An In-depth look at the Nunu changes by one of the best Nunu players in North America

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTOwRgQVwAAjwK5.jpg:large Oh. My. Goodness, Riot.

This is ridiculous, but in a good way.

What Riot has done is allowed Nuuu to:

1. Be more useful to his ADCs with Blood Boil (most of them have some form of AP scaling (ASSUMING THEY BUILD AN ITEM THAT CAN GRANT THEM AP, OBVIOUSLY) )
2. Be useful for his APC's (120-140 AP is nothing to scoff at!)
3. Hold his own and actually be a damage threat to enemies once he reaches them (+55 bonus magic damage on his autos)
4. Improves his primarily single-target clear and his level 3 Dragon and his 20 minutes Baron (yeah he can take Baron when it spawns at 20 with the correct items)
5. Brought rise to hybrid Tanky-AP Nunu. Oh dear.

What Riot hasn't done with this buff:

1. Allowed Nunu to stomp in lanes. Still very easy to counterpick
2. Prevented Nunu from being pigeonholed (more or less) into getting 40-45% CDR for his Blood Boil (more important now than ever)
3. Given Nunu the ability to kill other tanks

Nunu's new buffs will allow him to benefit his APC's when he has an ADC that doesn't benefit from AD, but also allows him to work more will ADC's that like casting over auto-attacking, because they also have AP ratios (Ezreal and Corki for example if they build an AP item) or champions who love auto-attacking and only get to use their spells a few times, but have hefty Ap ratios on them and build Guinsoo's (Varus or Kog'Maw, Tristana).

Yes, this could mean that ADC's might have to build a little differently, but most of them will at least get some AP and they'll benefit from it (Trinity Force on Ez/Corki, Guinsoo's on Kog/Varus). Let's not even get into the implications of what it does to Kayle.

Nunu himself will also be going through a lot of new build paths to find an optimal route. Personally, I'm starting to advocate the following build:

/ > > > > / >

This build allows Nunu to (not counting Runes bonuses):

Be Tanky ( 300 + 500 + 450 + 300 + 20% extra health > 1550 + 212 (Q stacks at level 18) + 352 (Cinderhulk) = 2114 + 2120 = 4234 HP ) Have some MR ( 55 MR + 53 base = 108 ) Have some Armour ( 30 + 100 or 65 = 130 or 95 + 88 base = 218 or 183 ) Have AP to allow your auto-attacks and Blood Boil to benefit from ( 100 + 80 + bonus W of 72 = 252 AP ) Deal constant 4% current health/second burn through Liandry's (Ice Blast slow lasts as long as its cooldown, movement impaired units take double burn damage)

So enemies can't escape if you're on top of them, you're hitting them with your bonus attack speed and AP for your 138 + 55 ( + 12.6 ) bonus magic damage per hit, attacking at, if the math checks out, 1.25 attacks per second, you have them perma-slowed with your E, dealing %current health damage every second, all the while, having Cinderhulk deal a nice 29 magic damage per second as well!

If you're worried about not being tanky enough, you can always swap out an item for Banshee's Veil or Abyssal Mask.

Guys, Tanky Hybrid Nunu is going to rock the rift to its core. It's not just about what he can do now, it's about what his team is going to be able to do now. And don't think I haven't forgotten about Enchanter supports. Those bonus utility percentages on shields and speed boosts are gross.

For those curious, Nunu can solo Baron right now with Cinderhulk, Tabi, and Spirit Visage with both smites and his potions. If you opt for the 20 minutes Baron, don't bother with RoA and get Banshee's Veil or something similar instead.