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Playing Against Nasus
TopPatch 16.2.1
What They Do
Nasus is an infinite-scaling juggernaut who wants to AFK farm stacks with and sustain through lane with . He is a weak early-game laner but becomes an unstoppable duelist and split-pusher if allowed to stack freely.
Abilities (What to Watch For)
| Ability | What You'll See | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| He heals when auto-attacking minions or champions | Passive Life Steal. He has high natural sustain, so you must commit to heavy trades or he will just heal back to full by hitting the wave | |
| His staff glows purple before an overhead strike | Permanent damage scaling on kill. If you let him stack this for free, he will eventually one-shot your squishies. Punish him every time he goes for a last-hit | |
| A purple aura surrounds your character and you slow down | Wither. This is one of the strongest slows in the game, reducing both Move Speed and Attack Speed. It makes kiting him almost impossible without Cleanse or Phase Rush | |
| A large circular zone of spirit fire on the ground | Deals magic damage and shreds a percentage of your Armor. Never take a prolonged fight while standing inside this circle | |
| He grows massive and a sandstorm surrounds him | He gains HP, resistances, and extra Attack Range. Crucially, the cooldown of is halved while this is active. Do not 1v1 him during this window |
Respect
- !Infinite scaling→If the game goes past 30 minutes and he has 500+ stacks on , he can 1v2 or 1v3 your team with ease
- !The cripple→The Attack Speed reduction completely guts champions like Jax, Tryndamere, or ADCs. If you are an auto-attacker, you cannot fight him while Withered
- !Level 6 power spike→Even if he is 0/2, gives him enough stats and resets to win an all-in if you aren't ahead
- !armor shred→It removes up to 45% of your armor. Even if you build tanky, standing in the fire makes you squishy
Punish
- +Levels 1-5→He is incredibly weak here. Freeze the wave near your tower and zone him away from the minions so he can't get stacks
- +is on cooldown (15-11s)→This is his only tool to escape or keep you in place. If he wastes it, he is a sitting duck for a jungle gank or a full all-in
- +expires→He loses his bonus health, resistances, and the low cooldown on . Bait out his ultimate, run away, and then re-engage the moment it ends
- +He uses to waveclear→It has a high mana cost early. If he uses it on the wave, he is likely trying to reset or poke. Fight him while his armor shred is down and his mana is low
Laning Tips
- •Buy Executioner's Calling or Bramble Vest early to cut the healing from
- •Slow-push the first three waves then let it bounce back to you to setup a freeze
- •Do not let him hit the tower for free; he can use the tower's high HP to farm stacks safely
- •Boots of Swiftness or the Phase Rush rune are mandatory for many top laners to negate the slow from
- •If he starts E-max (corrupting pot + poke), buy a D-Shield and Second Wind to ignore his burn damage
- •Ask your jungler to dive him early; he has no mobility and low base stats before level 6
Teamfight Warning
- ⚠He will look to Ghost and your ADC. You must peel him immediately with hard CC
- ⚠Don't group inside his during objective fights or your whole team loses their armor
- ⚠Kite him backwards. Nasus has no gap-closers; if your team has slows or displacements, he can be kited indefinitely
- ⚠Watch the split-push. A mid-game Nasus can take towers in seconds if left alone with
- ⚠Save your high-damage ultimates until after his health gain to ensure the kill
AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached