How to win lane as Mordekaiser against Nautilus · 49.97% win rate over 25 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Naut trades evenly at 1-2 — his Q hook is a single long-cooldown skillshot and neither of you has an all-in, so it's a farming standoff until Darkness Rise comes online. |
| Level 2 | Mordekaiser | Your Q and W come online and out-trade his Riptide poke before he banks any tank stats. |
| Level 3 | Mordekaiser | Whiff-punish: E (Death's Grasp) yanks him in after a missed hook, Q-sweetspot ignites Darkness Rise, and a recast-W heal beats his short trades. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | His Staggering Blow root and Riptide slow let him chip you out of aura range, so your sustain edge and his poke cancel out to even. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | R is wasted isolating a tank you can't kill 1v1, so at 6 the lane stalls into an even shove-and-poke duel. |
| First item | Mordekaiser | Your first-item magic-damage spike lets Darkness Rise grind through his armor in an E-glued, W-sustained all-in. |
| Two+ items | Nautilus | Full-tank Naut reclaims it — Q hook into Staggering Blow root into Depth Charge knockup chain-locks you while he tanks your aura. |
"\"Naut trades evenly at 1-2 — his Q hook is a single long-cooldown skillshot and you both lack a real all-in, so it's a CS standoff until you bank Darkness Rise. The moment he whiffs the hook, E-pull him in, Q-sweetspot for the single-target bonus and a fast aura proc, then recast W to heal. Respect his passive: his next auto after a few seconds roots you (Staggering Blow), so don't trade auto-for-auto in his range — land your Q, proc the aura, and reset. By 3-5 your W sustain beats his Riptide poke; just never get hooked while your W is still channeling or you eat the whole commit for nothing.\""
The full Mordekaiser 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.
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Playing the other side? Nautilus vs Mordekaiser guide →
All Mordekaiser top lane matchups →