# Nunu & Willump Counters, Matchups & Tips | Baron Buff
See Nunu & Willump counters, hardest matchups, and tips to play against or draft around Nunu & Willump in League of Legends.
Canonical HTML: https://baronbuff.com/champions/nunu/
Markdown URL: https://baronbuff.com/champions/nunu.md
Language: en
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- Nunu & Willump

## Page Content

Tank · Vanguard · Jungle

Prepare for battle with Nunu & Willump — master their strengths and exploit their weaknesses before the game starts.

## Playstyle Profile

Nunu & Willump is an initiator — excels at engaging grouped enemies with impactful openings

Teamfight Role Vanguard Initiator

Power Spike Mid game

Split Threat None

Backline Access Low

## Nunu & Willump's Strengths

- Starts fights on your terms — Nunu & Willump's engage forces enemies to react, giving your team the initiative

## How to Play Nunu & Willump

Champion-specific pre-match tips

### Lane Phase

Hold your Q during early trades until your health drops below half to trigger the amplified healing effect.

### Lane Phase

Start channeling W deep out of vision before moving into a skirmish to build maximum speed and knockup radius.

### Lane Phase

Cast E volleys to slow and root your target, then immediately tap W at point-blank range for an unavoidable knockup.

### Mid Game

Target epic monsters with Q the exact moment their health enters your damage threshold to instantly secure the objective.

### Mid Game

Channel your ult completely inside an unwarded brush as enemies approach to hide the visual warning and trap them in the maximum slow.

### Mid Game

Release W early to let the snowball roll forward on its own when an enemy uses a dash to dodge your direct path.

### Late Game

Flank with W from the side or behind during major objective dances to disrupt the enemy backline and force their carries to scatter.

### Late Game

Stand next to your primary carry and cast E to root diving threats before channeling your ult to zone off the enemy follow-up.

### Late Game

Wait until the enemy team spends their hard crowd control spells before channeling your ult in the middle of a teamfight to guarantee the maximum damage burst.

For matchup-tailored tips, download Baron Buff's AI Coach & Companion App.

## Core Build

Ranked from real ranked-match itemization

We look at ranked games after each item was bought. If the player or team gained ground in gold, we rate that item higher.

- Hextech Rocketbelt — 2,650

- Shadowflame — 3,200

- Sorcerer's Shoes (Boots) — 1,100

- Banshee's Veil — 3,000

- Liandry's Torment — 3,000

- Sunfire Aegis — 2,700

total: 15,650

## How to Counter Nunu & Willump

Counter strategies and draft context

build percent-health damage, kite effectively, or bypass them entirely to reach carries

- Weak to disengage and spread comps — Nunu & Willump's engage loses value when enemies aren't grouped

- Split-push threats that avoid 5v5 team fights entirely

- Compositions with strong disengage to negate engage windows

- Picks that bypass the frontline to reach backline carries directly

### Nunu & Willump's Weaknesses

- Heavy disengage compositions — Nunu & Willump's engages get peeled off before the team can follow up

## Best Synergies with Nunu & Willump

Team synergies and draft context

- Follow-up damage dealers who capitalize on Nunu & Willump's engage — burst mages and ADCs with range

- Assassins that flank while you hold enemy attention at the front

- Follow-up damage dealers that capitalize on your engage and CC

- AOE mages that combo with your crowd control for wombo setups

### Draft Context

- Pairs another engage champion with no follow-up damage to capitalize on Nunu & Willump's initiation

## Learning Curve

[Based on 1.2M+ matches](https://baronbuff.com/blog/mastery_by_tier/) across all ranked elos, showing how Nunu & Willump's win rate changes with mastery level

Nunu & Willump has exceptional depth — there is always something new to learn, and the learning curve is among the steepest in the game. Expect a long stretch of low win rates before meaningful improvement — mastering this champion demands serious commitment.

Skill Cap Very High

Cost of Learning Extremely High

Win Rate Delta by Mastery

Mastery Level | Win Rate |

1-2 | 35.1% |

3-4 | 41.0% |

5-6 | 48.4% |

7-8 | 50.3% |

9-12 | 50.3% |

13-16 | 50.3% |

17+ * | 51.4% |

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