How to win lane as Nasus against Graves · 51.35% win rate over 1,924 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Both of you are weak at level 1 — he has shotgun autos but no Quickdraw yet and you have only Q, so contest his last-hits but commit nothing. |
| Level 2 | Nasus | Wither comes online at 2 and halves his move and attack speed, gutting his kite and shell reload so you free-farm Q stacks under it. |
| Level 3 | Graves | With Q, W blind and an E charge he Quickdraws in for the point-blank 4-shell spread and an End of the Line cone before your Wither is back up — his cleanest punish. |
| Levels 4-5 | Nasus | Your Wither timing owns the trade — bait his engage, eat one shell, then slow his attack speed mid-commit so his burst trades back even. |
| Level 6 | Graves | His Collateral Damage plus a full magazine and a Q cone chunks you hard if he bursts before Wither lands — this is his best all-in window. |
| First item | Graves | His Eclipse/Youmuu's first-item spike out-damages your Sheen component, so he'll force the all-in here while he still out-trades you. |
| Two+ items | Nasus | A stacked Siphoning Strike chunks him, Spirit Fire shreds his True Grit armor, and Wither plus R lifesteal walks through his burst — you out-scale him outright. |
Graves is a ranged skirmisher who wants to bully a stack-hungry Nasus, so the early levels are a knife-fight over your farm. At level 1 neither of you owns it — he has shotgun autos but no Quickdraw mobility yet, so contest last-hits with Siphoning Strike (Q) but commit to nothing. The instant you hit 2 and have Wither (W), the lane tilts: point-and-click slow his move AND attack speed and his kite, his reload tempo and his shell DPS all collapse at once, letting you safely soak Q stacks. Just respect his level 3 — with Q, W blind and an E charge he can Quickdraw in for the 4-shell spread and a wide End of the Line cone the moment your Wither is down.
The full Nasus vs Graves 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? Graves vs Nasus guide →
All Nasus top lane matchups →