Weird Picks #50: Warlord's Bloodlust Nasus

The normal build for Nasus is Grasp of the Undying combined with Trinity Force and Frozen Heart. However, Warlord's Bloodlust synergizes wonderfully with his passive lifesteal. Combine it with Spirit Visage, and you have a literally unkillable Nasus unless you're packing some serious CC and a Morellonomicon.

Check out the build setup below!

Weird Pick #50

Warlord's Bloodlust Nasus

May 2016

Archive post, May 2016. You can't run this one today. Riot deleted Warlord's Bloodlust along with the whole masteries system when Runes Reforged landed in preseason 2018, the rune page below belongs to the old quints and reds setup that went with it, and Zz'Rot Portal is no longer buyable on Summoner's Rift. Cooldown reduction stopped being a stat in Patch 10.23 as well, so read the 40% figure as the number that mattered back then rather than a target you can hit now. We're keeping the post as a record of how Nasus got built that spring, not as a build to copy.

Introduction

How to Play

Runes: Flat Cooldown Quints, Attack Damage Reds, Flat Armor Yellows, 3 Flat Cooldown Blues, 6 Flat Magic Resist Blues
Masteries: 18-0-12, Warlord's Bloodlust Masteries
Abilities: Q, W, Q, E then prioritize R > Q > W > E
Core Items: Spirit Visage
Mercury's Treads
Iceborn Gauntlet
Sterak's Gage
Zz'Rot Portal
Dead Man's Plate

Why It Works

Perfect 40% Cooldown
The usual Nasus build only generates 30% cooldown. However, with this rune setup you get 10% from runes from the get-go, allowing you to quickly stack up those precious Q stacks as fast as possible.

Maximum Lifesteal

The amount of lifesteal Nasus receives via his passive is enough to sustain him through lane, and the amount of lifesteal from Warlord's Bloodlust combined with Spirit Visage allows him to win almost every trade against melee champions.

Excellent 1v1 Potential
The main difficulty Nasus has in-game is his tendency to get kited in teamfights. However, by opting for Iceborn Gauntlet rather than the standard Trinity Force, he gets powerful chase potential. Combined with Sterak's, his trading power is extremely high and results in very strong split-pushing ability.

Faster Ramp Up Time
By replacing Trinity Force and Frozen heart with Iceborn Gauntlet, you effectively combine two of your normal core items into one. As a result, you can maximize your damage while simultaneously stay tanky.

Potential Pitfalls

Lower Teamfight Utility
This build is still very strong in teamfights. However, by grabbing Iceborn Gauntlet instead of Frozen Heart, Nasus is less defensive and results in lower defensive utility compared to his normal alternative build.

High Unavoidable Waveclear
The main reason players select Trinity Force over Iceborn Gauntlet is that it tends to push his wave in, which reduces the number of stacks he can get by freezing lane. This trade-off is mitigated by his trade and kill potential

Conclusions

Warlord Bloodlust Nasus is a powerful duelist that can snowball quickly out of control. However, since he's squishier than usual, picking up a 1v1 oriented build is ideal in order to take down enemies who want to mess with the God Dog.

Suggested Rating: Tier 1