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Malphite & Tristana vs Kai'Sa & Nautilus

Bot Lane Matchup

Malphite vs Kai'Sa (with Tristana & Nautilus) BOT matchup tips: who wins, how to trade, wave control and common mistakes.

You

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Who Wins

Pre-6, you are a passive lane presence.
Your Q slow is useful for setting up Tristana poke, but you have no kill threat and Nautilus can hook you freely since you have zero mobility; the lane is Tristana-favored but you are not actively winning fights, you are enabling Tristana to win them.
Post-6, your R completely changes the dynamic — you can one-shot Kai'Sa or hard-engage onto Nautilus to negate his hook, and the threat of your R alone forces Kai'Sa to play far back.

Your best pattern is to use your Q on Kai'Sa to slow her and let Tristana auto-E-auto freely, then back off before Nautilus can hook you; you are a poke-enabler early, not a fighter.
Post-6, your pattern is to R onto Kai'Sa the moment Nautilus commits his hook onto Tristana, splitting their CC and killing the squishier target.

You should roam post-6 aggressively.
Your R is one of the strongest roam tools in the game and mid-lane picks with it are nearly guaranteed kills; the optimal timing is after Tristana crashes a wave to tower, giving you 10–15 seconds of absence coverage while the wave resets.

Do not stand in Nautilus hook range without your R available — getting hooked pre-6 with no escape means you take a full Kai'Sa passive combo for free and there is nothing you can do about it.
Also avoid using your R as a peel tool for Tristana when she gets hooked; save it as an offensive engage because Tristana's E already handles her own escape.

Created on 08/03/2026

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