Why Nami? She is one of the most versatile supports out there, the one thing she isn't good at is tanking. Need heals? She's got them. Need CC? She has that too. How about slows? Yep! Want a speed boost? She can give it to you. How about poke? She can do that too.

You may be wondering, why doesn't everyone play her then? A few different reasons, for that we will go over her pros and cons.

Pros:
One of the best healers in the game, though she is a little more mana focused then some of the others.
She has a good amount of poke, without even having to go ap.
Plus her poke can come back and heal someone if done right.
She can save her ADC just as well as she can set them up for a kill.
She doesn't really have an ADC that she is bad with.
Her ult is amazing in late game, and a great way to start a gank in laning phase.

Cons:
She is extremely squishy and not very mobile. This makes her more vulnerable to tanky/cc supports, like Thresh and Blitz.
Her cooldowns are a bit higher feeling then some supports.
She can be mana intensive if you are not careful.
Her bubble (Q) is very slow moving, one of the easier CC's to avoid. It can change a fight if you do hit it though.
It can be really easy to accidentally (or not) KS with her W.

Nami is a very safe pick overall, one of the safest support picks in the game. She can be played in several different ways too. From super passive because you are getting poked and ganked, yay lets pretend to be Soraka or Yuumi. To "holy cow I would like to move one day" level CC. To "is that a support that just killed me?"

Not only does she have a good laning phase, but she excels in team fights. Her ult can be a game changer, being so big that it hits an entire team with ease, especially when fighting in tight spaces. Her heal can end up hitting two allies and an enemy, or vice versa. Her bubble can save the carries, or be the death sentence for the enemies. Her E can keep someone from escaping, or give the ADC just enough extra damage to win a fight.

Another good thing about Nami in a team fight is she can be the middle man. With her range she can stand far enough forward to hit people, while staying behind the front line and not get one shot. One big advantage to this is that she is still there for the ADC, without having to sit there and baby sit not being able to help the rest of the team as much. The main thing you have to watch out for here are Assassins and long ranged Bursters with a grudge. Some supports, like Janna or maybe Soraka, have to mainly focus on just keeping certain people alive. Some, like Leona or maybe Thresh, go in and have a hard time getting back out to protect the Carry. Nami is the middle man in that though, able to get her CC in the middle of everything and keep her Carry alive at the same time.

I would not say that Nami is necessarily bad with any ADCs, but there are ones she is amazing with!

Draven would be my top pick out of anyone to lane with. Give him a heal and slow and he is almost unstoppable. Other snowball champions work great with Nami too, these types of ADCs let Nami's ability to poke and CC shine. For this reason Vayne and Jhin are also extremely good picks. From there it depends more on how the actual ADC is played, Tristana and Jinx being great examples. They can also snowball hard, but it seems like they aren't as likely, or can come with some concerns such as dipping out on you during a fight.

Team compositions to avoid are more of a personal preference for me, Nami is almost completely immobile making some comps harder to play. With these ADCs I prefer to either play safer and focus more on healing and buffing, or hope their play style matches mine. Ezreal is one of the best examples of this, I have played with some who are super aggressive or capitalize on your cc. I have also played with some that jump away, leaving you to be killed, if hes hit by one auto attack. Kalista is another one that is not a favorite of mine. If I play with her, I prefer that she binds to the jungle for amazing ganks. Otherwise Nami is super squish to be thrown in, and I do not like wasting her ult as a lifesaver. The low ADCs I have listed ( Caitlyn, Xayah, Sivir, etc) can be just fine to lane with, though they either tend to be more farm focused or the kits just don't feel right together.

Another amazing champ to have on your team would be Yasuo. Both your Bubble (Q) and your Wave (R) count as knock ups for his ult. Giving you the opportunity to knock up multiple people, or whole teams for him. For this same reason, assassin types ( Zed, Akali, Master Yi, Kayn, etc) are really good to work with too. With your ult they have a better chance of diving into the back line without getting one shot. Just make sure that you are not running in too far if they aren't consistently killing it, they have escapes and you do not.

When it comes to picking who to ban, I almost always choose Blitzcrank. He is one of the hardest champs to lane against without being a tank. Even if you are good at avoiding his hook, he can still get your ADC. From there Thresh and Pyke are also great choices, CC and mobility is your enemy as Nami. I avoid picking Nami if the other team has a Braum, his shield makes it really hard to land an ult. From there Alistar and Volibear can be dangerous too. After that play style comes more into the equation, the main thing to remember is your biggest weakness, being immobile. This makes champs that have CC, Mobility, and Lots of skills to avoid on the harder end of things ( Leona, Rakan, Vel'Koz, etc.)

Other then laning phase, there are a few more champions to be aware of. If the enemy team picks Yasuo, then it might not be worth picking Nami. His wind wall stops her ult, and she is just another squishy immobile target for him to feed on.

I don't avoid Nami if there is an assassin on the other team, but you need to be aware of them and their play styles. Nami is a tasty fish treat for them if you constantly get caught out. It is also good to learn things, like being able to predict Zed going back to his shadow clone or where Master Yi will land after alpha strike to bubble them. This also means learning to save CC for when Katarina ults or your Lens for Akali smoke screen.

This is the set up that I like the most, they seem to give the biggest buff to her heals, while also helping with CDR and mana.

Summon Aery is a huge boost to Nami, this is going to help attack and protect. With this one you can get extra poke every time you W or even auto attack. This also means that your ADC can get a shield with just your E, which is even better after you get Ardent Censer.

Manaflow Band is good to help with Nami's mana problems. It works out well too since you are generally going to be poking a lot anyways.

This build is CDR heavy for a couple of reasons. First off Nami has higher cooldowns then some supports, so you want to try and get them down. Secondly most of the items that work great on Nami just happen to have CDR. This one helps by not only giving extra CDR, but then it also gives a bonus for any excess if you do get to that point.

This one just helps add to her poke for laning phase.

This helps add a little more of a heal, thus rewarding your ADC for following up on bubbles. Even though they won't notice it.

This is a big one, anything to help Nami's heals be even stronger. It gives your heals a boost, even more so if the target is low on health making your heals more clutch. It also goes really well with Summon Aery, since that can give a shield.

I prefer these extras.

Swaps:
I don't change much in the Sorcery tab, and I always keep that one. However there are two I have experimented with. First I have switched Transcendence with Celerity because of Nami's passive. Personally to me it didn't make a big difference and I like the CDR a lot better. Secondly I have switched Scorch with Waterwalking, I do like this one for roaming mid or helping to get to dragon quicker. I just generally prefer the scorch for the extra poke, plus it lets you to damage to champs for 10 seconds longer if you die, making you more likely to get assists.

In the secondary tree I have tried both Domination and Inspiration. The notes on the runes can probably show this better, but I will tell which ones are worth trying there.

For Domination I do like Zombie Ward, vision is extremely important and this makes it a little more fun to me. Ultimate hunter is nice to make Nami's ult come even faster. I don't think the cooldown on her ult is bad, however it is so strong that having it more often is a good bonus. You could also take Cheap Shot instead of one of these, but I don't think it does enough to justify it.

For Interspersion Magical Footwear is nice to give a boost to your boots and not have to spend the gold on them. Biscuit Delivery can help with the mana problems a bit during laning phase. Cosmic Insight is actually really nice too, especially with the amount of active items you can build. I just don't prefer it with the amount of CDR I am already building.

Extras can be changed too, you could go CDR, Adaptive, Armor. However again we are already building a lot of CDR, so I prefer the little bit of extra health.

I hope to come back and put more detail into this section at another time, however for now I am just going to put in some details. The rest can be seen at the top of the guide with some notes to help it along.

Starter Items: I always build the same thing, its a given. Spellthief's Edge, 2 Health Potions, and your Warding Totem Trinket.

First back: Try your best not to go back without enough money for Forbidden Idol, that is a major boost to you. Of course though that cannot always be helped, so if you do back early, then focus on the Faerie Charms and Vision Wards. I like to always have one vision ward down and one on stand by when possible. That helps to calm down the urge to risk fighting for a Vision Ward the enemy team is killing. Get Boots of Speed when you have the extra 300 gold to spend during a back. Get the Lens when your trinket item is upgraded.

Boots: I get my starter boots when I have an extra 300, or after Ardent. Then I personally don't upgrade until I have Twin Shadows too. Upgraded boots can honestly be almost any of these and is completely situational, I normally go with Merc Treds. Boots of swiftness are fine if you do not need MR and are mainly dealing with slows opposed to CC. Ninja Tabi are useful if it is a full AD team, or AD heavy where the APC is behind or the team lacks in CC. I do not get the Lucidity boots because this build already has tons of CDR. I am also not keen on Mobility boots with Nami, unless you are going to bite the bullet on getting other items early and get them early to roam a lot.

Essential Items: Always build Ardent Censer, and always build it first. I like to always focus on Twin Shadows next; it helps for ganks, getting away, and knowing where enemies are.

Situational: I prefer Zeke's as a third item if my ADC is doing well. Shurelya's is really good if your team is aggressive and doing well at running into the fight. Redemption is a wonderful team heal if you will remember to use it, a great way to help even after death. Locket can be an okay substitute for Redemption if you need to beef up a bit and die less. It also can work if you absolutely suck with using redemption, but still need more protection for your team. Mikale's is great if you have someone important getting focused by some sort of CC and you can remember to use it to keep them from dying. Athene's is fun if you are ahead and just need an extra item.

I will expand on this one more later to, hopefully adding the videos and information for the abilities. However for now here are the basics.

Passive: When you hit yourself or allies with an ability, they gain a movement speed buff. This is also doubled if Nami's ult goes through an ally.

Q, Aqua Prison: Aka the bubble. Unless there is a situation in the jungle where it is needed, then do not start this ability. This is a really nice CC to hit on someone. It is a stun, unlike a lot of supports who have snares instead. This means when you hit someone, such as the enemy ADC, they aren't still able to auto attack. This ability is also really hard to hit because it is so slow moving. If enemies are close enough to one another, then you can hit more then one Champ at a time. Again though, with the slow moving nature it can be easy to dodge, hence the reason why it is leveled last.

W, Ebb and Flow: This one is her bouncy move, her poke, and her heal. It is possible to hit up to three people with this move if it is done right. If you have enough champions in range, then you can start it on an ally or yourself to heal, then it can bounce to an enemy to do damage, before landing back on another ally or you to heal again. It works vice versa too, damaging two people and healing one person. This is the most important skill to level first, minus her ult.
*Be careful with this one, it is the main KS you will have with Nami. KSing too much can cause Allies to rage or get tilted. However if they are about to die, it is better to KS then do nothing.*

E, Tidecaller's Blessing: This one is her three hit slow. This one can be used a few different ways as well, first off it can be used for a lower mana costing poke if you prefer Auto Attacks. Secondly it can be used to keep champions from getting away from your ADC, or help them to kill the Enemy first with its extra Damage. Third, with Summon Aery, it can be used to put a shield on your ally. This comes in handy even more after you have Ardent Censer, as it is a lower mana cost option to give your ADC with a Summon Aery shild with this then a heal they might not need. Do not forget that this works on abilities now too. Because of its many uses and buff to your ADC, it should be leveled second.

R, Tidal Wave: This is one of Nami's strongest attributes, along with her heal. It is absolutely huge and can end up hitting an entire team. Its a huge wave that knocks up any enemy it comes in contact with. Don't forget it also doubles your passive boost on allies it comes in contact with. It is slow moving compared to some ults, so if you don't line it up right then it can be dodged. This is a great move to use in jungle fights, or a wonderful way to start a gank. Of course as with all ults, level this whenever possible.

Nami is a support champion that will be in the bottom lane with a Carry. Generally through this guide I am going to assume that the carry is an ADC. Some other common people you might see in bot lane with you are Yasuo, Heimerdinger, Ziggs, or Teemo. There is always a possibility of others, however those are the ones I see most often.

When you start the game you have to pay attention to where your Jungler is going. If they start on your side then I recommend watching out for an invade until it is time to leash. If there is an invade, or if your team calls for an invade, then you might want to take Q first. Otherwise always stick to leveling up your W first. When leashing you will auto attack the buff until it is at a safe health for the jungler to finish up slower. Before you leave give them a heal, this will put an Aery shield on them to block damage and heal for what they've lost.

Starting in lane you should start with your W (bounce heal), before getting your Q (bubble) for CC, and finishing up with E (slow) to boost your ADC. From there you will go into the normal R>W>E>Q leveling sequence. You have three different main jobs to do during this phase of the game.

First off is to keep your ADC and yourself alive. Your heal is one of the best in the game, but it has high mana costs. You need to decide if you will mainly be using it to heal, to poke, or if you can divide it up. Just make sure to keep your mana costs in mind before mindlessly using it over and over. I like to use my pots before healing myself, this keeps my mana up and helps to build your Manaflow Band rune before you deplete your mana.

Second is to poke out the other bot as much as possible. It is smart to pick one person to focus on and this can be done a few different ways. First off, who can you poke without losing so much health that it isn't worth it? Generally you don't want to poke an ADC who out ranges you, a support with CC up that you cannot dodge, or someone too far beyond minions.

If there is a Soraka then punish her for running up, the less health she has the less she can heal the ADC. If there is a tank who you out range (abilities included), or who has cooldowns up. Then poke them so that they feel like they cannot go in because of low health. Otherwise you will want to stay back, as they are your counter. If there is a damage support then you want to do a mix. You want to damage them, showing that you can trade and hurt back. However you want to make sure you keep enough mana to heal afterwards. This is where you can beat damage supports, making trades worth it by getting them low and healing back up. Be careful of damage supports with CC, you are squishy and don't want to give a kill in the trade.

While trying to trade you want to keep a few things in mind. Lux and Morgana have snares, this means you can still attack and heal anything in range when trapped. If you can dodge these, then it is good to capitalize anytime they are on their decently long cooldowns. Brand, Annie, Veigar, Vel'Koz, and Xerath have stuns/knock ups instead so be even more careful. However if they are on cooldown, then it is again a great time to get some trading in. Spell shields are another thing to watch out for, mainly seen in Morgana, Sivir, or Malzahar. These generally have long cooldowns, knowing when they are on cooldown can be the deciding factor between winning or losing a fight. One of the last things I am going to point out to look out for is the more tanky CC. This includes Blitzcrank pull, Thresh or Nautilus hook, and Leona Blade. When these are down, you can trade for just a moment, as they are less likely to kill you with your range.

Third you need to be able to set up, and watch for ganks. Vision is one of the most important parts of the game. You do not want to die for it, but if you don't have good vision you might die anyways. I have seen people play amazing games, and lose due to lack of vision. Speaking of vision, it is your job to help keep a look out on Dragon. Hopefully your jungler and ADC is helping with this as well, but it is the huge buff on your end of the map.

When it comes time for a gank set up, you want to make sure you have a vision ward down, recently use your Lens, or have a general idea of where the wards are to tell your jungler. Pre level 6, a lot of successful ganks are going to depend on your ability to hit your Bubble. After level 6 your ult is an amazing way to CC the enemy while your Jungle closes in. The other thing to remember is to put your E on someone, either your ADC to buff them. Your jungle if they have a gap closure, or yourself if your ADC needs to hang back and your jungle won't be able to use it.

When you are being ganked, you will hopefully have wards down so you can back up in time. From there you want to use your E as a speed boost for whoever needs it the most. Using your Q is going to depend on your confidence in landing it. Either using it to make the gank fail from the beginning, or saving it for if and when the fight starts. Of course you want to save your heal when it is needed, and use your ult as a last resort to live. If you are lucky you might can even turn the gank around into some free kills.

Since we have gone over match ups with different supports through out the guide in the Who to avoid section, and in the threats category; this will be focused more on enemy ADCs.

Aphelios He is a really good carry right now, and can do almost anything from cc, to laying down turrets, to poking. Be careful when fighting against him as he can snowball pretty hard. This is the one ADC I do not have a lot of experience against yet.

Ashe At level 6 you will want to be more careful with her, as she can ult and kill you quickly. However before then, she is very squishy and good to try and punish when you can. You are going to want to avoid her Volley damage, and it is best to poke when her Ranger's Focus isn't charged and available.

Caitlyn She out ranges almost anyone, including you. This means you will want to focus on either their support, or damage control. Usually trading with her is not going to be worth it because she will hurt you worse.

Corki This is going to be a more sklill based match up. A good Corki can poke you down fast, but if the skill match up is in your favor then you can poke him. Remember that he has a jump to try and avoid your CC, though it seems to have a longer cooldown then most.

Draven As much as I like to play with Draven as Nami, I also love to play against him. This might be a bit hard to believe since Nami is squish and Draven hits like a train, but depending on your skill level the lane can go to you. There is literally a mark on the ground to tell you where to put your bubble. He can either lose that Axe catch, or you will catch him, either way is a win win for you. Do be careful though that if Draven gets fed or gets items early, then he can basically one shot you.

Ezreal You are more then likely not going to land a bubble on this one, so it really isn't worth the mana to try unless his blink is down. He is squishy, but he can also do a lot of damage to you. Focus more on his support if you can, or do a bit of damage when his abilities are down.

Jhin Avoid his 4th shot like it is the plague, and watch out for his bounce. Those two things can clip your tail right off health wise. This one is a bit more of a skill based match up too, if his abilities are down then he doesn't have a real escape. Just don't feed him or you will regret it.

Jinx If you can avoid her Zap and Chompers, then you have a good chance with this one. She can snowball if you give up kills, but it is harder for her to then some of the others. Depending on her switch, she can have long range, however most use their mini gun the most. This one is a bit of a judgement call, but she is decent to try and trade with.

Kai'Sa Watch out for the poke from her seeker, and if her support has CC then she can hit a lot harder. She is also very likely to ult when you try and ult her, she can turn her escape into a kill depending on positioning. Try and play safe, but if you can keep her down from the beginning it will help a lot.

Kalista A good Kali with a tanky support, such as Leona, can be a thing of your nightmares. She is super hard to land CC on, and at level 6 they can kill you before you can do anything. However finding a good Kali matched up with a support she vibes with is rare.

Kog'Maw He can kill you in the blink of an eye if he gets ahead or lands his spit. However he is also extremely immobile, this means ganks and landing CC can be his death sentence. So do not feed him, and hope you can put him far behind. Always keep his passive in mind so you don't die to him after he dies, and remember that his ult has crazy range.

Lucian He has his ups and downs, right now I do not see him played much. He is another ADC who has an escape on him, making it harder to land your CC on him. Normally it isn't worth it to trade with him, thanks to his passive he gets to hit you twice if he lands an ability. You would do better to play safe or focus his support.

Miss Fortune Try to stand to the sides of the minion waves if you can, and try to not be anywhere near a low minion. Her Double Up can almost half health a Nami if everything adds up right. Remember when you are in her ult to run/flash to the side and not backwards. Also remember that landing a bubble or your ult cancels hers. This is another person that hits like a train, you might get by with trades in early laning phase, but be careful the more items she gets.

Sivir First off, avoid her Boomerang or you are going to get chunked down fast. Also watch for her Ricochets when you are standing near your minion wave. With her spell shield, you should first off try and not hit it. Feeding her mana just means more poke against your team. However if you are in a fight, then use your W to take her spell shield down. This will let you land a bubble or ult on her.

Tristana This one hurts, and it is nothing for her to land damage and jump away as you explode. Be careful of her jump reset when she gets a kill off on someone. This also means she has a way to avoid your cc, or even your ult. This is not someone you generally want to trade too much with.

Twitch Do not stand in his poison, as the stacks add up fast giving him free poke on you. Avoid fights when he has his ult, if possible its best to back off and reset. If you do not see him and he isn't dead, then always assume he is invisible about to pop out. Lens and vision wards help a lot against him, and it is possible to poke him some.

Varus His arrow can chunk you very fast, especially if he has any of his Blight on you. He is very immobile making him a decent ADC to lane against. Do be careful of his snare spreading ult, making him good at securing kills or setting up ganks.

Vayne Her Tumble makes it easy for her to avoid your bubble. Also beware of being too close to walls or other objects as she can pin you against them. She is another ADC who is best to avoid fighting all in with her ult up. However she is very squishy, and other then her tumble she is immobile too.

Xayah Be aware of the amount of feathers that are behind you, she can root you if there is enough. For the most part she is immobile and, until she gets her ult, she doesn't have an ability to avoid CC. After level 6 she can easily dodge either your bubble or your ult. She is best to try and get off her game before level 6.

I plan to add more to this guide later, going into more detail and making it look better. For now this will be a work in progress though! It has all the basic information for her until then. Thanks so much for reading and understanding, this is my first guide.