Nami

Abilities Overview

Nami's passive, Surging Tides, grants movespeed to allies briefly whenever her abilities hit them — useful for chasing or escaping. Q (Aqua Prison) bubbles enemies in an area, knocking them up — this is Nami's primary CC and hardest ability to land. Predict enemy movement rather than throwing it directly at them.

W (Ebb and Flow) bounces between allies and enemies — healing up to 2 allies and damaging up to 2 enemies. The bounce makes positioning crucial for maximizing value. E (Tidecaller's Blessing) empowers the next 3 attacks of an ally with bonus magic damage and slow. R (Tidal Wave) sends a massive wave that knocks up and slows enemies — excellent for engage, disengage, and teamfight disruption.

Laning Phase

Nami is a strong lane bully. Use W bounce to both heal your ADC and poke enemies — position so the bounce hits both. E your ADC or yourself for empowered auto-attack trades. Q should be saved for defensive CC or guaranteed hits (when enemies are slowed by E or CC'd by your jungler).

Nami excels with aggressive ADCs (Draven, Lucian, Tristana) who can capitalize on her E slow. Save Q for disengage against engage supports. Level 6 opens up R-Q combos — R knocks up long enough for a guaranteed Q follow-up. Mana management is critical — W is expensive.

Teamfighting

Nami controls teamfights through her ultimate and sustained healing. Open fights with R to knock up the enemy team — the slow makes it hard for them to dodge follow-up CC. Use W bounce to keep your team healthy. E your ADC before engagements for the slow on-hit.

Save Q for peel rather than engage in teamfights — bubbling a diver off your carry is more valuable than a long-range Q that might miss. Nami's healing throughput with Moonstone is among the highest in the game. Position between your carries to maximize W bounce value.

Build Path

Start Spellthief's Edge. Moonstone Renewer for AoE healing bounce. Ardent Censer for attack speed buff on healed allies. Staff of Flowing Water for AP and movespeed.

Redemption for AoE heal active. Mikael's Blessing for CC cleanse. Chemtech Putrefier for anti-heal. Boots are Ionian Boots of Lucidity.

Matchups

Nami excels into sustain lanes where her poke and healing outlast the enemy. She struggles against all-in engage supports (Leona, Nautilus, Alistar) — one missed Q and she's dead. Against engage supports, save Q strictly for self-peel and play at max range.

For more details, check the League of Legends Wikipedia page and the Nami page on League of Legends Wiki.