CHALLENGER S13

Hello everyone, my name is Pullks. I've been playing League of Legends since season 9, and have mained jungle since. I finished my first season in Platinum IV and have peaked Challenger 800+LP in Season 13!

I have accumulated over 5 million mastery points thus far, it's safe to say I LOVE Nunu.

This is my second guide on Mobafire as I have had countless requests by my viewers for a "real" Nunu guide!
Here is my other guide; Full AP Nunu, I would consider this more "for fun" and not to seriously climb high elo.

If you want to see me play Nunu live in action or ask my any questions about the guide, feel free to check out my stream here.

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I have a section on coaching down below, but you can book me here

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PROS + Good Clear Speed + S+ Ganks + Amazing Objective Control (Q+Smite) + Survivability in Jungle + Lots of Crowd Control + Surprising Damage (Level 6 Spike) In my opinion Nunu & Willump is the only fun tank in the jungle, I NEVER become bored of him. His damage can kill almost any champion when he hits 6 and if he gets a full ultimate charge off. Not to mention it still makes me laugh when enemies try to flash away from my snowball, or once I proc phase rush. He also has an uncontestable smite (Q+Smite) if you time it perfectly. I highly recommend trying him out, you might just have fun.

CONS - Heavy Reliance on Team - Ultimate Easily Disrupted - Poor Defensive Scaling - Weak When Behind - Poor Brawler - No Late Game Damage Nunu & Willump struggles if he gets put behind the enemy team, this is why you should aim to play with big brain IQ only. Don't try to take scuttle crab alone unless your teammates are on the same page as you, you're practically a 2nd support. You will have some games you give your team a lead and still lose (I've had teams throw 10k+ gold leads). If games go >30 mins you are outscaled by this point, play around your team and keeping the carries alive.

Nunu & Willump is one of my favorite champions, he may honestly be the only reason I still enjoy playing League and he is by far the champion I have the most hours on. I have over 5 million mastery points on the boy and his yeti, he has been my #1 pick since I started playing ranked. He is an extremely fun champion with a kit that is based all around GANKING, GANKING, and GANKING some more. He is unique compared to any other jungler as he is extremely mobile with Biggest Snowball Ever! and can put pressure on the map before most other junglers in the game. This makes him an amazing solo queue pick as he has an amazing influence on the game, not to mention his objective control with Consume, this yeti practically has two Smite, what are you waiting for?

This guide will show you step by step how to maximize your Nunu & Willump gameplay and climb the solo queue ladder, or just enjoy some laid back games with friends :)

The only primary rune you should be taking on Nunu & Willump is Phase Rush. Very easy to proc as you only need to hit 3 attacks or abilities to gain the movement speed. You can proc it fully with Snowball Barrage and lock down enemies easily with the root it provides. This can allow you to get a full Absolute Zero channel off and do tons of damage to your enemies. You will also laugh when people try to flash after you proc Phase Rush but you still chase them down.

This pairs amazingly with Nunu's kit as it grants you bonus movement speed. Helps if you need to escape sticky situations with Flash or lock someone down with Chilling Smite, sometimes it's all you need.

Any sort of Movement Speed pairs well with Nunu. Getting an extra 1% for free is nice and improving all other movement bonuses by 7% helps you lockdown people that much easier.

Similar to Celerity, this gives Nunu & Willump extra movement speed and damage when in the river, which is great for objective control as well as ganking lanes.

Domination for the secondary tree. Eyeball Collection gives you good amounts of Ability power for assists (you get lots of). Relentless Hunter increases your movement speed and allows you to get around the map faster = more ganks = more escape.

Ability Haste to help clear camps faster/ more Q's. Adaptive Force for some bonus ability power and Health Scaling for additional Health, this is better than armor as it scales.

SMITEConsidering you are playing jungle, Smite will be a necessary summoner spell to take. Even if you didn't want to the client will now force you, this is the first spell for Nunu & Willump. I personally prefer Gustwalker Smite as it gives you a nice boost to movement speed when navigating through bushes - really op to catch people out late game. Mosstomper Smite is okay but just offers a small shield later on. I wouldn't take Scorchclaw Smite on Nunu, only on full AP.

FLASH Flash will be your second summoner spell as it is the best option for escaping or engaging. You could attempt to run Ignite, but it doesn't feel very good and your team may flame if they see a Nunu & Willump cosplaying Graves, especially in RANKED.

PASSIVE ABILITY

CALL OF THE FRELJORD (Passive): When Nunu & Willump damages an enemy champion, monster or structure it gives both Nunu & Willump and the nearest allied champion bonus Attack Speed and 10% bonus Movement Speed.

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Q

CONSUME (Q): Willump takes a bite of an enemy/monster, damaging them and healing himself. Heal increased when below 50% health. The heal is more effective against non-champions, so if you are in a fight try to Q a minion/or monster for a larger heal.

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W

BIGGEST SNOWBALL EVER! (W): My favorite part of Nunu & Willump's kit. This is practically Unstoppable Onslaught on a 14 second cooldown. As Brian Fantana would say "60% of the time, it will result in a kill every time' (Anchorman reference for my younger friends). But really, press W, land it and KILL ENEMY.

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E

SNOWBALL BARRAGE (E): You can cast this ability 3 times, after 3 seconds whoever got hit will be rooted. Pair this with Absolute Zero for some nutty damage. Landing all 3 casts will proc Phase Rush which is great for engages or disengaging, FAST AS FUCC BOI!!!

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R

ABSOLUTE ZERO (R): Channel for up to 3 seconds and make enemies disappear, seriously. If you get a full Absolute Zero charge off at level 6 you one shot almost anyone early game (if they don't have Heal or Barrier). Try to cast in a bush or out of vision for a surprise nuke. .

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FIRST ITEM OPTIONS

LIANDRY'S TORMENT Currently what most people are building on Nunu. Feels good as it improves your jungle clear, increases damage as well as healing on Nunu since he has very good AP ratios on all abilities This is generally the first item I have been rushing on Nunu all season long.

SUNFIRE AEGIS I know a lot of *lower elo* Nunu players are stuck back in season 12/13 where it was good to rush this item, I don't think it is good UNLESS the enemy team is full AD OR your team is very heavy AP (3+). I think this can be an ok item 2/3rd, but I also think other armor items like Knight's Vow and Frozen Heart are much better for the cost.

COSMIC DRIVE This item became quite popular in Korea by a few high elo Nunu OTP's. It took me a while to test it, but I am really having fun with it. This item synergizes great with Nunu as it provides AP, HP and Movespeed. You can itemize into Liandry's Torment after if you need more damage, or go full tank. You will feel SO FAST. Try it out.

ROD OF AGES Sounds like it would be good, it's bad. Do not build, save yourself the time. There is 1-2 people in Korea who build this into full tank, not a fan.

RIFTMAKER There are a few people who rush this item in high elo, but I think it requires a certain playstyle as most people who buy this full clear on Nunu and take scaling runes (on a non-scaling champ). If it fits your playstyle, try it out, but I prefer high tempo + heavy ganking playstyle.

HEXTECH PROTOBELT-01 Cheaper than Liandry's Torment but I dislike this item unless full AP, which is MUCH WORSE than hybrid Nunu.

DARK SEAL I build this in 99.9% of my games on Nunu & Willump, the 0.01% of the time is if I'm super behind (e.g. 0/4/0) and every piece of gold counts. Nunu & Willump has disgusting AP ratios (seriously, look at them) and this item can give you up to 65 Ability Power. You stack this very easily and you'll sometimes end up at 10 stacks without realizing. Upgrade to Mejai's Soulstealer if you have 10 stacks (don't instantly die after buying...).

CORE ITEMS

FROZEN HEART Good overall armor item, great unless they have melee crit champions ( Yasuo, Tryndamere or Yone for example), where Randuin's Omen would be better. You don't want to build both Frozen Heart and Randuins as you lose out since they are *unique* item passives and cannot stack. Currently tied for best armor item S14 with Knight's Vow.

KNIGHTS VOW Item was changed in S14 to be very good. You can mark ANYONE on your team, generally mark the most fed team member as they will heal you with their DPS, and you will keep them alive. Good to build when you don't get benefit from Frozen Heart or Randuin's Omen as it gives good armor value + keeping team alive.

ABYSSAL MASK Currently the best MR item in the game. It gives you good MR and reduces the enemies MR, as well as further increasing your MR for enemies around you. Really strong when you also have lots of AP on your team, helps deal more damage.

SPIRIT VISAGE It improves the healing from your Consume, bonus points if you have a Soraka or Lulu as it increases their shields/heals on you too. Abyssal Mask is the better item currently, stick to that if you need MR.

THORNMAIL Solid armor item that synergizes well with Sunfire Aegis (they increase effectiveness based on HP). I generally only build this item when they have a Soraka or Yuumi support or 3+ heavy healing champs.

RANDUIN'S OMEN Very strong into critical attack % champions like Tryndamere, Yasuo, Tristana etc. If you find yourself in a game with 2+ crit reliant enemies, build this item instead of Frozen Heart, never both.

FORCE OF NATURE Used to be the best, no longer. Abyssal Mask > Kaenic Rookern > Spirit Visage = Force of Nature. I've built this item in maybe 2% of games.

WARMOGS ARMOR Avoid. That is all. Bait item that seems good because of movespeed changes, but Nunu doesn't benefit from raw HP stacking since his scaling late game is TRASH.

ZHONYA'S HOURGLASS Niche item, good into champions like Karthus or Zed as it makes their ultimate ability useless. Decent build into full AD teams as it gives armor and some AP, don't build it too often though.

LOCKET OF THE IRON SOLARI Item was newly changed for S14, gives good stats and good components for Nunu & Willump. I like building this item into Karthus to help my team survive. It is good to build this item when enemy team has balanced AD+AP damage. Shield will save quite a bit of damage throughout the game if used correctly.

KAENIC ROOKERN New MR item to s14, used to be #1 MR item until it was nerfed. Currently Abyssal Mask is better. This item can still be built into heavy AP burst like Fizz, Karthus etc. It's just quite more expensive even though stats don't beat Abyssal Mask.

ANATHEMA'S CHAINS Feels very good to build this item if enemy team has 4x of AD/AP and 1x of AP/AD. This allows you to stack resistances for 1 type and then apply this item to the outlier type while being tanky AF for all of this free HP. I build this often.

MEJAI'S SOULSTEALER Upgrade once you have 10 stacks of Dark Seal, Nunu becomes thanos with this item but you CANNOT DIE.

JAK'SHO, THE PROTEAN It seems like the item would be good but the components are trash, it's overpriced and half the time fights don't last long enough for Nunu to get full benefit. Some people build this item 2nd/3rd, which is ok if you like that but late game you are sitting on 800g component until you get 3k gold, very bad.

DEAD MAN'S PLATE This item got nerfed a few seasons ago, for the price it doesn't offer much, other armor items are better..

INFINITY EDGE Build if you are feeling frisky... if you made it this far in the guide I love you <3 (suggested by FindingJ)

NOTE: Jungle pathing is VERY situational, this is NOT the only jungle path for Nunu & Willump, this is to help anyone try out our yeti overlord and have a rough idea how to path. You can feel free to experiment as you learn.

RED SIDE START 1 Start at crest of cinders, you don't need a leash. Use Smite, level up Biggest Snowball Ever! 2 Roll over to crimson raptor, auto-attack the large one and Consume, it will die. Auto-attack the small ones, allow burn damage to apply as it can kill them. 3 Proceed to your gromp by snowballing below wolves. This may seem weird to most people, but taking gromp 3rd lets you hit level 3 as fast as possible. This allows you to look for gank opportunities mid or bot if the enemy is pushed up. Bot preferred in the current meta. 4 If no ganks available, snowball back up to wolves and take care of them. Next go to crest of insight and pull it down towards rift scuttler. 5 Similar to earlier, take a look at bottom lane and middle lane, are the enemies pushed up or near-death? If so, use Biggest Snowball Ever! to gank either one and make sure to use Snowball Barrage to lock them down. If no ganks are available, feel free to take rift scuttler using Q+Smite for an instant kill. 6 Once rift scuttler is dead, you can sit on top of the movement speed circle and be patient to see if a gank will become available, as well as getting an idea where the enemy jungler is. Biggest Snowball Ever! and rift scuttler almost guarantee the enemy to die or use Flash.

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BLUE SIDE START Shown leashless. Your ideal pathing is to 3 camp and look for a gank as the current meta is bottom favoured.

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Early Game Goals → Be Active on Map → Gank, Gank, Gank!! → Target Low Mobility Enemies → Focus Early Dragon's and Rift Herald → Clear Enemy Vision with Oracle Lens → Get Rift Scuttler (if safe)

Early game is a Nunu & Willump's wet dream, it's where he has the opportunity to set up a win. Your main goal will be to hit level 2-3 and gank until enemies want to Alt+F4. Taking kills is okay, but if you are Platinum IV+ I would recommend giving the kills to your carries. Follow the pathing guide and gank the enemy laners if they are pushed up or near death. If you gank someone and they have used their mobility spell like Flash (5 min cooldown) or Ghost (3.5 minute cooldown), you now have a time window to repeat gank and kill over and over again. I tend to avoid repeat ganking/camping tank champions like Ornn, Shen and Malphite etc. It is okay to give them a free kill but they won't carry the game, focus your middle lane and bottom lane if you manage to give them a lead. Make sure to prioritize early game Dragon's (Soul's are OP) and Rift Herald, Nunu & Willump can easily secure them because of Consume with Smite (Level 5 combo is 1210 damage, execute dragon with this). You are able to solo it as well, but I wouldn't recommend this unless you have vision of the enemy jungler/mid lane/bottom lane and Bami's Cinder. You can also help your bottom lane push the wave into tower and then spam ping them for help

Mid Game Goals → Secured Dragon's + Rift Herald → Engage Team Fights → Peel Your Carries → Secure Vision Near Objectives → Calculated Risks

By now a turret has likely fallen and people are becoming more aggressive, looking for kills by catching people in vision traps or roaming. A turret has likely fallen and it is around the 2nd or 3rd Dragon. Hopefully you have secured both Dragon's as it is a huge advantage to have moving forward and a possible win condition if you achieve the dragon soul. If you catch people out of position use your Biggest Snowball Ever! to run them down and secure kills for your team. Ensure you are clearing enemy vision with Oracle Lens and using Control Ward's for information. Your teammates may also engage bad fights or get caught out, if you are around try your best to peel your carries if you can prevent their death. Sometimes all you need to do to win is sit on your ADC and make sure they don't die. Take calculated risks and fights that are beneficial for you, a lot of games get thrown in mid game by people yeeting 1000g+ bounties. Stay smart yeti enjoyers.

Hopefully your game doesn't get to this point and you have secured the win already, Nunu & Willump has terrible defensive scaling and if you get into 30-45+ minute games you will be horribly outscaled. Try your best to engage fights that are beneficial for your team and peel your carries. Once it becomes 20+ minutes in the game you will receive homeguard buff from fountain, this pairs extremely well with Biggest Snowball Ever! and it will catch enemies off guard that may be trying to push into your Inhibitor or Tier 2 tower. Do your best to continue to take objectives like Elder Dragon and Baron Nashor, don't be afraid to Flash + Consume + Chilling Smite (2400 DMG) if you have vision to steal from the enemy, it will tilt them

Late Game Goals → Continue to Engage Fights → Utilize Homeguard Buff from Base → Peel Your Carries → Secure Objectives → Try to Not Throw

I am now offering coaching to anyone who is interested. Please feel free to schedule a session here. Coaching sessions are $25/session. I offer both VOD review and live game.

Some Testamonials:

"Hello. I am the first person to receive coaching and Pullks did an incredible job at recognizing what mistakes are relevant to my rank and skill level, but also in doing so gave me many points to work on in the future. Pullks also went above and beyond what he said he would do during the vod review(e.g: go through a few of his games to teach a concept)."

"I had the session this week and it was just such a good experience. You really take your time, and managed to set a chill and relaxed tone in the face of technical difficulties we had at the start 😉
You quickly identified some mistakes, both tactical and strategical, and really took care to explain how to improve. And (probably picking up on my insecurity concerning my play) you encouraged me a lot, which really motivated me to get back in there."

"I did a coaching session the other day and Pulks was super patient with my lack of experience with league and broke everything down super well for me. He gave me a run down on what I was doing good and what I could improve on as well as encouraging me to move forward with ranked which wasn't something I was the most interested in prior to the coaching."

"Excellent coach, gave me so many insights and tidbits of knowledge I'd have had no idea about otherwise, and went above and beyond to accomodate me (spent a while at the beginning trying to find a way to screenshare because my discord is messed up), gave me many tips and things to follow up on, showed me several of his clears and jungle pathing decisions, etc. All-round just amazing and will help so much, definitely going to book more sessions in the future"

"One session helped me climb from Gold 2 to Plat 1. Pullks has not only an amazing understanding of how to play nunu but also did an excellent job articulating the most useful pieces of information given my skill level. Excellent coach. If i weren't quitting the game outright, I would book sessions until I got to the top."

"The man knows his stuff, through our session we were able to discuss my overall mindset on the game and how exactly I would've wanted to improve. Was able to catch my mistakes and show what I was able to do in order to try and minimize mistakes. (Will make second post about my progress once that happens), Learn to be selfish, don't always go for the kill when the enemy wastes stuff etc. I feel like the higher I go and the more I play the more info he would be able to go into more detail as to how I could climb."

S Tier:

Nunu and Beelump: Hands down best skin, my favourite. I could use this skin all day and never get tired of it. If you are looking for one, pick this up. All of the chromas look great too!
Papercraft: Cleanest skin hands down, also has variety of chromas.
Nunu Bot: Expensive, but worth it. Only skin to use when you run ghost/cleanse and disco.


A Tier:

Space Groove: Disco ball snowball is neat, but has/had a visual bug since release where blue bars will appear over your screen when releasing snowball sometimes (annoying), only thing keeping it from S Tier.
Workshop: Willump is a REINDEER, cmon! Cheap and cute, can never go wrong with Christmas skins.
Default: Clean and simple, also his eyes GLOW when in bushes (premium pay 2 win skins dont, sadge).


B Tier

Grungy: Low key Willump with this skin reminds me of the Cookie Monster or Sully from Monsters Inc. Really changes appearance.
Zombie: Would be S/A-Tier but something about the skin just feels clunky with animations. It WAS my favorite skin, until I purchased it :(
Sasquatch: Rarest IMO, which makes it cooler (legacy). Not the best looking, but it's shiny Pokemon status.


C-Tier

Demolisher: Looks okay, not a huge fan of the armor and it doesn't really change much..
TPA: Snowball is the only thing I like about this skin, between B/C-Tier.


D-Tier: Nothing, cause it's Nunu... so all are good :D

THANK YOU so much for checking out my guide. If you liked it consider tossing me an upvote as it really helps get my guide out there to everyone! Feel free to leave me feedback or any suggestions. If you have any questions feel free to ask me on my stream here .