Nasus- Why is he considered healthy?

Liam Neeson·9/20/2014, 8:12:11 AM·5 votes·1,668 views

Nasus as a champion i have felt for the longest time to be extremely unhealthy for the game. Laning against nasus is virtually just slow down his Ascension into the late game beast he is. there isn't a way to stop him from being so powerful. the best you can do is hope their jungler doesn't gank and let him get ahead. the other problem is that in a 30 minute game, a nasus with reasonable ability farming should have at least 200 stacks. a very well farmed nasus can get up to potentially 300-400 stacks at 30 minutes. there isn't much actual counterplay to him at that point, because he's built straight tank and that BOtRK isn't gonna do anything to him once he withers. The game i most recently played, i picked quinn top specifically against nasus to blind him and cancel out farm, while that as always only delayed the inevitable. Nasus then proceeded to stay top lane the entire game, giving me two options- Stay top and slow down his farm, or roam and let him free farm. Nasus doesn't have to actually worry about a team, because he is designed with the ability to split push forever, and so he does. I ended up stacking armor pen atop of a BOtRK, and it still proceeded to not really affect him since he can catch up to you after you've used literally every gap closer possible, and do more damage in one autoattack than you do in ten. Playing against him isn't actually a game, it's tedium, and his kit doesn't promote actual teamwork, it simply promotes staying in lane and ignoring the rest of the game. What makes him as a champion healthy?

10 Comments

deadlychuck9/20/2014, 1:27:53 PM5 votes

if i'm ADC against a team with nasus, and the game plays out so that he is the largest threat to me, it's not that hard to actually beat him.

item 3009 item 3172 effectively cancels wither. It's duration is cut short and it's not nearly as powerful.

Then if he builds tanky item 3153 item 3035 (the most ridiculous AD combo in the game right now), it cuts through his health and makes that armor worthless

item 3031 to deal with squishies other than nasus.

The last item is up to you, but that's a build that effectively shuts down nasus on any ADC.

The game still lacks an AP tenacity item so you really don't have any options there, thanks riot, but in a team fight mages don't normally have to worry about it. Honestly i'm glad AP nasus hasn't picked up steam, because that's what people should be really scared of.

Ironclad Dragon9/20/2014, 2:40:54 PM4 votes

He's harder than you think. There's a lot of pressure playing Nasus in Solo Que.

cHAncEman12929/20/2014, 4:24:17 PM3 votes

I know where your coming from but I feel like the counterplay against Nasus is more strategic than anything else. Nasus is just as much of a liability as an asset for him team. Getting 1000 stacks doesn't mean a thing if you never push effectively, never bring that power to team fights or if you get CC'd. I have seen so many games with a farmed up Nasus that refused to leave his lane even when his team needed him the most. Also Nasus forces his team, more often than not into 4v5 situations which is an inherent disadvantage. Yes, laning against him can be frustrating because he usually builds so tanky it defeats the purpose of trading, so I agree with you there. Supposedly the way to go is to let him farm under your tower instead of his - meaning you'll have to give up some farm in the process but keeping under your tower means he has to risk tower shots to farm.

GreyXpelliarmus9/20/2014, 5:16:24 PM2 votes

He's NOT considered healthy, and he's being reworked sooner or later

Tyverus9/20/2014, 2:06:18 PM2 votes

I believe any champion who's sole goal is to farm till 40 then win is toxic. Yes you could argue that a few adc's are similar (vayne) but his combination of offensive stats is just ridiculous. May as well give veigar spell vamp as part of his passive. IDK it's just seems off for him to get lifesteal with and infinitely stacking q.

And i can agree that there is little counterplay since there are few decisions for nasus to make besides do i build armor or mr first?

SnugglyBunnies9/20/2014, 6:09:11 PM1 votes

If you beat him up before level 6 you will be ahead enough in lane all game to not worry about it. Have your jungler camp him and deny him farm. Most important, don't let him freeze the lane in a safe farm spot. If he tries to freeze, bring your jungler and push into his tower.

GoldenLeSpoink9/20/2014, 1:22:50 PM1 votes

Nasus does have team-like abilities, such as his E and R. Many think that Nasus ' E is just for damage, but it lowers armor to whoever stands on it. Nasus ' Ult can help you engage in a team-fight as it takes enemies' health and shreds it for his damage output. Now, yes a lot of Nasus players just stay top and farm...but what is bad about it? He can split push for days, and generally a lot of most bring summoner 12 to just jump in a team fight and help. Nasus is extremely healthy and requires quite skill to get stacks. ( I have reached 1000 stacks before in a 44 minute game and still continue to help my team as much as I could ) However, what makes him a bad pick is his counter play, CC destroys Nasus and if you pick someone who is AP rather than AD, it helps significantly. ( E.G: Zac , Teemo , Jax , Kennen , Lulu, Nidalee )

Pharrøw9/20/2014, 5:05:53 PM1 votes

Well if he does that you could always abuse your numbers an crush them in numerous 4v5s and force him to leave the lane. Deadlychuck got it right with the itemization, and CC lockdowns after razing his entire team punishes him for AFK farming for 40 minutes.

You just have to pressure his team. And hard.

Sunfield9/20/2014, 8:15:13 AM1 votes

I hated him for a long time. But well, he takes time to get good adn even when he does... hes not that good against cc comps.