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14.19 Platinum Nilah Guide - Samira's Hypercarry Sister
Updated on September 13, 2024
Build Guide By gaarrett
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Nilah Build Guide By gaarrett Updated on September 13, 2024
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Recommended Items
Runes: Standard
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+10-180 Bonus Health
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+10-180 Bonus Health
Spells:
Barrier
Flash
Cleanse
Flash
Items
Ability Order Every Game
Joy Unending (PASSIVE)
Nilah Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Threats
Synergies
Show All
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Akshan
This is a common theme but short range auto-attackers are free lanes for Nilah. Save W for when Akshan jumps on you with E and you should be able to out DPS him. Stand away from the wave so he has to choose between shoving or poking you with Q.
Aphelios
Historically kept weak because of professional play, Aphelios can only pressure Nilah when he has Calibrum (green). Use W when Aphelios has Gravitum (purple) and is about to root you, or when he has Severum/Crescendum (red and white) and is Q'ing at you. The W also causes his ult effects to miss, just something to keep in mind.
Ashe
Only difficult because of the constant poke you'll eat during lane. Save W for when Ashe tries to kite with her Q autos and you should be able to E on top of her for a favorable trade.
Brand
Stay as healthy as possible and stand away from the wave to avoid his E poke. Second Wind and Doran's Shield are very useful if he's drafted with another poke champion. Dodge Q stun with E, after he dumps his spell rotation then you can run him down.
Caitlyn
Dangerous because Caitlyn is typically drafted with a poke support which ends up being a very oppressive lane for Nilah. Save W for headshots or to grab farm.
Cassiopeia
Get on top of Cassiopeia early and often. Bait out the Miasma and you should win trades during lane. Out of lane, she will attempt to kite everyone to oblivion so engage is very useful here. You can buffer her ult stun with your own.
Corki
Corki is rare as a botlaner nowadays and a complete pushover. You outscale and outtrade, the only annoying thing is the poke and him W'ing away from your all-in. If you time your ult right, you can pull him out of his dash.
Draven
If drafted with engage, Draven will completely own the lane. Your goal is to prevent him from snowballing, because if Draven is even then he's losing. Pop W when he has double axes up and trades become a little better.
Ezreal
Pokes constantly and is almost untouchable if Ezreal uses his E correctly. W blocks his Q, either play off your support/jungler or play for skirmishes.
Hwei
If you don't have engage, farm and ignore. Hwei has the tools to keep you off him and the poke to keep you under tower. Second Wind and Doran's Shield are heavily recommended if he's paired with another poke champ.
Jhin
Jhin pairs extremely well with poke supports and his movement speed keeps him out of your range for the majority of the lane. Use W on his fourth shot, E away from his root, play to outscale.
Jinx
Can keep up with Nilah's scaling and can do damage from a safer distance. If you can ever get on top of her though, you can blow her up in a few autos. Stay as healthy as possible during lane and look to use the minion wave to E on her.
Kai'Sa
Nilah eats short-ranged ADCs alive. Kai'Sa falls into this category. The only way Kai'Sa can play safely into you is if she goes a W poke build.
Kalista
Kalista's pickrate is almost as low as Nilah's. W when she's trying to stack spears on you for a really damaging Rend and you should be fine.
Karthus
Karthus bot hasn't been very good for a while, which is good news for Nilah. Avoid Q poke, use E when you get slowed by his wall.
Kindred
Very rare, not a hard lane. W the third auto attack when Kindred put their E on you. If they're standing near the edge of their ult, you can pull them out with your own.
Kog'Maw
Kog'Maw plus an enchanter is NOT fun to fight. Your opportunities to take the lead are during lane with an engage support or when you hit your two item spike. Save W for when he uses his range extender and use the minion wave to get in Q range.
Lucian
Stronger in lane but Nilah massively outscales Lucian. W his passive autos and use E to reposition accordingly. Don't let him snowball and you pretty much win the game at three items.
Lux
Common theme. Bad matchups for Nilah are those that outrange her. When Lux throws her E out, walk forward. Luxes always use E at max range. After she realizes that it doesn't work, she'll start putting them closer to her. This is when you switch it up and walk away. Dodge her Q, stay healthy, play off your support and jungler.
Miss Fortune
Somewhat similar to Jhin because they both have enough movement speed to keep you at arms length the entire game. W is useful to stay healthy during lane as it dodges Miss Fortune's Q.
Quinn
Another short-ranged marksman. You can buffer Quinn's E with your own E, but the timing is kind of tight. Nothing notable about this matchup, trades are started with E like almost every other and W is used when she starts fighting back.
Samira
Samira's worst matchup. Almost impossible to lose. W prevents her from getting passive stacks, Nilah ult CC's her out of her own, and you eventually outscale.
Senna
Senna's soft rework because of her presence in the professional scene turned her into an enchanter. She can still lay down some respectable poke, but her damage has been noticeably lowered. Stay healthy, avoid getting rooted. Nilah spikes harder and faster than Senna does, play around item timers.
Seraphine
If you want to absolutely ruin Nilah, pick this champion. Seraphine's E is impossible to miss on a Nilah trying to dash at her and the constant poke, utility, and CC shut you down. Worth banning.
Sivir
Counters Nilah by keeping her under tower with superior waveclear. The spellshield can also ruin your engage with ultimate. Dodge her Q, save W for important fights or to farm safely.
Smolder
Smolder's trade pattern is incredibly similar to that of a mage, except he's not immobile. Use W to dodge his Q and subsequent autos. Ult can pull him out of his E flight if timed correctly. Lategame Smolder can evaporate waves without even trying, if you didn't draft engage then good luck getting on top of him.
Swain
APCs are muy no bueno for Nilah. If Swain has ultimate up, he's more than fine with longer fights. Dodge his E and you can take favorable, VERY short trades during lane.
Syndra
As with any APC, stay healthy, wait for them to use their key ability (E in this case), and jump on them. If Syndra is smart though, she won't use her stun until you use E. Nilah's ult pull can be buffered if you're close enough but don't count on it.
Tahm Kench
Tahm Kench botlane will almost always be paired with a Senna. This strategy is slowly losing steam after Senna's identity shift to enchanter however, so don't expect to see it very often. Dodge his teleport knockup and you should be able to shred him, especially after you get a few items.
Tristana
Wants to jump on top of you, which makes your life easy because now you get to save both E dashes. Use W when Tristana puts her bomb on you and she loses the majority of her trading power.
Twisted Fate
W can block Twisted Fate's gold card stun. Nilah also outscales and if TF is playing bot, he's probably going AD which has been nerfed so many times I've lost count.
Twitch
Your W wrecks Twitch's most threatening ability, his ultimate. Be wary of his invisibility and play to scale.
Varus
Dodge his Q and E away from his ult. Varus is a little weak right now so this lane isn't too tough. The only thing he has over Nilah is his utility, which you can counter with your insane scaling.
Vayne
This matchup is entirely in Nilah's favor until you are both full build. Vayne is one of the only champions that can 1v1 a late game Nilah. W prevents her from proccing the true damage stacks and can avoid her enhanced autos from Q. Vayne will likely just E you away if you attempt to ult her, so keep that in mind and stand away from terrain.
Veigar
Technically outscales Nilah because of his infinitely stacking passive. Veigar's cage really messes your all-in up. Play for skirmishes and stack dragons.
Xayah
Nilah's worst traditional ADC matchup. When Xayah is strong, you might as well give over your LP if you let her through the ban phase. Use W when she's autoing you from 900 units away with her passive and don't even bother trying to get on top of her. Play to scale and hope your support doesn't ditch you.
Xerath
Second Wind, Doran's Shield, dodge the stun. Early boots can help if you don't want to go sustain runes and items.
Yasuo
Yasuo is stronger in lane but he's still a melee auto-attacker, which is exactly what Nilah counters. W denies him Q stacks and ruins his all-in. His windwall blocks nothing you have and Nilah has the mobility to dodge his tornadoes.
Zeri
Slippery and can almost match Nilah's scaling. Very hard to lock down, beg your support to draft something with point-and-click.
Alistar
Engage, peel, sustain, the cow has it all. If Taric didn't exist, I think Alistar would be one of Nilah's best supports.
Amumu
If the Amumu doesn't hit Qs, then he doesn't provide a whole lot of utility to you. Not bad as far as engage options go but there are definitely better alternatives.
Annie
If your support refuses to lock anything but a mage, I recommend begging them to pick Annie. She has a shield, an unmissable stun, and the second longest basic attack range in the game.
Ashe
Ashe offers poke and good engage with ultimate, but is just as squishy as you are. If she can't hit an ult though, she doesn't provide much use outside of lane.
Bard
Bard wants to roam which means Nilah's XP passive loses its value. Bard players are also really weird and I don't like them. Offers very low utility outside of a small heal.
Blitzcrank
Blitzcrank's hook is so powerful, it makes up the entirety of his power budget. The downside to this is that if he can't connect his hook, he is useless to you.
Brand
Mage supports are NOT GOOD FOR NILAH. I have never liked fighting with or against a Brand. Nilah also shoves the wave by default with her Q autos so a Brand that just presses E on the wave might as well just set off a flare to attract the enemy jungler.
Braum
Braum is severely underrated. His shield can block a lot of poke and his ult offers a great engage window.
Fiddlesticks
Fiddlesticks has point-and-click CC and a self heal, both of which Nilah is a big fan of. Not horrible but Fiddle is also short ranged, meaning your lane is very susceptible to poke.
Galio
Tanky and has decent engage. Galio's cooldowns are very long in the early levels and after he uses his full rotation he can't fight for the next fifteen seconds. Has a shield and the taunt can set up game-winning ultimates.
Heimerdinger
Only useful if the enemy team drafts a dive comp. If your support picks Heimerdinger into Caitlyn/Lux, go full sustain and play under tower. Provides zero utility for Nilah's passive and builds damage items on a support budget.
Hwei
Has a shield and some poke and that's about it. If Hwei can't hit skillshots then he's useless. I really hate mage supports if you can't tell.
Janna
The single best peel support in the game. Has shields, sustain, and her tornadoes prevent evil people from jumping on the poor melee ADC.
Karma
Karma has very respectable poke and her shields are incredibly useful. One of the better enchanters to draft with Nilah.
Leona
The premier engage support. Leona is as tanky as they come and has incredible CC.
Lulu
Good shields and Lulu's ultimate can single-handedly win fights if used correctly.
Lux
If Lux can't land her poke then her only value lies in her shield, which is also a skillshot.
Malphite
Worthless before level 6. Nilah can take some of his shielding but Malphite support without ultimate is not a champion.
Maokai
Engage tank with some built-in sustain that Nilah can utilize. A good Maokai has complete control over the brush in lane which means you can dip in them to drop aggro.
Milio
Pretty strong as far as enchanters go. Milio has good peel and respectable sustain, and his ultimate is a giant AOE Cleanse.
Miss Fortune
Completely useless to Nilah. Worth dodging if you get a bad matchup and your support locks Miss Fortune in. This pick was only good because of the Zyra meta and picking it in 2024 is intentionally feeding.
Morgana
If the Morgana is hitting Qs then there's an argument to put her in a higher tier, but it's just not reliable enough on a game-to-game basis. Black Shield is incredibly useful however and she makes a good pick into engage lanes.
Nami
Peel, engage, healing, shields, point-and-click. Nami is never bad with Nilah. She also matches the water theme you got going on.
Nautilus
Statistically weak because of how much he's picked, but Nautilus is still Nautilus. Engage tank with shielding and a point-and-click ultimate to lock down mobile targets.
Neeko
Neeko has an impossible to miss ultimate but doesn't provide much more than that if she can't hit her E root. Your level six all-in is rather strong though, especially if Neeko has been poking down the enemy.
Pantheon
Engage with point-and-click and that's literally it. Pantheon's stun doesn't have a lot of range and if you're low then you can't follow up, which usually results in him dying.
Poppy
Good Leona counter, ultimate is very useful for peel. Gets tanky and has a shield so Nilah is more than fine playing with a Poppy.
Pyke
A good Pyke will put you a full two items and levels ahead of your lane opponent. Nilah can sustain off his passive, he sets up your all-in very well, and he gets his economy inflating ult a full minute earlier because of your XP passive.
Rakan
Shields, healing, engage. Great pick in every meta. Locking Rakan also denies a potential enemy Xayah/Rakan duo draft which is always nice.
Rell
Engage tank. Has shields. Not a whole lot to say here.
Renata Glasc
Has good peel but Janna does Renata's job better and safer. Her ultimate moves too slowly to be a reliable engage tool and her hook just feels clunky.
Senna
Senna shores up Nilah's main weakness, her lack of range. Even with her enchanter rework, Senna is still a very potent support. You both scale to the moon which makes your late game very fun to play.
Seraphine
Has decent setup and shielding but since Seraphine is still a mage, she's not best-in-class at either. You could definitely have a worse support pick but there are stronger options.
Shaco
No utility outside of conditional CC. Good for being annoying in lane but doesn't do a whole lot for Nilah.
Shen
Tank with CC and a great ultimate. Has a passive shield which means Nilah can get some of that as well.
Sona
The Nilah/Sona lane has zero kill pressure in lane without help from your jungler, but you should never die anyway because of how you synergize with each other. Late game, Sona is making your team unkillable while you shred anything that stands near you.
Soraka
Soraka works with Nilah's passive very well. Stronger in lane than Sona but doesn't scale as well. Can help you sustain through some absolutely terrible matchups.
Swain
As with most mage supports, Nilah doesn't synergize with them very well. If Swain can't hit an E then he doesn't provide any use to you. The only saving grace is that you can piggyback off his W/E/R healing.
Tahm Kench
Gets tanky but has little utility outside of a very dodgeable stun and knockup. His ult is useful for peel and he likes Nilah's XP passive.
Taric
Taric is an enchanter/engage hybrid, both archetypes Nilah loves playing with. He is absolutely fantastic for her and never a bad pick.
Thresh
Thresh's sheer utility means he will always be usable at the very least. Like all engage supports, he lives and dies by hitting hooks during lane.
Vel'Koz
If Vel'Koz is missing skillshots he's worthless. He scales but by the time he's able to do damage on a support's budget the game is likely over.
Yuumi
Used to be great for Nilah but Yuumi as a champion just sucks now. She still has healing and shields though so it's not the worst pick.
Zilean
Nilah and Zilean can really break the XP limits of the game together but other than that gimmick this lane isn't that strong. However, if you survive lane, you're rewarded with a support that literally prevents a teammate from dying and has a Nasus Wither on a two second cooldown.
Zyra
Zyra has a good ult that can set up potential picks, but her root is situational and has more range than any of your abilities. This discrepancy means that once you get in range to play off her root, it's likely worn off by then.
Synergies
Alistar
Engage, peel, sustain, the cow has it all. If Taric didn't exist, I think Alistar would be one of Nilah's best supports.
Amumu
If the Amumu doesn't hit Qs, then he doesn't provide a whole lot of utility to you. Not bad as far as engage options go but there are definitely better alternatives.
Annie
If your support refuses to lock anything but a mage, I recommend begging them to pick Annie. She has a shield, an unmissable stun, and the second longest basic attack range in the game.
Ashe
Ashe offers poke and good engage with ultimate, but is just as squishy as you are. If she can't hit an ult though, she doesn't provide much use outside of lane.
Bard
Bard wants to roam which means Nilah's XP passive loses its value. Bard players are also really weird and I don't like them. Offers very low utility outside of a small heal.
Blitzcrank
Blitzcrank's hook is so powerful, it makes up the entirety of his power budget. The downside to this is that if he can't connect his hook, he is useless to you.
Brand
Mage supports are NOT GOOD FOR NILAH. I have never liked fighting with or against a Brand. Nilah also shoves the wave by default with her Q autos so a Brand that just presses E on the wave might as well just set off a flare to attract the enemy jungler.
Braum
Braum is severely underrated. His shield can block a lot of poke and his ult offers a great engage window.
Fiddlesticks
Fiddlesticks has point-and-click CC and a self heal, both of which Nilah is a big fan of. Not horrible but Fiddle is also short ranged, meaning your lane is very susceptible to poke.
Galio
Tanky and has decent engage. Galio's cooldowns are very long in the early levels and after he uses his full rotation he can't fight for the next fifteen seconds. Has a shield and the taunt can set up game-winning ultimates.
Heimerdinger
Only useful if the enemy team drafts a dive comp. If your support picks Heimerdinger into Caitlyn/Lux, go full sustain and play under tower. Provides zero utility for Nilah's passive and builds damage items on a support budget.
Hwei
Has a shield and some poke and that's about it. If Hwei can't hit skillshots then he's useless. I really hate mage supports if you can't tell.
Janna
The single best peel support in the game. Has shields, sustain, and her tornadoes prevent evil people from jumping on the poor melee ADC.
Karma
Karma has very respectable poke and her shields are incredibly useful. One of the better enchanters to draft with Nilah.
Leona
The premier engage support. Leona is as tanky as they come and has incredible CC.
Lulu
Good shields and Lulu's ultimate can single-handedly win fights if used correctly.
Lux
If Lux can't land her poke then her only value lies in her shield, which is also a skillshot.
Malphite
Worthless before level 6. Nilah can take some of his shielding but Malphite support without ultimate is not a champion.
Maokai
Engage tank with some built-in sustain that Nilah can utilize. A good Maokai has complete control over the brush in lane which means you can dip in them to drop aggro.
Milio
Pretty strong as far as enchanters go. Milio has good peel and respectable sustain, and his ultimate is a giant AOE Cleanse.
Miss Fortune
Completely useless to Nilah. Worth dodging if you get a bad matchup and your support locks Miss Fortune in. This pick was only good because of the Zyra meta and picking it in 2024 is intentionally feeding.
Morgana
If the Morgana is hitting Qs then there's an argument to put her in a higher tier, but it's just not reliable enough on a game-to-game basis. Black Shield is incredibly useful however and she makes a good pick into engage lanes.
Nami
Peel, engage, healing, shields, point-and-click. Nami is never bad with Nilah. She also matches the water theme you got going on.
Nautilus
Statistically weak because of how much he's picked, but Nautilus is still Nautilus. Engage tank with shielding and a point-and-click ultimate to lock down mobile targets.
Neeko
Neeko has an impossible to miss ultimate but doesn't provide much more than that if she can't hit her E root. Your level six all-in is rather strong though, especially if Neeko has been poking down the enemy.
Pantheon
Engage with point-and-click and that's literally it. Pantheon's stun doesn't have a lot of range and if you're low then you can't follow up, which usually results in him dying.
Poppy
Good Leona counter, ultimate is very useful for peel. Gets tanky and has a shield so Nilah is more than fine playing with a Poppy.
Pyke
A good Pyke will put you a full two items and levels ahead of your lane opponent. Nilah can sustain off his passive, he sets up your all-in very well, and he gets his economy inflating ult a full minute earlier because of your XP passive.
Rakan
Shields, healing, engage. Great pick in every meta. Locking Rakan also denies a potential enemy Xayah/Rakan duo draft which is always nice.
Rell
Engage tank. Has shields. Not a whole lot to say here.
Renata Glasc
Has good peel but Janna does Renata's job better and safer. Her ultimate moves too slowly to be a reliable engage tool and her hook just feels clunky.
Senna
Senna shores up Nilah's main weakness, her lack of range. Even with her enchanter rework, Senna is still a very potent support. You both scale to the moon which makes your late game very fun to play.
Seraphine
Has decent setup and shielding but since Seraphine is still a mage, she's not best-in-class at either. You could definitely have a worse support pick but there are stronger options.
Shaco
No utility outside of conditional CC. Good for being annoying in lane but doesn't do a whole lot for Nilah.
Shen
Tank with CC and a great ultimate. Has a passive shield which means Nilah can get some of that as well.
Sona
The Nilah/Sona lane has zero kill pressure in lane without help from your jungler, but you should never die anyway because of how you synergize with each other. Late game, Sona is making your team unkillable while you shred anything that stands near you.
Soraka
Soraka works with Nilah's passive very well. Stronger in lane than Sona but doesn't scale as well. Can help you sustain through some absolutely terrible matchups.
Swain
As with most mage supports, Nilah doesn't synergize with them very well. If Swain can't hit an E then he doesn't provide any use to you. The only saving grace is that you can piggyback off his W/E/R healing.
Tahm Kench
Gets tanky but has little utility outside of a very dodgeable stun and knockup. His ult is useful for peel and he likes Nilah's XP passive.
Taric
Taric is an enchanter/engage hybrid, both archetypes Nilah loves playing with. He is absolutely fantastic for her and never a bad pick.
Thresh
Thresh's sheer utility means he will always be usable at the very least. Like all engage supports, he lives and dies by hitting hooks during lane.
Vel'Koz
If Vel'Koz is missing skillshots he's worthless. He scales but by the time he's able to do damage on a support's budget the game is likely over.
Yuumi
Used to be great for Nilah but Yuumi as a champion just sucks now. She still has healing and shields though so it's not the worst pick.
Zilean
Nilah and Zilean can really break the XP limits of the game together but other than that gimmick this lane isn't that strong. However, if you survive lane, you're rewarded with a support that literally prevents a teammate from dying and has a Nasus Wither on a two second cooldown.
Zyra
Zyra has a good ult that can set up potential picks, but her root is situational and has more range than any of your abilities. This discrepancy means that once you get in range to play off her root, it's likely worn off by then.
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