Nasus - Big Might Big Moves (Still Testing) (Guide)

This deck, just like other Nasus decks, is built around the idea of using 7+ cost units to easily overtake battlefields and hidden cards to embrace a hold if needed. This deck is very much still in construction and will need testing with different matchups to help out what sideboard cards look like. Below are the big ticket items for early, mid, and late game! If you have any questions about the deck or have a recommendation hit me up on Discord! My discord is "ggsp1r1rt", feel free to discuss anything with me.

Early Game:

The early game with Nasus can be utilized by using two different ideas. Playing down small units to create a presence or playing spells to ramp yourself past your opponent. These cards listed have great early game potential.

• Steel Paws is a great early card that appears big in the late game with it's empower ability triggering Nasus to ready more runes. Currently testing out 2 right now but might see 3 in the future. Steel Paws creates a good "looming presence" being a 1 energy 0 might unit, and if your opponent wants to deal with it they have to deal with a deflect cost.
• Lonely Poro is one of the two units played in the main deck that you shouldn't care too much about. This poro acts as a kind of battlefield holder for your opponent to deal with knowing you will draw. Having your opponent put resources into a card like lonely poro is fantastic for us to be able to play the mid and late game a little better.
• Scuttle Crab is another one of those cards in the main deck that acts as a draw and an easy point achiever early in the game. Just like Lonely Poro, you use Scuttle to go into empty battlefields and sits there until his use is complete. Scuttle is a little more useful to use because not only did we get the draw from the play, but when it dies the opponent's hand is revealed, which allows Nasus players to work around what they have and play accordingly.
• Guardian Angel is the only gear in the deck, as of right now, and works perfectly while pairing it with Steel Paws or other big units you have in the deck. You equip this to vital units, depending on the matchup, and create more a problem for your opponent to deal with.

Mid/Late Game:

Mid and late game are used to place these big units down on the board and create a presence that your opponent cannot deal with. The list below shows those units and cards you should want to play during this time to create good tempo for yourself.

• Sprite Queen is a great addition to this deck and is used when you have the time to play it. Being able to create a sprite every turn creates more of a presence while also triggering your Nasus in the process. I believe every deck should run at least 2 of these, although one works depending on playstyle.
• Astral Heron is amazing for a 7 energy 7 might unit. Easy trigger for Nasus and when on a battlefield allows your second card per turn to cost 2 energy and 2 power less, amazing for chucking out those smaller units for more might on the board. There is a funny combo with Astal Heron that I will describe below which gives you a leg up for yourself on your opponents turn.
• Tasty Faefolk works great as an accelerated unit that, when dies, channels 2 runes. This card is currently being tested in the deck but shows great potential for the deck. Currently a one of but I wouldn't see a problem running 2 in a deck depending.
• Thousand-Tailed Watcher is a KEY card in the deck. For a good nasus deck, I believe you should run 3 of them because they are that strong. In best case scenario, you smash through holds using TTW's ability lessening every enemies might by 3 down to 1 for the turn. This creates great tempo if you end up being behind or a great card to keep your tempo when your opponent appears to have nothing in hand.
• Nasus-Ascended is out Chosen Champion in this deck. Having this Nasus be able to be played late game at any point is scary your opponent. This 8 energy 1 power 8 might unit creates a disturbance on the board with it's empower ability to be able to conquer for 2 points instead of 1. If you are able to get this out while at 6 points your opponent has no other option then to deal with that unit alone to not lose, which usually costs them a lot depending on the spells you have in hand.

Battlefields:

The battlefields used in this deck are used to hinder your opponent or to further ramp/help yourself.

• Rockfall Path is being tested right now as the blind pick in best-of-3's. Even though the interaction hinders us a little bit we are able to hold this battlefield depending on the matchup. The idea is to conquer with a big unit like Tasty Faefolk or Thousand-Tailed Watcher, then hiding Temporal Breach. Your opponent will need to chuck resources to be able to meet/go above the might of the TTW. At this point you play Temporal Breach to flicker that unit, but because units can't be played to that battlefield, the unit will get discarded. I have seen this a couple of times so this type of play will need to be tested and thought through.
• Forbidding Waste is your going second battlefield if you win your first game. This battlefield helps with working around decks that go severely faster than Nasus. This helps smaller units like our Frostcoat Mother and Lonely Poro to conquer without much of a fight. Cards will need to be sideboarded after the first game but that will be spoken about below.
• Sunken Temple is our going first battlefield if you lose your first game. This creates good tempo with the big might units you have within the deck. Being able to pay 1 to draw after a conquer is big to being able to have a good arsenal against opponents.

Sideboard:

Again, this deck is very much still being tested so the idea of any card in a sideboard is not gone yet. Here are the ideas for the cards in the sideboard as of right now.

• Charm is used in certain matchups to kill vital units your opponent may have to create a better board for yourself and hinder your opponent of big plays.
• Decrees are used as a test right now for the reason they are new from Vendetta. Testing needs to be done with these cards, I haven't faced too many Red or Orange decks to know if these really fit in the sideboard.
• Flurry of Feathers is used in our sideboard against matchups that use big spells to board wipe or give a big advantage to your opponent. It plays 1 in the sideboard right now and will need further testing. A great way to play this card is with the interaction of Astral Heron and a hidden card you own. On your opponent's turn, if they play a spell like "Emperor's Decree", and you have both a Astral Heron, a hidden card, and FoF in hand, you play the hidden card allowing you to play FoF for a discount of 2 energy and 2 power, turning it into a 2 energy counter spell.
• Not So Fast is used for decks that target units enough to add a second counter spell into the deck. Even though 1 is played in the main deck already, adding another depending on the matchup can save a game.
• Tomb-Raider Barbara is another card that shows once in the main deck and once in the sideboard. Having gear hate in any sideboard is a must against decks like Dazzling Aurora or Azir. Adding in another one into the main deck creates more of a chance to see one and kill the gear you need to.
• Vilemaw was once a part of the main deck for Nasus, but with further testing and rearranging, Vilemaw has made it to the sideboard. This is a very expensive card that is shown to be played as a reaction to battlefields with a bunch of small might. This is a card you should add when into decks that deal with a lot of small units like Lillia or Viktor.
•  Wages of Pain is another testing card for being played after game 1. Even though Temporal Breach is a wonderful card, being able to have the gold generation from WoP is big for Nasus. For the idea, you swap out the two TP for the WoP, but this needs further testing.

Like all games, sideboarding is all dependent on matchups. Most of these cards are easily subbed in or subbed out. Opponent has no gears? Take out your one Barbara for something else. Opponent doesn't play many target spells or abilities? Keep track of how many they play and decide in-game if you need to play only 1 or none at all. Figure out what works for you as a player or what works well into the matchup. Good luck!

• Viktor : With my experience, this matchup kind of sucks for Nasus. Nasus is a deck built around slowly building big units to overcome opponents, but Cull the Weak makes this matchup hard for you. If you are able to have a defy or two in hand, then you have a shot of countering the spells that will ultimately decide the game. Also keep in mind of Imperial Decree. Flurry of Feathers is a good counter to it, if not in hand, try your best to play around it.
• Ezreal (Control): I haven't had too many matchups with Ezreal yet, so this matchup is a little undetermined. Try your hardest to shove out small units and control the board as much as possible.
• Mel : This matchup relies on the ability of you being able to make Mel play the spells she needs. If you are able to do this and lower what is in her hand, then you have a good shot at winning the game. This matchup relies on counter spells and playing those units with deflect. Great game for Green Nasus because of his deflect 2.
• Kha'zix : This is another matchup that seems scary at first, but there is a simple trick to being able to punish the opponent. Whenver Kha is at low runes up on the end of the turn, at your own discretion, make sure to punish by using charms and big units to make sure he doesn't have the ability to ambush.