League of Legends Samira is Nearly Here!
Imagine Yasuo, but a bit different, a bit… cooler. Oh, that’s Yone? Okay, maybe let’s forget about that one. Imagine the most stylish, and probably the most mechanically intensive marksman possible, and maybe from there you get a rough idea of Samira. While Aphelios requires what seems to be an encyclopedia of instructions as to how to use the champion and how his abilities interact with each other, with Samira it’s more about the abilities being strung together to achieve higher style grades to maximize her potential.
The Lore
Samira grew up in Shurima as a street performer, but following the destruction of her home she found her true calling with the Noxian army. Samira was particularly skilled with the blade and her marksmanship was very good, but it was noting that she clearly lacked the discipline. She was reckless and could hardly resist showing off— which of course was disliked by most of her superiors, bar one. She was recruited by Indari, a former saboteur, and offered a position in a rather special warband. This unit would be in charge of missions that were usually too dangerous for the normal Noxian soldier. With Samira being eager of the glory that these dangerous missions would provide, she agreed. She derived the thrill of battle from the risks and dangers her missions posed, and she only felt alive whenever she was in the battlefield.
With an accident in one of their missions, their leader Indari was left incapacitated, and their unit had to disband. Upon returning home to her family, however, she felt out of place, and set out to find Indari once again. Taking into consideration Indari’s connections in the Noxian army and nobility and Samira’s raw skill, they embarked on a new venture as a pair of mercenaries, where Indari would find Samira her work. Even with the new setup, Samira remains the same thrill-seeking, danger-loving warrior that takes her opponents down in style.
Samira’s Abilities
Samira’s passive, called Daredevil Impulse, grants her a Style stack for every different basic attack and ability she lands against an enemy champion. The stacks last for 6 seconds, and she can gain up to 6 stacks, which refresh on every subsequent attack and ability hit. The stack count is represented by the grades E, D, C, B, A, and S. Players can find this to the left of Samira’s health bar. Samira also gains 0% to 21% bonus movement speed depending on her Style grade.
Another aspect of her passive is that her basic attacks against targets within 200 range use her blade, becoming a non-projectile. Basic attacks on-hit within this range and the slashes of her three basic abilities deal bonus magic damage, increased based on the target’s missing health. In addition, Samira’s basic attacks against immobilized enemies will make her dash into range if within a certain distance of the enemy, though not through terrain, rapidly strike the target six times, and suspend them for half a second. That is honestly a lot of stuff in just a passive.
Her Q, Flair, makes her fire a shot in the target direction, dealing physical damage. If a targetable enemy is in front of Samira, however, she will slash with her blade instead, dealing the same damage to all enemies hit in a cone. If she casts Flair during her E, she will deploy grenades on the ground which detonate upon the completion of the dash, dealing damage to the enemies within the area. The shot and the slash can critically strike.
Her W, Blade Whirl, makes Samira slash around herself twice over a second, the first slash occurring instantly and the second being performed at the end of the duration, each dealing physical damage to nearby enemies. Samira also destroys all hostile non-turret projectiles that enter or are in her vicinity during this time.
Samira’s E, Wild Rush, makes her dash through the target unit and slashes all enemies in her path, dealing magic damage and gaining bonus attack speed for 3 seconds, and takedowns on enemy champions reset Wild Rush’s cooldown.
Her ultimate, Inferno Trigger, makes her unleash a torrent of shots from her weapons, rapidly shooting at all nearby enemies every 0.2 seconds over 2 seconds, slowing herself by 25% and dealing physical damage with each shot, reduced against minions. Each shot can critically strike and benefits from life steal. Inferno Trigger can only be cast if the Style cost is satisfied, and will reset the grade back to zero stacks when the effect ends.
Possible Combinations
The best way to play Samira would probably be to have either Conqueror or Fleet Footwork as her keystone rune, and then stack critical strike chance on her to be able to get as much possible damage from her ultimate. Her range is quite short, however, so she might need some help with her early laning phase. Samira would always do well with champions that apply crowd control effects on her enemies, as her passive would let her dash into them if she decides to attack them. Due to these particular things that would work well with her, a mage support that can help with clearing waves and has some crowd control could help set her up for success.
Under the right conditions, Samira could absolutely pop off in a teamfight, using her passive on crowd control targets to dash into them, her Wild Rush in order to catch up to some stragglers, and she could use Blade Whirl to make sure enemy projectiles don’t land on her. Just make sure she is well protected because her short range also makes it so that she is easily accessible to enemies.
Final Thoughts
Samira, very much like Aphelios, might take a while to get used to, but Samira could be the next feared marksman on Summoner’s Rift once she gets released. But sure enough, aggressive play could help Samira reach her full potential, of course, aside from mechanical precision. Once summoners do master Samira, she will be able to fully beat enemies down with style!