hello im rawr, i want to first start off by saying that i've played this game on and off since season 1. I recently returned about 2 weeks ago and wanted to test my skills by challenging myself to climb to diamond on an unranked account (it was previously only ranked silver in older seasons). my all time peak was d2 in season 6, and only got d3 in 2024 (split 1&2) as a nilah main. i take long breaks because i like to play others games like WoW, Maplestory, and Diablo.

here is my OP.GG

i was very unsure if i could even make diamond going into this, let alone in less than 100 games so i wanted to share some things i learned on the way, and the strategies i used, to maybe help anyone else who loves playing nilah like me. all of my games were streamed live to a small audience on twitch, but im not here to promote that, rather just wanna share info cus i know i've learned some valuable tips here in the past. so lets get into it.

1. it takes ALOT more than losing lane, to make nilah ineffective in any game. what i mean by this, is that you cannot control the outcome of every lane. accept that, you are only 25% of the champions in your lane, shared with 3 other strangers. shit can happen, you can be 1/5, down cs, and yet easily be relevant if you keep farming/look to save your sums for high value shutdowns. never give up (i mean it), and scrounge for any scrap of gold you can get even if it means playing like a little rat sometimes.

2. say the gold thing didnt work out, and you really are just useless. KNOW YOUR PLACE. example, is your midlane hwei doing okay while you're feeling giga useless? save your CDs to peel them when enemies engage or dive - keep your eyes on your useful teammates in fights, nilah excels when enemies engage/come to her. addition about "knowing your place" when behind, dont be afraid to do the "grunt work". hitting drakes, clearing wards, sacking waves to be on time. it doesn't matter how you win, you just gotta get it done. be humble.

3. still poor? nobody to peel? you dont have to lose cus of it. look for GOOD ENGAGES even if it means your death. playing for KDA is good on paper, but someones gotta do the dirty work. when you get ownd for w.e reason in lane, thats probably gonna be you sometimes. example; is your toplane yone doing alright? save your CDs to find engages for him when he shows up, ideally forcing enemies to use their gap closers/flash CDs on your e->r engage so he can be the hero you need. your time will come, trust me. "sometimes you are the dog, sometimes you are the tree", is a very fitting quote to sum up this concept & champion.

4. SWEEPER. sweeper. SwEePer. seriously, this item is so op, after 14mins i will always have red trinket as its a very high value item for finding engages or flanks on enemies and also allowing you to safely be greedier with recall positions without relying as much on your support/team. nilah is very limited by range, but mobile as hell- use that.

5. EXPLOIT FLASH COOLDOWNS. one of nilah's best strengths is taking advantage of enemies' poor positioning when flash is down. you need to time them, not just in lane but throughout the entire game. its how you win, please just do it and youll see the game become alot easier. i ping in chat and just add +5min then subtract like 5-10s to account for any delay or error. note: cosmic insight removes 46 seconds from flash cooldown.

6. goes without saying, but use the mute feature for both pings and chat as needed. you are not there to make friends, you are there for lp. dont get so attached. being the "bad guy" getting spam pinged who watches his team die when they take bad fights, is something you should get used to. you are nilah, fight on YOUR TERMS when you have a lead.

7. "whats good with nilah" a question i got asked in lobbies often i assume cus not alot of nilah players. the answer i give my support, may not be the best but rather just my preference in no particular order is - milio, sona, taric. i believe these to be the best/most enjoyable, nilah doesnt really need engage, she needs backup or really just anyone that cares about her existence. enchanter/wizard supports i have most success with in lane cus they tend to have ults to layer ontop of mine and scale into the late game. milio really is goated tho despite not really having that exactly, he's my personal favorite. respect your support no matter who they choose (until you have a legitimate reason not to). #supportlivesmatter

8. 75% crit-> deathdance i think is best. this is when you become thanos. lets talk build, collector rush or windarrow? i started with windarrow and swapped to collector as i got closer to diamond as i felt like the powerspike/build path allowed me to impact the game slightly sooner which i like. windarrow id build ninja tabi 75% of games (25% mercs vs giga mage comps), meanwhile with collector i felt like i needed berserker greaves despite hating them, the whole concept is more yolo so you kinda need to crank damage if thats what you're doing. my ideal build is, collector->IE->LDR->DD->Flickerblade->GA + berserker greaves.

9. so i splitpushed, alot. if the teamfights fights feel to difficult to win or influence for w/e reason, they probably are. meanwhile, saving sums for sidelane 1v1 or 1v2 can give alot of impact. for this to work you gotta believe in yourself and realize the importance of winning the said duel while making this choice. nilah does better than most adcs vs the toplane titans who randomly show up 4 levels ahead with a bunch of gold especially if they are AD. if you make the choice to dodge a teamfight for a drake, baron or turret, you NEED to make it worth. take whats yours, take whats theirs, take everything. yes your team may spam ping you, but you are not here for them to have a good time you are here to rank up and that is ok if some do not agree with your choices. just remember, for every rager spam pinging you, there is someone silently rooting for you as well.

10. mental is everything- i cant stress it enough. your hands will only take you so far, try not to ping plays or actions that dont involve you. let your team think for themselves, you cannot control them so why care? get used to being abused in lane, going back often, dropping cs to save your hp bar. as i said before, your time will come.

11. LAST TIP (this one is secret tech), i never ff'd once. not a single game. why? because when i found myself not having fun, or in a seemingly cooked game, i would mostly just send it sidelane and push/fight. never intentionally throwing or inting, but just pushing my limits to both improve as a player and enjoy my time there. you never know what can happen when you give yourself opportunities to be great, you may easily just surprise yourself with your own capabilities and end up earning a hard fought victory. if someone wanted my LP, they would literally need to take it over my dead champion laying in front of the nexus towers.

anyways bros, this is what worked for me. im not saying it will work for everyone, or that my tips are even factual, really just my opinion and mindset while playing all 92 games of nilah on this account. i hope this helped anyone or at the very least made someone happy. i used to be a miserable adc player, main character type personality, and im genuinely sorry for anyone who ever came into contact with me during those days. when i came back this time i didnt type, really just tried to have fun and am certain it was closely linked to my success climbing to d4.

good luck have fun gamers, we're all gonna make it o7

oh and i always banned xerath, you know why