I just got my first penta, thank you

gonna start learning nasus real soon

Best build ever. Maybe in some situations you may prefer Spirit Visage, but I this this same build and just got 12/2.

Unkillable Nasus

NateKiller,

Really enjoy your Nasus build. I have been using it for around 6 months with good success. There are two minor suggestions I would make regarding Masteries that I offer up for your consideration. These may have already been put forth in a previous comment but I don't have the time/energy to read them all to check. :^)

Instead of 4 levels in the Sorcery mastery put the points into the Utility Tree as follows:

+1 point in "Fleet of Foot" : faster chase/retreat

+1 point in "Expanded Mind" : bonus mana is good for additional Q strikes at low levels
OR
+1 point in "Phase Walker" : to slightly decrease teleport time

+2 points in "Summoners Insight" : 7% CDR instead of 5% (not a lot but every little bit help)

So that ends up being 0/24/6 if we stick more or less with your build.


I have also been experimenting with running 0/19/11.

Utility Tree

---

3 x Fleet of Foot : chasing/running away
2 x Expanded Mind : early mana regen
3 x Summoners Insight : 10% CDR
3 x Vampirism : +3% life steal (synergizes well with Nasus's passive Soul Eater and gives you better lane sustain)


Keep up the great work!

~ Takodono (NA)

I really liked this guide (Didn't actually read ALL of it). It's very detailed too but i still have some problems with the build. I tried this build once and i got killed by the enemy team in less than 1.3 seconds... Not really unkillable but i still like the guide tho.

Short answer, no.

As you said the spirit visage purchase does get pushed out in a IBG build. That's why I only run that combination against AD lanes. It was nice back in season 3 when we could spec for SV+IGB and get 40%. The real beauty of that being you hit a massive power spike early in the game and steam role the lane no matter the type. But alas that luxury was gone and I've been searching for a way to get it back. BC does serve that function but not quite as well.

The real issue now is IBG is a teamfight oriented item, whereas TF is great for split pushing and tower taking. When Riot gutted Nasus' wither last season he was instantly a horrible team fighter. Thus making TF the obvious choice going forward.

If we look at TF's efficiency + Frozen Heart's efficiency it's hard to argue going against those choices. Frozen Heart in particular has been a staple of TF builds since forever. If it ever becomes a bad item it would certainly hurt TF's viability. I particularly like the fact FH auto-applies Oppression to the enemy team. That alone just adds to the value.

TLDR: IBG has a better power curve when coupled with another 20% cdr item and has more utility for team fights. Trinity fits the current role of Nasus better.

Sorry for the long post! :)

I have used BC in several games against AP match up and usually combine with trinity force. I know you lose some value in the rage passive but I feel like TF is superior to IBG in nearly every situation The problem with taking IBG is that it makes SV slot inefficient if you opt for 10% CDR in runes and masteries and I feel SV is necessary in every game as It gives an incredible boost to sustain. I guess what I am getting at is do you believe SV<IBG and IBG>TF now that BC is in the field? To clarify I don;t believe the 10% CDR start is negotiable as it severely effects how well you stack early game which I think is crucial to the success of Nasus. Thanks again
Nate for all your help and theory crafting discussion.

The new BC is such an efficient item(especially on Garen) I've been using it in my IBG builds. Lately IBG hasn't been a good option due to the lack of a good 20%cdr item for the early game. BC changes that and works well as a second item. So really you get the Rage of TF and the slow of IBG. That's a formidable combination.

One thing that helps me make decisions on items is looking at the efficiency. First we want to make sure the base stats are more than 100%. Then look look at the passives to see how much power you're getting in excess and if they work well with X champion. Here is the one for BC: The Black Cleaver

Given those values I'd argue BC is a solid item on Nasus. He still doesn't have a good way to apply stacks quickly, but the item is so good otherwise it doesn't matter.

No problem on the late response as we are all busy IRL. I have yet to face a Rengar who is consistent so perhaps my view is skewed but none so far have been overly oppressive. I find I have more trouble with Garen/ Yi as they have abilities that can break wither which is the holy counter against AA champs for Nasus and his only means of engage and disengage.
The new masteries I am on the fence about. I still think the Tenacity and Slow Reductions are great all around for Nasus as kiting is a huge factor against him. Not sure how I feel about the new enchanted armor or adaptive armor I feel like I have to sacrifice points for sustain in order to max them out and I don’t feel that it is worth it on the few games I’ve tried it on.
Have you tried the new BC? What are your thoughts?

First, my apologies on the late response. I hope to add some more matchups in the coming month. It's been a while since I've done so. I'll revise the existing ones when that's done.

I haven't faced Rengar with the new mastery setup yet. However, I expect him to still be challenging. There seems to a big difference between those good and average Rengars. Sometimes he's useless or wants to roam; other times he comes to lane with 90 AD, ignite, and goes HAM. The latter version is scary for the same reason Olaf is, there's minimal lane push and you can't kite him. He jumps from the bush repeatedly with damage to only the face. If he manages to get a kill, the lane is done. He'll scale out of control and kill you much like Darius, which is before you can reach your own tower.

I guess the mastery question is irrelevant now. lol.

Hey Nate you should include details for matchups against Master Yi, Trundle, Quinn/Vayne. Do you think Rengar is still a true counter? Typically with warding and being a bit liberal in the early stages with wither makes the matchup rather even and alot of times when he jumps in he pushes the wave as well. The only time I struggle with him is if my jungler feeds him a kill. Also could you give more explanation on why the utility masteries are superior to the defensive ones? Oppression, Perseverance, Second Wind and Swiftness are all huge on Nasus especially when he buys his Spirit Visage and Frozen Heart. Also 15 Tenacity from Tenacious for me is way more valuable than a bit more LS and MS. Still love your guide m8!

Dude. Best Nasus guide I've seen in a long time. I usually just rush Triforce, but picking up Frozen Heart and Spirit Visage has helped me in a lot of teamfights. Here's a game I just played; I carried with 782 stacks, even though I don't have much kills. Nasus Game