How to Counter Graves - Playing Against Guide | Patch 26.7

What They Do

Ranged AD bruiser and carry jungler. He focuses on fast, healthy clears and heavy burst damage. He scales exceptionally well and gains massive amounts of free Armor through , making him a nightmare for AD-based champions.

Abilities (What to Watch For)

Ability	What You'll See	What It Means For You
	Shotgun with 2 shells under health bar	He must reload after 2 shots. His bullets do not pass through units—you can block his damage by standing behind minions or jungle monsters.
	T-shaped explosive shell	It explodes after 1 second OR instantly if it hits terrain. Never stand near walls or you will take the massive return damage immediately.
	Dark circular smoke cloud	Nearsight and slow. You lose all vision outside the circle. Walk out of it instantly to regain your ability to target him.
	Short dash	Gains stacking Armor (True Grit) and resets part of the cooldown on auto-attacks. Since it only grants Armor, magic damage is much more effective against him.
	Large rocket with heavy recoil	Huge AoE physical damage cone. He uses the recoil to dash backward, often using it to escape over walls or finish low-HP targets.

Respect

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Terrain-bounced →If the canister hits a wall, the second (stronger) explosion happens instantly. This can delete 40% of your HP in a split second.
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Armor stacking from →In long skirmishes, he can stack up to 8 stacks of True Grit, giving him over 100 bonus Armor. AD champions cannot 1v1 him once he is stacked.
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Short-range damage→His shotgun fires multiple pellets in a cone. If you are in melee range, all pellets hit you, dealing significantly increased damage.
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The nearsight→In a 1v1, being unable to see him for even 1 second allows him to get 2 free autos and a off while you can't fight back.

Punish

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Reloading (0 ammo)→He cannot attack for about 1.5-2 seconds while reloading. This is your primary window to all-in him without taking return fire.
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is used forward→He has no other mobility. If he dashes aggressively and fails to kill you, he is vulnerable to being collapsed on or kited.
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Missing the return of →A huge portion of his burst is tied to the second explosion. If he misses it, his damage output drops significantly for several seconds.
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Early game invade (level 1-2)→While healthy, he is vulnerable to high-mobility magic damage dealers who can dodge and ignore his armor.

Laning Tips

•Stand behind minions or large monsters so his pellets hit them instead of you.
•Always stay in the middle of the lane or clearing; staying near walls gives him a free instant proc.
•If you are playing an AD jungler, avoid long trades where he can stack armor to maximum.
•Pick AP junglers like Elise or Nidalee to bypass his True Grit armor stacks entirely.
•Track his ammo bar—if he has 1 shot left, he's about to be forced into a long reload animation.
•Use CC the moment he uses , as he needs to keep auto-attacking to refresh the cooldown and keep his armor stacks up.

Teamfight Warning

⚠Avoid clumping in jungle chokepoints where his and can hit your entire team.
⚠If you are a carry, stay away from his smoke screen or you'll be zoned out of the fight entirely.
⚠He will use to execute low-HP backliners; keep your health topped off or stay behind a tank.
⚠Focus him with magic damage burst; he is much squishier than he looks against AP threats.
⚠Watch for his 'Flash + ' engage into your backline; he plays more like an assassin when ahead.

AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached

Ability

What You'll See

What It Means For You

Shotgun with 2 shells under health bar

He must reload after 2 shots. His bullets do not pass through units—you can block his damage by standing behind minions or jungle monsters.

T-shaped explosive shell

It explodes after 1 second OR instantly if it hits terrain. Never stand near walls or you will take the massive return damage immediately.

Dark circular smoke cloud

Nearsight and slow. You lose all vision outside the circle. Walk out of it instantly to regain your ability to target him.

Short dash

Gains stacking Armor (True Grit) and resets part of the cooldown on auto-attacks. Since it only grants Armor, magic damage is much more effective against him.

Large rocket with heavy recoil

Huge AoE physical damage cone. He uses the recoil to dash backward, often using it to escape over walls or finish low-HP targets.