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 bloomed into one of the best marksmen in light of recent updates.
But as she is one of the more aggressive AD carries, she needs specific supports to help enhance her strengths while mitigating weaknesses.
Best Samira supports in League
The best Samira supports in League include Alistar, Leona, Rell, Nautilus, Thresh, Rakan, Pyke, 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 can benefit her team in multiple ways. Still, to make the most out of her potential, players will 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 the 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 playing Alistar and you engage on a target, make sure to activate Trample (E) so you omit unit collision and prolong your stun duration. When playing besides 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. And with the buffs he’s received this season, he’s a decent overall tank support pick. He’s sitting pretty with a consistent 50.44 percent win rate in the support role.
Leona
Leona is another excellent support to pair with Samira, as she possesses 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 allow your allies and Samira to 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.
However, if you’ve never played Leona, pulling off her combo can be challenging. I highly recommend hitting the practice Rift or playing a few bot games to get the feel of it and then trying it out in norms. After a few games, you’ll get the hang of it.
Rell
Rell and Samira are another duo that complements 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 latter’s Wild Rush (E). Dashing through enemies will give Samira attack speed and deal 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 will leave the enemy ADC stunned and easy to kill. When mastered, this combo will allow you to leave 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 because her kit provides incredible engage, it’s easy to understand, and she’s more fun to play.
While she might not have an insanely high win rate at 49.86 percent in the support role, she’s still a strong contender thanks to how well she gels with Simara.
Nautilus
Nautilus has 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.
Similar to other champions on this list, Nautilus excels as one of the greatest supports to be played 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 can be followed 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, and 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.
Thresh
By now, Thresh has become an iconic support, being a strong pick alongside many ADCs, Samira included. His kit provides aggressive and engage tools, as well as some mechanics that are useful if you overextend or need rescuing.
When playing alongside Thresh, it’s easy to follow his engage with his Dark Passage (W). On Samira, though, it won’t be needed since you have Wild Rush (E), which should be enough to join the fray on its own.
The Chain Warden has a bunch of nice crowd-control tools, too, including Flay (E), Death Sentence (Q), which was recently buffed, and The Box (R). In the laning phase, a player who has mastered this champion should have few problems with using them to trap enemies in a CC combo, creating a window of opportunity for Samira.
Those abilities can be used defensively as well. And in those terms, the Dark Passage (W) reigns supreme. If you go too far, you should always have a lantern nearby, which you can use to escape. Still, as I mentioned, you won’t be looking at defensive plays but rather at offensive ones, and Thresh is as good at them in the late game as he is in the laning phase, creating a lot of space for Samira to deal damage safely.
Rakan
While he may be tricky to play, Rakan and Samira are a strong duo to take to the bot lane. Contrary to many champions listed here, Rakan isn’t as tanky, which forces players to be extra careful when engaging. Nevertheless, he has several engage devices and disengage tools, so steering Rakan to achieve success in lane isn’t difficult.
When choosing the Charmer, his most important tools are Grand Entrance (W), The Quickness (R), and Battle Dance (E). The former two are perfect for jumping in and creating a distraction, during which Samira can follow and use her skills for a favorable trade or pick up some kills even. If something goes wrong, though, I use Rakan’s Battle Dance (E), which can be used to disengage and safely back up from a disadvantageous fight, so you should never really fall behind during the opening minutes of the match.
His abilities can be used to an even greater extent in late team fights where properly placed, The Quickness (R) can charm up to five enemies. When opponents are affected by this skill, in most cases, I recommend jumping in, unleashing your ultimate as Samira, and then disengaging. At that point, enough damage should be done to tip the scales in your favor.
Sitting as high as sixteenth overall in the support role, Rakan is the highest-ranked support that synergizes well with Samira. That 51.50 percent win rate is nice, too.
Pyke
Like most of this list’s supports, Pyke is a unique, aggressive, and strong support to pair alongside Samira. While Pyke doesn’t have much sustain and doesn’t provide as many useful tools in the laning phase, when mastered, he can still create a powerful combo with the Desert Rose.
Similar to many hook supports, when Pyke lands his Bone Skewer (Q) on a squishy champion, he and Samira should eliminate them quickly. With his Phantom Undertow, it’s easy to create a crowd control chain with Bone Skewer (Q), during which Samira can freely deal damage.
The biggest difference regarding the Bloodharbor Ripper is in his ultimate. It doesn’t create a distraction for Samira whatsoever. But with it dealing admirable amounts of damage on its own, Pyke and Samira can kill enemies remarkably quickly before they can even properly react to being pressed on. This makes Pyke a unique yet still dangerous option to pick with Samira.
Amumu
While this may not be a meta support pick, Amumu and Samira are a formidable duo that 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) will be a key ability to help Samira engage because, if it lands, it will stun 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.
What I also enjoy about Amumu is that he is surprisingly tanky and provides a decent amount of opportunities for fights for your team, and you also have more 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.
