Any Tips/Tricks on Being a Better Nami?

UhmmHiEveryone·Feb 6, 2017·1 votes·8,375 views

Hi guys, I'm a Nami main but on some games I'm getting trouble with her. The problem is I'm not aware of her mechanics so much, only a small portion. So, calling all you Nami mains, I'm asking you to get ANY tactics on both building her and gameplay. Any kind of feedback/advice will be apreciated. Thanks to you all :)

Notice: I have did a few searching to find if a related discussion already exists but couldn't find any. If a such discussion exists informing that will also apreciated :)

3 Comments

Deep Terror NamiFeb 6, 20174 votes

I found a comment I made about this before, so I'll just copy-paste it;

Nami is best played very aggressively. Win trades by bouncing your heal off them to recover the damage they deal to you while you hit back.
Ebb & Flow is expensive; always try to make it bounce for mana efficiency. Remember that it decreases in strength each bounce (edit: unless you've built a lot of AP), so figure out if you want to prioritize healing or damage before you cast. It also only bounces twice, so cast it as a heal if you want to heal 2 targets, as damage if you want to damage 2 targets.
Learn the enemy's pattern of dodging Aqua Prison. Usually they just run directly away from you, so you can toss it a little behind them and they walk into it. The time-to-land is the same regardless of distance cast, so it's easy to manage as long as you account for movement speed. It can also be used just to make them stop or take a longer route, so that they are caught by your team even if it misses.
Tidecaller's Blessing (E) is actually pretty strong. You will usually want to max it second instead of Aqua Prison (Q) even though it seems Q is better. If you cast it on a ranged ally while their auto is midair, that attack will benefit!
Never forget your passive. All your spells increase the speed of the allied champion it hits/is used on, so they can be used simply to help a chase or escape.
If your enemy seems much stronger than you in lane, it's ok to play passive. If it's something especially terrifying you can grab an Ancient Coin to start and just be a healbot; denying the enemy their strength puts you at an advantage later. Something like Draven/Leona (which will kill Nami instantly at level 2) I like to play it safe against.
She has lots of options for item builds. Don't think there is any best option, try out different paths like bonus healing, defense, AP and find what you're comfortable with. Nami is about the worst Support to try and hold a wave, so I like to go Zz'rot Portal early on (edit: With the recent change I no longer get it early, usually not at all).
A great way to maximize and guarantee your CC in a fight is to hit them with Tidal Wave first and immediately follow up with Aqua Prison. The Ult is very difficult to dodge, and if they are knocked up your Q is definitely impossible if you aim right.
Don't level an ability at the start of the match! Wait until you're sure there's no invading to level W, because a good Q is way better for securing kills and summoner spells on multiple enemies.

Mysticman89Feb 6, 20172 votes

(Point 2 is weird since the bounce ratio changes with your AP, so after a certain point in AP subsequent bounces actually do more. In lane this is almost never relevant, but with some AP flavoured builds it can be useful to know for mid-late.)

Regarding E usage, it can often be practical to wait until your adc's AA is already in the air to towards an enemy champ to E them to avoid 'wasting' it on any minions, as well as to avoid telegraphing your intent to the enemy laners.

Regarding 5, don't be too shy about spamming abilities on you/your adc when returning to lane, as you'll get most of it regen'd by the time you get to tower. If your backs are synced, you can even land a double bubble on you/your adc for extra movespeed efficiency, and shaving off a few seconds back to lane is a useful if often underappreciated thing.

edit: I'm a janna main rather than a nami main, but I usually play nami when janna is taken/banned.

UhmmHiEveryoneFeb 7, 20171 votes

Thanks guys, I will try to use them as much as I can. It's really difficult to be a good Nami, especially on ranked Q Thanks again :)