How to win lane as Nautilus against Zac · 63.64% win rate over 11 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Neither of you has an all-in at level 1, but your passive root on the first auto makes any auto-trade favor you over his blob. |
| Level 2 | Nautilus | Your W shield and splash burn come online before his kit threatens you — short-trade him while he's still a slow blob. |
| Level 3 | Nautilus | Q-pull into passive root into E-slow locks the dashless blob for a full combo he can't kite or bounce out of. |
| Levels 4-5 | Nautilus | Your E shockwaves and W shield zone him off the wave while his only escape, the E sling, is still charging. |
| Level 6 | Nautilus | Depth Charge is undodgeable lockdown that cancels his E engage and flips his all-in into your kill. |
| First item | Nautilus | Your tanky engage item lets you walk him down and CC-chain faster than his passive blobs can heal it back. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | Both of you fall off, but his AoE knock-up scales into teamfights while your low base damage plateaus — it's even now. |
Level 1 is roughly even — neither of you has a real all-in, but your passive root on the first auto makes any early auto-trade favor you, so contest the blob pickups if he reaches for them. The moment you hit Level 3 with Q, W and E up, you own this lane: land your anchor (Q) on him, the pull drags him into your passive root, then E to slow and W to burn while he's stuck. He's a slow-moving blob with no dash until his E charges, so he can't kite your shockwaves the way a real ranged kiter could.
The full Nautilus vs Zac 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? Zac vs Nautilus guide →
All Nautilus top lane matchups →