I ban this big boy all day every day since his reworked minions. Prior to the rework, you could activate W and auto his minions in a clump and one-shot them all. Now his minions just don't care. He is allowed to be VERY aggressive, even before he turns the lane into a permanent 1v2 with Maiden. His Q gives him increased healing when his HP is lower, so going for the kill sometimes is a detrimental decision. Save your W to auto reset against his ring wall to escape quickly, otherwise you are going to take a heavy loss of health. Just play under turret as much as possible, attempting to traverse the jungle to control ward the river bush when possible to help give your jungler the edge needed to secure successful ganks. (Thornmail highly reccomended)
Aurora
Yeah... this one is not common, but definitely not legal. She can outmaneuver you, out-sustain you, and out damage you with burst. I don't have much advice on this matchup simply because it is unfair in many ways. Just play under turret and pray your jungler can burst her with the help of your CC.
Aatrox
Against Aatrox, you will need to swallow your pride and utilize the protection of turret as often as possible.
Trading with Aatrox is like stepping on a minefield of Lego bricks, knowing full well they are there before you. He wins almost all trades because of his innate healing passive on his E. The best way to play against this is as follows:
You will need to let him push you under turret. Aatrox will be very aggressive, so trying to farm outside of tower range will be a nightmare. Brush up on your CS'ing skills because they will be needed here. Nautilus' Passive helps quite a bit with last hitting minions, but so does his E. Try your best to use your Q for disengaging rather than trying to hook him under turret. He will likely just dodge your hook with his E, and because he doesn't need mana, you will be digging yourself a hole by missing a hook.
If your jungler is willing to come and gank (as they should) be prepared to Q. Once you hook him, walk PAST Aatrox. Most Aatrox players will take Flash/Teleport, so preparing yourself for the Flash away is critical for getting a small edge with takedown gold.
Don't be tempted when Aatrox looks low, maybe you can score a quick takedown and earn some gold to get back in the ring with him... WRONG. His ultimate is the absolute undoing of everything you just thought. Once the World-Ender takes flight, it's over. His additional movespeed, damage, and healing makes it nearly impossible to take him down on your own if he gets a small lead. Let him stay low, let him back, and try your best to keep your cool. Greeding against Aatrox is a bad idea.
One good thing I've noticed is not a lot of players can skillfully wield Aatrox, but don't underestimate capabilities on a whim...
Gwen
Gwen WILL WIN extended fights, so be sure to keep them short, sweet, and to the point. Her passive makes it difficult to take longer fights due to the healing she receives and the Max HP damage she deals. Be weary of freely throwing Q's out when she hits Lvl.3, as she will have her W (Hallowed Mist) and can avoid your hooks that way. Play cautiously but have enough aggression to not let her walk all over you. She will become too powerful late game to fight alone.
Recommended to acquire Spirit Visage after getting Eclipse.
K'Sante
The Pride of Nazumah is a tough matchup, mainly because he is a champion that scales with health and resistances. Trading with K'Sante isn't very easy, nor does it work too well since he matches your CC. He can easily block your passive and Q with his W, so avoid using Q to engage.
The best way to fight against K'Sante is to farm cautiously and to stay away from river side. His Ultimate will carry you away from safety if you are in the wrong position, so play near the brush on the alcove side in case you need to Q away.
Mordekaiser
Mordekaiser is one of the few champs who can make it very difficult to prosper as Nautilus Top. Rushing Rylai's and forcing you into long fights is how he will win early on. As another champion without mana, you need to be cautious and reserve your mana for primarily usage of your W to shield against any Q's he will throw your way. Also, you will want to reserve your hook for escapes rather than engages. Only exception is for under tower hooks. Recommended to get Spirit Visage after Eclipse.
Renekton
Renekton hits hard and he trades fast. He will use your minions against you to dash through them to trade with you (often winning the trade). DO NOT SHIELD if he has his full combo up and his rage is at least 50%. His W destroys shields, making you waste mana and take unnecessary damage. Best case against him is to exercise caution and only trade when his rage is low. Most trades will be equal, but you at least have to have the gall to not be bullied early otherwise he will hold the wave on his side and you will lose. Highly recommended to pick up Thornmail or Iceborn Gauntlet before Eclipse.
Ambessa
Mobile and annoying, but also predictable, Ambessa is an even matchup due to the fact early game her cooldowns have a decently long duration. Go for short trades and utilize Q as a disengage (unless she is low). Just try not to be greedy because she does have a better all-in. Recommended to get an armor component before completing Fimbulwinter.
Camille
Genuinely not too bad of a matchup early, but late game is where she will make the game hell for you if you don't play right. Her adaptive shields will pick up on the magic damage you deal, so when it activates just wait it out before taking a trade with her. You can catch her with your hook if she tries to jump off the wall with her E, negating the CC effect it usually applies. As the game goes on, her Q will convert to more to true damage. Phase Rush Recommended.
Fiora
Fiora's bread and butter is her aggression with her passive marks. Use her marks against her when possible (especially when your jungler is coming to gank) and play near walls to prevent her from hitting them. Auto cancelling is a MUST against her, as she will time her counterattack with your passive swing, so be cautious of that.
Gangplank
So long as you are better at destroying his barrels than he is, this should be a fairly even matchup. Save W for his Q's (especially for when he buys Sheen). If you can't get his barrels... then it's time to lock in. GP Barrels are his bread and butter. Take it away and he's just a guy with a gun, a sword, and oranges. (Fun fact: many GP players try to W out of Nautilus R even though he cant be cleansed out of a knockup.)
Gragas
Most times, Gragas will go with Phase Rush to trade and run. Hold your Q for the right timing to hook Gragas as he jumps at you to cancel his CC and lock him down with yours. Locking down Gragas for trades is the way to win this matchup. Just be weary of his poke with his barrels.
(Additional Tip: If you time it right, hooking to a wall just as Gragas R hits you will override the knockback and will send you to your hook instead."
Illaoi
Genuinely a very even matchup. Illaoi will protect her tentacles as often as possible to continue to deal the maximum damage possible with her W. You can easily take them out with and auto + W reset. Just be sure to dodge her E when she tries to pull your spirit, as this is the biggest way you lose. It will give her free healing + damage on you, so try to use minion cover as often as possible. If grabbed, simply Q away to a wall and walk out of range, dodging the spawning tentacles. Also, be cautious on the timing of your ult! Her ult makes her briefly unstoppable, so if she ults at the same time as yours lands on her, it only damages her rather than applying the knockup CC.
Jax
Jax really isn't too bad. Take small trades with him but be cautious of his E. Hooking him while his E is active automatically gives him the win for the trade. Recommend getting Bramble Vest before completing Eclipse.
Kennen
Very rare to see, but he is a pretty annoying matchup. His bread and butter are landing his skill shot Q's, so just stand behind minions. You will more than likely will need to just let him push you under turret because, once there, most Kennen players get impatient. He is squishy, and VERY susceptible to CC combos. Phase Rush recommended.
Kled
This matchup can go both ways... Kled's biggest crutch is Skarl. Without him, he has much lower mobility, but he also has the element of surprise when he gets half his HP back when re-mounting. Take it slow and take short trades and don't be overly tempted to try and kill him when dismounted. Use Q to disengage him after his trap on a rope land on you, but before he tries dashing to you.
Malphite
This big lump of rock isn't too bad to deal with. He will more than likely start with a barrage of Q pokes in the beginning. Save your W to block them and you will be saving yourself a lot of health. Your autos are already slow, and his E will make them feel like it takes business days to land. Take shorter trades with him and when you can get a grasp proc, try to catch him with a Q when he tries to pop you with one.
Nasus
Definitely take Phase Rush here against the ole thwack dog. Most Nasus players will run Fleet Footwork for the additional sustain and move speed, so his main goal is to avoid fighting you and stack. When Phase Rush is ready you can take a short trade against him and run. He will likely attempt to wither you and if Phase Rush is not up, he will turn that trade upside down for you. An early bramble vest is recommended.
Ornn
Ornn is annoying but isn't too bad when played safely enough. His W can counter your passive, Q and R so attempt to bait him with a W activation when near him then walk away with E. Reserve your Ultimate for when he uses his, just knock him up and he won't be able to slam it towards you.
Riven
Hippity, hoppity Riven truly does exist. Her greatest advantage is not having a resource to depend on, but she also ONLY has physical damage. That being said, a good Chain Vest in preparation for an Iceborn Gauntlet is a must. If she engages, she fights. Riven prefers to take longer fights with Conquerer, so shorten those fights by taking Phase Rush to disengage easier. It isn't reccomended to fight her 1v1 as she will always have a damage advantage. Instead, play back near turret to get valuable ganks to get you ahead and become the annoyance she deserves. (Be cautious when hooking her; as soon as she lands on her feet she will stun your right back with her W and force a losing trade for you.)
Shen
Shen is all about positioning with his Q. If you can play around his positioning and aggression by countering his E dash with your Q, he will miss out on some extra Q effectiveness since he won't be passing through you. Lots of short trades here. Just don't keep chasing him to the point he keeps recalling his spirit sword through you over and over... (his blocking aura can't block your E).
Zaahen
Zaahen is, surprisingly, not too scary to deal with if you understand his abilities. He is always going to want to all-in, so I recommend Phase Rush for this matchup as to not get stuck in his forced advances. With enough short winning trades, you can bully him to the point he will stay under turret and utilize his Q for healing. Your Q can be used on a wall, when timed right, to disengage Zaahen's W pull.
Cho'Gath
Unless he is running Hail of Blades (in which case I HIGHLY recommend Phase Rush), Cho'gath is really fairly easy to beat. Just dodge his Q's and he misses a lot of his opportunities to womp you. Eclipse is especially helpful against him since he is permanently stacking HP. Try to take trades during the short window right after he uses his E to clear minions.
Darius
Previously I had placed Darius as a much higher threat. As I played against him more, he began to feel much easier to deal with for one simple reason: Phase Rush. So long as you are not overly aggressive with him, he is a piece of cake. Save Q to disengage his E. Walk towards him (if close enough) during his Q swing to avoid healing him and giving him a passive stack. All you really want to do is take the game slowly and pick up an Iceborn Gauntlet as your second item rather than Fimbulwinter. I have several great example games against him on my channel.
Dr. Mundo
Aside from his Q Cleavers and Ultimate, Mundo has the downside when it comes to trades. Nautilus's passive is very effective against Mundo given he has no real mobility, and Mundo's passive forces him to take %Max HP damage on CC... I think you see where this is going. Dodge his initial cleaver and hit him with a solid combo and back up behind minions. Rinse, repeat, win. (Bramble vest recommended before Fimulwinter).
Garen
Usually only a danger once he gets his "outplay" button (R). Utilize your passive to space yourself from him when he starts spinning. Popping your W when he Q's in guarantee's you come out with a winning trade. Recommend grabbing Iceborn Gauntlet before Eclipse as the game goes on.
Singed
Singed usually just tries to proxy farm, so keep your jungler in the loop to score some easy kills. Keep Q as a disengage near his turret to cancel his E toss. Over time, he will become more and more tanky and annoying, so just try and prevent his advances later on.
Sion
Good ole int king! Not too big of a problem early. Use your hook to cancel his Q charge and take advantage of the opportunity to fight! His Q goes on a 50% cooldown when interrupted, so just take a couple swings at him and step away. The amount of shield bash damage you can deal to him is nuts... So don't let him scare you.
Tryndamere
The only real threat Tryndamere brings is his ult. Q him when he spins in for an engage to cancel his movement and fight while disengaging. You should be able to beat him early and bully him into staying under turret if you aren't being too greedy.
Kayle
You can literally beat the breaks off this b**** so long as you don't greed too hard. She CAN win a long-term fight, so take the opportunity to pick up a Doran's Ring after you back to always ensure you have the upper hand in the short trades you take with her.
Hello! I'm Wafflerush, the creator of this guide. I will be adding more details as the days go by but I wanted to share this build because of the success it has brought me thus far. I reached Emerald last season and hope to progress further this year.
Nautilus is very much born to be a support, we all know that. There are some who have taken him toplane with tankier builds, starting with Tear of the Goddess and building full tank items or full AP.
However, with over 500+ Ranked games and counting, my build has brought me great success in overperforming on Damage, Gold, CS, and KDA than most other Nautilus Builds. https://www.leagueofgraphs.com/summoner/champions/nautilus/na/Wafflerush-NA1/top/soloqueue
I actually played this build as a joke at first... But after seeing how much insane success I've been having with it I decided to take it to ranked. Lo and behold I was winning nearly 70% of my toplane duels and taking first turret nearly 50% of the games I played. Sure, I started out in Iron, but as it stands I am in the top 5% Nautilus players in the World BY PLAYING NAUTILUS TOPLANE. A significant number of high end Nautilus players are supports, so personally, this is a great feat to accomplish being currently in Platinum.
American Nautilus (Toplane)
Build Guide By Wafflerush
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