Guide Details → About the Guide → Why Nasus Mid Pre-Game → Runes → Itemization

In-Game → Early Game → Mid/Late Game

Hello everyone. I'm SurferKiller and this is my Nasus Mid OTP, In-Depth Season 2026 Guide.

I've been playing Nasus since 2015, and been playing Nasus Mid Only since 2020.

This guide is written with the objective to keep information at a minimum, but at the same time, as In-depth as possible. I will organize information on what you need to do and why you need to do it.

Here's a video guide if you don't want to read: Play Video


I have reached Rank 3 Nasus EUW back in August 2025 (Rank 1 World Mid-Only), which proves the role works.


Please feel free to use the comments to suggest improvements to this guide or if you feel like I can explain any topic in less words than what I currently have.

All the guide changes will be noted in the "Guide Patch Notes" Section at the end of the guide.

Everytime you see matchup difficulties like Major, Tiny, Extreme, etc. , please refer to the "Threats Section" of this guide.

Thank you for reading this and if you have any questions either comment on this guide or ask on my stream so I can answer you faster.

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Simple Pros/Cons on Nasus Mid:

Pros → Smaller lane than Top lane; → More stacks; → Overall easier matchups compared to Top lane; → Can run back to tower faster; → Harder for opponent to freeze;

Cons → If your mid laner roams before you build Sheen, you won't be able to stop them or follow them; → You lose hard if you get camped by the enemy jungler/support; → Enemy Top can swap with Mid.

Main Rune Setup

Press the Attack Since Lethal Tempo was brought back, it doesn't give range anymore so it's not worth doing on Nasus. So I use Press the Attack instead. 2 autos and 1 Siphoning Strike is such a big amount of damage that makes Nasus useful before Level 6, and stronger after it. Take this Rune Setup Vs Tiny or Minor matchups.

Triumph Triumph has a personal and special place in my heart, as it saved me for countless close fights. The same could happen to you. Alternatively, you can take Presence of Mind as it gives mana which Nasus lacks to help you with the early game.

Legend: Haste Takedowns give you Basic Ability Haste up to 15. Very helpful, specially early on.

Last Stand More damage when you're low. Good for close fights. You will have lots of them.

Second Wind Very good for getting health back early which is your main priority.

Unflinching I've personally been fighting versus heavy CC drafts (80% of my games have enemies with hard CC). So after some patches using this rune, I feel like it is more useful than others in the same tree. Do not take this rune against matchups without heavy CC. Alternatively, you can take Overgrowth for more health, Bone Plating if you want some poke protection, or Demolish for some more tower damage. If taking Teleport I highly recommend Demolish.

Ability Haste

Health Scaling

Tenacity/Slow Resist

Note: you can take the Attack Speed shard if you struggle to farm caster minions under tower.

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Secondary Rune Setup

Fleet Footwork Take this rune if you're up against a Even / Major / Extreme matchup. Stack and run away to safety when laning. With this build, you can optionally get healing from up to 5 sources: Fleet Footwork, Second Wind, Revitalize, Doran's Shield, Health Potion.

Absorb Life Since you're running Fleet Footwork, Absorb Life is the best rune to take here for the extra sustain so you can survive the hard matchups.

Legend: Haste Takedowns give you Basic Ability Haste up to 15. Very helpful, specially early on.

Last Stand More damage when you're low. Good for close fights. You will have lots of them.

Second Wind Very good for getting health back early which is your main priority.

Revitalize Since you are running Fleet Footwork, Revitalize is good to take here for the extra sustain so you can survive the hard matchups. Alternatively, you can take Overgrowth for more health, Bone Plating if you want some poke protection, or Demolish for some more tower damage.

Ability Haste

Health Scaling

Tenacity/Slow Resist

Note: you can take the Attack Speed shard if you struggle to farm caster minions under tower.

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Other Rune Keystones [Optional / Experimental]

Unsealed Spellbook This rune was big back in season 8/9, and it's starting to make a comeback with recent buffs. It's mostly good for Top lane, but I don't completely reject the idea of bringing it to mid.

Conqueror You can try Conqueror as an alternative to Press the Attack or Fleet Footwork and see how it feels for you personally. I don't really like it. I definitely prefer a rune that procs faster like Press the Attack and that overall does more burst damage.

Phase Rush Definitely the current best rune for Top lane, mostly because of the movement speed you get to either chase you matchup down or to run safely back to tower. However, I do not recommend it for mid.

Grasp of the Undying Do not take this rune unless you know exactly what you're doing. Many players take Grasp thinking its a good rune because of it's healing/max health benefits, but keep in mind you're playing Nasus and it's most likely that you won't proc Grasp enough times. Only take this if you're sure you will maximize from it.

List of Summoner Spells

Ghost Ghost is mandatory for 90% of Nasus builds. It provides the movement speed you need to catch backliners and to chase down enemies before they get to safety.

Flash Flash is good for Nasus mid if you know the matchup you're up against and know exactly how/when to kill them. It's always nice to have this spell so you can use it to kill an enemy that is out of range and low HP, or to escape if things go wrong. Downside to this spell is the fact that you cannot split push most of the time. I recommend taking Flash only if you're sure that your matchup doesn't take Teleport. You can check websites for most common summoner spells for your matchup.

Teleport Teleport is well used for split pushing. Some games have enemy team compositions where you know you won't win fights 5v5, and that's when you take this summoner spell. It's also good to put pressure on the opposite lane of an objective while it's up (Example: pressuring Bot lane while Baron is alive). I recommend taking Flash instead if you're sure that your matchup doesn't take Teleport. You can check websites for most common summoner spells for your matchup. Also, take Demolish if you're taking this spell.

Spell combinations

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-OR-

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Movement Speed Build

Doran's Shield Still currently the best starter item, even after the 25.21 nerfs.

Your goal is to recall when you have enough gold to buy your "First Back" item.

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First back items:

Sheen Best item for Nasus currently. I've tried other builds without Sheen, and nothing is comparable to the damage this boi gives.

-OR-

Negatron Cloak If you're playing vs. a Major or Extreme matchup or you're struggling in your lane, build this against AP.

-OR-

Warden's Mail If you're playing vs. a Major or Extreme matchup or you're struggling in your lane, build this against AD.

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Boots:

Ionian Boots of Lucidity Best boots for Nasus. Gives you a lot of Ability Haste and Summoner Spell Haste. On top of that, when you finish your mid lane quest, they get upgraded to Crimson Lucidity, which reduces your Ghost and/or Teleport cooldown by A LOT, even more when combined with the rune Cosmic Insight. Build these boots if the enemy draft doesn't have much CC and is not full AD.

-OR-

Mercury's Treads Build these boots if the enemy draft has a lot of CC. It gives you 30% Tenacity and you can have up to around 55%-65% Tenacity if you build Sterak's Gage and have the Tenacity and Slow Resist shard. Keep in mind that Sterak's Gage is no longer recommended because Protoplasm Harness exists.

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1st Core Item

Trinity Force The best item on Nasus currently. I've tested different items like Spear of Shojin , Sundered Sky , Iceborn Gauntlet and Trinity still feels the best for our dog. We are building mainly tank with full movement speed, so we only need Trinity as our damage item.

-OR-

Iceborn Gauntlet Rare to build this but built it if the enemy draft comp is mostly AD AND if you feel like you're going to be useless for your team based on draft. Keep in mind that most champions have some magic damage output, so you might need to build maybe Jak'Sho, The Protean or a Magic Resist item later in the game.

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2nd Core Item

Bandlepipes Insanely strong item that I saw would be good for Nasus since it was announced. It's insanely cheap, is a "Mini Jak'Sho, The Protean" in terms of stats. It also gives you ability haste which helps, and the passive fixes most of Nasus mobility issues. Skip this item if your support builds it.

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3rd Item

Jak'Sho, The Protean Build this as your 3rd item if you are building tank. No matter if the enemy draft is full AD/AP. The 30% bonus resistances from it's passive is insanely strong.

-OR-

Serylda's Grudge Build this if you are ahead. It's a good third item for Nasus that prevents you from falling off for longer.

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4th Item

Frozen Heart Your first armor item if you need one. Check if you don't need Anti-heal/Anti-Crit.

-OR-

Randuin's Omen If you need Anti-Crit.

-OR-

Force of Nature Your first magic resist item if you need one. If you have a lot of shield/heal generation in your team, build Spirit Visage.

-OR-

Sterak's Gage Build this if the enemy draft contains a lot of burst damage/true damage like Garen, Camille, etc. or if you already have Serylda's Grudge and you're still fed, ahead, and snowballing.

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Last Item

Frozen Heart If you already have Randuin's Omen and the enemy draft is full AD. Check if you don't need Anti-heal.

-OR-

Randuin's Omen If you already have Frozen Heart and the enemy draft is full AD. Check if you don't need Anti-heal.

-OR-

Kaenic Rookern Build this if you already have Force of Nature, and if you still need more magic resist and/or the enemy draft is full AP.

-OR-

Death's Dance Build this if don't need anti-heal or anti-crit and already have Serylda's Grudge and Sterak's Gage. For anti-heal, do Thornmail. For anti-crit, do Randuin's Omen Instead. If you need an MR item, do Force of Nature.

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List of Items you can do without order

Armor Items

Frozen Heart Your first armor item if you need one. Check if you don't need Anti-heal/Anti-Crit.

Randuin's Omen If you need Anti-Crit. This item should always be your 2nd armor item unless you specifically need Dead Man's Plate for extra movement speed.

Dead Man's Plate Your 3rd Armor item.

Thornmail If you need Anti-Heal. Don't finish the item until it's your last. Buy only Bramble Vest.

Magic Resist Items

Force of Nature Main item if you need MR.

Kaenic Rookern 2nd MR item if you need it.

Spirit Visage Another MR item if you need more.

Abyssal Mask If you have a fed AP champion in your team. It will reduce enemy's magic resistance and make them do more damage. You also get more MR for each enemy with reduced MR.

Other Items [Optional / Experimental]

Serpent's Fang Build this if there are a lot of shielders in the enemy draft. Looking at you Karma.

Spear of Shojin Build this as an alternative to Sterak's Gage or Serylda's Grudge IF you're doing the bruiser build.

Protoplasm Harness You can build this item as an alternative to Sterak's Gage, although I still prefer Sterak's over the lifeline shield passive and tenacity.

Hullbreaker Build this if you get ahead in your lane and you're split pushing. Every 5th attack will give you good damage for towers and champs. Keep in mind that having Teleport helps with splitting/helping with objectives. This item is a good pair with Demolish. I personally hit 3200 Dmg to towers with this combination.

Warmog's Armor You can build Warmog's as a replacement for Jak'Sho, The Protean if you want.

Experimental Hexplate A good item when combined with the full movement speed build. You can replace Protoplasm Harness with this if you want.

Black Cleaver You can do this if you're fed and need some extra damage. Black Cleaver helps you with a bit of armor pen which is nice.

Fimbulwinter I see some Nasus Mains do this. I think Frozen Heart gives you the mana you need, and the health you get from this isn't worth it. You're also forced to buy Tear of the Goddess early.

Press the Attack/Fleet Footwork Setup

The First 10 minutes will decide your laning phase. Here are some essencial rules you should follow:

1st: Don't attack minions besides last hitting with your Siphoning Strike. If you've played Nasus Top, you already know what I mean. Keep yourself under tower but don't let all the minions crash into it except when you're losing a lot of HP for it.

If you are running Fleet Footwork, walk up to a minion, stack and run away, as you get the movement speed to back off to safety. That way you don't get poked as much.

2nd: Aim for 200 stacks in 10 minutes. The higher the better. 300 Stacks at 10 minutes means you can kill all your matchups as soon as you have Sheen.

3rd: Don't leave mid until you have Sheen + 100 Stacks + Fury of the Sands. No matter if your jungle is getting invaded, no matter if your mid laner is roaming early. Every time your laner leaves, tell your team right away. Push the wave with your Spirit Fire. Try to crash it into the tower. Fall back afterwards. Back to last hitting with Siphoning Strike.

(If you are running Press the Attack and you're experienced with Nasus, you can ignore this 3rd rule.)

4th: Don't let your jungler gank you before level 6. It will go wrong 90% of the time. If you still get ganked, use Wither and Spirit Fire and back off. Some junglers can win the 1v1.

5th: If you are low HP, it's better to be safe and recall, even if you don't have enough gold to buy anything useful. You will lose XP and Gold of course, but you don't give a kill to your enemy mid/jungler.

Recall as soon as you have enough gold to buy the correspondent "First back" item mentioned in the "Itemization" section. Remember to check the "Threats" section of this guide.

Do you have Sheen built? 100 Stacks? Check your matchup in the Threats Section of this guide. You might be ready to kill them. If you do, wait until they do the same mistake, then kill them again.

If you're ahead, look for fights outside of mid. Look at other lanes, check if they need help. Fight for objectives. Always keep an eye on your stacks and make sure you hit at least 500 by 20 minutes.

After your mid lane quest is finished, make sure you have your Boots upgraded to Ionian Boots of Lucidity or whichever boots you choose. Also, avoid using Teleport to get back to lane, because of the new homeguard.

If the lane didn't go well for you, keep playing safe under tower and wait for some time. As soon as you see the opportunity, move to a sidelane and start scaling there. When my laning phase doesn't go well, I see myself swapping with my botlane most of the times.

Press the Attack/Fleet Footwork Setup

Mid/Late Game will depend if you got ahead vs your matchup or not.

If you did get ahead, stop for a second and take a look at the enemy team.

Is someone insanely fed? Do you have a 10/0 Jinx in botlane? If so, time for you to start building against them. Try to limit test yourself into killing them, you most likely can, specially against ADCs. Save your Wither only for them. You most likely won't split push if you're winning, so just focus on objectives and teamfights. Stay close to your team.

If your laning phase didn't go well, then it's time to start split pushing. If you brought Teleport, it's gonna come in handy if you want to help with objectives. You don't have to mainly focus on stacking anymore, so try to use your Spirit Fire more often to clear the waves faster. If you have Flash, then keep an eye on objective timers so you can be there when they spawn, and be with your team more often.

Focus on 1 lane at a time, for example, choose Top, and try to take the tier 2 tower. Look at your map every 5-10 seconds, look for the enemy team, if most of them are missing, they are most likely coming for you. Fall back, recall if it's not safe, if it's just 2/3 people coming, fall back to a bush and when they leave, go back to split pushing.

After you take tier 2 tower of that lane, try to take tier 3 + inhibitor. If you're struggling, switch to another lane, apply the same principle.

Remember, make sure you always have Ghost and Fury of the Sands ready. You're gonna need all these if you want to participate in a team fight. Flash will help if you have it, but you can fight without it. Always focus on the easy targets first (E.g: ADCs, Squishy Champions, Back-liners). If you brought Teleport, save it to go to objectives when you're splitting.

Late Game

For late game, it depends on what elo you're in. If you're at Platinum or below, I think Nasus is the strongest champion in your game. If you're at Emerald+, I think the opposite. I personally think Nasus falls off past 30 minutes. So the only thing I can advise you is to keep your focus on objectives. Elder Dragon and Baron are your game winners.

[26.17]:

-For the last two patches I personally haven't been able to play Nasus at all. His banrate is at over 50% (time of writing). Any updates planed for this guide are currently suspended.

[26.15]:

-Nasus possibly get buffs next patch. Keep an eye out. Will update matchups if it goes through.

[26.13]:

-Added Locke to the "Threats" section as a Extreme matchup.

[26.11]:

-Changed Kassadin matchup from Minor to Even;
-Changed Heimerdinger matchup from Major to Extreme;
-Changed Ekko matchup from Extreme to 2nd worst;

[26.10]:

-Changed the Fleet Footwork (Even/Major/Extreme Matchups) Rune setup:
-Changed Triumph to Absorb Life in the precision tree of the setup;
-Changed Unflinching to Revitalize in the resolve tree of the setup;
-Updated explanation in the "Secondary Rune Setup" in the "Runes" section of the guide;

-Changed the Press the Attack (Tiny/Minor Matchups) Rune setup:
-Updated Triumph text to offer Presence of Mind as an alternative inside the "Main Rune Setup" in the "Runes" section of the guide;


-Added a note suggesting the Attack Speed rune shard as an alternative to the Ability Haste shard on both rune setups in the "Runes" section of the guide.


-Changed Armor/Magic Resist item priority. The new order (from most to least beneficial) is the following:
-Armor: Frozen Heart -> Randuin's Omen -> Dead Man's Plate -> Thornmail
-Magic Resist: Force of Nature -> Kaenic Rookern -> Spirit Visage -> Abyssal Mask
The above item priority has been updated across the guide.

-Replaced Protoplasm Harness with Sterak's Gage. The item didn't fulfill my expectations.

-Removed Boots of Swiftness from the "Itemization" section of the guide;

-Changed the 3rd item to always be Jak'Sho, The Protean for the tank build in the "Itemization" section of the guide;

-Readded Serpent's Fang inside the "Other Items [Optional / Experimental]" area in the "Itemization" section of the guide;

-Added Protoplasm Harness inside the "Other Items [Optional / Experimental]" area in the "Itemization" section of the guide;

-Replaced Spear of Shojin with Serylda's Grudge for the full bruiser build alternative in the "Itemization" section of the guide;

-Added Spear of Shojin inside the "Other Items [Optional / Experimental]" area in the "Itemization" section of the guide;

-Updated some images, image sizes and text to make the guide a bit prettier :3

-FYI I have looked at the possibility of using Doran's Helm instead of Doran's Shield, but it's not a good idea, as you lose the sustain for a bit of resistances. Sustain is 70% of what makes Nasus Mid possible;

[26.9]:

-Removed the con "You lose your tower faster than average" in the "Why Nasus Mid" Section.

-Changed Zoe matchup from Even to Major;

[26.8]:

-Changed Hwei matchup from Even to Major;

[26.7]:

-Changed Cassiopeia matchup from Minor to Major;

[26.5]:

-Added a note for Bandlepipes. Pretty much don't build that item if your Support builds it. With the changes to Locket of the Iron Solari, supports might build it less.

[26.4]:

-Changed Hwei matchup from Even to Major;

-Keep an eye on Lux and Ahri this patch. They will have increased play rate due to their recent buffs.

[26.2 (Mid-patch updates)]:

-Added a video guide in the "About the Guide" section.

[26.2]:

-Ok here we go: I have been running Bandlepipes and I knew it was going to get nerfed but I didn't know how bad. Now that I know, it is still insanely strong on Nasus so, I am changing my "Full Movement Speed" Build into "Full tank";

-Replaced Jak'Sho, The Protean with Bandlepipes in most builds in the "Items" section;

-Changed the order of the build in the "Items" section to prioritize Spirit Visage over Force of Nature due to the movement speed that Bandlepipes gives;

-Replaced Protoplasm Harness with Sterak's Gage in the "Fed Bruiser" build in the "Items" section;

-Replaced Negatron Cloak with Spectre's Cowl in the "First back items" of the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the "2nd Core Item" with Bandlepipes in the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the "3rd Item" with either Frozen Heart, Spirit Visage, Protoplasm Harness or Sundered Sky in the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the "4th Item" with either Dead Man's Plate, Kaenic Rookern, Jak'Sho, The Protean or Sterak's Gage in the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the "Last Item" with either Thornmail, Force of Nature, Sundered Sky or Spear of Shojin in the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the "Other Items" section name with "List of items you can do without order" in the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the priority of Armor items. Frozen Heart > Dead Man's Plate > Thornmail / Randuin's Omen in the "Itemization" section;

-Replaced the priority of Magic Resistitems. Spirit Visage > Kaenic Rookern > Force of Nature > Abyssal Mask in the "Itemization" section;

-Changed the text of Hullbreaker in the "Other Items [Optional / Experimental]" section in the "Itemization" section;

-Added a detail in the Overgrowth rune to recommend Demolish if taking Teleport;

-Added a recommendation on when to take Teleport and when to take Flash in the "Summoner Spells" Section.

[26.1 (Mid-patch updates)]:

-I am considering changing from "Full Movement Speed" Nasus to "Full Tank" Nasus. Will test out more games in this season and will decide in a few patches;

-Changed the number of stacks needed to hit at correct timestamps in the "Early Game" section;

-Added recommendations for when Mid lane quest is finished in the "Early Game" section;

-Changed some text the "Threats" section where I mention swapping with top laner. Swapping needs to occur during champion select to get the correct role quest.

[26.1]:

-I think that replacing Sterak's Gage with Protoplasm Harness is mandatory. I am worried about possible lack of tenacity in the overall build. So I will need more games to know for sure if it's never worth taking sterak's. For now, i've replaced every instance of Sterak's with Protoplasm;

-Removed the word "Mid/Top" from the "Spells" section of the guide;

-Updated some words here and there to replace 2025 with 2026. Also will add a video guide soon;

-Lane swapping in League is over. So no more situations where your enemy top laner that attempted to counter pick you goes mid. Removed the mention of that in the "Why Nasus Mid?" section;

-Added a new Con to the "Why Nasus Mid?" section;

-Reverted the secondary tree back to Resolve instead of Inspiration in the "Press the Attack" build of the "Runes" section;

-Added some text to the boots build and removed the upgraded boots section;

-Removed unecessary text in multiple sections of the guide.

All previous season patch notes deleted. Cleaning up the Guide Patch Notes.