The League of Legends meta is constantly evolving, with new champions and items changing on a patch-by-patch basis. The case is no different with Samira, the Desert Rose, who has risen from the ashes and once again blossomed into one of the best marksmen in recent updates.
Because she is one of the more aggressive AD carries, though, she needs specific supports to enhance her strengths while mitigating her weaknesses.
Best Samira supports in LoL
The best Samira supports in League are Alistar, Leona, Rell, Nautilus, Taric, Nami, Maokai, and Amumu.
Samira is one of the most aggressive champions in League, which sets her apart from many AD carries on the roster, including those who rely on sticking to the backline and shredding through any enemy they come by.
With Samira being entirely different from other champs in the bot lane, she offers unique gameplay that benefits her team in multiple ways. Still, to make the most out of her potential, you need a proper support by her side that can accelerate her growth in the laning phase and provide tools to aid her in teamfights.
Alistar
Alistar is a great champion to partner up with a lot of ADCs due to his aggressive and defensive qualities. Despite being one of the oldest champs, his kit has remained unchanged for years now and still remains unmatched in some matchups.
His passive allows him to heal himself and all nearby allied champions, making him a useful ally in lane and team fights. But when it comes to Alistar, his ultimate and simple Headbutt (W)-Pulverize (Q) combo is his greatest strength. The former gives you more resistances while removing crowd control effects. The latter is a great engage tool that, if used on a squishy enemy, will likely eliminate them from the get-go if Samira or other champs follow up. Headbutt (W) is also a strong disengage mechanic that can help protect Samira.
When you’re playing Alistar and engage a target, make sure to activate Trample (E) so you omit unit collision and prolong your stun duration. When playing beside Samira, you should be a dynamic duo in the bot lane that, in most cases, will bully the enemy duo, depending on the matchup.
While I do feel bad for bullying an enchanter, sometimes getting my AD carry ahead with a few headbutts is worth it. In the late game, you’re unmatched with proper synergy. He’s a decent overall tank support pick. He’s sitting pretty with a consistent 51.13 percent win rate in the support role.
Leona
Leona is another excellent support to pair with Samira, as she has both aggressive and defensive skills. Similar to Alistar, she also has been unchanged for a few years now, which is a testament to her kit being truly unique and never falling out of fashion.
Once Leona hits level three, playing against her is tough. With her Zenith Blade (E)-Shield of Daybreak (Q) combo, she has fantastic engage in-lane that can take care of most ADCs, if it lands. What’s more, with your passive, you’ll make your allies and Samira deal more damage to damaged enemies, which can make a huge difference, especially early.
Samira and Leona become a perfect duo once they both reach level six. With your ultimates, Leona can pull off an even better engage, and with Samira’s Inferno Trigger (R), she can safely follow up and unleash her full ult before the crowd control effects on enemies fade away. This will make you a deadly duo, even more so in late-game team fights.
Simultaneously, Leona is one of the better supports for keeping her ADCs alive, so she will also be useful defensively. She’s doing well for herself with a win rate of 51.22 percent in the support role as well.
If you’ve never played Leona, pulling off her combo can be challenging. I recommend hitting the practice Rift or playing a few bot games to get the feel of her before trying her out in norms. After a few games, you’ll get the hang of it.
Rell
Rell and Samira are another duo that complement each other almost perfectly. With their kits, they can create an unstoppable pair that is incredibly hard to stop.
One of the easiest combos you can pull off while having both Rell and Samira in the bot lane is engaging with the Samira’s Wild Rush (E). Dashing through enemies gives Samira attack speed and deals some damage. Then, Rell can activate her Attract and Repel (E), stunning enemies between her and Samira.
If you’re playing as Rell, keep in mind that it’s always crucial to keep an eye on your positioning. Closely linked to the idea of keeping an eye on your positioning is to avoid being caught by surprise while you’re dismounted. Without her mount, Rell’s escape options become extremely limited.
In most cases, this leaves the enemy ADC stunned and easy to kill. When mastered, this combo makes your bot lane way ahead of the enemy duo.
In the late game, Rell also has some useful tools. Her ultimate is the perfect mechanic to keep enemies off of Samira so she can execute them while they are dragged toward Rell. And while Rell may not have been a champion in your support pool, after her rework, she should be. Her kit provides incredible engage, it’s easy to understand, and she’s more fun to play.
While she might not have a particularly high win rate at 49.86 percent in the support role, she’s still a strong contender thanks to how well she gels with Samira.
Nautilus
Nautilus recently returned to the meta, and for the past few months, the champ has been one of the strongest supports. His abilities didn’t change at all, besides a few buffs here and there. But when paired with Samira, he’s as deadly as ever.
Like other champions on this list, Nautilus excels as one of the greatest supports to play alongside Samira due to his aggressive kit and crowd-control tools. With his Dredge Line (Q), it’s easy to close the gap between you and your opponents, which you can follow with a stun from an auto-attack thanks to Staggering Blow (Passive) or with his ultimate.
On top of that, the Titan of the Depths is hard to kill, so in most cases, enemies should focus on him if he decides to engage, especially in the laning phase. There’s no better feeling than engaging as Nautilus, watching Samira whittle away the enemy’s health, then strolling away without too much of a dent—which is why I enjoy his robust kit.
With Nautilus by your side, Samira players shouldn’t have any problems with getting rid of her enemies in bot lane, especially with gap closers like Wild Rush (E), which lets you follow Nautilus in the blink of an eye.
While Nautilus doesn’t have an AoE ultimate like Rell or Leona, which allows Samira to freely use her Inferno Trigger (R) to its full extent, his kit is still helpful alongside the Desert Rose. With Nautilus by her side, Samira can focus on eliminating single enemies. And with the high amount of crowd control tools he offers, she shouldn’t have to worry about her life too much.
Taric
When you’re playing a snowball, late-game ADC like Samira, having a support alongside you who can empower your abilities is vital. When it comes to granting maximum autonomy and allowing you to unleash Samira’s ultimate, there’s hardly a better pick than Taric.
The support’s prowess mostly comes from his own ultimate, which makes him and his allies invulnerable to any sort of damage for 2.5 seconds. Therefore, releasing his ultimate and then allowing Samira to launch into the enemy team and use her own R is a recipe for success.
Fortunately, Taric’s much more than just his ultimate. He provides healing with Starlight’s Touch (Q), stun with Dazzle (E), and shield with Bastion (W). For many ADCs, including Samira, it’s enough to guarantee a winning lane, unless you’re heavily outmatched by the enemy duo, which has immense poke and greater range than you.
Nami
While she may be tricky to play, Nami and Samira are a strong duo to take to the bot lane. Contrary to many champions listed here, Nami isn’t a tank at all and relies mostly on skill shots, which forces players to be extra careful when engaging. Nevertheless, she has several engage devices and disengage tools, so steering Nami to achieve success in lane isn’t difficult.
Nami’s main tool in-lane is her Aqua Prison (Q). While it’s not easy to land, once it does, it stuns the target for 1.5 seconds, which is enough for Samira to deal considerable damage. In the meantime, Nami can annoy enemies with her own poking mechanic, Ebb and Flow (W), which has a high range on its own. While playing this duo, this is mostly what the gameplay in-lane relies on, unless you need to take a defensive stance. Still, it’s often enough to come out victorious and start your snowball early.
Fortunately, Nami is a terrific pick for many scenarios alongside Samira. When you’re ahead or even, her Tidal Wave (R) and Aqua Prison can link up to create a perfect engage or disengage, depending on the situation. You’ll have to master landing her skill shots first, however, unless you want to be a burden for Samira and rest of the team.
Maokai
Maokai returned to the meta for good by the end of season 12, where he received a small rework. Changes to his kit solidifed him as a stellar pick for both the jungle and top lane. However, in recent months, Maokai has also been slowly becoming a powerful support, perfect for AD carries like Samira.
When it comes to tanky supports that excel in engaging fights, there are hardly better options than Maokai in the current mega. His Twisted Advance (E) is an easy and useful gap closer. Once he reaches his enemy, he can easily stun or root them with Bramble Smash (Q) or Nature’s Grasp (R), respectively. On top of that, Maokai’s ultimate improves his movement speed for two seconds, and his cooldowns are relatively short, making him perilous for most of his time on the Rift.
Starting the fight with a W+Q combo, then following up with an ultimate once you’re in the middle of the enemy team, is a perfect setup for your teammates and Samira.
I absolutely love picking Maokai for the support role. While he’s a perfect partner in crime for many marksmen, his strength when paired up with an aggressive ADC like Samira is unmatched. Once you both reach level six, you should easily win any two-vs-two duels. You’ll be even more deadly come teamfights, where your ultimates combined should rapidly deplete enemies’ health bars.
Amumu
While this may not be a meta support pick, Amumu and Samira are a formidable duo you don’t want to face in the bot lane, especially against enchanters.
Like all the champions on this list, you hit power spikes at levels two, three, and six, where, at each of these levels, you’ll be looking to go in—if the timing is right, that is. With Amumu, his Bandage Toss (Q) is a key ability to help Samira engage because, if it lands, it stuns the opponent, giving Samira time to use her abilities. And when you hit level six and can use your ultimate-Bandage Toss (Q) combo, it can make a difference in team fights.
I particularly enjoy how Amumu is surprisingly tanky and provides a decent number of opportunities for fights for your team, and you also have freedom to roam and help take objectives. And if you’re in low-elo, not too many people know how to play against an Amumu support, so it can sometimes be a free win and LP.
