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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Nasus Counters, Build and Runes — Top Lane and Mid · Patch 26.20

the Curator of the Sands

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (4,284 games).

Nasus, the Curator of the Sands, stacks Siphoning Strike for good with every last hit, and Wither slows a champion's movement and attacks. Master+ played him Top and often Mid, on Fleet Footwork more than anything, and both leading paths open on Trinity Force. Darius, Garen and Olaf were the top laners he lost most often to. Renekton he had the better of.

FighterTank

Patch 26.18 · Top · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 4,284 games · Preview sample

Role snapshot (Top)

CTier
Win Rate
48.1%
Pick Rate
6.5%
Ban Rate
19.2%

4,284

Games

Very High

Confidence

Win rate by lane

  • Top47.8% · 2,613 games
  • Mid49.4% · 1,525 games

Most common path

224 games

55.4%Win Rate

Start
FlashGhost

Highest win rate path

119 games

60.5%Win Rate

Start
FlashGhost

Other first item

83 games

51.8%Win Rate

Start
FlashTeleport

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 22.6% of games·48.7% win rate over 970 games.

Primary

Precision

Fleet Footwork

Attacking and moving builds Energy stacks. At 100 stacks, your next attack heals you and grants increased MS.

Triumph

Takedowns restore 5% of your missing health and grant an additional 20 gold.

Legend: Haste

Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Basic Ability Haste.

Last Stand

Deal more damage to champions while you are low on health.

Secondary

Resolve

Second Wind

After taking damage from an enemy champion heal back some missing health over time.

Unflinching

Gain Armor and Magic Resist when receiving crowd control.

Shards

  • Ability Haste
  • Health Scaling
  • Health Scaling

Other keystones taken

  • Stormraider's Surge20.7% taken · 43.4% win887 games
  • Summon Aery2.2% taken · 36.5% win96 games
  • Unsealed Spellbook2.1% taken · 48.9% win92 games

Tree pairs

  • Precision + Resolve66.2% taken · 49.8% win2,838 games
  • Sorcery + Inspiration13.5% taken · 41.6% win580 games
  • Sorcery + Resolve7.9% taken · 43.2% win340 games

Skill Order

Which ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Nasus's most common path.

Q

Siphoning Strike

Nasus strikes his foe, dealing damage and increasing the power of his future Siphoning Strikes if he slays his target.

Cooldown 7.5/6.5/5.5/4.5/3.5s · 20 Mana
W

Wither

Nasus ages an enemy champion, decelerating their Move Speed and Attack Speed over time.

Cooldown 15/14/13/12/11s · 80 Mana
E

Spirit Fire

Nasus unleashes a spirit flame at a location, dealing damage and reducing the Armor of enemies who stand on it.

Cooldown 12s · 60/70/80/90/100 Mana
R

Fury of the Sands

Nasus unleashes a mighty sandstorm that batters nearby enemies.

Cooldown 120/100/80s · 100 Mana

Max Order

QWE

Max Q first, then W, then E. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).

Level-up Order

  • Q
  • W
  • E
  • R
Ability123456789101112131415161718
QSiphoning StrikeQQQQQ
WWitherWWWWW
ESpirit FireEEEEE
RFury of the SandsRRR

Matchup map (Top)

How Nasus performs against enemy top laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Nasus's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard

Conditional build matrix

Recommended items by enemy team composition

Master+ · Patch 26.18
Mythic / CoreFirst major item
Core 2Second item
Core 3Third item
BootsBoot slot
SituationalPick as needed

Scaling — minute 10–30

NasusTop average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

CS

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Nasus

  • Avoid extended fights — its sustain grows with every trade it survives

  • Build percentage damage — flat penetration falls off against the stats it stacks

  • Punish the cooldown — Nasus is exposed while its rotation is down

  • Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one

  • Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 6/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average

Ability details

  • P

    Soul Eater

    Nasus drains his foe's spiritual energy, giving him bonus Life Steal.

    Passive — never cast

  • Q

    Siphoning Strike

    Nasus strikes his foe, dealing damage and increasing the power of his future Siphoning Strikes if he slays his target.

    Cost 20 ManaCooldown 7.5/6.5/5.5/4.5/3.5sRange 255

  • W

    Wither

    Nasus ages an enemy champion, decelerating their Move Speed and Attack Speed over time.

    Cost 80 ManaCooldown 15/14/13/12/11sRange 700

  • E

    Spirit Fire

    Nasus unleashes a spirit flame at a location, dealing damage and reducing the Armor of enemies who stand on it.

    Cost 60/70/80/90/100 ManaCooldown 12sRange 650

  • R

    Fury of the Sands

    Nasus unleashes a mighty sandstorm that batters nearby enemies. While the storm rages, he gains increased Health, Attack Range, damages nearby enemies, has a reduced cooldown on Siphoning Strike, and gains bonus Armor and Magic Resistance.

    Cost 100 ManaCooldown 120/100/80sRange 400

Nasus balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Nasus in 4 patches. The latest is patch 26.19, published 2026-09-22.

  1. Patch 26.192026-09-22

    QSiphoning Strike

    • Bonus Damage40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120to30 / 50 / 70 / 90 / 110
    Why, in Riot's words

    Nasus is difficult to keep down these days, and part of that is how quickly getting his early stacks leads to more reliable stacking. These higher highs will be compensated with some lower lows through some more vulnerability early on with lower damage and lifesteal lane sustain values off of that, and a bit longer before he really comes online.

  2. Patch 26.172026-08-25

    PSoul Eater

    • Life Steal12 / 18 / 24%to10 / 15 / 20%
    Why, in Riot's words

    Nasus top has been able to benefit from the shift in his stacking paradigm. We are happy to see our favorite dog get his fill of treats, but want to make sure that we keep his power within reasonable bounds, therefore we are going to be tapping down some of Nasus' top specific strengths, like persistently lifestealing off of minions.

  3. Patch 26.162026-08-11

    QSiphoning Strike

    • Stacks3, increased to 12 on champions / large minions / monstersto4, increased to 10 on champions / large minions / monsters
    Why, in Riot's words

    Nasus has been a distinct jungle pick that we think is pretty exciting to see; however his top lane has lagged very far behind. We are adjusting his Q stack generation to bring these two roles closer to each other in raw power.

  4. Patch 25.242025-12-02

    Base Stats

    • Base Health631to650

    QSiphoning Strike

    • Base Damage35 / 55 / 75 / 95 / 115to40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120
    Why, in Riot's words

    Nasus has been an underdog for some time now so we're looking to throw him a bone with some changes that will make him a bit more durable in lane and powering up his Q for more effective stacking (because who hasn't missed a cannon minion by 5 health before).

Nasus skins (14)

Riot's data lists 14 looks for Nasus with their own art, the base skin included and 49 chroma variants.

ARAM performance

EstimateB
Win Rate
50.1%
▲ 0.0%
Pick Rate
4.1%
▼ 1.7%
Ban Rate
0.7%
▲ 0.5%
Damage dealt
108.9%
Damage taken
103.2%
Healing
106.5%
Shielding
94.1%
Ability Haste
+11

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

  1. 26.1951.2% over 983 games · small sample+1.5
  2. 26.1847.4% over 2,454 games+0.3
  3. 26.1746.4% over 802 games · small sample—

Nasus's base stats against all 173 champions

  • Nasus's base attack damage of 67 is the 13th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.
StatNasusRankMedian
Base health650=26th620
Health per level104=86th104
Base armor34=45th30
Armor per level4.7=42nd4.6
Base magic resist32=32nd32
Magic resist per level2.05=4th1.55
Base attack damage6713th59
Base attack speed0.638=108th0.656
Attack speed per level3.48%24th2.5%
Move speed350=2nd335
Attack range125=129th175

Nasus at level 1 and level 18

  • Nasus reaches 2418 health at level 18 — 650 at level 1 plus 17 × 104, the 73rd-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 1.
  • Nasus reaches 1380 mana at level 18 — 326 at level 1 plus 17 × 62, the 13th-highest of 145 mana users on patch 26.20.
  • Nasus reaches 113.9 armor at level 18 — 34 at level 1 plus 17 × 4.7, the 40th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 1.
  • Nasus reaches 66.85 magic resist at level 18 — 32 at level 1 plus 17 × 2.05, the 5th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 69.
StatLevel 1Per levelLevel 18Rank at 18
Health650+1042418=73rd of 173
Mana326+62138013th of 145
Armor34+4.7113.9=40th of 173
Magic resist32+2.0566.85=5th of 173

Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.

Riot's tips for Nasus

Playing Nasus

  • Paying attention to last hitting with Siphoning Strike will have a large impact at the end of a game.
  • If you're solo, Spirit Fire is a great way to farm a lane. It can be bad if you're in a lane with 2 and you push too far. Find the right balance between Siphoning Strike last hits and AoE farming.
  • If you have low defenses, people will focus you down even during your ultimate. Try buying some survivability items even in your DPS builds.

Playing against Nasus

  • While transformed by his ultimate, Nasus is stronger than most champions in the League. Engage him only if you have a clear advantage.
  • Max rank Wither is a very effective counter to Attack Damage characters, so try to avoid getting caught alone by it.
  • Nasus is prone to being kited. Try not to engage him at full Health.

Quick answers about Nasus

How does Nasus do against Darius?
Nasus won 29.4% of 34 counted Master+ games against Darius. Darius is one of the opponents that beat Nasus. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Garen?
Nasus won 40.0% of 65 counted Master+ games against Garen. Garen is one of the opponents that beat Nasus. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Olaf?
Nasus won 38.8% of 85 counted Master+ games against Olaf. Olaf is one of the opponents that beat Nasus. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Sion?
Nasus won 38.8% of 67 counted Master+ games against Sion. Sion is one of the opponents that beat Nasus. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Mordekaiser?
Nasus won 41.9% of 31 counted Master+ games against Mordekaiser. Mordekaiser is one of the opponents that beat Nasus. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Teemo?
Nasus won 46.2% of 39 counted Master+ games against Teemo. Teemo is one of the opponents that beat Nasus. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Malphite?
Nasus won 47.6% of 82 counted Master+ games against Malphite. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Nasus do against Renekton?
Nasus won 60.0% of 40 counted Master+ games against Renekton. It is a matchup Nasus wins more often than not. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
What class is Nasus?
Riot classes Nasus as Fighter and Tank. This site files the champion under Top.
How hard is Nasus to play?
Riot rates Nasus's difficulty 6 out of 10.
What resource does Nasus use?
Nasus's abilities spend Mana.
What is Nasus's attack range?
125 units — the lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 44 others).
What are Nasus's abilities?
Passive — Soul Eater, Q — Siphoning Strike, W — Wither, E — Spirit Fire and R — Fury of the Sands.
How many skins does Nasus have?
Riot's data lists 14 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 49 chroma variants.
How much health does Nasus have at level 18?
2418 — 650 at level 1 plus 17 × 104 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Nasus's ultimate cooldown?
Fury of the Sands (R): 120/100/80 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Nasus?
Patch 26.19, published 22 September 2026 — the latest of 4 patches that change Nasus in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Nasus at a glance

Nasus, the Curator of the Sands, is a Fighter and Tank champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 6/10 for difficulty, 7/10 for attack, 5/10 for defense and 6/10 for magic. Nasus spends Mana and has 14 skins with their own art. Nasus's base attack damage of 67 is the 13th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20.

Attack7/10
Defense5/10
Magic6/10
Difficulty6/10

Nasus's story

Nasus is an imposing, jackal-headed Ascended being from ancient Shurima, a heroic figure regarded as a demigod by the people of the desert. Fiercely intelligent, he was a guardian of knowledge and peerless strategist whose wisdom guided the ancient empire of Shurima to greatness for many centuries. After the fall of the empire, he went into self-imposed exile, becoming little more than a legend. Now that the ancient city of Shurima has risen once more, he has returned, determined to ensure it never falls again.
— Riot Games, Data Dragon 16.20.1. League of Legends Universe

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Methodology

Data window
Preview sample — a one-time snapshot of 65,406 ranked games (Master+, EUW/KR/NA, patch 26.18), counted by GamGem while our Riot production key is under review. Figures will update daily once it is approved. Counted 26–27 Sept 2026; patches 26.18 (35,477) · 26.19 (18,580) · 26.17 (11,048) · 26.16 (293) · 26.15 (8); by server EUW 22,382 · KR 21,922 · NA 21,065 · EUNE 20 · TR 17. 642 games without a result — remakes ended by vote in their first minutes, and games recorded with no winner — were not counted.
Rank aggregation
Master, Grandmaster and Challenger, pooled — the three ladders the count read its players from. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment
A champion is filed under every lane that holds at least a tenth of its counted games — the position the match itself reports, not the champion’s class. Its headline win rate is across all of them; each lane’s own win rate and games are counted too, and a lane’s tier list ranks by them.
Counters
The two champions in the same position on opposite teams, over that pairing’s own counted games — ranked on the edge pulled toward zero by its sample size, printed raw.
Minimum sample
None — no figure is hidden for being thin. Every rate prints its games, and the confidence band is its 95% margin: Very High within ±1.5 points, High ±2.5, Moderate ±3.1 (1,000 games), Low wider.
Why a build is not a cause
An item is counted when the match ENDS with it, so late items show long games and an item bought when already ahead shows games that were being won. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying the item caused the win.
Where the numbers come from
Names, classes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates, builds, keystones, spells and matchups are counted by GamGem from Riot's ranked match records. An estimate, not a count: this panel is not in the preview sample, and is labelled so.

Nasus on video

Published by 3 Minute League of Legends on YouTube, 16 August 2025.

1 year old. League of Legends has been patched since, so watch it for how the kit plays, not for numbers — the rest of this page is written for the current patch.

It plays in YouTube’s own player once you press play. Nothing is downloaded or re-hosted here, and nothing loads from YouTube until then.