemy team is melee heavy is best to run Flash and Exhaust.

Skill Leveling

You always want to start by taking Ebb and Flow (W) as your level 1, followed up by Aqua Prison (Q) and finally Tidacaller’s Blessing (E). You want to max Ebb and Flow (W) > Tidecaller’s Blessing (E) > Aqua Prison (Q), while leveling Tidal Wave (R) when possible.

Laning Phase

The beauty of Nami is that she gets stronger over time and can create game-changing opportunities because of her kit being flexible.

In the early game, try capitalizing on her Ebb and Flow (W) by playing reasonably aggressively
Most of Nami’s damage comes from the combo Auto > Ebb and Flow (W) > Auto. Do this while staying close to a bush to weave in and out, providing pressure safely. This also de-aggro the minions and forces the enemy to position differently.
Remember, you can use Ebb and Flow (W) to bounce off your ADC and give them Tidecaller’s Blessing (E). Use Tidecaller’s Blessing mid auto from your ADC, to proc the effects of it. If done poorly, not only are you wasting mana but letting the enemy team predictably back off.
If you are up against counters, hold off on Aqua Prison (Q) for the enemy support engages, this will force the ADC to get close to auto. Use this opportunity to Aqua Prison the ADC instead of enemy support.
In a winning situation, use Tidecaller’s Blessing (E) to slow the enemy down to land Aqua Prison (Q)

Teamfights

Nami excels in prolonged teamfights because of her kit, providing a lot of benefit factors. In a teamfight, you want to save your Tidal Wave (R) either when your team engages or when the enemy team engages. This is because Tidal Wave (R) is a slow-moving ability that can easily be dodged, and since Tidal Wave (R) has no enemy count it will knock-up anyone who gets hit by it, after Tidal Wave (R) that is usually a good time to follow up with your Aqua Prison (Q) for max CC value. As a preference, I use Ebb and Flow (W) on my teammates to keep them topped off and using Tidacaller’s Blessing (E) on my teams to carry providing slow and extra damage.

Keep in mind that Nami is a very squishy champion, never face check and always stay behind your tanks. You usually want to be near your ADC to provide peel against enemy champions, therefore it is important to hold off on Tidal Wave (R) for situations that can get your ADC killed.

Conclusion

Nami is a support that provides a lot to the team, she doesn’t excel at one thing because she is strong at providing everything during a teamfight. Nami is not a difficult champion to play, but requires good strategizing in mastering her abilities. While the game relies on carries to get them the win, support champions have the power to turn the tide of the game. Playing Nami gives you the responsibility in being the key to keeping your team alive through strong CC, healing, extra damage, a slow and movement speed. So, unlock the potential of Nami The Tidecaller and ride the wave to victory.