Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Socials
  • Runes
  • Summoner Spells & Skill path
  • Skill Path
  • Item Builds
  • Gameplans (CURRENTLY UNDER WORK, READ NOTES)
  • Matchups
  • Patch
  • Good Graves players to follow

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Master 400lp+ Graves EUW [GUIDE ON CONSTRUCTION DUE TO ITEM CHANGES]

MSM Graves jungle guide [GUIDE ON CONSTRUCTION DUE TO ITEM CHANGES]

MSM

May 24th, 2023 ⸱ 14 min read



Quick Graves Jungle Build

Summoner Spells

Starting Items

Best Overall Build

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Introduction

Hello, my name is MSM and i peaked Master 415LP in Season 12 by mostly playing Graves. (Peaked 482lp in pre-season) I have been playing League for years and i often roleswitched, sticking to jungle and mid lane for now in ranked. I have been playing League since season 3.

Peaked Rank 1 Graves EUW and World (Both Season 12 on Leagueofgraphs and Porofessor)

I made this guide because of how many different Graves build and runes choices i often see been played (Dark harvest, electrocute, conqueror) and i'm just going to show mine.

I will explain how to build with Graves and will present you 2 different gameplans you can follow to get started with. As for the mechanics, aside the animation cancel and the short / long range E which you can find on youtube, i don't believe there is much to talk about.

Socials

If you have any questions regarding Graves, you can hit me up ! Discord : MSM#0012 Twitch : [MSMPochita] , please note that i don't stream very often and that i mostly stream other games for my friends :)

Runes

For me, Graves only have 1 main keystone



Fleet Footwork
- My favorite rune on Graves, gives you everything you need from movement speed to attack speed or tenacity. I go
Coup de Grace
most of the time but with the current meta and enemy possible team composition,
Cut Down
is also an option. 13.8 Notes : Just wanted to add that for 13.8 runes, it's only if you are vs a beefy comp and you want to go
Black Cleaver
first item or if u just prefer this rune setup.

  • Generic Fleetfootwork
  • 13.8 Runes



Fleet Footwork
is in my opinion the best rune for Graves. It gives you everything you need, from sustain to short burst of movement speed which helps kite easier or stay on the enemy. Graves don't really need
Armor
rune and will always go
Scaling Bonus Health
since you don't get hit a lot in your jungle by the monsters and you already have armor included in your kit (Graves E). Update on 07 April 2023 : I sometimes take armor rune or magic resist rune depending if the enemy comp is heavily AD AND fight a lot early game or if they are heavy AP. Please take note that either armor or magic resist get outscaled by HP at lvl 4. I would not say this is the perfect rune due to it being nerfed for range champions (10% effective for ranged champions vs 20% effective for melee champions) but it's way better than the other options in my opinion.

Summoner Spells & Skill path



Flash
and
Smite
are the most picked ones even tho i saw some people run
Ghost
from time to time, i always go
Flash
and
Smite
to be honest. Flash is really important on Graves as it allows you to redirect
End of the Line
as you please or simply gets on a target at very close range and fully burst them.

Skill Path

  • 3 camps into bot
  • Fullclear into gank or reset

Graves

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Not much to say here, you will decide based on the enemy composition and yours whatever you want to do, you will always take

Quickdraw
level 1, AA reset and armor stacks, which you wanna keep for clearing in a very healthy way.

Item Builds

Graves item choices greatly impact the damages you will deal later in the game. Also, please note that Graves

Magic Resist
scaling is not that good, at level 18 he only has 67
Magic Resist
so be super careful with your item choices especially against AP champions. Edit on 13/01 : I tried Eclipse rush into Collector for an earlier spike instead of going Umbral first. It feels good but the downside is that i have less control over the map due to not having Umbral + Eclipse item path is kinda shit, i would still recommend going Umbral first ! Edit on 25/03 : Current favorite build is : Black Cleaver rush > Eclipse > adapt, in the current meta you can't really go for Umbral anymore, also note i will only put the patch regarding build from now on. Edit on 07/04 : I don't think there is a "best build" unless an item is broken, most of the time my updates are going to be updating with what i currently build, but i don't go BC > Eclipse every single games due to how many champs and comps there are, in the end, i'm just going to give you 2 different "builds" you can try yourself. Don't fall for all those "new best build" videos, the reason why you don't grind / win games is mostly because of yourself and not the build in question, i just want you guys to think before you buy an item. :)

  • 13.7 Build vs beefy comps
  • 13.7 Build vs squishies

Starting items and core items

Mosstomper Seedling
is probably one of the best smite and pet you can get as it provides you tenacity which is a very useful stat for Graves. Update on 01/27/2022 : I still think that
Gustwalker Hatchling
is the best option for Graves right now if you know how to use it but
Mosstomper Seedling
is very very good against heavy cc comp. Due to Graves super healthy jungle clear, you don't need to buy a
Health Potion
, it is better to save those 50 golds for your early spike,
Umbral Glaive
.

READ DETAILS BELOW FOR ANTI HEAL : Updated on 07/04/2022

Executioner's Calling
is a good item but only if the enemy team have a lot of healing and if you don't have anyone who can apply anti heal, you almost never finish this item but if you have to, i would recommend upgrading it to
Mortal Reminder
due to the recent Graves crit buff (it's actually a revert but whatever) otherwise you will probably not upgrade it and sell Umbral Glaive for either
Infinity Edge
or a defensive item such as
Maw of Malmortius
or
Guardian Angel

Updated on 13.1b : Due to the antiheal changes and the component already doing 40% grievous wounds, anti heal became a very good item to build.



Umbral Glaive
is the best item for Graves. 2300 Gold, 50 AD, 10 Lethality, 15 Ability haste and the wonderful ability to spot wards and remove them, also allowing you to get free vision and AD due to
Zombie Ward




Eclipse
is a good mythic for Graves. 60 AD, 12 Lethality, 15 Ability haste, hitting spells + autos gives u instant movement speed buff, adding up with
Fleet Footwork
. The fact it also gives you armor pen AND flat move speed is insane.



Black Cleaver
is a very good option for Graves. 50 AD, 30 Ability haste and 400 health, it makes you a little bit more beefy and gives you interesting stats, the most important one being his passive, REDUCING ARMOR up to 30%, Graves only need 2 aa to fully stack it, it also gives you movement speed (passive of the item) This item works very well against tank compositions (the more armor they have, the more armor Black Cleaver shreds) Perfect item to build against jaksho !



Lord Dominik's Regards
is also a very good option. 30 AD, 20% crit chance and 30% armor pen, the item doesn't look "that strong" but that's without reading the passive of the item. The item deals up to 15% bonus physical damage against enemy who have more health than you do (PBE suggest that this item will get buffed, currently in testing on PBE) It's a very good option against champions who have a lot of HP.



Serylda's Grudge
is a good option. The strength of this item lies on the amount of ability haste it gives + 30% armor pen and 45 AD, I am not a huge fan of this item and i used to build it with the Goredrinker build, i kinda feel like this item is weaker than Black Cleaver and LDR especially on Graves. Note on 25/03 : Very good item gives u a lot of haste + armor pen and definitely works perfectly with my current build, i'm a huge fan of it.



The Collector
Lot of people hate this item, the execute part of the item is almost useless but it's still notable. You build collector for the AD, crit and lethality it gives even tho i don't think this item fits the current meta unless you are playing against squishies and u are not a full AD composition.



Death's Dance
is a strong defensive item. It also gives you ability haste, armor, and his insane passives makes it a good option against AD assassins, especially if you can kill someone very fast, it will cleanse the remaining damages over time you are taking and starts healing you. 13.1b update : The item doesn't give u any cdr anymore, even tho the stats have been buffed, the healing passive in case you kill someone has been greatly diminished, build it ONLY and ONLY IF you think GA is not a better option.



Maw of Malmortius
my beloved. One of the most broken items in League of Legends, gives you a magic resistance shield which scales with AD, even tho it's nerfed for range champions. And ofc, once the shields procs you get omnivamp. It's the best magic resist defensive option for Graves, which he really needs.



Guardian Angel
is one of my favorite items. AD, armor, and a very strong passive which revives you at 50% of your health, if you are ahead this item guarantee you to not give your shutdown that easily on top of giving you 45 ad and 40 armor, i recommend buying this item if you feel like the next fight is decisive or if you just want to save your shutdown.



Frozen Heart
one of the best tank options vs auto attackers. 90 Armor, 20 ability haste, reduce incoming damages from auto attacks and slow the attack speed of the nearby enemies on top of being a very cheap item (2700 gold) I consider this a good option and probably a better one than death dance if you are not getting bursted instantly by AP assassins.



Infinity Edge
is an interesting option if not the best for damages. 70 AD, 20% critical strike and the passive which gives u 35% critical strike damage if you have 40% critical strike chance. I tried to build it as a last item without selling boots but i love having defensive options as it fits my playstyle better, but i would definitely sell my umbral glaives and replace it by infinity edge if I am super super ahead unless i need more defensive options.

Gameplans (CURRENTLY UNDER WORK, READ NOTES)

Notes : I don't think 3 camps into bot is the play anymore due to the xp and gold jungle received, i think you should focus more in fullclearing into bot, unless a possible play near your position happens / you can save a team mate, reminder to never die for them

I won't spend a lot of time on these, as Graves is not that hard regarding the gameplans and the hardest parts comes from limit testing and piloting the champion properly, usage of his W etc.

The first gameplan may sounds easy but i'll go a bit in depth for that one. 3 camps into bot : Zyb gameplan, basically do 3 camps into a bot lane gank (only do it if u know that enemy bot lane will have the push lead and your bot lane can play against them, it's useless to gank

Ezreal
,
Janna
or
Yuumi
for exemple, as they don't give you any crowd controls to play around and will play passive + scale. Of course, this gameplan doesn't involve only doing 3 camps into bot, you also need to farm a lot so i would suggest you to do the following : 1 - Blue side : Blue > Gromp > Red > Bot lane, it allows you to have a strong 1vs1 potential and to put your major buffs in cooldown, do it if your bot lane seems to have cc and you judge you can win 3vs2/3vs3. 1.2 - Blue side : Blue > Gromp > Wolves > Bot lane, it allows you to completely empty your top side jungle and to instantly gank bot lane, remember to put a ward at your bot side jungle entry or red buff bush if you are pathing like that because there might be chances enemy jungler invaded you here and u won't like it when they break your skull open. I clear like that when my mid laner also have some cc and i deem enemy mid gankable, it allows me right after the gank to take scuttle crab, and empty my bot side jungle, finishing my clear around mid lane and giving me gank opportunities. 1 - Red side : Red > Raptors > Gromp > Bot lane, same reason as blue side 3 camps into bot start, i don't really like to fullclear on that side of the map because of how far krugs are from bot lane and i mainly play for them. Of course, if they have bad champions and my toplaner has snowball opportunities + cc + we win 2vs2, i will play for him but usually, i just fullclear on repeat and ganks bot lane, leaving Krugs for my top laner (unless i get kills in early game, speeding up my clearing speed).



Matchups

That part here will be kinda hard to update every patch but i'll try to update it every months to give you an idea, let's get started ! Every champions that doesn't appear here are either not meta or i haven't played enough against them to make a judgement about it. As Graves, you HATE AP champions such as Karthus, Elise for exemple and will try to avoid them, your biggest enemy is crowd control, you hate to face Maokai / Rammus. The laners you hate the most are Darius Maokai Rammus Sylas Ekko due to them being stupidly strong in early game. Update 12.23b : Due to the Jak'Sho nerf, some champions are a little bit weaker now (Mordekaiser, Lillia, Shyvana) Update 13.3 : Singed Maokai Amumu are ur biggest counters in the meta right now and litteraly stops you from playing the game, be careful around those champions. PS : Please note those matchups are only how i feel about them, it may not reflect every single Graves player opinion

Threats:

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0

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0



Patch

This part here will be how i'm feeling about Graves right now depending on patches, i'll start updating it when 12.23b comes out !

12.23b : with the nerf of Jak'Sho and Graves threat in the jungle, the champion feels very very strong once again, after testing a lot of stuff i would say the old build is still the better one (Umbral Eclipse Collector LDR)

13.1b : with the Eclipse changes and the current meta i'm not too sure about the Eclipse build anymore, i would say that Umbral > Gore rush is litteraly the best option in the game. I haven't tested crit build on Graves yet, but i don't think it's worth considering unless u play him mid, then it will be Shieldbow > Infinity Edge (item passive currently procs at 40%) 13.3 : with the tank item nerfs and the meta gravitating around mages, i would say Eclipse and Goredrinker are both viable right now.

13.6 : Buildpath has been changed, i don't think Graves is weak but i don't think he's broken either, he now has counterplay which he barely in Season 12, still definitely a good champion !

Good Graves players to follow

Well, that's the end of the guide but i'm going to link you good Graves to follow on Twitch, they are all very good players and stream often ! Zyb : Challenger jungler for Vitality https://www.twitch.tv/zyblol Flawedlol : High elo jungler, very good at a lot of champions including Graves, he's the one who suggested the Black Cleaver rush build to me and made me able to enjoy the game once again, follow his Twitch and Twitter ! https://www.twitch.tv/flawedlol https://twitter.com/FlawedLoL Vodomera : GrandMaster/Challenger SoloQ jungler, a good friend of i who was very patient with me and helped me understand the jungle role and Graves in depth. https://www.twitch.tv/vodomera Regn : Challenger Graves OTP, i think he is taking a break since i haven't seen him play on his account since 1 month+ but he definitely is one of the best Graves OTP in Europe if not the best, he also plays the Goredrinker builds which may interest some of you ! https://www.twitch.tv/regn_lol

Myga : Master+ jungle main, really good Graves player with educational videos and nice streams, definitely worth checking him out ! His stream : https://www.twitch.tv/coachmyga His Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/@CoachMygaGameplay/featured





JungleGraves
AUTHOR
MSM

2 Comments

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1
xexter 4 months ago

really good guide bro!

MSM
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