How to win lane as Nautilus against Sylas · 47.37% win rate over 57 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Neither of you has a combo yet, but your passive root punishes him if he walks up to last-hit — pure auto-trades favor you at Level 1. |
| Level 2 | Sylas | His E chain-dash both dodges your Q anchor and disengages, and his Q starts draining the trade back the moment he lands. |
| Level 3 | Sylas | His drain Q and W heal out-sustain your W-burn chip, and a missed Q leaves you with no answer to his second E dash. |
| Levels 4-5 | Sylas | He out-trades you with two stun-dashes to your one Q and heals the chip you do land, holding the wave and the edge. |
| Level 6 | Nautilus | Depth Charge is homing and undodgeable — his E cannot escape it, so R into your full CC chain is your one clean kill window. |
| First item | Sylas | His first AP item plus Q drain out-heals your tank-only chip damage while your offense plateaus on engage components. |
| Two+ items | Sylas | He out-scales hard: AP drain, E mobility to kite your CC, and an R that steals your ult — let your team handle him and play engage, not duelist. |
Level 1 is even — you both lack your combo, but your passive root makes auto-trades favorable if he steps up to last-hit. The problem starts once he has E: his chain-dash both dodges your Q anchor and is his disengage, so a missed Q means he dashes onto you for a stun and Q-drains the trade back. Throw Q only when his E is on cooldown or he's pinned against a wall, and farm with E waves rather than face-checking trades you can't sustain through.
The full Nautilus vs Sylas 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? Sylas vs Nautilus guide →
All Nautilus top lane matchups →