This guide is for all the people who play support (or get stuck playing support) in solo queue. Nami is a great support for solo queue because she has basic support functions such as a heal and the fact that she gives other champions speed boosts. But she's also very strong on her own (aside from her extremely poor wave clear)- which can be useful if the rest of your team is lacking.

Her bubbles- aqual prison can set up plays and her tidecaller's blessing can help your ADC to secure a kill. But the Ebb and Flow is my favorite of her abilities because it allows her to play offensively and can be used to save both allied champions and defend a turret.

With normal support items, plus ability power and cool down reduction, Nami can make the perfect solo queue support.

Pros

1. Can do a lot of damage with some ability power

2. Is very good as both engaging and disengaging

3. Great at saving allies/ helping kill enemies in team fights

Cons

1. Requires practice to land skill shots (bubble)

2. Squishy

3. Can easily KS by accident (which is a BAD thing when you're support)

Most people choose to go with the bubble first- and I totally understand why.

But Ebb and Flow can be better for solo queue games for several reasons:

1. If you are helping the jungler before the laning phase you'll be able to give them a quick heal so they don't use all their pots (unless their like Fiddlesticks and won't need a heal/help).

2. If your ADC gets a lot of damage when you first entire into the lane you need to be able to heal them and prevent the enemy team from getting an easy kill (don't assume your ADC knows what they're doing)

3. Ebb and Flow isn't only a heal, it's also an offensive ability that causes damage. This can be useful because you can both heal your ally and cause your opponent damage at the same time. Or use it to poke (but be careful since it costs a lot of mana and has a long cool down early game).

The Bubble (or aqua prison ) has many uses as well:
1. The most important way you can use the bubble is to make a play. Depending on positioning it can make all the different early game for your ADC to be able to get a kill. It initiates a play for the ADC by stunning who ever it lands on- making it easy to go in.
2. It can help you escape because it stuns whoever it hits for 1.5 seconds.

*Landing the bubble is crucial* You need to learn how to land the bubble and when to use it. Because of the high cool down don't just use it as a poke- be strategic when you use it! Example- if you're playing with a Vayne, bubble enemies near a wall; this allows the a few seconds to come over and be able attack in a more effective way.

TideCaller's Blessing is a great tool. It speeds up your ADC and slows the target enemy. This is great for helping your ADC get a kill, or for helping increase there speed if you're trying to escape.

Remember Nami's passive surging tides~
her ability to speed champions up with her other abilities is extremely useful in team fights and if some one is trying to escape!

The greatest way to be a help in a team fight is to utilize the bubble ! If you learn to land it well you can easily stun 4 people at once, which is a great advantage during a team fight.

Nami's ultimate tidal wave is also crazy powerful when securing kills. The knock up is very useful in team fights and can sometimes help to some what counter act other ultimates with ranged effects (such as a Sona's crescendo ).

A good Nami Tidal Wave can knock up everyone on the enemy team. Stay aware of the range of the wave and the width when using it to maximize the impact.

*One thing that I've done in the past with Nami's wave is that: if a bush is warded, and the enemy team doesn't know and is waiting in the bush, a good initiation is a Nami wave. Ult into the bush knocking everyone one up so that your team has the advantage.

Also keep in mind the Tidal Wave has a good range and can be used to help a team fight even if your not directly in the middle of it. Don't wait til the last second to use it if your in range!

Teamwork: Nami is great at saving people
If you see your ally/ allies fighting you can help them by either healing them and damaging the opponent Ebb and Flow or stunning the opponent, giving your ally more that extra few seconds to attack Aqua Prison.

But be careful! It is very easy to KS with Nami so be away of how much heal your ally/ enemies have and try to make the best decision possible. If you can save your ally, do it, even if it means you KS them at least they're alive (but try not to).

Turrets:
Nami can easily get a kill while under the turret/ save a turret. If your alone as Nami you can bubble then Ebb and Flow an opponent to cause them to back off. If an opponent tries to attack you under the turret you can stay there, land them in your Aqua Prison (causing them to get continual turret damage), Ebb and Flow to both heal yourself and cause them damage, and even use your ultimate to knock up enemies if you see allies on close by to help you.

Honestly, I think is a great choice with any ADC, but here are some good synergies with explanations:

Caitlyn is known for her awesome range and good harass. Nami is definitely a good pair with Caitlyn because she can give speed boosts ( Tidecaller's Blessing). Also, if Nami stuns an enemy (with Aqua Prison) it is easy for Caitlyn to be able to make a more on this because of her range and attack damage (specifically with Headshot).

Vayne is known for her burst and ability to chase. But- she can be squishy and have a weak early game. Thus a healing support for a squishy champion is a good choice! Also Nami's passive Surging Tides and specifically her Tidecaller's Blessing will give Vayne an even better advantage when chasing and trying to secure a kill because of the speed boosts and the fact that Tidecaller's Blessing slows an enemy target.

Corki has fast farming, good harass, and nice AOE damage. But he is squishy. So again I believe that a healing support is the way to go. But Nami is good with Corki's AOE damage because if she can get a stun on enemies (with Aqua Prison) then Corki can use his Gatling Gun or even Phosphorus Bomb at that area to cause serious damage.

Again, in solo queue I think Nami is well rounded enough to go with almost any ADC, but obviously use your best judgement and take into account how well you are with Nami and other supports.

is no longer available </3 ... so you'll have to build into a Locket of the Iron Solari from now on guys!

If you have your masteries the way I've set them up, you'll also start out with the Explorer's Ward and the Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation.

Start out with your basic support items: three wards sight ward, two Health Potion, and one Mana Potion.

Remember- try not to waste your Ebb and Flow heal on yourself since you may need it for offensive play and/or to heal your ADC. Nami has really high cool downs early game.

Depending on the support your playing against you may want to buy Vision Ward and/or an Oracle's Elixir. Some times when building I leave a spot open for these purchases since vision wards are often needed to ward baron nashor and other key spots late game. Especially when my team mates keep telling me to "pink ward" everything...

The items I had above are a usual build for me in the order I usually go about buying them.
Although you may want to start building ability power earlier based on how your game is going. Items such as Twin Shadows will not only give me extra ability power- but it also has an active that can help when chasing or initiating fights.

I recommend items (such as the Ionian Boots of Lucidity and Fiendish Codex ) which not only give you speed and ability power, but also have a cool down reduction given.

A build like this allows you to ward, give you allies extra boosts that will helpful in team fights, and gives you extra power to be able to make strong impacts on the game if you need to (aka your solo queue team isn't that great).

My Runes are a little unorthodox and I recommend that you think about what runes you want based on your play style.

There are a few random runes that I have because I thought that things such as Mana Regen, such as Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration would be useful- and I think they have proven to be useful early game!

But getting all 9 of the same kind of rune instead of having one random one is a great strategy.

I use Greater Seal of Armor and Greater Glyph of Magic Resist because as a squishy support I need my runes to be able to help me be able to withstand attacks without having my heal drained so easily!

Nami is a great support and very well rounded, especially for solo queue games! In conclusion remember:

Practice the Aqua Prison because it is your more powerful tool to making plays both in the laning phase and in team fights!

Nami's Tidal Wave can lead to a team fight victory when executed properly (this means taking into account the positioning of all your enemies in order to maximize the knock up and the positioning of your allies to make sure they can take advantage of this knock up.

Nami is squishy and has a lot of mana problems! So play safe and don't spam abilites too much early game because you won't have enough mana regen to help your ADC if you are engaged on/ ganked.

Nami is the play initiator, it is all about positioning and timing. If you practice when to use your abilities you will lead your team to a win!