Malphite vs Nasus — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Malphite against Nasus · 51.58% win rate over 1,138 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Winnable despite the lane — Nasus owns 3 of the 7 game windows to Malphite's 2, yet the win rate favours Malphite: survive their windows and the game is yours. Malphite wins 51.58% of games vs Nasus in top lane (1,138 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1NasusNasus's empowered Q gives a free, harder last-hit while you have no trade pattern at level 1 — you just concede the stack.
Level 2NasusHe out-stacks and out-trades you with Q autos at 2, and Wither shuts down any step-up you attempt.
Level 3Even / skillOnce W and E come online you can farm through him and slow his attack speed, but his Q stacking keeps it even.
Levels 4-5Even / skillThunderclap armor and Ground Slam's attack-speed slow let you stand in the wave and contest farm — neither of you owns it.
Level 6MalphiteUnstoppable Force plus your Q slow gives you all-in and gank pressure he can't dash away from before his stacks matter.
First itemMalphiteSunfire and armor make your Thunderclap/Ground Slam trades free into his AD autos — your last clean window to punish him.
Two+ itemsNasusStacked max-HP Q autos shred your armor, Wither blanks your Ground Slam, and R lifesteal out-sustains you — he out-scales hard.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Nasus owns levels 1-3 here — his empowered Q gives him a free last-hit and a stack while you have no trade button at all, so do not try to contest him at melee range. Granite Shield only refreshes when you back off, so eat the occasional auto, deny what Q stacks you can with your own last-hits, and never walk into a Wither — that slow shuts off any kiting or escape you have pre-6. This is a farm-and-survive window; your job is to reach 6 with a healthy CS, not to fight.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Malphite 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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Playing the other side? Nasus vs Malphite guide →
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