How to win lane as Naafiri against Malzahar · 52.77% win rate over 1,768 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Naafiri | Level 1 favours you as Malzahar has no lockdown and only farms. |
| Level 2 | Naafiri | At level 2 your Q trades beat his self-peel-less early game. |
| Level 3 | Naafiri | Level 3 W The Hunt gives you all-in pressure he can't answer. |
| Levels 4-5 | Naafiri | Through 4-5 you punish his E cooldowns with superior step-up trades. |
| Level 6 | Malzahar | At six his point-click R Nether Grasp suppresses your W and flips the all-in. |
| First item | Naafiri | First item lets you shove and roam past his slow rotation to reclaim tempo. |
| Two+ items | Malzahar | Two items in his reliable suppression and voidling DPS out-scale your burst. |
Levels 1-2 Malzahar just farms with Q and E, so contest with Q daggers and last-hits; he has no way to punish your step-ups yet.
The full Naafiri vs Malzahar report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Malzahar vs Naafiri guide →
All Naafiri mid lane matchups →