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Aphelios & Thresh vs Caitlyn & Nautilus

Bot Lane Matchup

Aphelios vs Caitlyn (with Thresh & Nautilus) BOT matchup tips: who wins, how to trade, wave control and common mistakes.

You

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Who Wins

Pre-6, Caitlyn outranges you significantly and her E-AA-Q combo with Nautilus CC will chunk you hard before you can establish a weapon cycle; you lose most 2v2 exchanges pre-6 unless you have Infernum or Gravitum to punish overextension.
Post-6, your R on Infernum can be a game-changer if Thresh lands a hook first, but Caitlyn's R and Nautilus's layered CC still make this a contested fight rather than a clear win.

Your best pattern is to wait for Thresh to land his Q, then immediately switch to Calibrum to apply the mark and follow with Severum for sustain, or Infernum if they are stacked — never engage without Thresh initiating first since you have no reliable self-peel.
Avoid extended trades where Caitlyn can freely auto-attack you; short burst windows after CC are your only favorable exchanges.

You want to push the wave and create a freeze situation near your tower to deny Caitlyn her trap-under-tower pressure, since letting her set traps in a slow-push scenario gives her free poke and zone control.
Use Infernum's splash to efficiently clear waves and deny her the ability to set up a favorable trap grid.

Do not walk up to CS without first tracking Nautilus's Q cooldown — his hook into Caitlyn headshot combo is your primary death condition and it will happen repeatedly if you play carelessly.
Never stand in a Caitlyn trap even briefly, as it gives Nautilus a free hook chain that you cannot escape without Thresh's lantern.

Created on 09/23/2026

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