How to win lane as Graves against Nasus · 48.65% win rate (1,924 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Buckshot the brawler — point-blank shells hurt more than his trades and your E resets the spacing.
Track: Nasus's W — Wither (15–11s cooldown). His only answer to kiting — bait it before you commit.
Read from Graves's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Nasus.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Both of you are weak at level 1 — he has only Q, you have a single ability and no Quickdraw mobility yet, so contest his first last-hits but commit nothing. |
| Level 2 | Nasus | Wither comes online at 2 and cripples your move and attack speed, gutting your Quickdraw kite and shell DPS before you can answer it. |
| Level 3 | Graves | With Q, W and an E charge you can Quickdraw-in for the point-blank 4-shell spread and an End of the Line cone on a Wither-less Nasus — your cleanest punish window of the lane. |
| Levels 4-5 | Nasus | By now his Q stacks matter more than your True Grit armor — if he Withers you first his trades go even and his free-farm scaling pulls ahead. |
| Level 6 | Graves | Collateral Damage plus a full magazine and a Q cone chunks him hard, but only if you R before Wither lands — this is your best all-in window. |
| First item | Graves | Your Eclipse/Youmuu's first-item spike out-damages his current build, so forcing the all-in here on his Wither cooldown is the last point you can still win the trade. |
| Two+ items | Nasus | A stacked Siphoning Strike chunks you, Spirit Fire shreds your armor so True Grit is near-worthless, and Wither plus R lifesteal walks through your burst — he out-scales you outright. |
Nasus is weak and stack-hungry early, so this is your window — but respect Wither (W) the second he hits 2. Until then, Quickdraw (E) in for the point-blank 4-shell spread and drop an End of the Line (Q) cone to deny his Siphoning Strike last-hits and zone him off the wave. Do NOT linger in auto range once his W is up: Wither slows your move speed AND attack speed, which kills your kite, your reload tempo and your shell DPS at once. Smoke Screen (W) does not blind — it reduces sight range and slows on impact, so a stacked Siphoning Strike still lands inside it. Use it to break his sight of you while you reload, never as a way to make his Q miss.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Graves's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Graves vs Nasus 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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Nasus, slightly — Graves wins 48.65% of 1,924 games; winnable with the right plan.
Mostly — Nasus has a small statistical edge (51.35% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
No — if anything Nasus has the slight edge (Graves wins 48.65%), though it stays close.
Graves takes Fleet Footwork on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace, and Resolve secondary (Second Wind and Bone Plating) vs Nasus.
Start Doran's Blade + 1 Health Potion and back for Executioner's Calling (≈800g) — cuts his healing. Build Eclipse / Hubris first, then The Collector, with Plated Steelcaps.
Playing the other side? Nasus vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →
More Graves top lane matchups: vs Master Yi · vs Mel · vs Mordekaiser · vs Nautilus · vs Neeko · vs Olaf