Sanny's Master Graves Guide!

[Sanny]

Hello Summoners and welcome to my first guide here on MPGH!

Allow me to introduce myself:
My name is Sanny. I'm a High Elo rated player on the NA server. I main the ADC role but I'm known for my love for Graves. Graves really helped me to climb and I want to share my knowledge with you guys to help you climb with him as well. I hope to give you some insight, tips and tricks to play a good Graves.

About Graves:
Graves is a strong duelist. He’s mainly being played as a Jungle/Top/Adc. When you play Graves, it is your goal to be a monster throughout the entire game. His kill potential is amazing and he’s very fun to play due to being capable of re positioning with Quickdraw and deleting people with a surprise combo. I hope you’ll be having as much fun with Graves as I’ve had!

Let's start :

 

Summoner Spells:
Flash , is the best spell in the game. Use it to finish off escaping enemies, escape over walls when Quickdraw and Collateral Damage are unavailable, and dodge skillshots
Smite , is totally necessary to jungle. You need this to get the jungle item, to secure objectives, and to smite minions.

 

Runes :

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage:These help greatly with your early clear and give you some extra damage when dueling early on.
Greater Mark of Attack Damage: These boost early game damage a lot, and help with last hitting minions.
Greater Seal of Armor: These helps you take less damage from camps and towers.
Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: We take instead of flat magic resist because a lot of AP champs rely on items to do damage, which makes them take a while to get stronger.

 

Masteries:


Fury, gives 4% attack speed, which is nearly a full quintessence. It's more useful than Sorcery in my opinion.

Double Edged Sword, as of patch 6.11, now works on ranged champions as well as melee. I think it is better than Expose Weakness now because Graves does so much damage.

Vampirism, helps keep us at a higher hp while farming and helps us regain health on minions since I don't normally build lifesteal.

Bounty Hunter, gives Graves a good flat amount of damage. Since Graves is a "carry" type champion, after killing 2 or 3 different champions, this outclasses Oppresso.

Unyielding, applies to BONUS armor and magic resistance. Even though we don't buy many resistance items, Quickdraw's True Grit stacks benefit from Unyielding.

Tough Skin, allows Graves to take less damage from minions. It is better than out-of-combat movement speed from Explorer in my opinion.

Runic Armor, is good for sustain in the jungle. 'Veteran's Scars' health is so little, it's not worth getting.

Insight , lowers cooldowns on summoner spells, which is always great.

Swiftness, is good for going fast. Combined with Boots of Swiftness, we will have 40% slow resistance and 15% tenacity, which is never bad.

Strength of the Ages ,gives an additional 300 maximum health and also gives us a form of sustain when it is fully stacked aka YOU GET BEEFY

 

Abilities:




New Destiny is Graves' passive. It makes his basic attacks unique by knocking back jungle camps, which is why Gravestakes so little damage in the jungle. To kite jungle camps, hit the minions and walk backward. Repeat this over and over in a circle (so that the minions don't lose patience and reset) so that the minions spend more time running than attacking. When farming jungle or dueling for a long time, use End of the Line and Smoke Screen when you are out of shotgun shells. You can cast spells while simultaneously reloading to do the most amount of damage in as little time as possible.

End of the Line is Graves' main damage ability. It does AOE damage and DOES NOT go through walls. Instead, it bounces off walls immediately, giving enemies less time to react. Max it before Quickdraw and Smoke Screen.

Smoke Screen is Graves' only magic damage ability. It reduces sight range and slows enemies in it, and is therefore very useful in teamfights and dueling. If you are strong, use Smoke Screen ahead of a running enemy. They will either have to go around it (free damage), run through it (free damage), or stop and fight you (likely will result in a kill). Max last, after Quickdraw.

Quickdraw is one of Graves' most useful abilitiy. It is a short ranged dash that can go over small walls. It also grants a stack of True Grit, which gives Graves more and more armor and magic resistance. Use Quickdrawafter one or two basic attacks. Quickdraw is an basic attack reset, which means you can get an extra attack in in a short amount of time. If used first (unless it is just used to get closer to an enemy), it is wasted. Max after End of the Line but before Smoke Screen.

Collateral Damage is Graves' ultimate ability. It is a long ranged skillshot that deals damage in a cone and knocks Graves back. Use Collateral Damage last if possible. The knock back makes it hard to hit the enemies afterward if they are still alive. Collateral Damage can be used to kite backward if needed. It can also be used to escape over a wall. Max whenever possible.

 

Combos:

While farming:

End of the Line->AA-> Quickdraw->AA

Ganking pre level 6:

Smite-> Smoke Screen->AA-> Quickdraw->AA-> End of the Line

Ganking post level 6:

Smite-> Smoke Screen->AA-> Quickdraw->AA-> End of the Line-> Collateral Damage

Assassination combo:

Smite-> Smoke Screen-> End of the Line->AA-> Quickdraw->AA-> Collateral Damage

 

PROS/CONS

PROS:
+ Great burst, dueling, and outplay potential.
+ Deceptively tanky while doing a lot of damage.
+ Vision Impairment.
+ Manly AF.
+ Mobile.
+ Carry.


CONS:
- Short range.
- Cooldown-reliant.
- High mana costs.
- CC-sensitive.
- Pretty slow.
- No cigarettes.

 

Core items:
Boots of Swiftness give a lot of permanent movement speed. They are very good for roaming, kiting, and chasing. I build these after Skirmisher's Sabre but before finishing Enchantment: Warrior. You can switch these out with Ninja Tabis or Mercury's Treads if needed later.

Skirmisher's Sabre helps a lot with dueling by allowing you to take less damage while simultaneously dealing more damage. Enchantment: Warrior gives us a good amount of attack damage and 10% sweet CDR.

Serrated Dirk is a great item overall. The flat armor penetration helps with clears and some more bonus AD is never bad. You can build it into Youmuu's Ghostblade, Maw of Malmortius or Duskblade of Draktharr depending on how the game goes.

Phantom Dancer is a great item. Build after Serrated Dirk. Combined with Skirmisher's Sabre's Smite, you can take 32% reduced damage against a single target, which is huge in a 1v1 situation.
Offensive items:
Youmuu's Ghostblade is an item that seems made for Graves. This is my go-to 3rd item in 80% of games. It gives every stat Graves needs except crit chance.

Death's Dance is a good item, but not my favorite. I only build it if I'm really far ahead, otherwise I feel armor penetration/crit chance items are better.

Infinity Edge is probably the highest damage outputting item in the game for marksmen. However, it is expensive and the build path is not very convenient. I only build it if I have lots of extra gold to spend and don't really need other stats.

Last Whisper is a great item ONLY if you're up against a team with 2+ armor stacking tanks. Build it into Lord Dominik's Regards if you must 90% of the time. Build Mortal Reminder if you are up against someone like Dr. Mundo or Swain.

Duskblade of Draktharr is a neat item. I generally wouldn't recommend building it unless you are SUPER fed.

 

Defensive items:
Maw of Malmortiusis a good item. I would build it against high AP burst teams. If you already built Serrated Dirkinto something else, buy the Hexdrinker part of it first.

Mercurial Scimitar is a really good item for Graves. It has damage, magic resist, lifesteal and an anti-CC passive.

Spirit VisageI normally would not buy, but against very fed AP champions or multiple AP champions, I would buy it.

Dead Man's Plate is a good overall item. It helps with roams and reduced damage dealt by AD champions.

Randuin's Omen is good, but I normally would buy Dead Man's Plate instead for the roaming capabilities. In certain cases, though, Randuin's Omen is better, such as when you are against many champions like Tryndamere, Yasuo or Jinx.

Thornmail is an item I generally would not recommend, but against an extremely fed ADC or basic attack-based champion, thornmail is a good choice. Keep in mind you need to buy some health if you build this.

 

Consumables:

Elixir of Iron is good late game if you need a little boost to tenacity and don't need Elixir of Wrath's damage and sustain.

Elixir of Wrath is good if you have no lifesteal in your build yet or if your team does not need a tank.

Vision Ward is always good to have around. Buy one before you want to take Dragon or Baron so you can clear out wards if needed.

Oracle Alteration is good to buy if the enemy team actually knows how to ward . It is also good against champions like Rengar, Talon and Twitch if no one wants to buy a Vision Ward.

Farsight Alteration is useful to check bushes and objectives without getting too close. The cooldown is longer now than before, so I only buy it occasionally.

 

Gameplay:

Early Game:

Early game, at low elo, against most junglers, you can take their topside buff first with your toplaner to set the other jungler behind. Farm up. If there is an easy gank, go ahead, but never try to force a gank. 90% of the time, it will just be a wasted effort. Don't be afraid to fight the other jungler 1v1 because you will likely have Quickdraw True Grit stacks, which make Graves extremely tanky early game.


Mid Game:

By this point, you should have 2-3 of your big items. If you are doing fine or are ahead, try to force fights by trying to catch your enemies in 1v1's. If you are behind, farm as hard as you can. Keep Dragon and Rift Herald warded and take them if there is a good opportunity and it is worth it. Dragon importance IMO: Elder>Infernal>Mountain>Cloud>Ocean


Late Game:

By this point, everyone should have nearly full build. Team fights will happen non-stop. Your job in team fights is not to engage; you are not tanky enough. Your job is to Smoke Screen the assassins who try to kill your carries and delete them instead. Keep Baron warded and take it if there is a good opportunity, but don't take Baron if you could get an inhibitor or win the game instead.

ALWAYS REMEMBER:

NEXUS>INHIBITORS>TURRETS>BARON>DRAGON>KILLS>FARM

Conclusion:

Thanks for reading through my guide! If you liked it, please leave off some nice comments/rep or any questions if you have any.

Thanks to jhoijhoi and xmotoby for 'mobafire' image content and some text.

[DarknzNet]

Good job .

[Sanny]

Good job .

Thanks~! I put so much effort into it.

[[MPGH]Lily]

Nice guide

[Sanny]

Thank you, I appreciate it !

[Poseidon]

Do you not like armor pen? Me and most master / challenger level Graves players use flat armor pen over flat ad. What's your opinion @Sanny

[Sanny]

Do you not like armor pen? Me and most master / challenger level Graves players use flat armor pen over flat ad. What's your opinion @Sanny

I got a different playstyle

[Poseidon]

I got a different playstyle

How do you play Graves? I'm curious.

[megapillar]

What do you think about graves top/adc? worth it or not

[Sanny]

What do you think about graves top/adc? worth it or not

I'd definitely play graves top! but don't think i want to play graves adc. I play Lucian adc as my main.

If i get enough thanks on this comment i may make a lucian guide!

[SoTheCrazy]

Nice guide. And yeah, Graves is better top/jungle than adc.
Keep going!

[Hunter]

Well done, nice guide, keep it up.

[FlamingHyper]

Tried it your way.

I guess I just suck at League.

[Sanny]

Tried it your way.

I guess I just suck at League.

Hey!, Nah i think you can work on that

[FrostSpeed]

still cool as of today. nice man!