Introduction

This week on is it viable, we are featuring the Greek pantheon’s goddess of vengeance, Nemesis. Nemesis is an interesting character who has fallen in and out of the meta constantly for the past year or so. Even with nerfs (and getting changed to an assassin when previous was the first female warrior) she has survived and was used even in the SPL. However, with the new changes to the map and items it feels as if Nemesis has fallen out of the meta and isn’t viable anymore. Is this the case?

What does she bring to the table?

Now, let’s go over what makes Nemesis a relevant pick. Nemesis has a kit full of slows and chase potential but why pick her over any other assassin with slows and chase potential? (Bastet for example). The main key feature of Nemesis is her ultimate, “Divine Judgement." Divine Judgment is an insanely strong ability when you look at it on paper. It takes a % of the target’s health (50% at max), gives Nemesis 25% movement speed, and takes 50% of their protections while giving those protections to Nemesis. Even though this is such a great ability, this is the problem with Nemesis currently. She’s solely picked for her ultimate.

Early game Issues

Currently Smite is in a “late game” oriented meta due to the nerf of snowballing from the gold fury & kills. You would think that makes Nemesis a lot better than she is now. However, it doesn’t. Nemesis is suffering from the same problem as Loki does in the jungle. With an absolutely terrible early game because of lack of cc and clear in the jungle, she struggles extremely hard in the early game. Clear speed is extremely vital in the jungle now more than ever because of the Hand Of The Gods nerf. Also with her level 1 being almost worthless, getting invaded on Nemesis is such a big issue. Picking Nemesis feels like you are putting yourself in a disadvantage at the start of the game.

Is it worth picking her right now?

Nemesis shines in a tank oriented meta where her ult makes even the tankiest gods squishy. However, currently there doesn’t seem to be a point to picking her. If you want a late game oriented assassin who doesn’t care about getting invaded as much as Nemesis, just pick Kali. Kali also lacks the same early game as nemesis but it isn’t as bad. Kali also can single handedly carry games by herself a lot easier than Nemesis can ever do.

When to pick nemesis?

Nemesis is usually played into tank oriented compositions & compositions who can't really bully her early game. Picking Nemesis into weak early game gods such as Loki or Kali is probably the best case situation to pick her which usually doesn't happen in today's meta. Even though this meta currently is a late game oriented meta, most popular picks have decent/good early game that can punish Nemesis.

If you were to pick Nemesis, what do you build?

Nemesis is a very unique character in the sense that she can be built multiple ways to great success. Unlike assassins like Bastet/Serqet who have very one dimensional builds, Nemesis can be built to either carry, frontline, or an attack speed oriented build relying on Qin's.

The Carry Build

The “Carry” build leaves Nemesis on relying on her shield and ult to survive most of the fights. With this build you are looking to ult the tankiest target and just running at their backline with crits. Usually you would build Ichival and Executioner into double crit like hunters do. After you build these core items it’s up to you if you feel like you need a little bit more penetration from Titan's Bane or lifesteal from Asi. I personally suggest if you are going to carry build you should end with an Asi because your boxing potential is insane.

The Frontline Build

The frontline build is exactly what it sounds, you build a ton of defense after Ichival and Executioner to be a more frontline presence your team needs. Your options in this build are very wide and depends on situation. Spirit Robe, Midgardian, Hide Of Nemian, are the items you’ll be looking at if you're having trouble against physical damaging characters. If you are having problems against magical damaging characters, you can build Bulwark with Spirit Robe to have a large amount of hp and magical defense. In this frontline build you should also look into utlity items such as Winged Blade and Witchblade in certain situations.

The "Qin's" build

The "Qins" build, as it name suggests, revolves around Qin's Sais. You will usually build attack speed items such as Executioner, Ichival and other attack speed items to get the most value you can from Qin's Sais.

How to survive her early game and knowing what to do with her ult

Surviving Nemesis' early game is one of the most key aspects you need to know when playing as this character. Early game she will need a ton of help clearing camps and she needs to avoid most fighting early on. When it comes to ganking, I would usually suggest that Nemesis should be counter ganking due to her lack of 100-0 potential without help. This means Nemesis excels at waiting for her enemies to make the first mistake and getting an early kill out of it. Her ult is also a very vital aspect to her kit as I said before, meaning knowing how to use it effectively in certain situations can make her early game somewhat less painful. In the early game, you should be looking to ult the support. Why is that? The support is usually the least mobile person on the team early game. Meaning, if you use your ultimate on a Slyvanus that is rotating to mid harpies, you most likely WILL get a kill out of that.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Nemesis is a viable situational assassin who can't be picked in every composition anymore. Due to her lack of early game pressure and overall being a walking ult untill she gets some of her core items online, she should be picked into compositions that can't bully her entirely.