The enigmatic creature known as Nasus came to the League from a faraway world, and served as part of a vast and learned desert empire. There he was a respected and enlightened individual, having been made the Keeper of the Great Library. However, he was also part of a race of animalistic creatures that served as the rulers and protectors of the people. Unfortunately, there were others of his kind that believed they were more than protectors. They were under the egotistical delusion that they had ascended to become gods. War on Nasus's world was never more than a breath away, as these deluded others sought to enslave the people and establish a totalitarian sovereignty. In the midst of a heated battle, just as Nasus was about to slay his treacherous brother Renekton, he was pulled through the cosmos to a summoning circle in Runeterra.

At first angered that he had been taken just as he was about to cripple the enemies of his people, Nasus' advanced intellect won out when he heard the pleas of mercy from the summoners. He learned that Runeterra was also filled with its own brand of injustice. This danger was no less threatening than what he had fought against at home, and champions were needed to protect the people of this world. Heeding the call, Nasus chose to take his place in the League of Legends, knowing that his brothers and sisters would carry on the fight back home. These days, he is the Curator of the Sands, feeling most at home in the crumbling ruins of the Shurima Desert. However, recent disturbing news has reached the Keeper's ears - rumors that perhaps his brother had not in fact been left behind. If this were the case, the destruction of Renekton would quickly become Nasus' main priority, before this world too faces the threads of his brother's forked-tongue and endless ambition.

The Curator of the Sands, though contemplative, is not to be trifled with.

Hello my name is Chavali and this is my second guide on MobaFire and it is on one of my favorite champions Nasus. Nasus is a unique champions that doesnt need items for damage but simply needs to last hit with his Siphoning Strike allowing you to build almost full tank items and still destroy the enemy squishys :D. Please dont troll downvote or if you have another Nasus guide... this guide took me time and effort to make and i dont want it ruined for no reason at all.

+bulky
+great sustain
+near impossible to kill with ult
+not item reliant

-melee
-needs good farm
-kited easily without proper masteries+runes
-dog jokes

For marks I take greater mark of desolation because 90% of your damage is physical damage and if your enemy does not have any armor it makes you hit them even harder.

For my seals i prefer Greater Seal of Armor because 9 times out of 10 you will be facing a opponent in top lane that does mainly physical damage.

You have some choice in glyphs but I prefer Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist because in my build i have less magic resist than armor and this helps. However some other viable options are Greater Glyph of Scaling Mana Regeneration so you can spam your skills a little bit more. Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction can also be usefull but i have not personally tried this.

The priority is R>Q>E=W When i play Nasus I level up my Spirit Fire if i am completely dominating a lane and their jungler can do nothing to stop me or if it is a duo lane i am dominating however, this is very rare so i 9 times out of 10 level up Wither over Spirit Fire because if its usefullness in ganks and it is great for casting on a enemy chasing you and running away.
This passive is great as a top laner because it gives you a ton of sustain and it is better than almost all lifesteal items after the nerfs to them.

This is your bread and butter. it re-sets your auto attack timer so if you are farming or attacking to to use it directly after a auto attack to maximize the damage you put out. This ability you must try to use on every last hit and use it whenever possible in fights.

works as a Exhaust in a spell and did i forget to mention it is also the best slow in the game. Use this when chasing or fighting any AD champion 1v1. This spell can also be casted on a enemy as you run away to assure your escape.

this spell has its uses but if used improperly it can have some pretty bad negative effects. i will go over this spell later in How To Play Nasus.

this spell is just amazing, you can use it at low health to run away or pop it in team fights to strike fear into the enemy team and drain their health while all they can do is run for their lives.

Start of the game
buy first if your opponent in top lane has alot of skill shots ex. Rumble Irelia... then buy boots to make it harder for them to hit you.

buy first if your opponent has good harass like Gangplank Akali Ryze to help you sustain yourself through their harass.

First Recall
philosopher's stoneto give you some good sustain + some gold per 10 seconds to help you build your Trinity Force faster

if you have the money to give you some good health and more CDR
Mid game

This is your damage... it gives you great stats + a built in slow to reduce kiting and it goes great with your Siphoning Strike

to give you more sustain from passive and cdr for your Siphoning Strike

This item is great for any tank for teamfights if you press this + shurelya's at the same time.

Late Game

i buy this because i build armor heavy and it gives you some good Mresist and a amazing passive.

i build this to give me a huge advantage 1v1 against a AD carry and give my team the extra edge in teamfights.

Other Options

meh not as good unless you are going to rush it early game but still has great health.

i dont like to have this + Trinity Force because you already have a slow and the on hit slow from Trinity Force.

Recommended

absolutely needed with Nasus because he lacks a escape ability

i love this spell because it lets you go back buy items and get back to your lane in about 20 seconds + it lets you defend towers in need of help and set up ganks

Viable

Great for kills but not as usefull as Flash or Teleport

wait... doesnt your Wither do the exact same thing?

you already have great sustain

not worth it...

Early Game

Focus on farming with your Siphoning Strike so you can transition into midgame hitting like a beast. for harassing use your Spirit Fire but be carefull because this can not only run you out of mana fast and if it hits alot of minions it can lead to you over pushing your top lane and you shoot yourself in the foot because if it kills the minions you wont get the last hits on you Siphoning Strike. If your jungler comes to gank your enemy in top lane instantly Wither the enemy and charge in with Siphoning Strike. if you have the chance when the enemy is running cast Spirit Fire if you have the mana to spare because it hurts them for more than you would think + if you are lucky they will be dumb and try to avoid it letting you get another free siphoning strike in.

Mid Game

You should have been farming and your Siphoning Strike should have 70-90 bonus damage on it from last hitting. This phase of the game is where many Nasus players get confused on as to what they should be doing. If team fights are breaking out GROUP UP WITH THEM i cannot stress this enough.. i have seen so many Nasus players farm the entire game and call their team noobs because they lost... you can farm and stay close to your team mates and it is a for sure loss if you go into every teamfight 4v5. If no teamfights are developing continue to farm and if you are comfortable begin to use Spirit Fire to push you lane and down your tower if you can ONLY if you know you can survive a gank and wont feed their jungler by doing this.

Late Game

your Siphoning Strike should be hitting for about 1000 at this point and you should be near unkillable in the best case scenario. stay with your team and continue to down towers and farm whenever you can without leaving your team.

Team Fights

If the enemy team is grouped up pop your Fury of the Sands and Spirit Fire to damage them all and Wither one of their carrys and just destroy them :D

Difficulty= 5/10
Weaknesses: i dunno scurvy maybe
How they can beat you: this lane matchup is a stalemate early game... you cant kill him and he cant kill you. i guess if you didnt buy a Regrowth Pendant he could poke you to death with his Parrrley if you let him
How you beat them: you will have to be very passive and just farm and whatever you do try your best not to let him hit you with Parrrley you will have to let him push if you want to kill him and call for a gank from your jungler.

Difficulty=3/10
Weaknesses: poor early game/ poor sustain
How they can beat you: dont over extend yourself and allow their jungler to gank you
How you beat them: Akali is very easy to beat with Nasus because she is very squishy and if she trys to hide in her little bubble all you have to do is drop Spirit Fire on it and she either takes damage or has to get out of it. you have a huge advantage in your sustain so whenever she moves in to last hit a minion dont be afraid to cast Wither on her and beat her up with Siphoning Strike a little bit ;)

Difficulty=10/10
Weaknesses:you cant touch him :*(
How they can beat you: Teemo is the water to your fire. he is your arch enemy. all his moves seem to counter yours and there is not a chance that you can get close enough to attack him even with his tiny range and even if you do get close to him he is just going to blind you and run away.
How you beat them: avoid laning against him at all costs... if you have to lane against him be very passive and just farm. dont even try to get close to him


Difficulty= 6/10
Weaknesses: she has long CDs and is attack speed dependant
How they can beat you: she deals true damage and that makes all your armor useless + her sustain makes harassing her difficult.
How you beat them: dont let her farm. she is very item dependent unlike you so if you can stop her from last hitting do it. Also do not let her bait you with her Equilibrium Strike because it leaves you wide open for ganking. farm when you can and harass her when she goes in to last hit a minion. Also whenever she goes in to attack you just Wither her and she wont be able to use her true damage to the full potential.

Difficulty=9/10
Weaknesses: melee
How they can beat you: Riven is right up there with Teemo on my list of terrible match ups in top lane. her mobility is insane with Broken Wings and she can almost get a free shot in on with you from her Valor Ki Burst combo and she doesnt have mana so unless you harass her or you gank her she isnt going anywhere.
How you beat them: be very passive and farm your Siphoning Strike you will have to wait until you get a gank or until late game before you can even challenge her authority unfortunately.

Difficulty=8/10
Weaknesses: weak before she has her ult
How they can beat you: i wouldnt say she can beat you but her mobility from Burnout is insane and because she is build mostly bruiser she can stand toe to toe with you and will win in early game.
How you beat them: unless they are incredible stupid you shouldnt be able to beat her in early game. in late game you shouldnt have any problem with her when she is alone.

Difficulty=2/10
Weaknesses:he does no damage to you
How they can beat you: if you over extend your lane he can use his Infinite Duress and you are wide open to die.
How you beat them: Warwick deals very little damage and cannot harass you enough so you can free farm your Siphoning Strike.

Difficulty=7/10
Weaknesses: he is movement speed dependant to keep him infront of you so his poison hits you
How they can beat you: he will beat you early game with Fling and his poison
How you beat them: whenever you see Singed move towards you with the intent to Fling you just throw Wither on him and run away.

Difficulty=9/10
Weaknesses: none that you can do anything to
How they can beat you: pretty much Teemo with more range and he can stay in lane forever with a Hextech Revolver.
How you beat them: stay passive just like you are fighting Teemo and buy Boots first to dodge his skill shot. Also always stay behind your minions

Difficulty=4/10
Weaknesses:she is movement speed dependent
How they can beat you: if you are dumb and stay close to walls she will be able to destroy you.
How you beat them: Poppy has no escape so if you Wither her she can do nothing about it and is forced to let you hit her.

I hope you all like my guide and thank you for reading it. My in game name is Chavali add me if you want to play sometime. Dont forget to +1 and comment if you need any questions answered or find anything wrong with the guide.

Special Thanks to:
bitpik for the top lane suggestions and how they match up with Nasus