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How to deal with a Nasus in lane

Brenticus12·11/25/2014, 5:33:21 PM·2 votes·1,319 views

Recently played a ranked match vs Nasus as Renekton. I knew I would have to harass and shove lane into tower as hard as I could, so I did. I even got the first kill and tower (After the 15 minute mark since I didn't want to let him farm inbetween 1st and 2nd tower area). He had around 60 stacks at the 10 min mark and less than 200 around the 20 min mark. Our jungler ganked once and got me a kill (As I recall it) while their jungler DID gank a couple of times (They had a WW) and got Nasus two kills (Cause S5 WW is OP). Now, we were doing fine, we had more turrets and were pressuring mid but I kept telling them that I couldn't stay in mid to help since Nasus was going to free-farm. I was about to leave to stop Nasus free-farming and suddenly a team fight breaks out and we lose it. I had to retreat and let Nasus free farm and he ended up coming back a monster and completely wrecked us.

The jungler and mid laner both blamed me for everything, even though I tried all I could.

So I want to ask, how do I prevent him from free-farming if I have to help out in team fights? I think one way would be to simply finish the game or reach inhib so Nasus is forced to back, but our team didn't have as much sieging power. We couldn't focus him in team fights either since we had to kill Ashe, Jayce AND WW since they do a lot of burst damage. But we end up blowing all our CC and skills on them while Nasus comes in as the clean up crew killing as all with his Q.

EDIT: Btw, if you're going to recommend SoloRenektonTop, just know that I've already watched his videos and have found one on Nasus vs Renekton BUT, the Nasus in that match was the dumbest Nasus I've ever seen. By the 10 minute mark, he was at 27 stacks and going 0-4 because all he did was overextended, waste his Q on harassing Renek and throwing his AOE DOT a whole bunch of times.

EDIT2: Please note that I need tips on how to deal with him as Renekton, especially in teamfights. I might think of picking up Malphite specifically to counter him, but for now I just want to know how to deal with him as Renekton (During team fights)

13 Comments

EndlessSorcerer11/25/2014, 8:37:25 PM5 votes

I enjoy playing Nasus, so I hope my perspective will help.

Now, the main goal of Nasus in lane is to get farm and Q stacks. In some form or another, you want to prevent him from farming whether by zoning him, killing him, or interrupting his Qs.

I would recommend choosing a ranged champion with some for of survivability if you have to opportunity. Gnar Lulu Vayne Kayle Vladimir

Champions who deal mixed damage are also a good choice because it makes it harder for Nasus to build to survive your damage. Olaf Darius Nidalee Udyr Yorick

Champions capable of scaling similarly well as Nasus are a good choice as well, since Nasus can't stop them from farming and they will probably hit their powerspikes earlier. DrMundo Poppy Singed Trundle

Some champions have abilities which allow them to prevent Nasus from farming Q stacks by interrupting him as well. Riven Maokai Shen JarvanIV Alistar Gragas

In most cases, I would not recommend pushing the lane into his tower unless you think you can crush him with an early level 2. In many cases, this allows Nasus to get gold and experience relatively safely and makes it more difficult for him to be ganked. Early game, I would recommend trying to get the minion wave gently pushing towards you and to try and freeze it outside of tower range so that you can zone Nasus from minions and leave him vulnerable to ganks.

I would also recommend taking some sustain to lane if you can't kill him very early. One mistake I see many of my opponents make is starting with a Doran's item and 1/2 health potions against my Cloth5 or Flask3 start. This can result in minion damage lowering their health and getting them low enough that they can't really fight me in lane.

Lane swapping is another viable option. Recently, there was a Nasus on the enemy team against our Jayce. Rather than having Jayce fight an armor-stacking Nasus, I proposed that our bottom lane (Vayne, Thesh) went against Nasus instead since we could easily zone him from farm and kill him regardless of how he built. Jayce, while he was in a 1v2, had ranged attacks to let him farm early so it worked out conveniently.

Keep in mind that some champions have to change their buildpath to fight Nasus. For example, as Maokai I typically get an early Sheen to add physical damage and harass to my Q.

Do not be afraid to call for ganks to try and get an early lead you can snowball with. Make sure to note where Nasus has warded and let your jungler know where the ward is and when it will expire. Picking a champion who can set up early ganks easily (such as Maokai, Darius, Lulu, and Jarvan) will greatly help with this.

There are several method of dealing with Nasus later in the game.

  1. He can have difficulty getting to opponents in teamfights. You have a champion with good CC and/or kiting mechanics like Anivia, Alistar, Thresh, Lulu, Lucian, Vayne, Kalista, or Nami on your team to prevent him from reaching your squishy champions.
  2. He lacks a gap closer and relies on Wither to catch up to enemies. If you have a method of preventing the application of or removing Wither from your ADC (Mikael's Crucible, Cleanse, Quicksilver Sash, Morgana's Black Shield, Sivir's Spellshield, or Lucian's Relentless Pursuit), he can be easily kited.
  3. Nasus wants to splitpush a lane and teleport into teamfights, so it can help to have a champion capable of a similar tactic. They need to be able to reliable fight Nasus at all stages of the game such as Olaf Udyr Shen Trundle
Leti the Yeti11/25/2014, 7:02:14 PM3 votes

well, a rumble in lane killed me 5 times i still got 400+ stacks, got a quadra kill, took an inhib and both nexus turrets and ended the game...... yeah I dont think you can stop nasus especially wen I come to lane with a flask and 3~5 health pots, I take utility

this is just be guessing what coulda really screwed me over the rumble left me alone after he could easily kill me/broke my outer turret.... dont leave nasus alone, even after laning phase when everyones got doing shit.. nasus is STILL FARMING and no I dont suggest you go roam, the second yo roam.. and by the time you come back, i got enough stacks to the point I can kick ur ass and you cant stop me anymore

having nasus on the enemy team pretty much eliminates a member from your team too

My experiences, renekton... vlad... even quinn sometimes... rumble alot of champs, imo... their trades werent quite brutal enough and I can easily recover the damage they dealt to me

You need a champion that can chunk shit tons in short combos...riven/darius I found to be good at that shet

Oh, and in team fights.. watch your sides yes in the beginning of team fights, you probably wont see nasus... cuz hes farming elsewhere when he leaves his farm lane, comes for you,atleast what I do, I flank the enemy team

Raid Boss Shiba11/25/2014, 6:16:21 PM3 votes

Dealing with Nasus has two components: 1. Dealing with him in lane. 2. Dealing with him in team fights. Now these are different but also interconnected.

To deal with Nasus in lane, there's only one way. You must force him out of farm. Based on my experience, forcing Nasus out of lane is hard without a champ that has a kit that is a "counter" to Nasus's kit. If Nasus picked first, I usually pick Vlad and keep harassing him with AA and E/Q combos. Any time he comes in to AA or Q minion, I'd unload a combo on him. When he's not coming up, I'd stand behind his ranged minions and still try to E/Q him whenever my Q is ready. Doing this puts Nasus in a tough spot and limits his farm.

As a result, Nasus will typically do a few things: 1. Burn his mana to damage you and force you back. 2. Have his jungler come top and camp. 3. Hug tower. The only real risk comes when his jungler starts camping. However, if you have wards, and if you keep forcing him out of lane, he'll eventually lag behind you in items and levels, which further expands your advantage over him.

Usually, when people take first tower, they'd start roaming, which gives Nasus a breather to farm. If your jungler has been camping mid/bot, then at this point you could spare a bit of time to roam and grab dragon/towers. Just remember to circle back up top to keep Nasus from farming. The more you pressure Nasus (without overextending and getting caught), the less he will do and the more his jungler is forced to help him. If the jungler decides not to, then they basically have a weak Nasus. It becomes a catch 22 for Team Nasus.

Now, at that point, if your team is doing well, then that's great. However, the problem comes when the team doesn't take advantage of your Nasus deterrence. This is where the biggest problem with dealing with Nasus comes in. Nasus will always scale into a strong late game if you give him time. That's why your team must not let that happen. You can only do so much until he gets what he needs and starts either really hardcore split pushes or joins team fights, which brings me to the second component: how to deal with Nasus in team fights.

Dealing with Nasus in team fights depends on how well your team is at kiting or displacing their team members. Nasus has a simply play style: ult, go near a squishy, W, E, Q, AA and hopefully blow someone up. However, Nasus has really awful gap closing abilities, hence, if your team keeps him from gap closing, then you just keep kiting him and he'll eventually be forced to back or die. Either way, you guys will have a favorable team fight. Where most people screw up is either (1) they blow all their ults on Nasus, giving his teammates easy counter opportunities; or (2) they don't kite and someone gets caught/blown up.

TeemoHunter133711/25/2014, 5:34:24 PM2 votes

thats something you are going to have to learn if u want to get past bronze

M4nTiCoR311/27/2014, 4:45:34 PM1 votes

I have found applying Grevious Wounds makes him much more killable in the late game. He is still a monster but if he acts all fat and sassy like they usually do he will usually just end up trading kills instead of getting Quadras since he can't heal back those massive chunks of life he depends on getting to survive diving your team.

Sadly, they removed a "critical" item in executioners calling with the last patch, which limits your options to ignite and Morellonomicon, or a counter pick that has GW tied to a spamable ability.

They did mention some of the items may be coming back, albeit in altered forms. One can only hope an AD counter item to healers is one of them, as EC was a clever counter to many Mundos, Vlads, and even Nasus who rely on healing and regen in fights to sustain ther tankiness. I've used the item many times to great effect, perticularly on someone like Ashe who can keep it applied with her slow and benifts from the stats due to her pension for Infinity Edge in every game. Was very sad we lost it.

Zen Fury11/28/2014, 12:06:07 AM1 votes

The first rule of LoL: Do not chase Singed. The second rule of LoL: Do not let Nasus farm.

The Chin11/25/2014, 6:57:55 PM1 votes

It sounds like you laned against him correctly, you got 1 kill plus a tower, and hopefully you farmed well. You should be pretty strong for the mid game...

The next step is to PUSH EVERY OBJECTIVE, PRESSURE EVERY LANE.

Because what's nasus doing for the next 10~15 minutes? Just farming.

It's a 5v4, take advantage of it. Try and end the game as early as possible.

warpenguin55511/25/2014, 8:18:30 PM1 votes

beat the crap out of him in lane, or ask your jungler for help with that if you arent confidant enough or just cant without nearly dying. If playing as a ranged champion, take shots at him when he goes for CS, and then when he gets low, blast him. My friend plays Nasus alot, thats what he tells me to do. Im sorry i cant help for Renekton, i dont have him :(

hh the thinker11/26/2014, 6:45:09 AM1 votes

end the game early is about the only way, besides forcing him into team fights and being more useful, like playing malphite.

I say malphite also since you get to free farm in a nasus lane and he won't be able to kill you until about 700 stacks at least (that's if you stay and fight him, you can still get away from him) if you build right and play the lane well. in a team fight, you can just ult in and use your other abilities and the other team will have a hard time killing you if you csed well. you can also peel for your team with malphite.