
Graves is one of the trademarks of League of Legends due to his identity as part of the LGBTQ community. These are the best Graves build, runes, spells, items League of Legends can offer him, as well as his greatest counters.
Best Graves Build
Graves is one of the few ranged jungle champions, who still boasts an amazing tankiness due to his passive. So, his runes all reflect the use of the best of both worlds.

Best Graves Runes
As a ranged jungle, Graves jungle must always be on the move, whether it's kiting camps or killing enemy champions. For that, the best rune set is Precision, with the Fleet Footwork keystone, followed by the usual Triumph, Legend; Alacrity, and Coup de Grace, which all damage carries use.
Best Rune Path | Precision
![]() | Domination
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Best Keystone | Fleet Footwork
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Best Slot 1 (Rune) | Triumph
![]() | Zombie Ward
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Best Slot 2 (Rune) | Legend: Alacrity
![]() | Treasure Hunter
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Best Slot 3 (Rune) | Coup de Grace
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On the other hand, the domination tree runes are meant to boost hi early-game gold income, and stat scaling as quickly as possible. And as a ganking jungler, both are easy to stack.
Best Graves Rune Shards
As a champion with a high focus on damage, his Rune shards are a reflection of it, with both attack speed and Adaptive Force damage in the mix.
Best Rune Shards | Effect |
Offense
![]() | +10% Attack Speed |
Flex
![]() | +9 Adaptive Force |
Defense
![]() | +6 Armor |
As Graves has no laning phase and is a jungle, his defensive option is always armor, to make his clear healthier.
Best Graves Spells
When it comes to Summoner Spells, there are only a few champions who are managing League of Legends trials, without using Flash. Those are Shaco or Tryndamere. Flash is a must-have when playing Graves, as Flash is, without a doubt, the best Summoner Spell in the game, overall.
Best Spells | Icon |
Flash | ![]() |
Smite | ![]() |
On the other hand, the only way to get any worthwhile experience from the jungle, is by taking the Smite Summoner spell, which is non-negotiable for any jungler.

Best Graves Abilities Order
The first ability to level on Graves, out of his skill order, is his E - Quickdraw. However, it's the second ability to be maxed on Graves though, and is used for outplays, early, more than the resistances.
After that, the next ability in his skill order is his Q - End of the Line. It's the first ability to be maxed on Graves, as it's his main way of dealing damage to enemy champions, with an explosive shell no less, aside from his auto attacks of course.

Finally, besides Graves's ultimate, we have his W -Smoke Screen. It's the last ability to be leveled and maxed. Its main usage is as a crowd control ability, and not for its magic damage, as the enemies caught in its AoE completely lose vision of what is happening in the game, as well as get slowed. It's an incredibly useful ability, utility-wise, in a team fight as well as in a 1v1.
And, as always, Graves's ultimate is the ability whose damage always catches us off guard. His R - Collateral Damage, deals massive damage in a cone to all enemies. It can quite easily clear entire team fights.
Best Graves Items
With the current meta in constant flux, some ranged champions have taken to lethality instead of critical strike items to boost their performance. With Graves not having multiple bullets, and his physical damage reduced to only two, he is one of them, as they is the only way to quickly burst down an enemy champion.
Best Starter Graves Items
As a jungler, Graves's starting item is naturally Emberknife, with a Refillable Potion.
First Item | Second Item |
Emberknife
![]() | Refillable Potion
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Best Mid Game Graves Items
In the mid-game, your core build should be ready, and, unlike other champions, the first buy is not one of the Mythic Items. Instead, it consists of an Umbral Glaive, Plated Steelcaps, and Eclipse.
First Item | Second Item | Third Item |
Umbral Glaive
![]() | Plated Steelcaps
![]() | Eclipse
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Best Final Late Games Graves Items
Rounding off Graves's build in the late game, are assassin utility items. Namely, those that give a way t secure kills, pierce armor or survive mage bursts.
First Item | Second Item | Third Item | Fourth Item | Fifth Item | Sixth Item |
Umbral Glaive
![]() | Plated Steelcaps
![]() | Eclipse
![]() | The Collector
![]() | Serylda's Grudge
![]() | Maw of Malmortius
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Strongest Champions Against Graves
The champions Graves can not compete against in League of Legends games are the ones that actually make use of the lethality items better than he, have a healthier clear or a better map presence. After all, Graves is a jack-of-all-trades type of champion.
Champion | Win Rate % | Icon |
Nocturne | 44.7% | ![]() |
Volibear | 46.5% | ![]() |
Rek'Sai | 46.6% | ![]() |
Weakest Champions Against Graves
On the other hand, Graves is strong against the champions he can kite, and those that rely on actually cathing their enemies.
Champion | Win Rate % | Icon |
Trundle | 53.5% | ![]() |
Lee Sin | 53.3% | ![]() |
Taliyah | 53% | ![]() |
Graves is one of those champions that pro players abuse whenever they can, and so do Graves players whenever he comes back to the meta. And with this highest win rate Graves guide, so can you!