Some context behind the upcoming Nasus buffs

Hello Gameplay and Balance, it's me again, your favorite poster HateDaddy, having recently survived another stint of time in the abyss of banhammer. But I'm turning over a new leaf where I want to aim at productive discussion. No troll, I swear.

So now that's out of the way, let's get this out of the way: Nasus is a very polarizing champion. Maybe some people missed it and in case you did, here's what you can look forward to:

Nasus •Siphoning Strike: now gains 25 range on the next attack.

What does this change? In a manner of speaking, not a whole lot. This won't suddenly make his teamfight any better for a few reasons, but the most important reason is because Fury of the Sands already grants 50 bonus attack range on all autos, including siphoning strike and this range does not stack.

So what does it change then? Mostly his lane phase. There's a few reasons why riot is doing this I suspect but before I address that, let's address what this will actually change in lane. For starters, Nasus is still going to be prone to spammable poke and incredibly powerful early bullying from strong bruisers like Olaf. But what this does do is make farming with siphoning strike a tad bit safer and trading with safer as well, giving him the ability to get in a Q a short trade from a retreating enemy. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a major change, nor will it suddenly make his lane phase overbearingly safer. He's still going to be prone to the same weaknesse hes always had, this just helps push him in a little stronger direction.

But with that said, some must be wondering why he's being buffed in the first place and why they're buffing what many consider his most frustrating element of gameplay: his lane phase. Well let's get into that:

1. Historically, Nasus has STRUGGLED against a strong bruiser meta top lane. Riot is buffing bruisers directly and indirectly. Itemization changes for bruisers with the addition of black cleaver and the next few items is going to allow them to have a combination of both durability and damage, something believe it or not, Nasus has a hard time dealing with. If it's glass cannon, Nasus can usually build resists and kill it quickly by level 7 or so. If it's full tank, Nasus can typically outlast it pretty easily. A mixture of both? This hurts him, I don't suspect too heavily but with other factors, it DOES hurt him.

2. Armor value nerfs. While I think the armor variety increasing is awesome and a general buff to bruisers (and a slight nerf to tanks), Nasus isn't really gaining much out of this. He's a champion that is the epitome of building for stat efficiency. And while Frozen Heart will still be core on him, the loss of some armor and effeciency is an indirect nerf to him. General reduction in armor value is still a net nerf as well (but make no mistake, deadmans plate is a god send).

3. If you are paying attention to PBE, riot has gone full blown Ophrah with buffs. This isn't a bad thing, everything is getting buffs. I haven't seen riot buff so heavily in one patch like this, well quite frankly, I just haven't ever seen them go this ham. Over the last 4 years, riot realizes they've nerfed the general power of the roster overall moreso than buffed and there are noticeable weaknesses in kits that probably have gotten a little too damning for several champions. This would require a pretty long explanation and discussion on its own, but just know that in short, Riot is really trying to live by the standard most people want: generally buff up, not nerf down.

So consider these three things and Nasus falls into 1 direct category and another few indirect categories. Overall with this changes, I suspect Nasus will lose a bit of power. Not too much, and for the average player that doesn't play him or against him consistently, you likely won't notice it. But I'm pretty sure I'll notice it a little, even with the buff. But at this slight expense; I am rejoiced to see that fighters as a class will once again gain viability, variety and most importantly, much healthier gameplay.

So in short, Tl;dr, Nasus is getting a few slight indirect nerfs with a lot of the upcoming changes, which is why he's gaining a little power in lane phase to his Q while still keeping his teamfight very inconsistent and dependent upon compositions and flanking. And these are good changes that aren't going to have a very noticeable difference but it'll be there.