Your whole game plan is to zone him off CS early and snowball: a Nasus you keep unfed can't run you down later.

Matchups › Graves › vs Nasus

Graves vs Nasus

YOU · TOP

ENEMY · TOP

Swings with levelsPre-6 EasyPost-6 HardTake Ignite

How to play it

✓

Kill him early

He's free to kill early before Sheen and R come online: pressure him off farm and snowball while you're the bully.

✓

Respect his W

Wither is how he sticks to you: post-6 with Sheen + R he'll W + Ghost and run you down, so never let him close that gap.

✓

His power spike

The lane flips the moment he finishes Sheen and hits 6 for R: cash in your early lead before that timer, not after.

Never try to duel him after 6 once he has Sheen + R: his W + Ghost just runs YOU down instead.

Runes

PRECISION

INSPIRATION

SHARDS

Spells

FLASH

IGNITE

Items

Start

Core

→

Graves flexes lethality and crit every game, but the constant is Bloodthirster first for the lifesteal and shield that keep him healthy in lane, then Youmuu's Ghostblade to snowball. Rush an early Cloth Armor or Hexdrinker into heavy AD/AP bursts, and grab Boots of Swiftness when you need to stick to a target.

Skill order

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Q			Q	Q		Q	Q
		W											W	W		W	W
	E							E	E		E	E
					R					R					R

MAX

Q→

E→

Graves · Top · Patch 26.17 · Ranked Solo · Updated Sep 5, 2026

Graves vs Nasus in Top lane is a lane that swings with levels on patch 26.17. The one thing to respect: his W (Wither), with Sheen + R up it lets him run you down, so don't get caught in melee for it.