Nautilus gained popularity in the support role midway through the Season 5 Spring Split, and has since evolved into a more flexible pick, making numerous top lane appearances across the professional scene. Nautilus is one of the premiere tanks of the current meta, proving to be potentially devastating in the bottom lane. It’s time to shed some light on the newfound potential of Titan of the Depths.

By now, almost every region has embraced the power of Nautilus as a top-laner, but his main popularity seems to be in the Asian regions. Recent instances of Nautilus play give us a sense of how well he stacks up against the “usual” tank choices of the top lane, and the build strategies adopted by the pros to best handle the rest of the meta.

1. Last week, the Koo Tigers’ Song ‘Smeb’ Kyung-ho picked Nautilus into Longzhu Incredible Miracle’s Maokai. The 1v1 matchup was essentially a stalemate, though the Tigers went on to convincingly win the game. Maokai has been one of the most popular and most effective top-laners in Season 5, and Nautilus was able to match him blow for blow in usefulness to his team. Smeb built Righteous Glory into Frozen Heart as his core itemization.

2. Let’s compare Smeb’s Nautilus to that of Yan ‘LetMe’ Jun-Ze of the LPL’s Royal Never Give Up. Against Master3, LetMe experienced one of the only difficult matchups known to Nautilus in the current meta: Ryze. M3 took the game in the end, and partly responsible for their defeat was the fact that LetMe’s Nautilus was constantly pressured and unable to make plays with the plethora of crowd-control power that Nautilus brings to the table. LetMe built Righteous Glory as well, but was forced into a Banshee’s Veil rush to start, simply to survive the overwhelming strength of pre-nerf Ryze.

3. Nautilus has been less popular outside of the support position in the western regions, but NME’s Cuong ‘Flaresz’ Ta picked up the Titan against Team 8 this past weekend. A long, messy contest between the lower-tier NA teams allowed us to view the first example of a completed Nautilus item build. Unsurprisingly, Flaresz stuck to the Righteous Glory/Frozen Heart core strategy.

So, what can we take away from the above information?

- Nautilus stacks up very well against the rest of the meta in top lane
- The most effective Nautilus build at this time is focused on Righteous Glory/Frozen Heart
- One of the only champions capable of bullying Nautilus around is pre-nerf Ryze
- Nautilus is recognized globally as a flex pick

Final thoughts:

Nautilus is undoubtedly strong, and his evolution into a flex pick says as much. Nautilus brings unique and deadly CC and incredible survivability to a meta that demands both. The professional scene tells us that as yet there is only one reason to limit Nautilus to the support role. Most Nautilus top picks have been on top of a strong support. It is clear that teams prioritize a support Nautilus, but will gladly add a top Nautilus if the support role is covered. Nautilus in top lane builds similarly to Nautilus support, itemizing for team-oriented usefulness rather than 1v1 lane dominance or kill pressure. It is also important to note that since LetMe’s unfortunate run-in with Ryze, the latter has been nerfed out of the “overpowered” zone, leaving Nautilus with no serious threats in the top lane. Will we continue to see the Titan in top? Probably. There are no obvious cons to the flex pick, with Ryze out of the equation. Will he be a top-tier, contested top lane pick? Probably not, but his general value to a team is still enormous, especially with the OPTION of a top lane role. NA casters pointed out that the benefit of picking Nautilus top is to have Nautilus on your team.