Nasus
Computed from 137,147 ranked Solo/Duo games collected through the Riot API · patch 26.21.
| Role | Win Rate | Pick Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Top | 50.8% | 4.6% |
| Jungle | 48.6% | 0.4% |
| Mid | 52.0% | 0.6% |
Nasus is banned in about 10.2% of games at this tier, one figure for the whole champion since bans happen before roles are picked. What ban rate measures.
Nasus's Top win rate is 0.8 percentage points above an even 50% — Should I Dodge's win-probability model varies by about 4.8 percentage points of standard deviation from lobby to lobby across all ranks, purely from which champions get drawn, so this gap is smaller than that noise, not solid evidence the champion is unusually strong or weak right now.
Nasus is tracked in 3 roles at this tier scope; the per-tier, threat, and counters reporting below all use its highest-pick-rate role, Top — its numbers in Jungle (0.4% pick rate) and Mid (0.6% pick rate) stay visible in the table above but aren't carried into the rest of this page.
Nasus's Top Build
In Emerald+ games on patch 26.21, Nasus's most common Top setup runs Flash and Ghost with Fleet Footwork, maxes Q first, and builds Iceborn Gauntlet, Frozen Heart, and Spirit Visage — 50.5% win rate over 27,909 games.
- Summoner spells
Flash + Ghost
51.6%7,303 games - Runes
Fleet Footwork + Resolve
50.6%12,895 games - Skill priority Q > W > E 51.2%24,353 games
- Starter
Doran's Helm + Health Potion
51.9%3,396 games - Boots
Boots of Swiftness
52.7%1,444 games - First three items
Iceborn Gauntlet → Frozen Heart → Spirit Visage
60.5%468 games
Nasus's Top Win Rate By Tier
| Tier | Win Rate | Pick Rate | Games | Edge (noise-widths) | Clears 0.5σ? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron | 51.5% | 4.8% | 11,549 | 0.19σ | No |
| Bronze | 50.7% | 5.1% | 15,617 | 0.12σ | No |
| Silver | 50.1% | 5.1% | 19,219 | 0.01σ | No |
| Gold | 51.3% | 4.7% | 20,278 | 0.24σ | No |
| Platinum | 51.1% | 4.2% | 19,146 | 0.21σ | No |
| Emerald | 50.5% | 3.6% | 13,227 | 0.12σ | No |
| Diamond | 50.4% | 3.2% | 10,389 | 0.09σ | No |
| Master | 49.1% | 2.7% | 4,030 | 0.18σ | No |
Nasus's Top win rate ranges from 49.1% at Master to 51.5% at Iron across the 8 of 10 ranked tiers with at least 200 games in this role — a 2.3-point spread. Measured against each tier's own noise floor, that's 0.19σ at Iron and 0.18σ at Master, with neither clearing the 0.5σ bar Should I Dodge itself requires before calling a reading anything but Neutral. 2 tiers under 200 games not shown.
- Power curve
- Strong late game
- Threats
- None of the seven we track
Curated reads, not measured: how we judge these
Who Counters Nasus in Top?
Champions That Counter Nasus
| Champion | Win Rate vs Nasus | Edge (noise-widths) |
|---|---|---|
Rek'Sai |
56.1% | 1.28σ |
Illaoi |
55.4% | 1.13σ |
Swain |
54.5% | 0.95σ |
Sion |
54.0% | 0.83σ |
Shen |
53.2% | 0.68σ |
Champions Nasus Counters
| Champion | Win Rate vs Nasus | Edge (noise-widths) |
|---|---|---|
Caitlyn |
40.1% | 2.06σ |
Xin Zhao |
40.3% | 2.02σ |
Mel |
41.2% | 1.84σ |
Miss Fortune |
41.2% | 1.84σ |
Shyvana |
42.0% | 1.67σ |
At most five champions are listed in each direction for Nasus: 5 listed as countering it here, 5 it counters back, with a tight, 3-point spread — none of them stand out much from the others among them — most matchups you could actually face in a real game simply aren't covered.
Our Read on Nasus
Reading the Numbers
Nasus owes much of his reputation to who plays him rather than to anything unique in his kit: he rewards patience, so his pool is full of players who already understand how to farm safely and avoid unnecessary trades, not a random cross-section of every top laner. That selection effect shapes his numbers more than any single tuning pass on Siphoning Strike ever could. He also draws bans out of dread rather than raw dominance -- most top laners would rather not learn the matchup than risk facing a fully stacked Q in the back half of a game.
When a Teammate Locks Nasus
A Nasus pick asks your team to win the game slowly: he needs an uncontested laning phase to stack Siphoning Strike, offers no roams or dive threat, and won't be a factor anywhere else on the map for a long stretch. What you get in return is a top laner who eventually becomes nearly impossible to duel one-on-one, plus a Wither that saps an enemy carry's attack and move speed more the longer it's held on them.
When the Enemy Has Nasus
Deny an enemy Nasus the time he needs to outlast you: pressure his lane hard before he's stacked, ask your jungler for a gank his way, and refuse to hand him easy last hits. Left alone for twenty-plus minutes, his stacked Q threatens to drop anyone caught isolated in one hit, and his Wither slows and weakens the attack speed of whoever he's holding it on, more and more the longer it stays on them. The whole matchup comes down to whether you can beat him before that clock runs out.
Last reviewed 13 October 2026