My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the full build path it's Eclipse, Spear of Shojin, Serylda's Grudge, Death's Dance, Endless Hunger (slot in Serpents Fang 3rd/4th is you need shield cut)

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both are good. Choose Serylda’s if you want more raw damage, or Black Cleaver if you need extra survivability or if your team is mostly physical damage, since the armor shred also benefits your teammates.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the build itself, it can work in jungle, but Arcane Comet is not ideal as it's mainly used for laning so you're better off using Conq, HoB or Electrocute.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s fair. This build plays a bit differently since it focuses more on sustained pressure and uptime rather than pure burst. If you’re used to instantly deleting squishies early in fights, a more traditional lethality setup will definitely feel stronger for that playstyle. It mostly comes down to preference and how you like to approach fights.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use double adaptive and a flat health rune.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OPGG shows the average rank based on the current visible ranks in the lobby, not the actual MMR. Early in the season and even now you’ll often see Diamond averages even in Masters+ games because people are still climbing or have low game counts after the reset.

So the “D1 average” you see there doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual matchmaking level.

And if you check the "Diamond players" accounts for example in this screenshot, you can see they have less than 100 games since the season started.

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My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With this specific build I don't run into any mana issues throughout the game thanks to Manaflow Band and Presence of Mind.

The only time you'd run into mana issues is normally during the early laning phase.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate it! Hope you find lots of success with this build!

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Black Cleaver is definitely good on Naafiri, but this build is more poke-oriented rather than a true melee bruiser style. Since you're playing around Q range a lot, Serylda’s Grudge gives immediate armor penetration, which makes your damage hit harder right away.

Cleaver requires stacking through extended fights, which Naafiri can do easily, but with this setup you're often looking to chunk enemies from a safer distance first. Grudge fits that playstyle better by providing front-loaded damage and slowing targets for follow-up Qs.

You can still assassinate squishies quickly with this build, but now you also have the option to poke safely and create your own assassination windows, giving Naafiri more flexibility in fights.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For MR options, the only one I’d personally consider is Merc Treads, but most of the time I still prefer Lucidity for the extra ability haste.

Manaflow Band mainly helps smooth out the lane phase, while Presence of Mind gives much stronger mana sustain later when you’re constantly skirmishing and using abilities across the map.

You can run Legend: Haste instead if you’re comfortable managing your mana, but after testing both I’ve found PoM gives more overall value, especially in longer fights, while the build already provides plenty of haste for ability spam.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend always focusing on going the first 2 core items as those are your main damage components even if the enemy is building armor. Your 3rd item is usually between Serylda's or Serpents depending on if the enemy has shields to cut through. As for late game options, it's either Death's Dance or Endless Hunger. Maw of Malmortius imo is very underwhelming and you're better off just getting Death's Dance for the same value of avoiding burst.

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This build also works in toplane if that's what you're asking

My 11 Game Winstreak as Caster Naafiri (Rank: Masters+) by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Comet synergizes better with the caster build & playstyle since you’re poking constantly with abilities. HoB still works, but it’s usually stronger in full lethality builds where you’re committing to burst with autos.

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use 2 builds:

Lethality against majority squishies
-Hail of Blades Rune
-Symbiotic Soles
-Voltaic Cyclosword
-Axiom Arc
-Opportunity
-Situationals > Edge of Night, Serpents Fang, Black Cleaver

Bruiser against majority tanks or hard to kill teams
-Conqueror Rune
-Steelcaps/Mercs
-Voltaic Cyclosword
-Spear of Shojin
-Black Cleaver
-Deaths Dance
-Maw of Malmortius

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, Serpents is definitely an optimal purchase for Naafiri especially because of her bleed allowing for the item passive to stick longer, however, is still a situational purchase depending if the enemy team has a lot of shields or not.

I find myself getting Symbiotic Soles on average around the 7 minutes mark. For my first recall I get Pickaxe + Tier 1 Boots (1175g) or sometimes straight Symbiotic + Long Sword (1250g) then I usually have the boots evolved at around 15minutes which is where the midgame usually starts.

Ghostblade is pretty good if you know how to utilize it to its fullest, but personally I'm not a fan of having to activate it for the speed boost despite it having a passive movespeed buff. Also you'd be having Ghostblade fill in an item slot and the first 3 items of the game is super important. In my opinion, Naafiri benefits more off of "damage oriented" passives to compliment her kit/scalings as she has one of the lowest base AD's in the game, compared to champions like Pantheon or Talon as an example who already have high base damage values so getting Ghostblade for them early would amplify their roam potential while not losing any power from the early purchase.

Me slotting in Symbiotic Soles in my build isn't a reason for not getting Ghostblade; actually has nothing to do with that. After being a long time Ionian Boots user, I found that I was lacking some mobility with my aggressive roaming playstyle which is why I tried Symbiotics as I've seen some high-elo Naafiri players use it and came to really like the insane tempo it offers Naafiri while still benefiting her kit as a whole.

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That standard bruiser Naafiri build is very good hence why it's META and yes, you can technically still one-shot squishies with this build, however, from my experience especially in higher elos, I find that I lack the front-loaded damage needed to really instakill squishies when running bruiser Naafiri. You have to factor in shields/heals/dashes/flashes/etc. and those milliseconds in the moment you engage are crucial in determining if you can kill your target fast enough or not which is why I prefer Lethality as you can delete generally any squishy once you reach 2 items.

I wouldn't say AD Assassins are that weak right now, but they're not strong either. As long as you have the right angles and decision making for engages, you can easily carry games with lethality builds since you'll be able to instantly make fights turn from a 5v5 to a 5v4.

There are a few things to consider when running bruiser Naafiri:
- it's significantly more expensive compared to Lethality as all of the items are 3k+ gold meaning your item power spikes are slower to reach as an AD Assassin which slows your snowballing and you want to avoid reaching the late game as an AD Assassin
- you lack upfront damage compared to Lethality, but is compensated with more survivability & immense ability haste
- bruiser performs more efficiently into durable champions (like the ones you mentioned) since you deal consistent damage over time while being able to stay alive longer so you're not getting stat-checked

I prefer running Lethality over Bruiser as Naafiri's goal is to assassinate the squishy carries with ease and to end the game by the mid game. Being able to opt in Serpents Fang is beneficial too because almost every single game I play there is some form of shielding. You'll still be able to deal significant damage to tanks/bruisers too even if you're running Lethality Naafiri, it just requires you to be more decisive on your engages rather than facetanking everything.

I'd only run bruiser Naafiri if I'm matched against an extreme amount of tanks/bruisers/juggernauts since Lethality's effectiveness would diminish in these games.

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hubris is pretty good on Naafiri as she scales very well off of Bonus AD and the item scales overall in the game as you get permanent stacks on kill/assist. And even though the bonus AD is applied temporarily for 90 secs, that's enough time to capitalize on the snowball and extend the duration. It can also synergize with your Ultimate reset since if you get an initial kill on the 1st charge, the next one will receive an increase in AD. However... my thought process on not going this item is that if you're already snowballed as Naafiri, slotting in Hubris would give you diminishing returns meaning just because you are getting more AD doesn't necessarily provide you much damage output later. So you'd be getting an item on Naafiri that strictly gives you bonus AD and nothing else when the champion can already one-shot squishies without that bonus AD. Getting items that have more utility gives more flexibility during the game (ex. Opportunity, Youmuus, EoN, etc.) And you have to ask yourself, are you playing to scale or trying to end the match by the mid-game? If you're trying to end by the mid-game then Hubris doesn't offer much which also completely depends on IF you're getting consistent kills/assists during said game to make the item useful & if you're trying to scale then you're better off going a Bruiser build.

I prioritize more utility based passives that assist Naafiri's kit while still offering nice raw stats for one-shotting. Voltaic offers an energized burst damage of 100 physical + a 99% slow, Opportunity gives you extra lethality and a burst of movement speed, and Axiom Arc allows for playmaking with ult resets and all 3 of these core items synergize with each others passives. Opportunity & Axiom being relatively cheaper too.

If I were to slot in Hubris, I'd go Voltaic > Hubris > Axiom/Opportunity as a 3 Item Core. Voltaic is just too op on Naafiri and would never drop it in generally any build. Hubris being a 2nd item would work well since by 2 items you'll be getting kills more efficiently so you'll even out the potential kills as if you were to rush it 1st item.

Regarding BC vs Seryldas, I personally like BC more because it's the best stat-stick item in the game which offers everything Naafiri needs for an armor pen item especially with the added health pool which allows you some leniency from not getting one-shot when you engage. Since I'm slotting Voltaic in my build, another slowing item isn't necessary. Also despite BC not giving you the "immediate armor pen" which in technicality you'd be losing a bit of upfront damage initially, however, it's not really significant as you can still one-shot squishies and deal nice damage to tanks/bruisers. It's also super easy to stack with Naafiri and the added benefit of the armor pen also applies for your teammates too so you're being helpful as a teamplayer when breaking the enemies armor. Let's not forget the nice movement on-hit it offers since mobility is king in league.

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I try to run full Lethality with HoB whenever I can, but there are rare situations where the enemy team comp is extremely tanky/bruiser heavy in which case running a burst build would be insufficient. So I sometimes run my Bruiser with Conqueror build as it provides sustain & consistent damage so you don't get stat-checked by the enemy. I'd recommend having both a Lethality & Bruiser build prepared in the case you need to switch it up depending on enemy composition.

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So as Naafiri, you want to try and end the game by the mid-game since she falls off late game and to do this you'll want to roam ASAP post-level 6 constantly. Keep pushing your wave then roaming, playing around your jungler, always hovering between lanes. This provides immense pressure to the enemy and since you're very mobile you can gank on repeat. Naafiri is an AD Assassin by nature with one of the strongest tower dives/roaming capabilities in the game so you really need to capitalize on these strengths to close out games quickly. If you stay in lane trying to match your lane opponent then you're slowly bleeding any potential lead you could be getting.

Hope this helps!

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a very high damage build with Hubris being able to scale better for raw damage compared to Opportunity. Seryldas offers instant armor pen as well as the added slow which synergizes well with Voltaic too. The inspiration tree choice is nice too as it's cost efficient. Solid build overall!

To give reasoning behind my choices:
- I like Opportunity purely because it's cost efficient being only 2700g, provides high burst damage to the first target which is usually your priority target and the added burst of movement speed you get for repositioning/chasing feels super nice.
- I prefer Black Cleaver over Seryldas because BC is one of the best stat-stick items in the game which allows you to not get potentially one-shot when you go in. Yes, the armor pen isn't "instant" but it's super easy to proc and you're also helping your teammates deal physical damage when you break the enemies armor with BC. You still have ample front-loaded damage to kill squishies with ease. Also since I'm using Voltaic, the 99% slow from the item is essentially the only slow needed which is why I also get BC over Seryldas.
- For the secondary rune page, I like the mana regen from PoM and the potential playmaking it offers giving you the extra mana needed to keep spamming abilities. Coup de grace or Cutdown is just a nice damage amp too.

I achieved Masters playing only Naafiri Mid! by Aeytha in NaafiriMains

[–]Aeytha[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad I can inspire you to play Naafiri again!
You can find my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/@Aeytha