FOTM Report: Nunu Mid | Patch 26.16 Build and Runes

Riot pushed mage power back into mid lane this patch. The best user of it might be a jungler.

Patch 26.16 doesn't mention Nunu once. It still gave him what he wanted and taxed the role that used to compete with him for the map.

Check out the details on runes and builds below!

FOTM Report

Nunu Mid

Tier 1 · Patch 26.16

Riot pushed mage power back into mid lane this patch. The best user of it might be a jungler.

Patch 26.16 doesn't mention Nunu once. It still gave him what he wanted and taxed the role that used to compete with him for the map.

Patch 26.16 moves mage power from bot back to mid and cracks down on early support roaming, and Spellslinger's Shoes picked up a magic penetration buff on the way through.

The real reason to pick Nunu mid is map pressure. Especially from early levels, Nunu can successfully gank or push and hide to exert map pressure even without actually leaving lane. Late game, his rune synergies give him INSANE movement speed, allowing him to show up anywhere on the map instantly.

How to Play Nunu Mid

Abilities

E, Q, W then prioritize R > E > Q > W

Summoner Spells

Starting Items

Strategy

Shove the wave, then gank or hide off screen. After fourteen minutes, Hexflash on the spawn platform and cast Biggest Snowball Ever! [W] immediately, so Homeguard and Nimbus Cloak are both running when the snowball snapshots your movement speed

Core Items

Nunu Rune Setup

Primary: Stormraider's Surge, Nimbus Cloak, Celerity, Gathering Storm

Secondary: Hextech Flashtraption, Biscuit Delivery

Hexflash in Base, Then Roll

Homeguard + Hexflash + Nimbus Cloak + Snowball = Profit

Hexflash counts as a summoner spell, so finishing the channel procs Nimbus Cloak just like Flash does. Nunu then keeps whatever movement speed he's holding at the instant he casts Biggest Snowball Ever! [W], for the entire charge. A two second rune becomes a ten second one.

Which is why you press it in your own fountain instead of at a wall. The spawn platform gives you Homeguard, and the snowball freezes it in place rather than letting it drain over seven seconds while you walk back to lane.

How far that carries you depends on the clock. Homeguard is 75% bonus movement speed at fourteen minutes and climbs toward 150% by forty, and the snowball only channels for ten seconds. Early on that buys you mid and the river, not a top lane gank. Later it's the whole trip, and nobody in a side lane is watching for a mid laner who left from base.

Celerity makes all of it 7% better, and both buffs are percent movement speed, which also shortens the delay before the snowball starts accelerating. Take Ignite over Teleport as well, because completing a Teleport channel removes Homeguard outright.

When to Pick Nunu Mid

Pick him into farming scalers. Nunu doesn't need to win his lane, he needs it to be ignorable, and a Kayle or an Azir sitting under tower is permission to spend the game elsewhere.

Then check the enemy side lanes, because that's where the pick cashes out. A Garen, a Nasus or a Sett is a free kill for a charged snowball, and a jungler who paths toward you turns every roam into a two on one. He's also the answer when your draft has damage but nothing that forces a fight, since Absolute Zero [R] ends one regardless of how tanky anyone is.

Avoid ranged mid laners who shove first and poke you off the wave unless you have strong gank support and/or aggressive enemy laners.

How It Works

Mid Lane Got Its Power Back

Riot said it out loud this patch: mage power moves from bot to mid, and early support roaming gets cracked down on. The support quest now penalizes farming outside bot lane until level five instead of level three. That's a tax on the champion who used to show up in your side lanes uninvited, and Nunu pays none of it.

The Boots Are the Buff

Spellslinger's Shoes went from 18 magic penetration to 20. Nunu's damage is almost all magic and almost all front loaded, so flat pen on an early item is worth more to him than to a scaling mage. It's the only AP item change in the patch and it's the second slot of this build.

He Ganks Like a Jungler

Biggest Snowball Ever! [W] is a gank that starts in your own lane, landing as a knockup plus a stun that both scale with how long you've rolled. Snowball Barrage [E] clears a wave from 625 range and Consume [Q] heals off any minion, so he holds a lane he isn't winning and leaves whenever he likes.

Potential Pitfalls

Ranged CC

Biggest Snowball Ever! [W] breaks to CC. Against a Janna, Singed, or even Soraka you'll want to pick your ganks carefully when their anti-gank tools are up. If you need a Banshee's Veil get one.

The Snowball Is a Commitment

Once the channel starts you can't cast, can't use items, and can't turn quickly for a while. It's a travel tool and an engage tool. Make sure it's up for the fight and if you need to wait for the cooldown before showing your face then do it.

Tier 1 Doesn't Mean Easy

Almost nobody plays Nunu mid, which is most of why he's this strong. Nobody bans him and the enemy bot lane has never had a mid laner gank them at level two. But a failed gank can quickly set you behind and easily punished by your lane opponent when you return. 

Conclusions

Riot didn't buff Nunu. They built a patch out of the things he was already doing, taxed his main rival for map pressure, and buffed his boots. He ganks side lanes better from mid than most junglers manage from the jungle, and that's a Tier 1 pick in our book.

Suggested Tier: Tier 1

What do you think about Nunu's current state? Let us know in the comments below.