Today’s match between Afreeca Freecs and DWG KIA featured an unusual pick.
AFS drafted Nasus, who hasn’t been picked in the Korean League of Legends region in 980 days, for Kiin in the top lane as they attempted to put a stop to the reigning world champions.
While the idea was good in theory since Kiin picked Nasus into Sion, the execution was lackluster. DK quickly responded with a lane swap to shut the Curator of the Sands down. After being camped and kited around in teamfights, Kiin and AFS failed to secure the win against DK.
Nasus’ last appearance was in a match between SKT and bbq Olivers during the 2018 LCK Summer Split. The champion was picked up by then top laner Thal, who used it to great success and helped his team secure a win.
While Kiin could’ve secured a win with this pick against any other unprepared team, DK are no ordinary team. They quickly replied to the pick by sending their Lucian to the top lane and forcing Kiin to build defensive items to stay relevant.
While Kiin farmed up more than 500 stacks and delivered huge hits with his Q, he was constantly kited away in teamfights and even his tanky build failed to save him from multiple deaths. Nasus stood as one of the best scaling top laners in the past but found himself crippled after the latest champion additions and item rework.
He currently has a 50.38-percent win rate and a 2.76 percent pick rate in other regions like EUW, according to data from op.gg. While the champion can be successful against specific melee-oriented compositions, it’s tough to execute against the usual balanced compositions due to the mobility creep in the game.
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