“My quest beckons” - Nami in the LCS

You don’t escape from the rising tide that is Nami. Whether you’re chasing or being chased by her, she’s one of the most imma-lock-you-down-mmk? champions in League of Legends. As of late, the LCS pros have rediscovered the Tidecaller and played her to great success.

First splashdown

Way back in Week 2, Nami made her debut under the expert control of Cloud9’s LemonNation in their first matchup against NA newcomers LMQ. In a meta dominated by aggressive supports like Thresh and Morgana, she immediately made a - dare I say it - splash on the pro scene. That first game showcased exactly what Nami was capable of. After playing a relatively safe early game, only nabbing one assist in the first 18 minutes, Lemon showed that he could more than keep Sneaky’s Corki alive. With her Aqua Prison to suspend opponents, Ebb and Flow to heal up, and Tidecaller’s Blessing to give his teammates’ auto-attacks kiting capabilities, she’s one of the safest supports for an ADC to be paired up with. She may not net a bunch of kills early, but in the right hands, she’ll make sure few of her allies will lose their lives. However, once teamfights began, LemonNation showed off exactly why she’s such a strong pick. LMQ, known for its hyper aggressive playstyle, repeatedly went after the squishier members of C9, only to be stopped by perfect Tidal Wave after perfect Tidal Wave. Ackerman had a hard time Slicing and Dicing with his Renekton to close the gap, Vasillii’s Lucian couldn’t dash and chase, and XiaoWeiXiao struggled to complete his full damage combos with LeBlanc. To make matters worse, NoName’s Nunu couldn’t finish channeling his Absolute Zero, effectively nullifying his pick. The LMQ/Cloud9 matchup ended up being incredibly close, but you wouldn’t know it from LemonNation’s 1/1/15 record on Nami. She may be squishy (and a little bit fishy), but that doesn’t mean she’s easy to kill.

Catching the wave

After LemonNation’s incredible performance, the rest of the LCS supports took a long, hard look at Nami. Over the course of the next five weeks, she was played 34 more times, combining for a record of 17-17. When she wins, she wins hard. With an average of 11.4 assists per game during victories, she’s got the third highest assist rate, right behind Thresh and Braum. What’s more, those playing her only die on average 1.5 times during their victories. For a champion with such a small health pool, that’s incredibly impressive. On the other hand, her teams’ losses seem to rarely be her doing. During defeats, she nets an average of 6 assists, more than any commonly played support. She also doesn’t get cooked much, sporting one of the lowest death averages at 2 per game. So what does that all add up to? Statistically, Nami puts up some of the best numbers of just about any support in the game. She can create kill opportunities for her laners while keeping them alive. She’s one of the safest supports in the game.

Ebb and flow

However, that could be because pros are forced to play her from that far-back vantage point. Because she’s so squishy, she can’t go wandering on her own - to ward the dragon pit, for example - if she doesn’t have vision on the opposing team. Unlike a Thresh or a Braum, she’ll rarely get tanky enough to survive if she gets caught out. As a result, pro players will spend much of their time surrounded by their tankier or more damage-heavy squadmates. We haven’t seen much of those issues in the LCS, as pros seem to recognize that weakness, and stick around their team. If that trend continues, expect Nami to stay a priority pick for LCS support players.

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