In my opinion, support Nautilus CAN be useful for his team and successful overall. But let's see...
I chose two most similar support styles to compare: Leona and Thresh
- Leona's main advantage is ignoring minions with her E, whereas Nautilus's Q can be prevented by hiding. On the other hand, Nautilus's R has guaranteed stun and its range is enough, even it's not that far like Leona's.
- Thresh offers much more utility for his lanemate (W), and other stats are relativaly the same. Only good thing for Nautilus is low ban ratio on ranked plays compared to Thresh.
I would say he's around about as viable as Alistar is right now, maybe a little more with the right matchup. The only real issue is that he doesn't give any sustain to his adc. Id say that because of this he'd work best with rangers ( Caitlyn , Varus) who utilize their range to stay away from damage.
With 4 cc's and a health shield, I don't really see any reason why he'd do poorly in comparison to other supports.
Nautilus is a decent support, imo. Doesn't have a team shield that can swipe you across the map like Thresh, but does have some pretty epic peel and initiate. Scales off hp, which is not uncommon in certain support items ( Locket of the Iron Solari and Runic Bulwark come to mind).
He's a tad bit more clumsy to use than Thresh and tends to be all-in if he lands his hook.
Naut is a great support, idk what these people are smokin by saying naut isnt viable... he has slow aoe cc which can be used like every 3 or 4 seconds and if u go my build which has ap and hp then u can easily kill the adc support and that pesky jungler or mid laner who thinks he can kill you.... whats not to love about naut??? lets see. Tanky, grabs, aoe cc that does hurt especially early game when those early game kills help scale you and your adc most importantly, a nice hp shield to help with living through a gank or to help ur carry carry safely. o and wait that 5! man pop possibility?!?! lets see can thresh do all of that? no! he has a hook that imo is worse than blitz, thresh has a ult that doesnt move so all u gotta do is either back off or just be smart about how u move or have ur tanks pass through his weak ult first, the lanturn is good i guess... especially when ur team is used to being over extended like they shouldnt be. tbh naut should be banned more than thresh, thresh is annoying but naut scores kills
Don't play it, it's fairly awful imo. He needs items to be effective which is something that contradicts the prime quality for a support. His grab is underwhelming compared to the other two supports having that and the rest of his kit isn't as strong as other supports. Want CC lockdown? Get Leona. Want an initiator? Get Blitzcrank or Leona. Want overall control? Get Thresh or Lulu.
There is really no reason to play him as a support, not because he's that bad but just because all others do a better job.
I chose two most similar support styles to compare: Leona and Thresh
- Leona's main advantage is ignoring minions with her E, whereas Nautilus's Q can be prevented by hiding. On the other hand, Nautilus's R has guaranteed stun and its range is enough, even it's not that far like Leona's.
- Thresh offers much more utility for his lanemate (W), and other stats are relativaly the same. Only good thing for Nautilus is low ban ratio on ranked plays compared to Thresh.
~ Nautilus In-Depth (Charge) Guide - Fak3cz ;)
With 4 cc's and a health shield, I don't really see any reason why he'd do poorly in comparison to other supports.
He's a tad bit more clumsy to use than Thresh and tends to be all-in if he lands his hook.
There is really no reason to play him as a support, not because he's that bad but just because all others do a better job.
A bit of everything... just like nami, so why not?