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Ask a Nasus Main - Completed

RiotJawstheMusical·3/1/2016, 8:55:45 PM·76 votes·77,046 views
SirhcEz Banner



SirhcEz is a Master level Nasus player who has played over a thousand games on the Curator of the Sands since Season 3. When he’s not farming stacks top lane, he enjoys singing and playing music, sometimes for his stream viewers!

We caught up with him to learn more about how he got into the game, how to farm stacks, and other quick tips for ruling top lane as Nasus.

He’ll also be hanging out with us for the next couple of hours to answer your Nasus questions, so ask him anything in the comments!

UPDATE - This AMA is officially closed! Thanks for all of the great questions and a big thank you to SirhcEz for hanging out!

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How did you get into League of Legends? How long have you been playing?

I’ve been playing since the DOTA days, so when League and HoN came out. I decided to go with League since it was free, and I’ve been playing since S1.

Where does your Summoner name come from?

‘SirhcEz’ is my name backwards, ‘Chris Ez.’ I originally wanted the name ‘SirhcE,’ but it was already taken so I added a ‘Z’ at the end, cause why not.

What got you hooked on playing Nasus?

I’ve been playing Nasus since S3. There’s just something about stacking and doing a lot of damage to other champions/buildings that got me addicted to him. The occasional 1k stacks and 1 shotting squishies are always fun to do also :)

One Shot GIF

Who is your go-to champion if Nasus gets banned?

Singed or Taric top (but the re-work might make him unplayable on top lane). I was pretty good with the old Poppy, but I haven’t really learned the new Poppy yet. I stopped playing as Garen since Mana Pots’ removal. Kappa.

If you could describe Nasus’ playstyle in a sentence, what would it be?

Farm stacks and split push.

What are Nasus’ easiest matchups? What are his toughest?

I feel like Nasus does well against champions that can’t bully too hard in lane nor get free stacks, i.e. Maokai, Malphite, Shen, Zac, Nautilus. It is circumstantial though because people have different playstyles. Some are also more aggressive than others.

The toughest match-ups for me are: Quinn, Vayne, Pantheon, Teemo, Darius, and Olaf.

What is Nasus’ main job in lane? What about Teamfights?

Nasus’s main job in lane is to farm those stacks! I try to cap my CDR as soon as possible so that my Q is always off cooldown in order to get those stacks.

What’s teamfighting? Nasus needs to split push and put pressure on the map. In the 0.01% you need to teamfight, focus withering the ADC or melee champs that rely on attack speed, such as Irelia and Xin. If you’ve been stacking well, your Q should deal a lot of damage to the squishies.

If someone is playing Nasus for the first time, what is the most important thing to bear in mind?

Play really passive in lane and get as many stacks as possible. Build tanky/CDR as soon as possible so that it’s hard for the enemy laner to kill you, and you can stack the wave. Split push and open the GATES!!

One Shot GIF

Do you aim for a certain number of stacks? How many does Nasus need before he can start dominating duels?

I usually try to get around 300 stacks before I start trying to shove lanes and take towers. 250-300+ stacks is usually enough for me to start dominating the enemy lane, but it really depends on who you are up against.

Nasus is a great split pusher. How do you strike a balance between pressuring your own objective and joining the team for an objective?

The way I play Nasus is that I rarely join teamfights. I’m always trying to create pressure and opening the gates. However, if the enemy is at our inhib and I’m barely at the first tower, I will recall to help my team defend.

What’s your favorite Nasus skin?

Infernal and Riot Nasus.

What’s the craziest play you have pulled off as Nasus?

The first play that comes to mind was when my team and I were behind 20 kills, and the enemy team was pushing to our nexus. I decided to go for an all-or-nothing play, and teleport top and push hard. We ended up losing both our nexus towers but I out-pushed, and got the last hit on the enemy nexus before the enemy team could finish our nexus.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! If readers want to reach out, where can they find you?

I stream nearly every day. They can always talk to me on the chat, or message me on Facebook and Twitch!

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Stick around in the comments and ask SirhcEz any questions you have about Nasus!

Find more Ask a Champion Mains here!

433 Comments

resumed3/1/2016, 9:05:28 PM41 votes

do nasus players know how to dance

ive never seen nasus's dance

or his taunts

Angormus3/1/2016, 9:46:12 PM36 votes

Sirhcez as a Nasus main myself Nasus (only other one is Masters with you aside from when I tilt outa it , and #1 Nasus in NA according to LoLSkill :P I only have Nasus played in ranked). Op.gg I have to say, I don't like your runes and the 30% scaling cooldown reduction thing you have going on.

Can you explain? I usually go Armor Quints or Magic Resist Quints depending on the matchup to actually help me survive early laning phase and then you can buy IBG + Spirit Visage anyways since it's amazing with your passive life steal. Why would I want to go 30% scaling cooldown reduction over more defensive runes?

Also why do you never build Sterak's gage? I find it to be very nice for a defensive item as a 3rd/4th item depending since it gives you a huge shield that's really nice for countering burst and I see you never build it.

What do you think of what I usually build?

Vs Ad I usually do: Glacial -> Kindlegem -> Sheen -> Tabi -> IBG -> Spirit Visage -> Steraks Gage -> Zz'rot Vs Ap I usually do: Spectre's Cowl -> Kindlegem -> Glacial -> Sheen -> Mercury Treads -> Spirit Visage -> IBG -> Steraks Gage -> Zz'rot

xxbrad2o12xx3/1/2016, 9:35:29 PM23 votes

SirchEz is the chilliest dude love watching his stream. stays calm in a stressful competitive game and never rages. I strive to be like him.

Winner Sinclair3/1/2016, 9:40:18 PM10 votes

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT!?Nasus Nasus Nasus Nasus

Stephenizgod3/1/2016, 10:35:19 PM9 votes

Do you take summoner 4 ? or do you prefer summoner 6 and summoner 12 ?

rtbf2256182413/1/2016, 9:11:21 PM8 votes

I wonder what is his default build.

Ruin Lance3/1/2016, 10:14:33 PM8 votes

i've heard that if you're q stacking and the iceborn gauntlet kills the minion it doesn't give you the stacks, is this true?

Cire975313/1/2016, 10:23:12 PM7 votes

What do you think the best keystone mastery for nasus is right now?

ItzBongoz3/1/2016, 9:09:52 PM7 votes

How do you manage mana early? Before my first back, I usually run out of mana very quickly even when restricting myself from E'ing very much.

Also what is a typical build path?

Is ice born a good first item?

Do you reccomend stacking CD-R components early for maximum stack age? For instance, I usually start with kindle gem then get glacial shroud, followed by sheen. After this then I start finishing items. Do you recommend this?

Thanks for doing this!

PikaCHU5673/1/2016, 9:14:40 PM7 votes

What do you think about AP Nasus? Have you tried it before?

Silverthane3/1/2016, 9:43:31 PM6 votes

I absolutely LOVE Chris! Mot chill streamer ever and he taught me the ways of raid god taric!

Im surprised he Duo's with Trick2G since they have such opposite personalities XD But i love watching it because its so entertaining. YOU ROCK CHRIS! [zombie-nunu-hearts]

TEAM GATES

Merxamers3/1/2016, 9:17:59 PM6 votes

CDR or MR blues? Also, do you go Iceborn or Triforce for the sheen item?

TheMinez3/1/2016, 9:25:25 PM6 votes

Have you ever been at the enemy nexus while their minions spawn as Nasus? FREE STACKS!

Da Killer Clown13/1/2016, 11:01:44 PM5 votes

Hey Chris!!! I met you at twitchcon... i chatted with you and holly before you guys went to your booths, and I asked you about nasus :P welp I have a new account which got played at silver 3 i only have runes for udyr and fiora... (which I suck at her) anyways my question is since I start at 0% CDR whats the best starting item I can get so I can stack easily on him? I'm at 20 games with him with 70% win rate on him ;)

I wish I could show you my highlight on a game I had vs a darius where I got camped and only had 32 cs in 12 mins and was 1-4-0 in 10 mins... >_> but I won that game and went 5-4-10 :D

anyways who are good counters to nasus for late game? teemo falls off... and darius is a lane bully but falls off late also.. I don't like facing a nasus top lane when I want to pick him :(

EDIT: is building frozen heart and gaunlet any good?

Øperator3/1/2016, 10:14:57 PM5 votes

I actually have a question myself. What's better, Stormraider's or Grasp of the Undying? And also Flash or Ghost?

I've used both Stormraider's and Grasp together both. While Grasp is meant more for the early stages than later on, I've found Stormraider's to be REALLY useful to negate his inability to stick to some targets that can't be slow by him (Riven, LeBlanc, etc.).

As for flash and ghost, I've had trouble with both of them and I don't know what feels better or works better, any thoughts? I can see Ghost for also sticking to targets by then I have Stormraider's for that.

Thanks Mr. SirhcEz! [slayer-jinx-wink]

FamousPyro3/1/2016, 9:16:59 PM5 votes

What are some really good counters against Nasus? Who counters him when in lane and what is a good team comp against him? Most of my games I play against Nasus, everyone lets him free farm top lane or the top laner on my team feeds him and he begins to one hit. My friends and I believe he isn't balanced, so what is your advice to keep the enemy Nasus from snowballing?

laughup023/1/2016, 9:52:30 PM4 votes

Been maining Nasus since I started playing the game back in early S4, over 245k mastery points on him.

I know you said that 250-300 is usually the stacks you aim for before pushing, which I agree with. However, in higher elo, what amount of stacks is the average at 20 minutes? I know in lower elo its usually 500-550, which is what I hit 95% of my games.

What's your opinion of ohmwrecker just before the preaseason, and after? Before, it was my go-to item for splitpushing and maxing out CDR with kindlegem and glacial shroud. As soon as I started building it my winrate with Nasus jumped from like 61% to 76%. However, after the preseason it's weaker than it used to be. I know that Zz'rot is much better right now, but basically take the question as if Zz'rot didn't exist.

When are good opportunities to take trinity vs iceborn, since it's the one thing I suck at, and what's your opinion on keystone mastery's Stormraiders Surge vs Grasp of the Undying?

Last, can I pls have that Nasus plushie/toy that you tweeted about a few months ago? Kappa.

Swiftstrike43/1/2016, 9:39:14 PM4 votes

Chris! Enjoy the stream! How do you most often utilize teleport on Nasus? Is it to clean up a fight to go to the bottom lane early or to get back into lane? I queue with others that want me to TP bottom more often, but then my stacks are low. If the game is even what do you do?

atrece3/1/2016, 10:42:01 PM4 votes

What are your thoughts on jungle Nasus?

Blackstone013/1/2016, 9:57:36 PM4 votes

Iceborn Gauntlet or Triforce + Frozen Heart?

JVP153/1/2016, 10:39:15 PM4 votes

My question for you is, what is the most amount of stacks that you have gotten? More importantly, what was the most damage you have ever done with a Nasus Q?

Sentinos3/1/2016, 9:28:09 PM3 votes

Can you just post a example full build of you playing against one of those champs that can not bully too hard and one for the champs that kite you? Thanks! From all I understand, you just build frozen heart, trinity, and spirit visage. I'm stuck after that.

xSindrix3/2/2016, 5:01:18 AM3 votes

I'm more curious about the reasoning behind not building Sheen first than anything else. I can't see anything else being of more value than Sheen on Nasus, ESPECIALLY now that it gives CDR. You get your first 10%, plus mana, plus the Sheen effect, which makes it possible to last-hit minions at higher health, makes trading vs. the Nasus considerably scarier with fewer stacks, and makes you regen more health off your passive. But then I'm just potato sometimes, so maybe this is wrong.

Tivk73/1/2016, 9:27:25 PM3 votes

What do you build first and How many stacks to you usually get early game?

Yersta3/1/2016, 9:42:47 PM2 votes

Nasus is a sort of go to pick for me when I'm top so I like to think I know a fair bit of how to play him, when playing against champions like olaf or fiora though I'm completely lost, any tips on how to deal with those specific champions in the laning phase?

Ulcanol3/1/2016, 10:31:03 PM2 votes

is there a champion that will always beat/outscale nasus 1 vs 1 from early to late?

U Die I Get Paid3/2/2016, 5:00:30 PM

How do you main Nasus??? Isnt he just about stacking Q, not much to learn tbh.