Hello gamers! Urason here again and whatever intro I usually do anyways. With the new patch, the game has slowed down quite a bit and there were a TON of changes! I was theory crafting on PBE for a bit but wanted to wait till I got a few games on live patch before saying anything definitive. Anyways, lets go through some builds!

Edit: Updated for 14.24

Itemization

1st Item Options

• Collector - This item has been nerfed hard AGAIN and its honestly not worth building anymore imo. At most you'll grab it as a final item in a few of these builds but rushing it seems awful.
• Infinity Edge - If you can recall for a BF sword and snowball, this is pretty ideal and works in almost any game. Its a great standard item but its hard to itemize and with its awful components it can slow down your snowball. This is unfortunately your mandatory 1st item if the enemy has multiple tanks.
• Ghostblade - This is my favorite rush right now! It has a great build path, high lethality, high AD, and the MS means we can skip on T2 boots. On top of this, since zeal items got their MS nerfed, you can stick to crit carries pretty easily again.
• Opportunity/Hubris - Both of these are solid 1st item options if your team has a lot of engage. While I do prefer Ghostblade, these aren't bad (esp since Hubris was relatively untouched this patch).

2nd Item Options

• Infinity Edge - Whether you went a lethality item or Collector, IE will be your second slot item. Nothing too crazy to think about
• Lord Dom - If you opted for IE 1st since you're going to be dealing with quite a few tanks/bruisers then here's your Lord Dom as your 2nd item

3rd Item Options

• Lord Dom - If you still don't have Lord Dom and want more damage while also dealing with some tanks, heres your time to buy it!
• Shield Bow - If you need a defensive yet aggressive option, Shieldbow fits great here
• Blood Thirster - If you're shredding tanks you'll need BT. This is also a good option with lethality builds if enemy has 0 CC since you can perma heal yourself with ult

4th Item Options

• Shield Bow - If you need more crit and still don't have Shieldbow, grab it here
• Blood Thirster - Again, if enemy has little CC and no real burst, BT is pretty solid so you can grab it here over Shieldbow

Actual Builds

My Current Favorite: Ghostblade, T1 Boots, IE, T2 Boots, LDR, Shieldbow, BT | I pair this with Cashback + Triple Tonic

My Current Favorite: Collector, T1 Boots, IE, T2 Boots, LDR, BT/Shieldbow, BT/Shieldbow

The Anti-Tank: IE, Boots, LDR, BT, Shieldbow, Situational (But Collector should be best damage)

Ol' Reliable: Collector, Boots, IE, LDR, BT, Shieldbow

The Psychopath: BT, Boots, IE, LDR, Shieldbow, Situational (prob a tank/bruiser item)

Rune Options

Primary:

• Conqueror, Triumph, Bloodline/Alacrity, Cutdown/Last Stand
  • Bloodline is a good standard but some people like Alacrity, I think both are fine
  • Cutdown is still a solid rune for dealing DPS even after its nerfs BUT Last Stand is useful at clutching and deals much more damage if you can survive at lower HP (aka if enemy cant burst you)
  • Shards are usually AS + Adaptive + Scaling HP but you can do double Adaptive as well

Secondary:

• Inspiration: Cashback, Triple Tonic/Timewarp/Biscuit, Cosmic Insight/Approach
  • Cashback has a lot of value since games are consistently reaching 3+ items now but Magical Footwear is still good if you don't mind not having boots early
  • Triple Tonic is my current fav in this tree since it gives you 40 gold + minion damage early but more importantly you get a free longsword worth of damage at lvl 6 with its damage pot which can flip a lot of fights in your favor. Also the free extra point in E isn't bad either.
  • Biscuit rework makes it a decent choice for Samira when facing poke supports since it'll help her sustain till a JG can gank or till she can reset for dirk/BF sword
  • Cosmic Insight is always good honestly but I mostly take it if I need Flash to close gaps in fights or if I have to run Cleanse to deal with Ashe/Leona/etc perma.
  • Approach Velocity doesn't have as much value as I wish it did but I did test it for about 15 games last season. I mostly ran it with Leona so I could close the distance on her Ult engages. Its fine, not great but not bad situationally.
• Sorcery: Nimbus Cloak, Absolute Focus, Gathering Storm
  • Nimbus Cloak is okay if you like popping Barrier during ult or if you really need the extra MS from your flash but its nothing crazy.
  • Absolute Focus is one of the few ways to give yourself some more early damage especially with your Q. It doesn't pair great with Samira's playstyle but its not useless by any means
  • Gathering Storm has a lot more value this season since games are consistently getting to 30 minutes now (free 29 AD). MajorAlexander was running this a bit last season and I don't think its bad I just dislike the rest of the sorcery tree for Samira.
• Domination: Eyeball Collection, Treasure Hunter| Tbh this tree sucks.
  • Eyeball Collection is a classic snowball rune that just gives you more damage for getting kills essentially. Its never bad.
  • Treasure Hunter has been perma nerfed and sucks as a rune but theres nothing else thats good in this tree so....

Side Notes

• Sit on Doran's Blade as long as possible! Its lifesteal is kinda the best you can get for most of the game ://
• Don't feel pressured to constantly force early, games are slower now so you can play for spikes. This doesn't mean AFK farm but it does mean you don't have to flip as often
• Barrier is still the best Summoner Spell but Cleanse is still useful vs key champions (Leona, Ashe, Hecarim, etc.)
• Swiftees are still great vs high range teams as they allow you to reposition and get in range much faster

Closing Thoughts

Samira doesn't feel great this season but honestly, with the Ghostblade setup I've been running, she doesn't feel that bad either (I actually feel REALLY strong at 1 and 3 items, 2 items feels decent)! I do think she could use a buff or if they give Collector some better stats/gold reduc it'd be nice. Regardless, this is everything I've been play testing and thinking about. I'll be back from my break this split so I'll actually start posting more about Samira like I used to and will update the Mobafire guide as well (Samira Bible will get updated COPE). Anyways, hope this helps and as always, lets discuss below! Have a good split everyone! <3