How to win lane as Graves against Nautilus · 48.78% win rate (82 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
He stacks exactly the stat that blanks you — chip early, then stop donating shells to armor.
Track: Nautilus's Q — Dredge Line (14–10s cooldown). His only real engage — dodge it and the lane is free.
Read from Graves's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Nautilus.
This is Graves's own plan; across 82 pooled games the lane is leaning Nautilus.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Both of you are weak at level 1, but his Dredge Line hook plus passive auto-root is the most punishing single ability in the lane — just last-hit and never line up for the hook. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Neither of you is fully online yet; trade short and never give him a straight-line hook angle while you're still one ability down. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | You get End of the Line and your shell spread, but his hook-root-Riptide CC arrives on the same timer — it's a genuine trade race, so weave in and out rather than committing. |
| Levels 4-5 | Graves | Your True Grit armor and double Quickdraw charges let you win extended melee trades, and a whiffed Dredge Line leaves him hookless and free to punish. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Your Collateral Damage nuke and his Depth Charge knockup come online together — it's a mutual all-in window, so it stays even unless one of you whiffs the hook or the ult. |
| First item | Graves | Your Eclipse/Youmuu's spike and lethality punch through his tankiness faster than his armor and True Grit stacks recover — this is the cleanest window you own. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | He out-scales the duel: his stacking tank durability eats your burst while his hook-into-knockup CC stays just as lethal, so the solo kill dries up and the lane settles even. |
Level 1 is a coin-flip — neither of you has the kit yet, but his Dredge Line hook plus the Staggering Blow auto-root is the scariest single button in the lane, so never walk in a straight line at him. The instant you have E and Q (2-3) you can play your game: Quickdraw in for the point-blank 4-shell spread, drop End of the Line, and dash back out on your second E charge before his 14-second hook can reel you. Smoke Screen is for disengage and zoning, not for stopping CC — it reduces sight range and slows on impact, it does not blind, so a landed hook still chains through it.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Graves's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Graves vs Nautilus 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.
Read the full guide — plans from $1.99/month →🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · ✋ Cancel anytime
Lane Pass $1.99/mo · All Lanes $3.99/mo · Annual $24.99/yr. Renews automatically — cancel anytime.
Nautilus, slightly — Graves wins 48.78% of 82 games; winnable with the right plan.
Mostly — Nautilus has a small statistical edge (51.22% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
No — if anything Nautilus has the slight edge (Graves wins 48.78%), 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 Nautilus.
Start Doran's Blade + 1 Health Potion and back for Serrated Dirk (≈1100g) — lethality spike. Build Eclipse / Hubris first, then The Collector, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Nautilus vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →
More Graves top lane matchups: vs Mel · vs Mordekaiser · vs Nasus · vs Neeko · vs Olaf · vs Ornn