Skill usage Edit

• Try to keep your  True Grit stacks up by attacking minions, for free damage mitigation.
• During the laning phase,  Buckshot is a strong harassment ability, but will quickly drain mana if used constantly.
• Using  Buckshot on caster minions will kill them in a single cast at higher ranks, even without damage items.
  • Graves can push and farm a lane easily by using  Buckshot. However,  Smokescreen should be reserved due to its relatively low damage, and high utility.
• For a high damage combo, throw a  Smokescreen on your target, close the gap with  Quickdraw, and fire a close-range  Buckshot.
• The sight reduction of  Smokescreen has great utility, along with the AoE slow.
  •  Smokescreen can be used to juke your enemies and allow Graves to make decisive choices when either chasing or escaping.
  • It can be used to set up a gank, because the target will not be able to see any incoming champions.
  • A  Smokescreen can be a strong deterrent for an oncoming enemy team.
  •  Smokescreen greatly diminishes the utility of an enemy champion that relies on skillshots, such as Xerath or Lux.
• Graves's  Quickdraw can be used to dash through thin terrain. This allows Graves to be very mobile and can benefit him in chases and escapes.
• Try to use  Collateral Damage at the beginning of a teamfight when your enemies are grouped together, allowing you to hit multiple targets.
• When the champion against you has a blink (eg. Ezreal), and he attempts to engage you, throw a  Smokescreen to where he blinked, and quickly dash away leaving your opponent visionless.
• By using smart cast, you can cast  Buckshot and  Quickdraw together in such a way that you dash back while shooting the three bullets of  Buckshot in front of you. Use this combo to finish off enemies with low hp and make a quick escape.

Build usage Edit

• Due to the high AD ratios on  Buckshot and  Collateral Damage, stacking items that provide AD is a great way to increase Graves' damage output. Infinity Edge and/or The Bloodthirster are both excellent items on Graves.
  • Similarly, building armor penetration items like The Black Cleaver, Last Whisper can greatly increase his damage output from the said skills as they deal physical damage.
• Due to the fact that Graves has only his  Smokescreen to slow enemies, Phage and the items it builds into are extremely useful.
• Cooldown reduction and attack speed can significantly reduce  Quickdraw's downtime.
  • With enough attack speed to reach the 2.5 cap with  Quickdraw active,  Quickdraw can be active continuously.
  • Runaan's Hurricane's passive lets Graves reduce the cooldown of  Quickdraw three times faster, as the 2 minor bolts are considered to be auto attacks.

Recommended builds Edit

Summoner's Rift recommended items
Starting
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

The Proving Grounds recommended items
Starting		2	2
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

The Crystal Scar recommended items
Starting			2
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

The Twisted Treeline! recommended items
Starting
Essential
Offensive
Defensive
Consumables

Countering Edit

• One of Graves' strengths is his burst. Try to avoid his high burst and take advantage of his high cooldowns during the early game.
• Consider investing in early armor to mitigate his damage at early game.
• Try to spread your team out, to minimize the damage from  Collateral Damage.
• Quickly move out of Graves's  Smokescreen. The debuff only last when you are inside the AoE.
  • Also, save your spells until outside of  Smokescreen as the vision loss can lead to the loss of your target.
  • If you are a champion that plans to cast a supportive ability on an ally, considering staying close to the ally so that  Smokescreen cannot stop you from seeing them and thus casting onto them.
• Avoid extended skirmishes with Graves as he gains armor and magic resistance as the battle rages on from  True Grit. The bonus armor and magic resist can change an expected kill to a close call.

Champion Spotlight Edit