5 Champions Who Counter Nasus
Nasus is a safe laner that wants to scale, or at least that’s what he wants the enemy to think. A good Nasus is scary to play against as they know how to play that doge and make that coin.
In this Mobalytics guide, we will break down 5 champions that are good against Nasus in the top lane. Picking one of these 5 champions against him will allow you to gain a lead and prevent him from getting free.
If you want to learn how to play as Nasus, I recommend checking out Nasus’s champion page. It has helpful tips to help you stack your Q, show the latest runes and builds, and tell you how to play into lots of Nasus’s matchups.
What champions counter Nasus?
- Gnar
- Illaoi
- Camille
- Karma
- Wukong
The best champions that counter Nasus are Gnar, Illaoi, Camille, Karma, Wukong. You can find all the matchup tips we use in this guide on the Mobalytics App. For plus members, you can get specific matchup tips for the champion you’re playing versus the enemy laner at your fingertips while you load into the game. We have tens of thousands of different, highly specific matchups curated by our challenger level players to help you lane against the enemy champion.
1. Nasus vs Gnar
Gnar is one of the more common counters to Nasus. However, this matchup can go either way. Gnar should freeze the wave closer to his side of the map so Nasus is forced to overextend, which he can then abuse. Gnar also has the range advantage.
4 tips to counter Nasus as Gnar
- Keep poking Nasus with your Q in this lane. This will let you keep him at bay. Don’t let him free farm and auto-attack him every chance you get.
- Your E will play a massive role when trying to evade Nasus’ all-ins. Keep him at a safe range and keep poking him with your Qand {{W empowered auto-attacks.
- You will be highly effective in team fights when you get your Ultimate. Just make sure that Nasus is not free farming, else it will cause many issues for your team.
- Keep the wave in the middle of the lane and keep poking Nasus relentlessly. It is necessary else he will stack up and kill your team.
2. Nasus vs Illaoi
Illaoi can counter Nasus with her E, W and Q. She can abuse him whenever he walks up to farm, and she will win all-ins against him. Illaoi is very good into Nasus and should be able to abuse him and set him behind.
4 tips to counter Nasus as Illaoi
- Keep all-inning Nasus frequently, especially when he is trying to proc his Q in the lane. This will allow you to reduce his scaling massively.
- Your W and E will help you a lot in this lane, especially when trying to all-in Nasus. Always try to fight him near terrain for maximal effectiveness.
- Once you get your Ultimate, it is time for you to take control of the lane. Zone Nasus off the minion wave and just all-in him blatantly should he try to ignore you.
- Keep the wave in the middle of the lane and use the lane brushes for maximal effectiveness. Be very careful when leaving the lane, though, and try to return as quickly as possible.
3. Nasus vs Camille
Camille is one of the harder champions on our list, but with practice, she is a good pick into Nasus. Generally, Camille’s will want to freeze near their tower to begin with, which forces the Nasus to overextend. She can then capitalize on that with her Jungler or by herself to kill him.
4 tips to counter Nasus as Camille
- Due to his Passive, Nasus can sustain himself if you do not double down on him after a trade. After a good engage, be sure to keep him away from minions so that he won’t heal up.
- Be sure to freeze the wave near your tower. If you let Nasus freeze under his tower, there is no way you’ll be able to prevent him from stacking his Q. Once the wave is under your tower, be sure to punish Nasus every time he steps forward to use his Q on a minion.
- Once Nasus uses his R, if you aren’t going to kill him within the next couple seconds, run away with your E. He gains health and resists as well as reducing his Q in half, so any fight turns in his favour very quickly.
- Nasus has very few ways to win a trade against you before he gets his R, so make sure to take a fight with him as often as you can while he is weak.
4. Nasus vs Karma
Karma is a great pick into immobile champions in the top lane. She has the range advantage, good poke with her Q, good utility and self peel with her E and W. She can constantly bully the Nasus down when he walks up to the farm.
4 tips to counter Nasus as Karma
- Use your range advantage to poke the enemy when they walk up to last hit minions. Constant harassment through poke with Q and auto attacks will force them to recall or allow you to kill them. Either way, you’ll get ahead if you can keep poking them down.
- It’s easy to get trigger happy on Karma: using your shield to block damage and Q to poke with. Keep an eye on your mana bar and always save enough mana to use your shield E to run away with. If you’re low on mana, you are little kill threat to the enemy.
- A good time to use your Q is when the enemy is near the minion wave. If you want to push (or match the enemies wave clear), using your Q will allow you to poke and push at the same time. But, if you are trying to freeze you might not be able to do this.
- Keep the minion wave even or slightly closer to your side of the map. This will allow you to farm safely, prevent ganks and reduce the enemies ability to trade with you. You can also use your W aggressively and chase the enemy down if you have room to do so.
5. Nasus vs Wukong
Wukong has a lot of early game pressure: which is something Nasus hates to play against. Using your early game strength to set him behind is very important in this matchup. Freeze near your tower, look for trades and all-in him when he walks up to CS.
4 tips to counter Nasus as Wukong
- Your level 6 power spike is much stronger than the enemies. Try to get level 6 first and then all in with your Ultimate. Try to go for a short trade before hitting 6 to make the all-in more successful.
- You will win auto-attack and short bursty trades with the enemy as they are a tank. With that in mind, follow the rest of our tips and only look to trade when it favours you, as trading too frequently can be just as bad as not trading at all.
- Before committing to a fight, try to bait out the enemies CC tool. If you go in and they CC you, you’re going to be overextended, and the enemy will be able to come out ahead. Try to go for a short trade or bait it out before fully committing to the all-in.
- Try to keep the minion wave closer to your side of the map. This allows you to chase the enemy down in a fight and kill them. If you push, you’ll never be able to use your abilities on them in an effective way.
Conclusion
When it comes to beating Nasus, you need to pick someone that can abuse his weaknesses and play aggressive and abuse him in the early parts of the game. Picking one of these champions is highly favourable.
For more tips and tricks, check out Mobalytics!
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