In the right hands, Nautilus is one of the most difficult supports to beat as an ADC in League of Legends.
The champion is simply obnoxious during the early game and can completely ruin your start by being aggressive.
However, a few marksmen do counter Nautilus and make some of his biggest strengths totally obsolete.
And in this post, I’ll talk about them and explain why you need to prioritize them whenever you’re matched up against Nautilus.
But before that, I’d also recommend you check the best ADCs for Nautilus in LoL to see what you can expect when you’re laning against this champion and his most common partners.
Play These ADCs Against Nautilus in League of Legends:
5. Caitlyn
As Caitlyn, your job against Nautilus is to take advantage of your range and consistently poke him.
Nautilus is a melee support that often auto-attacks to help his ADC secure the minions. So each time he walks forwards and tries to do that, Caitlyn can simply weave one or two basic attacks or cast Q.
Besides this, Cait can also lay traps that will stop Nautilus from moving forward. For example, you can put Caitlyn’s traps in a brush and they will root Nautilus when he steps on them.
This will also give you a headshot so you can poke him even more.
If Nautilus manages to sneak past your traps and is looking to catch you with his Q, the important thing is to use Caitlyn’s E immediately.
In most cases, this creates enough distance between you and him so that his Q can’t hit you.
However, if Nautilus manages to hook you, you can answer by instantly placing a trap underneath him. This will root him and allow you to walk away to safety.
4. Vayne
Even though Vayne lacks the range advantage that Caitlyn has, her kit is pretty useful against champions like Nautilus.
First of all, Vayne’s E – Condemn is the perfect answer for Nautilus’ aggression. So when Nautilus attempts to hook Vayne, she can use her E to push him back and allow herself to walk away.
Depending on how well you use Condemn, you can even stun Nautilus (against walls) but it isn’t always necessary to do so.
Additionally, Vayne’s Q – Tumble is a dash on a very short cooldown and can be used to dodge Nautilus’ Q. It can also help you distance yourself from him and get out of range of his abilities.
Lastly, Vayne’s ultimate grants invisibility when she uses Tumble.
And so, Nautilus can’t CC her while she’s invisible and it’s difficult for him to aim at a target he can’t see. This gives Vayne a huge advantage against Nautilus after level 6.
3. Kalista
Kalista is one of my go-to champions whenever I’m up against Nautilus in solo queue. Her passive allows her to jump after each auto-attack and dodge skill shots, including Nautilus’ Q.
So, when you’re playing Kalista into Nautilus, it’s important to keep your finger on SHIFT or ALT and keep on jumping to make it difficult for him to aim his Q.
However, be careful where you’re jumping since good Nautilus players will try to predict your positioning even if you’re constantly dashing left and right.
Additionally, Kalista can use her ultimate, Fate’s Call, to save her support from Nautilus’ attacks. By using it, her ally can dodge both Nautilus’ Q and R, as well as his auto-attacks.
On top of this, if Kalista’s support is someone like Amumu or Alistar, they can even knock up Nautilus and CC him to stop him from reaching Kalista.
And this level of kiting and peeling is more than enough to counter Nautilus in League of Legends.
2. Ezreal
As Ezreal, you have only one tool for countering Nautilus and you should be mindful of how you use it.
Ezreal’s E – Arcane Shift allows you to teleport a short distance in a chosen direction. And indirectly, this ability makes Nautilus’ Q completely useless.
Moreover, if Nautilus manages to hook Ezreal with Q but Ezreal uses E immediately, Ezreal will still jump away even though he’s technically rooted.
This interaction is well-known among high elo Ezreal players and they use it all the time to stop Nautilus’ engage.
However, Ezreal’s E has a very long cooldown early on and you should always save it for escaping Nautilus.
Additionally, you can use Ezreal’s Q to poke Nautilus and keep him out of range. And if you build slow items, you can also keep Nautilus permanently slowed.
Read Also: Top 5 Best ADCs to Play Against Rammus
1. Sivir
And lastly, we have Sivir. She’s the best champion pick as an ADC into Nautilus regardless of who your support is or who Nautilus’ partner is.
Sivir’s main counter for Nautilus is her E – Spell Shield. When activated, it blocks the next ability targeted toward Sivir and restores a bit of her health.
So when Nautilus tries to hook Sivir or use his ulti against her, Sivir can simply activate her E and remain completely safe.
The Spell Shield will destroy Nautilus’ Q or R and Sivir won’t receive any damage or CC for that matter.
Besides this, Sivir’s ultimate grants AoE movement speed buff that helps her and her teammates maneuver through the battlefield. And so, it’s a great cooldown to use when running away from Nautilus.
Nautilus isn’t the speediest champion in League and he can never outrun Sivir while her R is active.
Read Also: How to Counter Leona as an ADC and Support (Tips & Picks)
Conclusion
So, the best way to counter Nautilus as a bot lane main is to block or avoid his Q in one way or another.
That’s why Samira (who should also be on the list) and her W can protect herself and her ally from Nautilus throughout the laning phase.
The 5 champions on this list are all very useful ADC picks against Nautilus in League of Legends and you should definitely consider them whenever you see him on the enemy team.
