How to win lane as Nautilus against Graves · 51.22% win rate (82 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Bait his key tool — hook him on the Quickdraw cooldown and chain the CC.
Track: Graves's E — Quickdraw (16–12s cooldown). His dash + armor stacks. Engage when it's down.
Read from Nautilus's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Graves.
This is Nautilus'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 with one ability — you have no all-in without W/E and he has no E dash yet, so it's a coin-flip auto-trade where your passive root edges it but neither commits. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | He can take Smoke Screen to cut your sight and slow you, or E to reposition; you have Q-into-root but no burst yet, so the trade hinges purely on whether your hook lands — genuinely even. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Your Q + W + E combo is online and a landed Dredge Line into passive root plus Titan's Wrath splash burn wins the short trade, but his E dash dodges the hook outright, so it stays skill-decided. |
| Levels 4-5 | Graves | With True Grit and his early item, Graves out-ranges and out-bursts you — his shotgun blast plus the Smoke Screen slow beats your base damage while you have no R to lock him down. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Depth Charge is an undodgeable homing knock-up that ignores his E dash and starts your Q-pull, E-slow lockdown chain — your single best window pulls the lane back to even. |
| First item | Graves | His Eclipse/Serrated Dirk spike lets him hold E for your Q and shotgun you from outside hook range before your CC chain connects — he reclaims the all-in. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | He out-scales you on damage but your R + Q + E lockdown still deletes him from a fight, so the late game balances his kiting carry potential against your unanswerable single-target engage — even. |
Graves is a ranged skirmisher, so your whole early game is landing Q — Dredge Line is your only way to touch him. He holds his E dash to dodge the hook, and Smoke Screen cuts your sight range and slows you off the Staggering Blow root rather than blinding you. Don't throw Q on cooldown into open ground where he just dashes it; bait the E first, walk him down behind minions, then hook into passive root and W splash burn. End of the Line detonates on terrain and can cut your retreat — you have no dash, so hold Flash for that wall, not for the damage.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Nautilus's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Nautilus 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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Nautilus, slightly — a 51.22% win rate edge over 82 games; execution can flip it.
Mostly — Nautilus has a small statistical edge (51.22% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
Not a hard counter — Nautilus has a slight edge (51.22% win rate), and play quality decides the rest.
Nautilus takes Grasp of the Undying on the Resolve tree with Demolish, Second Wind and Overgrowth, and Precision secondary (Triumph and Legend: Haste) vs Graves.
Start Doran's Shield + Health Potion and back for Core component + boots (≈1300g). Build Iceborn Gauntlet (perma-slow chains) first, then Sunfire Aegis, with Plated Steelcaps.
Playing the other side? Graves vs Nautilus guide →
All Nautilus top lane matchups →
More Nautilus top lane matchups: vs Garen · vs Gnar · vs Gragas · vs Gwen · vs Heimerdinger · vs Illaoi