Matchup
You are stronger late game — farm safe and avoid early trades.
Build vs Samira
Build adapted to this matchup
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Anti AD
Anti Heal
Anti CC
Anti Tank
DPS
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Malzahar
SamiraSamira's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Samira builds a combo by hitting attacks or abilities unique from the previous hit. Samira's attacks in melee range deal additional magic damage. Samira's attacks against enemies affected by Immobilizing effects will dash her to her attack range. If the enemy is Knocked Up, she also keeps them Knocked Up briefly.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 6s | 30s | 20s | – |
| 6 | 4s | 30s | 20s | 5s |
| 9 | 2s | 28s | 20s | 5s |
| 11 | 2s | 26s | 20s | 5s |
| 16 | 2s | 22s | 16s | 5s |
| 18 | 2s | 22s | 12s | 5s |
Playing against Samira
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
Interrupt her R with CC — she channels and is vulnerable. A stun/knockup cancels all her DPS.
Her W blocks projectiles but not melee/non-projectile: non-projectile CC counters her.
Don't let her reach S rank style: disengage when she's comboing to prevent her from using R.
Samira is weak against poke: harass her at range before she can engage.
Source: op.gg + LTL Engine · Patch 16.9.1 · May 9, 2026