Best Nautilus Build & Guide (2026) — League of Legends

Nautilus is League of Legends' Titan of the Depths — a crowd-control-loaded tank support who drags enemies to their doom with Dredge Line, roots them with every first auto attack through Staggering Blow, shields himself with Titan's Wrath to absorb punishment, slows entire teams with Riptide, and launches an unavoidable Depth Charge that erupts beneath a target champion for a massive knockup and stun. Nautilus excels at locking down a single target with the longest CC chain of any support in the game, bullying bot lane with terrifying level 2 all-ins, and providing reliable point-and-click engage with Depth Charge that no amount of positioning can dodge. Whether you are a support main looking for a champion who controls teamfights through relentless crowd control, a player who loves the satisfaction of landing a perfect hook that deletes an enemy carry before they can react, or a climbing player who wants a simple yet devastatingly effective engage support whose presence alone zones enemies off CS, this guide covers everything you need to dominate with Nautilus in 2026.

Nautilus Overview

Nautilus operates as a hard-engage tank support whose power comes from having more crowd control packed into a single kit than almost any other champion in the game. Unlike enchanter supports who protect their carries from behind or poke supports who whittle enemies down from range, Nautilus wants to wade into the enemy team, lock down a priority target with layered roots, stuns, slows, and knockups, and let his team collapse on the CC'd victim before they can fight back. His kit is straightforward — hook with Dredge Line, root with Staggering Blow, shield with Titan's Wrath for durability, slow with Riptide, and launch Depth Charge for an undodgeable knockup — but the depth comes from deciding when to engage versus peel, managing mana in lane, and choosing the right Depth Charge target in chaotic teamfights.

Staggering Blow (Passive) causes Nautilus's basic attacks against enemy champions to deal 14 to 128 bonus physical damage based on level and root the target for 0.75 to 1.5 seconds based on level. Each target can only be affected by Staggering Blow once every 6 seconds. Staggering Blow is one of the most powerful passive abilities for any support because it provides a free point-and-click root on every auto attack against a new target. In teamfights, Nautilus can cycle through multiple enemies, rooting each one in sequence since the 6-second per-target cooldown allows him to root a different champion with each auto attack. The bonus physical damage scales with level and adds meaningful burst to Nautilus's engage combo, and the root duration scaling from 0.75 seconds at level 1 to 1.5 seconds at level 18 makes it increasingly powerful as the game progresses.

Dredge Line (Q) fires Nautilus's anchor in a line. If it hits an enemy champion, it deals 85 / 130 / 175 / 220 / 265 magic damage plus 90% AP, pulls the target toward Nautilus, and pulls Nautilus toward the target, meeting in the middle and stunning the target for 1 second. If Dredge Line hits terrain, Nautilus pulls himself to the terrain and the cooldown and mana cost are reduced by 50%. Dredge Line has a 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 second cooldown, costs 60 mana at all ranks, and has a 1122 unit range. Dredge Line is Nautilus's primary engage tool and one of the longest-range hook abilities in the game at 1122 units — longer than Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab or Thresh's Death Sentence. The double-displacement mechanic where both Nautilus and the target are pulled toward each other means the target ends up in melee range regardless of the initial distance, setting up Staggering Blow's root and the rest of Nautilus's CC chain. The terrain interaction is valuable for mobility — hooking walls to escape, reposition in fights, or close gaps when Q would miss a champion — and the 50% cooldown and mana refund on terrain hits rewards creative use of the ability.

Titan's Wrath (W) shields Nautilus for 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 plus 8% / 9% / 10% / 11% / 12% of his maximum health for 6 seconds. While the shield holds, Nautilus's basic attacks deal 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 bonus magic damage plus 40% AP over 2 seconds to the target and nearby enemies. Titan's Wrath has a 12 second cooldown at all ranks and costs 60 mana at all ranks. Titan's Wrath is what makes Nautilus durable enough to survive engaging into the enemy team on a support budget — the shield scales with maximum health, meaning every health item Nautilus builds makes the shield larger. Pre-activating W before going in with Q is essential because the shield absorbs damage during the engage while the empowered auto attacks add bonus magic damage that contributes meaningful burst to Nautilus's all-in combo. The AoE damage on empowered autos also helps Nautilus clear wards and push waves when needed.

Riptide (E) sends out three waves of explosions around Nautilus, with each wave dealing 55 / 90 / 125 / 160 / 195 magic damage plus 50% AP and slowing enemies hit by 30% / 35% / 40% / 45% / 50% for 1.5 seconds. Enemies hit by subsequent waves take reduced damage. Riptide has a 7 / 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5 second cooldown and costs 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 mana. Riptide provides area-of-effect slow that helps Nautilus stick to targets after his initial engage and peels for his carries by slowing enemies who dive into melee range. The three sequential waves make it difficult for enemies to stay near Nautilus without taking multiple hits and being slowed repeatedly. Riptide is Nautilus's primary waveclear tool in lane, though using it aggressively pushes the wave and costs significant mana, so it should be used sparingly during the laning phase.

Depth Charge (R) sends a depth charge that chases a target enemy champion, dealing 125 / 175 / 225 magic damage plus 40% AP and knocking up all enemies it passes through along the way. When the depth charge reaches the primary target, it erupts for 150 / 275 / 400 magic damage plus 80% AP and stuns the target for 1 / 1.5 / 2 seconds. Depth Charge has a 120 / 100 / 80 second cooldown, costs 100 mana, and has an 825 unit range. Depth Charge is one of the most powerful ultimate abilities in the game because it is completely undodgeable — once Nautilus presses R on a target, the depth charge homes in on them regardless of dashes, blinks, or Flash, and cannot be stopped by any means. The knockup on enemies it passes through means casting Depth Charge on a backline carry disrupts the entire frontline as the charge travels through them, creating chaos in teamfights. The stun duration scaling from 1 second at rank 1 to 2 seconds at rank 3 makes Depth Charge devastating in the late game, providing a guaranteed 2-second stun on any champion Nautilus targets.

Strengths

• Nautilus has more crowd control packed into a single kit than almost any other champion in the game — Staggering Blow roots on every auto attack, Dredge Line stuns for 1 second, Riptide slows by up to 50%, and Depth Charge stuns for up to 2 seconds while knocking up everyone in its path — meaning a full Nautilus combo locks a single target down for over 4 seconds of hard CC, which is enough time for any team to delete a carry from full health — The sheer volume of CC means Nautilus remains valuable even when behind because crowd control does not scale with gold
• Depth Charge is a completely undodgeable point-and-click ultimate that cannot be outplayed by positioning, dashing, or Flashing — once Nautilus presses R on a target, they are getting knocked up and stunned for up to 2 seconds regardless of what they do, making Nautilus the most reliable engage support in the game for catching high-mobility carries like Ezreal, Kai'Sa, or Zeri who would otherwise escape skillshot-based engage — The knockup on enemies the depth charge passes through also disrupts the entire enemy frontline during teamfight initiations
• Nautilus's level 2 all-in with Q and passive root is one of the strongest engage combos in bot lane because Dredge Line's 1122-unit range catches enemies from beyond their expected safety zone, and the auto-attack root from Staggering Blow chains immediately after the Q stun, locking the target in place while the ADC unloads damage — hitting level 2 first and landing Q often results in a kill or burned summoner spells before the enemy can react — This level 2 power spike is so dominant that many bot lane matchups are decided in the first three minutes
• Staggering Blow's per-target cooldown system lets Nautilus cycle through multiple enemy champions in teamfights, rooting each one in sequence with auto attacks — in a 5v5 teamfight, Nautilus can root five different enemies within a few seconds, disrupting the entire team's positioning and preventing coordinated counterattacks — No other support provides this level of distributed crowd control across an entire enemy team

Weaknesses

• Nautilus is fully committed once he engages with Dredge Line — the hook pulls him into the enemy team with no way to disengage, and if the engage fails or his team does not follow up, Nautilus is stranded in melee range of multiple enemies with no escape, no sustain, and only Titan's Wrath's shield to absorb damage before he dies — Unlike Thresh who can lantern out or Leona who at least has Eclipse resistances, Nautilus's only escape from a failed engage is Flash or hooking terrain with a second Q cast
• Dredge Line can be blocked by minions, meaning Nautilus cannot hook through the minion wave to engage on enemies standing behind their creeps — in laning phase, this forces Nautilus to either walk around the wave to find hook angles or wait for the wave to thin out, giving enemies clear windows where they know Nautilus cannot engage — Experienced bot laners position behind their minion wave specifically to deny Nautilus Q angles, which neutralizes his primary engage tool for extended periods
• Nautilus is extremely mana-hungry in the early game, with Q costing 60 mana, W costing 60 mana, and E costing 50 to 90 mana — a single full rotation at level 3 costs 170 mana out of a base mana pool of roughly 400, meaning Nautilus can only attempt two or three full engages before running completely out of mana and becoming a melee minion with no abilities — Poor mana management in lane leaves Nautilus unable to engage when opportunities arise, and spamming E to push waves drains his mana pool rapidly
• Nautilus has one of the longest ultimate cooldowns of any support at 120 seconds rank 1, meaning he is dramatically weaker when Depth Charge is on cooldown — without his ultimate, Nautilus must rely on landing Dredge Line to engage, which is a skillshot that can be dodged, blocked by minions, or sidestepped by mobile champions — The difference between Nautilus with R and Nautilus without R is massive, and enemies who track the cooldown can play aggressively during the 2-minute window when Depth Charge is unavailable

Recommended Runes

Primary — Aftershock (Resolve)

• Aftershock — Grants bonus armor and magic resist for 2.5 seconds after immobilizing an enemy champion, then detonates for area-of-effect damage. Aftershock is the optimal keystone for Nautilus because every engage he makes triggers it — Dredge Line's stun, Staggering Blow's root, and Depth Charge's stun all activate Aftershock, granting Nautilus massive bonus resistances the instant he dives into the enemy team. The bonus resistances stack with Titan's Wrath's shield to make Nautilus surprisingly tanky during his engage window, and the detonation damage adds burst to his combo.
• Shield Bash — Grants bonus armor and magic resist while shielded, and empowers Nautilus's next basic attack after gaining a shield to deal bonus damage. Shield Bash synergizes directly with Titan's Wrath because Nautilus activates W before every engage, gaining the shield that triggers Shield Bash's bonus resistances and damage. The empowered auto attack from Shield Bash stacks with Staggering Blow's root and W's bonus damage, adding even more burst to Nautilus's first auto attack after engaging.
• Bone Plating — Reduces damage from the first three instances of damage taken from an enemy champion after being hit. Bone Plating is essential for Nautilus's laning phase because he is a melee champion who takes damage every time he walks up to engage — Bone Plating absorbs a significant portion of the enemy's counter-trade damage, making Nautilus's all-ins more forgiving and harder for the enemy to punish. The damage reduction is especially valuable in the level 2 all-in where Nautilus needs to survive the enemy ADC's retaliation.
• Unflinching — Grants tenacity and slow resistance that increases when below 70% health. Unflinching addresses Nautilus's vulnerability to being counter-CC'd after he engages — when Nautilus hooks into the enemy team and takes damage, the increasing tenacity reduces the duration of stuns, roots, and slows that would otherwise lock him down after his initial burst of CC. The slow resistance specifically helps Nautilus stick to targets in extended fights.

Secondary — Inspiration

• Biscuit Delivery — Delivers a Total Biscuit of Everlasting Will at 2, 4, and 6 minutes that restores health and mana, and permanently increases Nautilus's maximum mana by 40 per biscuit. Biscuit Delivery directly addresses Nautilus's biggest laning weakness — his mana hunger. The three biscuits provide 120 bonus maximum mana over the first 6 minutes, and each biscuit's instant mana restore means Nautilus can attempt one more engage per lane phase that he otherwise could not afford. The health restoration also sustains Nautilus through poke damage.
• Cosmic Insight — Grants summoner spell haste and item haste. Cosmic Insight keeps Flash and Ignite available more frequently, which is critical for Nautilus because Flash-Q extends his engage range dramatically and Ignite secures kills during all-ins. The item haste also reduces the cooldown on Locket of the Iron Solari's active shield, making it available for more teamfights.

Recommended Item Build

Based on data from over 50,000 ranked Nautilus matches tracked on dodge.gg, here's the highest winrate build path.

Early Game (0–10 min)

• World Atlas — Standard support starting item for tank supports that generates gold through quest completion. The health provides Nautilus with early durability for trades, and the quest upgrades into a ward-generating item essential for vision control in bot lane and around objectives.
• Health Potions (x2) — Two Health Potions sustain Nautilus through the early laning phase where he takes poke damage while waiting for engage opportunities. The sustain lets Nautilus stay in lane long enough to hit level 2 and look for his first all-in without being forced to recall.

Core Build (10–20 min)

• Solstice Sleigh — Grants health, ability haste, and a passive that heals Nautilus and speeds up nearby allies when he immobilizes an enemy champion. Solstice Sleigh is Nautilus's optimal first item because the passive triggers on every single CC ability he lands — Q stun, passive root, and R stun all heal Nautilus and grant his team a movement speed boost toward the immobilized target, making it easier for allies to follow up on his engages and harder for enemies to escape.
• Locket of the Iron Solari — Grants armor, magic resist, ability haste, and an active shield that protects all nearby allied champions. Locket is the standard second item for tank supports because the team-wide shield provides enormous value during teamfight engages — Nautilus activates Locket as the enemy team retaliates against his engage, shielding his backline from counter-burst damage while he absorbs focus fire in the frontline.
• Plated Steelcaps — Grants armor and reduces incoming damage from basic attacks. Plated Steelcaps are Nautilus's standard boots because bot lane is dominated by auto-attack-heavy ADCs, and the damage reduction helps Nautilus survive the enemy ADC's counter-trade during engages. Switch to Mercury's Treads against compositions with heavy crowd control or magic damage where the tenacity and magic resist are more valuable.

Late Game (25+ min)

• Knight's Vow — Grants health, ability haste, and a passive that redirects a portion of damage dealt to the bound allied champion to Nautilus instead, while healing Nautilus when the bound ally deals damage to champions. Knight's Vow lets Nautilus protect his carry even when he is not directly peeling — the damage redirection keeps the ADC alive through poke and the healing sustains Nautilus between fights.
• Thornmail — Grants armor, health, and a passive that applies Grievous Wounds to enemies who attack Nautilus and to enemies he immobilizes. Thornmail is essential against enemy compositions with healing — Nautilus's multiple CC abilities apply Grievous Wounds to every target he roots, stuns, or knocks up, reducing healing from ADC lifesteal, enchanter heals, and drain-tank sustain across the entire enemy team simultaneously.
• Frozen Heart — Grants armor, mana, ability haste, and a passive aura that reduces the attack speed of nearby enemies. Frozen Heart cripples enemy auto-attackers who try to fight through Nautilus's frontline — the attack speed slow affects every enemy within the aura, reducing the DPS of the enemy ADC and any auto-attack-reliant fighters while providing Nautilus with the mana he needs for extended teamfight rotations.

Ability Priority

1. Dredge Line (Q) — Max first. Each rank increases the damage from 85 to 265 and reduces the cooldown from 14 to 10 seconds. Maxing Q first is critical because the cooldown reduction lets Nautilus engage more frequently — a 14-second Q at rank 1 means one engage attempt per wave, while a 10-second Q at max rank allows multiple hook attempts in extended fights and more frequent engage windows in lane. The damage increase also makes Q a significant source of burst in Nautilus's combo.
2. Depth Charge (R) — Level at 6, 11, and 16. Each rank increases the primary target damage from 150 to 400, the pass-through damage from 125 to 225, and the stun duration from 1 to 2 seconds, while reducing the cooldown from 120 to 80 seconds. Level 6 is Nautilus's biggest power spike because Depth Charge provides an undodgeable engage that guarantees kills when combined with Q and passive root. The stun duration increase at rank 3 to 2 seconds makes Depth Charge one of the longest single-ability stuns in the game.
3. Titan's Wrath (W) — Max second. Each rank increases the shield amount from 50 to 90 base plus 8% to 12% maximum health, and increases the bonus magic damage from 30 to 70. Maxing W second makes Nautilus significantly tankier during his engage window because the shield scales with both base amount and max health percentage. The increased bonus magic damage on empowered autos also adds meaningful DPS in extended trades and teamfights.
4. Riptide (E) — Max last. One point in E at level 3 provides the area-of-effect slow needed to stick to targets after engaging, and additional ranks primarily increase the damage and mana cost. Since Nautilus is a tank support who does not build ability power, the damage increase from maxing E is minimal compared to the defensive value of W ranks or the engage frequency of Q ranks. Maxing E last also avoids the escalating mana cost that drains Nautilus's limited mana pool.

Summoner Spells

• Flash — Flash is mandatory on Nautilus because it extends his engage range dramatically. Flash-Q covers over 1500 units of distance instantly, catching enemies who believe they are standing at a safe distance from Nautilus's hook range. Flash is also Nautilus's only reliable escape from failed engages since he has no mobility abilities beyond terrain-hooking with Q.
• Ignite — Ignite is Nautilus's highest win rate second summoner spell because it adds kill pressure to his already devastating all-in combo. Nautilus's CC chain locks the target in place long enough for Ignite's damage over time to finish off enemies who survive the initial burst, and the Grievous Wounds effect reduces healing from enemy Heal summoner spells and lifesteal during the all-in. Ignite is particularly lethal during the level 2 power spike where the added damage often secures first blood.

Playstyle Tips

Laning Phase (0–14 min)

Nautilus's laning phase is about hitting level 2 first, establishing bush control for hook angles, and finding Dredge Line engages on the enemy ADC or squishy support for kills or summoner spell advantages.

At level 1, take Q and look for a hook from the lane bush. If the enemy bot lane walks into lane without respecting Nautilus's bush control, a level 1 Q connects from fog of war and the Staggering Blow root plus ADC follow-up can burn a Flash or even secure a kill. If there is no level 1 opportunity, focus on pushing the wave with your ADC to hit level 2 first.

The level 2 power spike is Nautilus's strongest laning window. After clearing the first wave and the first three melee minions of the second wave, you hit level 2 with Q and W. The instant you level up, look for a Q angle on the enemy ADC or support — the hook pulls them into melee range, Staggering Blow roots them on your first auto attack, Titan's Wrath shields you and empowers your autos with bonus damage, and your ADC follows up with their own abilities. Combined with Ignite, this combo kills most bot laners from full health at level 2. If the enemy is still level 1, the level advantage makes the all-in even more devastating.

Between engages, stand in the lane bush to threaten Q from fog of war. If the enemy cannot see Nautilus, they must respect the possibility of a hook at any moment, which zones them off CS even without actually engaging. When your abilities are on cooldown, fall back behind the minion wave — Nautilus has no way to trade effectively without his abilities, and standing in the open invites free poke from the enemy.

Manage your mana carefully. A full Q-W-E rotation costs 170 mana at level 3, and Nautilus's base mana pool is roughly 400. Save your mana for engages that have a realistic chance of resulting in a kill or summoner spell advantage — do not waste Q on low-percentage hooks or spam E to push the wave. Biscuit Delivery helps with mana sustain, but Nautilus can still run dry after two or three failed engage attempts.

Watch for the enemy minion wave positioning before hooking. Dredge Line is blocked by minions, so Nautilus needs a clear line between himself and the target. Walk to the side of the wave, stand in the bush, or wait for the wave to thin before attempting Q. If the enemy ADC is hiding behind minions, look for a hook on the enemy support instead — catching the support often leads to a kill or forces them to waste Flash.

Mid Game (14–25 min)

Mid-game Nautilus with Solstice Sleigh and Depth Charge is a roaming engage threat who picks off enemies in river and jungle, initiates teamfights at dragon and baron with undodgeable CC, and provides layered crowd control that no single target can survive.

After completing Solstice Sleigh, Nautilus's engage combo reaches its peak effectiveness. The standard all-in is R on the priority target to guarantee a knockup and stun, Q to pull yourself in and chain CC, auto-attack for Staggering Blow root, W for the shield and bonus damage, and E for the area-of-effect slow — this combo locks a target down for nearly 4 seconds while Solstice Sleigh heals Nautilus and speeds up his team. Most carries die before the CC chain ends.

Roaming is essential for Nautilus in the mid game. After shoving the bot wave with your ADC, move into river or toward mid lane to look for Q engages on overextended enemies. Nautilus's roaming threat is enormous because Dredge Line provides engage from 1122 units away, and most mid laners lack the reaction time to dodge a Q from fog of war. A Nautilus roam with passive root plus Q stun is nearly impossible for an immobile mid laner to survive.

During dragon and baron fights, Nautilus's job is to find the engage that starts the fight on favorable terms. Position in fog of war near the objective pit, wait for the enemy to begin the objective, then R the enemy jungler or carry to disrupt the pit fight with knockups and stuns. Flash-Q into the pit after R lands creates enough disruption for your team to collapse and win the fight or steal the objective.

Late Game (25+ min)

Late-game Nautilus is a teamfight initiator and peel machine whose value comes from locking down priority targets with undodgeable CC, cycling through enemy champions with Staggering Blow roots, and using Locket and Knight's Vow to protect his carries while absorbing damage in the frontline.

In teamfights, decide before the fight begins whether to engage offensively or peel defensively. If your team has a fed carry who needs protection, save your CC for the enemy assassin or diver — Q the Zed who dives your ADC, root the Irelia who dashes into your backline with Staggering Blow, and R the most threatening enemy to stun them for 2 seconds while your carry kites to safety. Defensive Nautilus is underrated because his CC chain is just as devastating when used to protect a carry as when used to catch one.

If your team needs you to start the fight, look for a Depth Charge target that maximizes disruption. Casting R on a backline carry means the depth charge travels through the enemy frontline, knocking up tanks and bruisers along the way before stunning the carry — this creates chaos across the entire enemy team. Flash-Q extends Nautilus's engage range to over 1500 units, catching enemies who think they are standing at a safe distance.

Cycle through enemy champions with Staggering Blow in extended teamfights. Auto-attack a different enemy every 6 seconds to root each one, disrupting positioning across the entire enemy team. This rotational crowd control prevents enemies from coordinating their counterattack and keeps your carries safe while they deal damage from behind Nautilus's frontline.

Matchups

Favorable

• Yuumi — Yuumi is the weakest laning support against Nautilus because she has no way to prevent Dredge Line from connecting, no peel to stop the follow-up CC chain, and no health to survive the burst. When Yuumi is attached to her ADC, Nautilus's Q-auto-W combo locks down the ADC while Yuumi sits helplessly unable to detach without dying instantly. Nautilus can engage at level 2 and repeatedly kill the bot lane because Yuumi provides zero defensive tools against hard engage.
• Lux — Lux support relies on landing Light Binding from range, but Nautilus's all-in range with Q exceeds Lux's effective poke range, and once Dredge Line connects, Lux has no mobility, no escape, and no defensive tools beyond a shield that cannot absorb Nautilus's full CC chain. Lux's base health is low enough that a single Q-auto-W-E combo with Ignite and ADC follow-up kills her from full health, and she cannot poke Nautilus effectively when he stands in the lane bush threatening Q from fog of war.
• Sona — Sona is a squishy enchanter with no hard CC until level 6 and no escape from Nautilus's engage. Dredge Line connects on Sona from 1122 units away, and her base health is so low that a single Q-auto combo with Staggering Blow root and ADC follow-up chunks her to critical health or kills her outright. Sona's poke and sustain cannot compensate for the kill pressure Nautilus creates every time Q is off cooldown, and her only self-peel is Flash.

Even

• Thresh — Both are hook-based engage supports with similar playstyles. Thresh's Flay can interrupt Nautilus during his Q pull if timed correctly, and his Lantern provides an escape for his ADC that Nautilus cannot counter. However, Nautilus wins extended all-ins because his CC chain is longer, Titan's Wrath provides more durability than Thresh's innate armor, and Depth Charge is undodgeable while Thresh's hook can be sidestepped. The matchup rewards whichever support lands their hook first.
• Leona — Both are hard-engage tank supports who want to all-in the enemy ADC. Leona has the advantage of Eclipse's massive resistance bonus making her tankier during the all-in, but Nautilus has longer engage range with Q and an undodgeable ultimate with Depth Charge. The lane is determined by which bot lane has the stronger ADC follow-up and which support engages first — Nautilus's Q can be sidestepped, and Leona's E can be dodged.
• Alistar — Alistar's Headbutt can knock Nautilus away after he hooks in with Q, disrupting the CC chain. However, Nautilus's Q outranges Alistar's Headbutt-Pulverize combo, and Depth Charge cannot be stopped by Alistar's Unbreakable Will. The matchup is even because both champions have devastating all-in potential but can counter-engage each other, making it a battle of timing and positioning.

Unfavorable

• Morgana — Morgana is Nautilus's hardest counter because Black Shield completely negates every crowd control ability in Nautilus's kit. Dredge Line's stun, Staggering Blow's root, Riptide's slow, and Depth Charge's knockup and stun are all blocked by Black Shield, leaving Nautilus standing in melee range with no CC and no way to disengage. A good Morgana times Black Shield reactively to Nautilus's Q animation, making it nearly impossible to ever successfully engage. Additionally, Morgana's Dark Binding threatens Nautilus with a long root if he steps forward to look for Q angles.
• Braum — Braum's Unbreakable shield blocks Dredge Line entirely, preventing Nautilus's primary engage tool from connecting. When Nautilus does manage to engage through other means, Braum's passive stun and Stand Behind Me repositioning allow him to out-trade Nautilus in extended fights while peeling his ADC more effectively. Braum's defensive kit neutralizes Nautilus's aggressive playstyle by blocking hooks and shielding damage that would otherwise kill his carry.
• Taric — Taric hard-counters Nautilus's all-in pattern because Bastion's stun can be aimed at multiple angles to counter-engage on Nautilus after he hooks in, Starlight's Touch heals through Nautilus's burst damage, and Cosmic Radiance's invulnerability completely negates Nautilus's entire CC-and-burst combo by making the carry immune to damage during the chain. Even if Nautilus lands a perfect Q-R combo, Taric can make the target invulnerable before they die, wasting Nautilus's entire cooldown rotation.

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