How to win lane as Nasus against Akali · 54.38% win rate over 1,004 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Akali | Akali pokes you with shuriken (E) and autos at level 1 while you have no Wither and no ult — just soak Q last-hits and heal off the wave. |
| Level 2 | Akali | Still hers — she dashes in with E and procs her passive on a trade you cannot answer without Wither, so concede the chip and farm. |
| Level 3 | Akali | Wither (W) is finally up, but she out-trades you with shroud (W) and E poke and can simply dash out of your slow's range. |
| Levels 4-5 | Akali | Levels 4-5 stay hers: she pokes with E and resets with shroud while you hoard Q stacks and play not to die. |
| Level 6 | Akali | At 6 your Fury of the Sands plus Wither survives one all-in, but her R double-dash and shroud let her disengage before you cash in. |
| First item | Akali | Even with your first-item empowered Q she can shroud off your Wither target and E-dash away, edging the trades while energy allows. |
| Two+ items | Nasus | Now you win — a Wither-locked, ulted Siphoning Strike on full stacks one-shots her squishy HP bar and your lifesteal eats her burst. |
Akali owns these levels and you have to accept it. She has shuriken (E) poke and auto harass while you have no Wither until 3 and no ult until 6, so just soak Q last-hits at max range and eat the chip — your Soul Eater lifesteal will heal most of it back off the wave. Do not walk up to throw a Q into her E range; she dashes in, procs her passive, and resets the trade. At level 3 you finally get Wither: if she commits an E-in, slow her move and attack speed to a crawl and land a sweet-spot Siphoning Strike to remind her you bite back.
The full Nasus vs Akali 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? Akali vs Nasus guide →
All Nasus top lane matchups →