Dark Horses: Support Nautilus

Life as a Support

Nautilus can take a beating (many beatings, even). In laning phase, he can soak up damage using the shield from Titan’s Wrath (W). Remember: his shield scales with his maximum health, so items like Sight Stone and Relic Shield are a must.

Diving the enemy marksman

While his shield helps shrug off enemy damage, Nautilus’ Dredge Line (Q) can help his teammates deal some damage of their own. When Nautilus lands a hook on an enemy, he’ll drag himself and the target together, dealing magic damage and stunning them briefly. Keep in mind the hook can also be used on terrain, making it possible to be used defensively to get away as well as offensively to pin down the enemy.

Tools for teamfights

Nautilus brings lots of utility to a teamfight, thanks to his stun, root, movespeed reduction, knockup, and general tankiness. This means he can either hang by his carries and use his CC to peel for them, or engage at the frontline and use his hook to start a fight.

Once the fight starts, Nautilus can whip out his shield to absorb damage, then use his Staggering Blow passive to pin his foe into a position that can decide team fights. If an enemy manages to survive the encounter, they can’t run very far -- Riptide (E) has a low cooldown and applies an area-of-effect slow. Last, but not least, his ult -- Depth Charge -- fires a shockwave that chases an enemy champion and knocks them into the air.

It’s hard to move under the sea

Nautilus’ mobility is low (that armor is heavy!) so he may fall behind when getting ganked or have a hard time following up ganks if he’s not yet level 6 or if he misses his hooks.

So many skills, so little mana

Recent changes to Riptide reduced its cooldown which helps harass enemies, start fights, or help allies run back to safety -- but that comes with a cost… a mana cost. You don't want to overuse E and find that you don't have enough mana to use the rest of your skills!

Also, mind your timing -- using your shield or your anchor prematurely gives your opponents an opportunity to pick a fight knowing that one or more of your skills is still on cooldown. You don’t want to leave yourself unprotected or out of position.