Nautilus has catapulted up in popularity after recent buffs just in time for the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational. His win rate has jumped to above 50 percent for the first time since 9.4, to almost 52 percent. He’s also become the second most picked support in the game according to stats site op.gg.
Patch 9.8 saw Nautilus’ Q, Dredge Line, receive a significant buff, getting an extra 20 damage at rank one, scaling to an extra 40 by rank five. Dredge Line’s ability power scaling was also buffed from 70 percent to 90 percent. His passive, Staggering Blow, got a snare duration buff in the early game as well.
Related: Riot outlines potential champion changes for League of Legends Patch 9.8
These changes, on top of armor and Staggering Blow cooldown buffs in Patch 9.6, has led to a spike in Nautilus’ playtime and success in solo queue. Not only that, but he’s seeing more play time in competitive play too since Patch 9.6 in the LMS, LPL and LCK promotion tournament.
However, these changes haven’t just made Nautilus a more popular support pick—some people are choosing to play Nautilus in the mid lane after the changes to his ability power scaling.
Players are rushing Hextech Protobelt and Morellonomicon for the health to help scale his Titan’s Wrath shield, as well as giving some much-needed mobility and killing power with Grievous Wounds. They’re also still sticking with Aftershock as a keystone rune, allowing him to survive in team fights while being able to isolate targets with his Dredge Line or his ultimate, Depth Charge.
Flash Wolves’ mid laner Shin “Rather” Hyeong-seop picked Nautilus mid in their playoff series against ahq e-Sports Club in the LMS. While Flash Wolves lost the game, with Rather going 1/4/2, he was able to keep up with Kim “Rainbow” Soo-gi’s LeBlanc, even maintaining a 30cs lead at one point.
There haven’t been any competitive games played on Patch 9.8 yet, but expect to see Nautilus pulled out at the Mid-Season Invitational.
