Nautilus guide: build, runes, matchups and mistakes to avoid

At a glance

Runes

Spells

Start

×2

Build

››+

Skills

Q›W›E

Nautilus in figures

Games as a support

34,88596.6% of its games

Win rate

49.7%

Pick rate

≈ 9.5%

Ban rate

≈ 13.2%

The figures come from 378,251 ranked solo games on EUW (patches 16.18 to 16.21, Riot’s official API, up to 24 October 2026): the same sample as Gankademy’s champion pages. “≈”: a figure the app gives as indicative.

Strengths and weaknesses

When Nautilus is strongest

The build that wins most

A build, here, is the order of the first three finished items. Out of the 3,277 Nautilus games as a support where they are known, the three most-played paths:

Build	Items	Played	Win rate
Bandlepipes	››	11%	≈ 61.3%
Full tank	››	10%	≈ 51.5%
Anti-heal	››	10%	≈ 57.9%

Locket of the Iron Solari opens all three most-played builds; the second item makes the difference. Knight’s Vow then Bandlepipes is both the most played and the best winning (≈ 61.3%); with Thornmail second, then Kaenic Rookern, it drops to ≈ 51.5%.

With build 1, the game most often starts with 2 × Health Potion + Stealth Ward, and the boots are Plated Steelcaps (71% of games).

Depending on the game

What build 1’s players buy next (5% of its games or more):

Item	Bought	Why
Thornmail	10%	vs healing (×1.18)

×: how many times as often it is bought against that need (191,000 games checked by Gankademy).

Skill order

Level by level, the most-played order as a support: 54% of the 242 games where Nautilus reaches level 18.

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

Runes and summoner spells

The most-played rune pages of Nautilus as a support, by keystone and trees:

Page	Games	Win rate
AftershockResolve + Inspiration	19,005	50.1%
AftershockResolve + Precision	10,603	49.8%
Glacial AugmentInspiration + Resolve	3,397	47.9%
AftershockResolve + Domination	640	49.8%

Aftershock is Nautilus’s keystone in the vast majority of games, with Inspiration or Precision behind it: the two win almost the same. Glacial Augment, much rarer, wins about two points less (47.9%).

Aftershock, Shield Bash, Bone Plating, Unflinching, Biscuit Delivery, Cosmic Insight

Summoner spells: Flash + Ignite in 73% of games.

Matchups: the easiest and the hardest

Nautilus’s win rate against each opponent in the same role, against the usual 49.7%: the gap in points, from 200 games.

Easiest against

Opponent	Games	Win rate	Gap
Ashe	262	≈ 56.1%	+6.4
Pyke	1,065	55.1%	+5.4
Karma	672	≈ 53.9%	+4.2
Yuumi	812	≈ 53.0%	+3.3

Hardest against

Opponent	Games	Win rate	Gap
Rell	754	44.2%	−5.5
Braum	1,409	44.4%	−5.3
Leona	1,979	44.6%	−5.1
Taric	374	≈ 44.9%	−4.8

Nautilus’s hardest lanes are the supports who beat him to the engage or undo it: Rell and Leona win the all-in when they land first, Braum’s shield stops his anchor, and Taric’s ultimate can make his team invulnerable right after you dive. Against them, don’t throw your anchor first: let them spend their engage or their shield, then answer. Against Ashe, who has no dash to escape your anchor, or Pyke and Karma, the lane is yours.

Matchup sheet

The 12 most frequent opponents as a support. The difficulty is the app’s: the gap with the usual 49.7%, and whether it holds.

Opponent	Games	Win rate	Difficulty
Thresh	2,513	≈ 47.4%	Hard
Leona	1,979	44.6%	Hard
Nami	1,754	48.8%	Even
Lux	1,751	≈ 52.1%	Easy
Lulu	1,497	49.5%	Even
Seraphine	1,445	51.0%	Even
Braum	1,409	44.4%	Hard
Morgana	1,367	50.6%	Even
Senna	1,127	48.0%	Even
Pyke	1,065	55.1%	Easy
Milio	1,053	49.5%	Even
Janna	965	49.7%	Even

Bans to consider

The opponents Nautilus beats least often as a support, among those met at least 300 times:

Opponent	Win rate	Games
Rell	44.2%	754
Braum	44.4%	1,409
Leona	44.6%	1,979

What the specialists do

12 players of the sample play Nautilus in at least 40% of their games, and at least 30 times. Their 518 games as a support, against all its players:

	Specialists	All players
Win rate	≈ 50.8%	49.7%
Build	Same 29%	›› 11%
Rune page	59%	54%
Skills maxed	Same 69%	Q›W›E 80%

What changes with them: the rune page. Their win rate: 1.1 points higher.

The most frequent mistakes

Two habits measured on the 9,003 games with a timeline, then the champion’s own mistakes. These gaps go with losing without proving the cause.

• Dying before 15 minutes. 58% of games have three or more deaths before the 15th minute; they win only 42.3%, against 66.0% when Nautilus dies once or less (21% of games). Instead: an anchor thrown into their whole team takes Nautilus there alone. Engage only when your marksman can follow, and keep the anchor to answer their engage when their jungler is near.
• Placing too few wards. Games where Nautilus places 8 wards or fewer before 15 minutes (29%) win 46.3%; those with 12 or more (30%), 51.8%. Instead: ward the river and the lane brush before every engage, with a control ward on their jungler’s path — your anchor pays off when nobody else is coming.
• Thornmail before Knight’s Vow. The path Locket of the Iron Solari → Thornmail → Kaenic Rookern wins ≈ 51.5% on 10% of games; with Knight’s Vow second, the two other most-played builds win ≈ 61.3% and ≈ 57.9%. Instead: Knight’s Vow second, Thornmail after it.
• Throwing the anchor through the minions. Your anchor stops on the first enemy it hits: thrown through the wave, it catches a minion and pulls you forward for nothing. Instead: throw it with a clear line, or once the minions in between are dead.
• Casting the ultimate at the closest enemy. Your ultimate follows its target and knocks up every enemy on its way: cast at the nearest enemy, it catches only one. Instead: aim it at their carry behind the frontline, so the wave knocks up everyone in between.

With Gankademy

These are the figures of Gankademy’s Nautilus page: the draft compares your options against your lane opponent and imports your rune page in one click. The draft · The coaches · What it reads.

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