Runas Nasus Top S9

3 min read 27-11-2024

Meta Description: Conquer the top lane in League of Legends Season 9 with this comprehensive guide to Runas Nasus. Master his strengths, weaknesses, matchups, and optimal rune setups for dominating games. Learn how to farm efficiently, outscale opponents, and carry your team to victory with this powerful late-game champion.

Introduction: Reign Supreme with Runas Nasus

Season 9 saw Nasus, the Sand Wraith, emerge as a powerful top lane force, particularly with a Runas build. This guide will delve into the intricacies of playing Runas Nasus top in Season 9, covering runes, item builds, matchups, and gameplay strategies to help you dominate your opponents. Nasus's strength lies in his incredible scaling potential; with enough stacks on his Siphoning Strike (Q), he becomes virtually unstoppable in the late game. This guide will show you how to reach that late game and win.

Runes and Summoner Spells: Setting the Stage for Victory

Keystone: Conqueror is the core rune for Runas Nasus. Its adaptive force and healing empower Nasus's sustained damage and survivability, making him a relentless force in extended trades.

Secondary: Triumph and Legend: Tenacity provide crucial survivability and dueling power.

Shard Choices: Adaptive Force, Adaptive Force, Armor or Magic Resist are optimal for extra damage and defense.

Summoner Spells:

Flash: Essential for escaping ganks or engaging on unsuspecting enemies.
Teleport: Allows for rapid lane returns and map presence. You can safely return to lane and continue farming.

Item Build: Maximizing Nasus's Power

The optimal item build focuses on maximizing Nasus's damage and tankiness.

Trinity Force: This item provides attack speed, ability haste, and a powerful sheen proc, significantly boosting Nasus's early-game damage and overall effectiveness.
Sterak's Gage: This crucial defensive item provides a shield that can save Nasus during crucial team fights. It is essential for survivability.
Wit's End: This item helps with magic damage reduction and gives added attack speed.
Spirit Visage: This item increases Nasus's healing and magic resist, making him more durable against AP threats.
Thornmail: This item adds damage reduction against physical damage and makes you more durable against auto-attack heavy champions.
Randuin's Omen: This item adds damage reduction and further reduces the damage from critical strikes, ensuring your survival in team fights.

Gameplay Strategies: Mastering the Art of the Late Game

Early Game:

Farming is Key: Your primary goal is to safely accumulate stacks on your Q. Avoid unnecessary trades unless you can win easily. Last hitting is critical to maximizing your gold income and quickly obtaining core items.
Wave Management: Learn to manipulate minion waves to your advantage. Freezing the wave under your tower allows you to safely farm while denying your opponent's gold.
Map Awareness: Keep an eye on the minimap, and be mindful of potential ganks. Use your wave management skills to be safe.

Mid Game:

Team Fighting: Participate in team fights selectively. Your main goal at this stage remains stacking your Q. Jump into fights when opportunities arise to secure kills.
Objective Control: Participate in objective control if you are close enough to them, and you are not greatly behind on farm.
Scaling: Focus on accumulating more stacks of your Q. This is your primary goal to win the game.

Late Game:

Team Fighting: Nasus is a late-game monster. With enough stacks, your damage output is unmatched. Focus your Q on high-value targets and quickly eliminate them.
Carrying: Your role is to win team fights for your team. Your ultimate should be used as soon as possible for additional damage.

Matchups: Conquering Your Opponents

Nasus is effective against many top-laners. However, he struggles against those who can repeatedly engage and deny his farming.

Favorable Matchups: Champions who lack consistent engage and are easily outscaled by Nasus.

Unfavorable Matchups: Champions with strong early game pressure and mobility that can repeatedly interrupt your farming.

Conclusion: Embrace the Power of the Sand Wraith

Runas Nasus in Season 9 is a powerful strategy that rewards meticulous farming and smart decision-making. Mastering his strengths and weaknesses, understanding his optimal rune and item builds, and adapting to different matchups are crucial to unlocking his full potential. By following this guide, you'll be well on your way to dominating the top lane and carrying your team to victory. Remember, patience and consistency are key to becoming a formidable Runas Nasus player.