ClassicRift is under maintenance. Previously published pages are still here to read but signing in and any guide creation features are unavailable temporarily.

Nasus Top - It Is Never Ending

Standard

Nasus Top by DirtyDard — updated Aug 1, 2026

Unstoppable Sidelane Juggernaut

▲ 6

Item Build

Starting Items

you start with 475g

Crystalline Flask will allow you to survive even the most difficult early game and pays for itself tenfold as the game goes on. Chug through the charges and Teleport back to lane when you run out of resources.

Start Doran's Ring in match ups where you cannot afford to interact with your opponent early. Put extra points in Spirit Fire (E) and push the minion wave into tower.

Iceborn Gauntlet

Iceborn Gauntlet is the perfect item for Nasus.

Sheen makes Nasus threatening even before gaining significant Siphoning Strike (Q) stacks and helps him gain stacks.

A large mana pool allows Nasus to stay in lane indefinitely, stacking his Siphoning Strike (Q) thanks to the lifesteal on Soul Eater (P).

Cooldown reduction increases the speed of Siphoning Strike (Q) stacking and keeps Wither (W) up consistently when fighting.

Armor and magic resistance are disproportionately strong on Nasus because of the health he receives from Fury of the Sands (R) and Soul Eater (P) lifesteal.

20% CDR - Pick One

The goal of this build is to reach 40% cooldown reduction as quickly as possible.

This will be accomplished by completing one of these two items alongside Iceborn Gauntlet and Spirit of the Ancient Golem.

Either of these items or their components can be purchased first instead of Iceborn Gauntlet in difficult magic damage matchups.

Stark's Fervor is an incredibly underrated item that works perfectly for Nasus at a cheap price. Having 30% lifesteal is surprisingly powerful.

Spirit Visage is a classic staple Nasus item. Build this when the enemy team has significant magic damage threats or you must match a magic damage dealer in the side lane.

Frozen Heart is powerful, but expensive and wastes some unnecessary gold value on mana. Build this only when the enemy team is full of auto attackers or when building Trinity Force.

Spirit of the Ancient Golem

At 2000g this item feels like cheating. You can build it early against opponents whose only defense from you is crowd control, like Ryze or Sion.

It caps our cooldown reduction. It provides tenacity, freeing up the boot slot. And it gives a meaty chunk of health. What more could a dog ask for?

Boots

With Spirit of the Ancient Golem taking care of tenacity, we are free to take whichever boot is the most advantageous for the game.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity give up too much power for little gain.

Early Items

Sheen is your strongest first buy, but not mandatory.

Chain Vest or Negatron Cloak alongside the sustain from Soul Eater (P) and Crystalline Flask can completely nullify some opponents.

Ninja Tabi is a good first buy into AD carry top laners like Vayne.

Flex Items

Trinity Force is an alternative to Iceborn Gauntlet in games where the opponents are very squishy and offense is your best defense. Generally, you don't need the extra damage. If you do build Trinity Force, follow it up with Frozen Heart and Spirit Visage or Stark's Fervor.

Randuin's Omen is the strongest tank item you can build after your three core.

Build Force of Nature instead if the opponents have little AD threat.

Last Whisper can be built any time after your three core items to really put the pain on opposing tanks and bruisers.

Maw of Malmortius is strong against burst magic damage. Mercurial Scimitar is an option against powerful CC abilities like Malzahar's Nether Grasp (R).

Runic Bulwark is a great item if you must teamfight.

Example Three Item Core

"Between life and death lies immortality"

Example Full Build

"The cycle of life and death continues. We will live, they will die."

Summoner Spells

Ghost and Teleport are your best options.

Ghost helps you stick to your target and Teleport helps with your sub-par lane phase.

Take Flash over Ghost or Teleport when the enemy team has a lot of crowd control.

Skill Order

(Q)›

(W)›

(E)

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Q			Q		Q	Q	Q
			W						W		W	W	W
E		E												E		E	E
					R					R					R

Taking a second point in Spirit Fire (E) at level 3 gives more laning power than Siphoning Strike (Q) or Wither (W).

Keep putting points into Spirit Fire (E) until the lane stabilizes and you can hit the minion wave freely.

Runes

9× Mark of Scaling Attack Damagemark
9× Seal of Scaling Armorseal
9× Glyph of Scaling Magic Resistglyph
3× Quintessence of Movement Speedquint

+24.3 Armor @18+24.3 Attack Damage @18+32.4 Magic Resist @18+4.5% Movement Speed

This rune page is designed to scale as hard as possible.

Quintessences can be swapped for Flat Health, or % Health.

Marks can be changed to Flat AD, Lethality or Attack Speed.

Cooldown Reduction Seals are useless. We don't need cooldown reduction in the early game, and our best items have cooldown reduction on them anyway.

Masteries

0 / 23 / 730/30 points

OFFENSE: 0

4/4

3/3

3/3

2/2

1/1

3/3

2/3

3/3

1/1

1/1

DEFENSE: 23

3/3

1/1

3/3

UTILITY: 7

23 points in the Defense tree gives resists, cc reduction and health, perfectly synergizing with our goals of becoming an unstoppable juggernaut.

The remaining 7 points are put in utility for mana regen and cooldown reduction for our crucial summoner spells.

Alternatively, 9 points can be taken in offense to gain 8% armor penetration from Weapon Expertise. In this case, remove two points from Juggernaut.

Why Nasus?

Nasus is one of the premier sidelaning champions in League Classic. If you like scaling into an unstoppable raid boss, Nasus is your dog.

With his stacking damage and low cooldown Siphoning Strike (Q), he is able to duel nearly any champion while building tank items. Immobile auto-attackers like Twitch are nearly helpless against him thanks to his Wither (W) and even mobile champs like Katarina can only run away in fear when facing late game Nasus in a 1v1. Even tanks must fear The Cane as Nasus shreds their armor with Spirit Fire (E) and melts their health bar with Fury of the Sands (R).

This build is focused on getting through the early game, reaching 40% cooldown reduction as quickly as possible, and making efficient use of Nasus' inherent strengths.

Pros & Cons

PROS

Strong scaling
Sidelane BEAST
Wither (W) shoves nerd ADC players in a locker
Cheap and tanky item build
Can nullify nearly any lane with Spirit Fire (E)

CONS

Weak early lane
No mobility. Easily kited. Very reliant on Ghost / Flash
Useless if you fall too far behind
Weaker teamfighter than traditonal tanks
Requires immense patience in difficult match ups, and a willingness to play slow.

How to Play Early Lane

Nasus is weak in the early levels. Don't give away your health and mana without purpose. Losing a few minions from levels 1-4 is a small price to pay for the power you will soon wield.

Start with Spirit Fire (E) and level it again at level 3. Your use of this ability is crucial. Use it as follows:

Against difficult, mana reliant match ups with few potions

Spam Spirit Fire (E) on them and out-sustain through your Crystalline Flask and potions.
If they take aggro from your minions, Spirit Fire (E) will destroy them.
Do not ever waste mana on Wither (W).
Even lane bullies like Gangplank, Gragas or Pantheon will not be able to out-poke you unless they start Crystalline Flask.
Once the opponent is running low on resources, they will be forced to retreat. Use this opportunity to push into tower or freeze the minion wave and Teleport back for a solid advantage.

In extremely difficult match ups

Start Doran's Ring.
Spam Spirit Fire (E) on the wave. You can outpush almost any champion in the game.
The Spirit Fire (E) poke/shred and minion advantage on your side will make it very difficult for your opponent to all-in. If they insist, Wither (W) them inside your minions and let them burn in your Spirit Fire (E).
If you succeed on crashing the wave, wait for it to bounce back your way and attempt to freeze the wave near your tower by trimming it with Spirit Fire (E) along the way.
DO NOT step up aggressively as the wave is bouncing back to you. If you lose this wave, your game is over. Teleport if necessary to replenish resources.
Use this strategy against champions like Vayne Teemo Lee Sin or Crystalline Flask Pantheon.

In low threat match ups

Against champions who have no real kill threat unless you give it to them like Cho'Gath Olaf or Taric.
Conserve your mana and don't spam Spirit Fire (E). Use it to keep your opponent's minion wave just a bit larger than yours. Keep the minion wave on your half of the lane and focus on farming.
Trade your health for last hits and rely on your passive and Crystalline Flask to keep you healthy.

Try to prevent the caster minions from crashing onto your tower.
Always keep enough mana to Wither (W) for a jungle gank.
Farm enough gold to buy Sheen,Negatron Cloak, Chain Vest or Kindlegem.

Level 6 Powerspike

After gaining Fury of the Sands (R) Nasus awakens from his early game slumber.

If you have not fallen too far behind and have Ghost available, the sleeping dog lies no more.

Keep the wave close to your tower and encourage your jungler to gank.

If your opponent wastes a crucial spell such as Ryze's Rune Prison (W) or Gangplank'sRemove Scurvy (W), run them down.

Use Ghost immediately and Fury of the Sands (R) as soon as you are in melee range. If possible, save Wither (W) to catch back up after your opponent Flashes away.

Even if you do not kill your opponent, blowing their Flash and forcing them on the back foot will help you scale into your first item.

Comments

New comments are paused while the site is in maintenance.

No comments on this guide.