League of Legends - Nasus Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Nasus

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Soul Eater Nasus drains his foe’s spiritual energy, giving him bonus Life Steal.
	Siphoning Strike (Cost: 20 Mana, Cooldown: 8/7/6/5/4)ACTIVE: Nasus’s next basic attack will deal 30/50/70/90/110 (+100% Attack Damage) (+3) physical damage.Siphoning Strike permanently gains 3 damage if it kills an enemy. This bonus is doubled against Champions, large minions and large monsters.
	Wither (Target Range: 600, Cost: 80 Mana, Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11)ACTIVE: Nasus ages target champion over 5 seconds, slowing their Movement Speed by 35%, increasing to 47/59/71/83/95% over the duration. The target’s Attack Speed is reduced by half the amount.
	Spirit Fire (Target Range: 650, Effect Radius: 400, Cost: 70/85/100/115/130 Mana, Cooldown: 12)ACTIVE: Nasus unleashes a spirit flame at target location, dealing 55/95/135/175/215 (+60% Ability Power) magic damage.For the next 5 seconds, enemies in the area have their Armor reduced by 20/25/30/35/40 and are dealt an additional 11/19/27/35/43 (+12% Ability Power)magic damage each second.
	Fury of the Sands (Effect Radius: 175, Cost: 100 Mana, Cooldown: 120)ACTIVE: Nasus becomes empowered in the sandstorm for 15 seconds, increasing his maximum Health by 300/450/600 and Armor and Magic Resistance by 15/35/55.While the storm rages, he deals 3/4/5 (+1% Ability Power)% of nearby enemies’ maximum Health each second as magic damage (240 damage max per second) and gains an additional 1/2/3 Armor and Magic Resistance.

Strategy

• Always farm with your (Q) Siphoning Strike. It is crucial for you to stack this up as it will be your main damage output. The damage gained doubles if you last hit (Q) Siphoning Strike against large monsters and champions, so it is recommended that you try to last with it as much as possible to maximize its efficiency.
• (W) Wither does not only slow your enemies, but also reduces the target’s attack speed. Take note of this when you are against an auto-attack oriented champion.
• (E) Spirit Fire deals a lot of damage, but takes a lot of mana. Only use it in  team fights and trades.
• Wave management and learning how to pull your creeps are great skills to master if you want to utilize your (Q) Siphoning Strike. Overextending your lane might make it difficult for you to increase your creep score.
• His passive Soul Eater gives a lot of sustain in extended teamfights. In addition to his passive, (E) Spirit Fire also deals damage and reduce armor in a large circle. Fight within the circle because chances are you might outsustain the enemies in extended fights.

Runes & Masteries

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Summoner Spells

Top Lane Option 1		Top Lane Option 2
Flash	Teleport	Ignite	Flash

Option 1 – This is the optimal summoner spell for Nasus because it gives Nasus an engage or disengage tool with Flash. Teleport will also give him lane presence and let him teleport immediately in lane after his first back.

Option 2 –  This is if you want to be very aggressive against your enemy laner. This will also give you a lot of kill potential eary on in the game.

Item builds

Top Lane

Starter Items
Corrupting Potion	Warding Totem

Corrupting Potion – Some people might opt for Doran’s Shield for extra health and the sustain. Corrupting Potion, on the other hand, gives you more options with mana regeneration, giving you more freedom to cast your skills in lane.

Core Items

Core Items
Trinity Force	Spirit Visage	Dead Man’s Plate

Trinity Force – Trinity Force stands well as an offensive item for Nasus. This can only be his offensive item because of how everything in this item compliments his kit and playstyle.  The Spellblade also procs when you active your (Q) Siphoning Strike. The extra mana and cooldown reduction also helps him with stacking his (Q) Siphoning Strike more easily.

Spirit Visage – Spirit Visage is an item that makes Nasus a monster in the late game when his stacks are enough to melt enemy carries in one swing.

Dead Man’s Plate – Dead Man’s Plate increases Nasus’ health and armor. It also gives him extra movement speed that gives makes him more slippery when catching enemies and roaming for gank.

Full Item Build

Full Item Build
Trinity Force	Spirit Visage	Dead Man’s Plate
Frozen Heart	Warmog’s Armor	Mercury’s Treads

Frozen Heart – Frozen heart caps your cooldown reduction at 40% if built along with Spirit Visage and Trinity Force. This item gives you mana, armor, and a passive which decreases enemies attack speed around him.

Warmog’s Armor – Warmog’s Armor makes you tankier and harder to kill. (Q) Siphoning Strike should also have a high stack count at this point of the game. This item will make you a beast at regenerating youe health, making you a huge lifesteal threat in the latter stages of the game.

Mercury’s Treads – Mercury’s Treads decreases any form of crowd control on you. Nasus doesn’t have any gap closers and escapes, making this item very viable for him.

Situational Items
Iceborn Gauntlet	Zz’Rot Portal	Thornmail
The Bloodthirster

 Iceborn Gauntlet – Swap this for Infinity Force if you want to be tankier and spam your (E) Spirit Fire. This will, however, remove his damage since he is really dependent on Trinity Force for the bulk of his damage.

Zz’Rot Portal – Get this if your team is very far ahead, and can survive in team fights without you. This will give you more power to split push and get towers fast.

Thornmail –  This item is recommended if the enemy team is mostly AD.

The Bloodthirster –  This item is really pushing it too far, but in some cases it is very effective. Additionally, the added lifesteal makes you a great 1v1 threat and a painful bruiser.

Playing against

• Do not leave a Nasus unattended in a lane. He gets stronger as he farms up his (Q) Siphoning Strike.
• Nasus is weak early game and usually doesn’t go aggressive until he gets his stacks up. Try to deny him farm as much as possible in the early game before he gets his level 6 power spike.
• A Nasus can be easily kited because of his low mobility. Also, Nasus’ (W) Wither reduces attack speed as well, therefore if your champion’s damage output is basic attacks, try to stay away until the duration ends.
• Building items with grievous wounds help a lot in negating his passive.
• Try to stay away from him when he cast (R) Fury of the Sands because it deals damage in a very small AoE.

Hard Counters

Olaf – This is probaby the hardest counter of Nasus. He can always outsustain you in teamfights and deal true damage with his Reckless Swing. Olaf’s Undertow also lets Olaf chase Nasus. He can also ignore your Wither if he uses his ultimate, Ragnarok.

Darius –  Hemorrhage can disable Nasus’ farming in the early lane because constantly losing damage to its passive. His passive in Apprehend also gives him a lot of armor penetration. Lastly, his Noxian Guillotine can insta-kill you especially if he has full stacks of Hemorrhage on you.

Teemo –  Teemo can be a pain in the early game because of his Toxin Shot. Blinding Dart and Noxius Trap also limit his ability to move around the lane and farm his Siphoning Strike. If you are to start a team fight against him, he can easily escape and ignore your slow with Move Quick. 

Strategy Video

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