Dear All,

Thank you for opening my Guide, I am "Born_On_2_Sides", playing on the Vietnamese server on Garena. I am currently in Diamond 1 (I cannot confirm, because mobafire, doesn't aknowledge garena server). My real username is "Mightynichkun" currently, if you ever have time to check. I've been playing League for 3 years now, and have had 5 years experience on Dota 1 beforehand.

Firstly, I am a big believer in watching videos to learn, so I will be providing lot's of links for you guys to watch, I highly recommend you watch them if you have the time. This guide, isn't for newbie players really, since I probably won't be doing basic explanations, but with any nidalee experience and even for people who main nid, I think this guide is for you. I prefer to look at skills, and advanced tips, and roles (nidalee's role etc...), so thats what will mainly be in my guide.

This is only my second guide, so bare with me, If you have comments, or supportive criticism I'd really appreciate it, because I simply want to make better guides for people out there. (ps, hopefully help in having less noobs in the world :p ;))

I am not a fan of going into detail about runes, and having a bzillion rune pages, but they are important, and people tend to want to know what runes are good for which champion.

The rune page I have introduced is my generic ap rune page for most ap champs. (not all)
I take magic pen marks, simply because having a bit of magic pen is necessary to counter everyone's starting MR (magic resist). If calculated, having full AP runes, compared to AP runes + a bit of magic pen, the latter does more total damage in most cases.

Secondly, amor seals!, why not MR defense is the generic question normally to this. This I copied off faker, from SoloQ, and now most Na mid laners do it too. I think the real reason mid laners do this, is because everyone does AD damage (auto-attacking), and so no matter what your seals come in handy. Whereas, MR seals, are only sometimes effective. Even against other AP mid laners, they still need to autoattack! and then, nitty gritty detail, minion damage too....

Scaling AP Glyphs, This works wonders on Nidalee! Simply because nidale pre6 is fairly useless, and doesn't need her AP that much. Scaling AP is more effective later, than before, thus, afer 6, the scaled AP is wonderful for cougar and spears!

This speaks for itself, Ability power, is fun and powerful. I used AP quints on every AP mid lane champion, you simply need to early Ability power to do some damage, instead of hiding behind turret all the time. (even though that's what nid does, you must be able to bite back a bit early game ;))

Ok, so here's a pro tip. Most pro players have around 4 mastery pages, and simply every game you play, you choose one, and change it. The change would depend on your opponents (which you see when playing SoloQ/Rank). The masteries i've chosen in this guide, are my generic masteries for nidalee, and i'll explain why for some of these, stranger, mastery choices.

1. Firstly, for the offensive tree, I've gone and chosen "explosive weakness" instead of "double edge sword", simply because people tend to think nid is all about far range damage with spears, which is partly true. But, her cougar form, is super important too, in a team fight or chase, often you might have to get close up. whereas, "explosive weakness", allows you to jump in, then do a ton of damage with E+Q.
Below, is a great video of Faker's nidalee highlights from a SOLOQ game. Notice, how effectively he uses cougar form, a good nid, isn't simply one that can hit spears all the time!!
Play Video http://proreplays.com/

I am a BIG fan of items, I think it's an essential thing that seperates a bad-good and great player. Builds should never be 100%, they should change depending on the game, knowing what to spend your money on, can make you soooo much stronger.
I'll be going through the most important nidalee item tips, that go through my mind when i play. From most important, to least.

1. Tear vs Chalice.In my opinion both these items are pretty much enough for nidalee to have good mana or regen to use her abilities effectively. BUT, which one to get!?!?. The main difference, that many pro's do too, is Chalice give's you MR and better early game, whereas tear gives no MR but a late game awsome shield.
Simply, when against an AP mid and AP heavy team get the chalice, when against ad mid and ad heavy team get tear. (for example, the shield can be so usefull against champions like tryndamere or master yi). Often, you like to get Tear + seeker's armguard for armor against an AD mid.
Some mid laners like to get both, (i rarely do this), but it does allow you to spam the heal, and sustain your team if your a poke composition. (try the builds out, and see what you like, it depends on your nidalee style too)

The video below, is Bjerson nidalee, against a Zed mid. I tended to think that Zed destroys nidalee, and that is partly true. BUT! Bjerson has proven me wrong, with the right build, (and obv skill), Bjerson has made the AD zed so so useless. Watch it!!
Play Video
2. Mejai's, is not just for trolling!!! although i don't get it most of the time, and espeically not for serious serious games....but consider it. It can be used extremely effectively. As a general rule of thumb, if you get 5 stacks on it, it has been worth it's money. Only get it if your dominating.

3. spirit visage is a bit weird.... but if there team is simply killing you with burst AP all the time, get it, it will help you survive, but also sustain your team hardcore!

ONCE again, any questions, just comment, and i'll get back to you.
I may have forgotten things, or didn't mention things (((: PLEASE ASK

The skill sequence is pretty ordinary, but there are some slight changes you can go with!

1. Firstly, starting ability, I get Q becuase I like the poke early game and invading and all that. But getting W, and placing 4 traps quickly, then recalling and regening mana before getting to lane, is also something to consider. Finally, getting heal is also used! against strong mid laners and if you want to really help out your jungler, you should do it. Try them all ,see what fits you.

2. One thing, Bjerson said on a stream, that i found really useful is, sometimes all you do in lane is farm with nidalee because the mid lane opponent is too strong. So, you don't really need the extra point in Q, simply get two points in heal early on, and use that to help you farm.
ONE IMPORTANT, thing is however, there is a tendency to forget to upgrade your W, pre6 when you do this. This doesn't seem bad at first, but............ imagine, not being able to pounce around, in cougar form..... that suckssssss... first hand experience ((: so remember to upgrade W atleast once too.

Flash speaks for itself, i'm not going into detail. Simply, keep in mind, your E+Q combo, catches many people offguard because of how powerful it is. If you can Flash+W+E+Q, you can clear a lot of distance quickly with the Flash+W, and then also deal a killer blow with E+Q.

Heal, is the "new meta", I used to always get barrier, but I am starting to think heal is better. the MAIN reason, is because nidalee's early game weakness against most champions (yasuo, zed etc...) is ignite. Ignite, reduces your E, heal, by 50%, this can be the reason you die! So since heal, the spell, gets rid of that, you can now "Heal" plus "Heal", and you'll survive :)). The increase, movement speed speaks for itself.

In this Chapter, I will be discussing Nidalee's main role and my understanding of how I think she would be played most effectively in a team.

Nidalee, is a great poke/sustain champion, that has large burst of damage, with her Spear or cougar form. She is great for finishing off, fleeing opponents, or aiding in small squirmishes. Her weakness, is her teamfighting capabilities and Enemy champions who have powerful gap closers, that can get close to her quickly.

Nidalee's role, in most cases you will stand at the back and land spears, place traps, and heal. One mistake many players do with Nidalee, is spend 80% of your time in the jungle, shooting spears from the shadows. Although this is effective to an extent, often you don't realize the farm your missing, and well... if you hit enough spears, they just go home, then come back.... it's not really worth it. Another mistake, is people who always feel they have to be in the middle of a team fight, and cougar in.... and die. As a rule of thumb, cougar in, when it's 90% safe, and you will probably get a kill.
In squirmishes, (small fights, 2v2), many tend to stay in cougar form most of the time, and this is completly OK, its effective and more certain to help (spears can miss), simply teamfights are different.
Ganking, is also possible with nidalee because of your ability to move to lanes quickly, but since you have no stuns or slows, mostly gank a lane with enemies low on health or are pushed. Go in with a spear from far, than simply follow with cougar, then a last spear, is the general method of ganking.

Below, is a video of Bjergson a great nidalee player. This video takes a while to get going, but although it's not SUPER flashy, it's how nidalee is played, try and focus on When he is in cougar form, and when he isn't. Play Video

Pro's:
- Awsome sustain
- Far range poke
- High mobility and speed
- Really fun to play

Con's:
- Can be weak in teamfights
- Can be useless if you fall behind
- inneffective with the wrong team (team comp)

This chapter focuses on mechanical moves, and small tips that can improve your gameplay.

Tip 1:
- The leap than spear. In mid lane it can be very hard to land spears against only one opponent, who is always prepared for you. By leaping away from minion waves, than switching to human form mid way, than instantly shooting out your spear, you can catch the opponent offguard, because your moving so quickly and from throwing a spear from a different direction.
- Leap than spear, can be used for more than just that. Another use, if your aware of shadows and when your visible or not on the opponent's screen. You can leap backwards, and quickly launch a spear. Furthermore, this can be used to finish off opponents. If your going to spear, and you want to make sure it kills the enemy, after launching the spear quickly cougar form and W in the opposite direction. This maximizes the distance between you and the opponent, thus increasing the spear damage, it might give the slight additional damage you needed to kill the enemy.

Tips 2:
- Don't make your spears obvious. Opponents can see the animation of you about to throw a spear, so they can know its coming, and start moving in random directions to dodge it. HOWEVER, if you launch a spear at an opponent that is in a completely different direction, they might not expect the spear to come that way, and won't walk in weird directions. Essentially, youll be facing an opponent, but throwing at a completly different opponent, this almost guarantees hitting spears in teamfights or when being ganked. If you play thresh, thresh players do the same.
- Furthermore, your auto-attack and spear looks the same. So sending out spears, when you Auto-attack, can confuse the enemy a split second, into knowing which one is the spear. With certain Nid skins, this can be sOOO annoying.

Tip 3: Flash, is op
- This has been mentioned earlier, use this awsome combo of Flash+ pounce + E + Q. and you can catch opponents offguard, because you covered so much more distance, than when just using flash. enemies might not be prepared for the huge burst and distance covered.

Tip 4: Use that heal
- Don't forget heal gives attack speed, use it for taking down turrets, and you it a lot on your AD carry.

Tip 5: Your traps aren't all together useless
- Place your traps in "almost" random places in the mid lane, near enemy turrets, and other visible places. When the enemy runs away, the traps can make it frustrating for them to side step traps, and spears at the same time. Essentially, panics the opponent, and they usually get hit by one or the other. (if you have like 10 traps placed in mid lane, it can be reallly annoying)

Tip 6:
- In fights, everything should be on cooldown all the time. Use up everything, traps, heal, spear, than cougar, use everything, then switch and repeat. nothing is useless, use it all!!

This video below, demonstrates a lot of what i just said. It's faker on Nidalee, and his Nidalee is godlike, but it's at times too flashy, and i don't recomend that style for newer players. But simply keep in mind these tips, and watch how faker uses them in different scenarios.
Play Video

As a mid lane main, I can say Match-ups are SOOO important, because it tells you how you should be playing. One of my favourite things, is matching up with someone who is playing a powerful mid champion, but is barely harassing and letting me farm. You have to know, when you can and cannot play aggressive, is your goal to farm? or to denie farm? Here are some common Nidalee matchups, and how I respond to them.



I listed, some of the common mid laners above, in that pick and ban table.
Firstly, against a zed there is a great video with Bjergson play vs zed, that I have posted earlier in this guide. Watch THAT. Against a zed, you need to build tear and seekers armguard, because if not he just does too much damage. Pre6, play it safe, heal, and farm, avoid making serious trades. By 6, you want to be strong, and denie zed farm, because apart from his auto-attacking, he doesn't really regain health. So everytime he autos, go in for E+Q cougar combo. HOWEVER, you must be aware of zeds potential to burst you down with his ult, so go in, expecting to survive if he does ulti!!! Poke him down, and make many trades, but you just heal up, he doesn't. If you can do this, you will win lane, just be cautious of his ult, but with seekers armguard and heal, you should be ok.

Le Blanc, i Find really annoying, but she can find you annoying too. Simply against Le blanc, you want to farm at a distance with auto-attacks. She can find you annoying, because it is hard for her to harass you, since you can farm from far away, and le blanc, always harasses so it's unusual for her. By level 6, you can start making trades with her with your cougar form, but don't go in too deep, because her combo with a silence and chain stun will almost 100% kill you. If you want a kill, she must miss her chain, or miss the silence, then you have a chance. If not, make small trades, with you spear, and heal up. One good thing atleast, is in mid game/late game, when LB quickly goes into the fight, just launch your spear at her original "W", since she always goes back into it. u'll have like a 80% chance of hitting her, potentially killing her.

Here is a video of faker, against HotshottGG le blanc, watch how he plays it. HOTSHOTS LB is very good, one of his main's.
Play Video
With an Akali, you either dominate or you fail hard. Against akali, consider getting morellonomicon, since her spellvamp can be really annoying, especially if you think she is a very aggressive akali. When against akali, play semi-safe pre6, farming, don't try too hard to poke her down, because you can't really, you damage is insufficient. by level 6, you both have powerful burst abilities, she will try and make short quick fights, where you go home, and you must try and make long lasting fights, where you sustain better. To do this, make many small trades, where you can always run backto turret, to extend the fight. Use cougar for your main output of damage here, and let her start these trades, if not just farm. By the time, you can do this well and survive, start bringing pink wards to lane, and try and kill her. HOWEVER!! if she kills you, even just once sometimes, she can snowballlll harrrdd, and even perhaps tower dive you with ease.

Here is a video of Bjergson, playing it out so beautifully against an akali.
Play Video
When playing against a ziggs, your main concern is he can push the lane really hard, and you cannot, pre6. Pre6 try your best to hit minions as much as possible, while avoiding his bombs. By level 6, you can start clearing out waves, so this isn't much of a problem. Against ziggs, he is pretty slow, and usually i find it really easy to land spears, jump through minions and spear or chase him, usually after he's used up an ability (on minions), and it's on cooldown. You must be weary of his ulti when fighting him, and save your flash or W to get out of it, then come back in for the kill. At close range, with your cougar you can outrade him, simply getting to that point may be tricky. Get help from the jungler whenever possible, and you can get a BIG advanatage in lane here.


In my opinion, this is your arch nemesis as nidalee. He has the "W" buffed auto attack, that will reduce your heal, so this means his burst can prety much 100% kill you, if he hits everything. Consider getting barrier against him, to use against his ulti and sometimes save flash to avoid his E, when he is falling down. Even pre6 he is stronger than you, with Q+auto attack, so you have to play safe, even pre6 against fizz :;(. at level 6, you must be quick and use cougar form + pounce, to dodge his ulties and still just farm. Get jungler help, because if you get he lead, you can denie his farm, and then outsustain him.

Thank you, for reading this guide!
I spent a lot of time making it, and I hope it was useful for you all. Please comment, because I really want to know what people think, whether I make good or horrible guides :(
I you like this guide, please give me a thumbs up and comment, and look out for my future guides ((: "Born_on_2_sides" will always be part of my title, and even comment on how i can make it even better!
If you didn't like it, thumbs down (or not if you want :p), and give me a comment on how to improve please! or what to add!!

Thank you,