If you’re struggling when facing Graves in LoL, here are the best counters you should be looking to play this season.
Image Credit: Riot Games
Ever since his rework, Graves became a stronghold in the jungle role. His rapid jungle clearing and high burst damage make him one of the top choices for solo queue jungle carry players. A skilled Graves player can easily 1v9 and take over games by picking up a few early kills. While he may not be universally considered strong right now, we’ve compiled a list of the best counters to Graves available this season to improve your chances of neutralizing him.
If you’re fairly new to the game, check out our guide on how counter picks work in League of Legends. You will understand why counter picks are important, and how you need to take advantage of them to increase your win rate. Make sure to also understand how classes counter one another in LoL so you always know what to pick in each game.
There are two things Graves usually struggles with and those are early-game presence and magic damage champions. Nidalee has both, which is why she’s considered one of the primary counters in the game. Her skirmishing potential paired with the mobility she has can make Graves’ early game a nightmare. Look to fast clear and invade him to lower his farm and try to snowball before Graves starts to scale.
Even though she doesn’t match the aforementioned requirements to be a Graves counter, Bel’Veth wins against Graves thanks to her late-game DPS and her ability to reduce incoming burst damage. As long as she gets into melee range, Bel’Veth is almost always guaranteed to win against Graves.
Image Credit: Riot Games
If you’re looking for a more aggressive pick, then look no further than Viego. As one of the primary skirmishing champions, Viego has better damage output compared to Graves. In close combat situations, the only way Graves can win is if he starts the fight with his E fully (or almost fully) stacked. Otherwise, Viego will always get the upper hand.
The main issue with Vi is that she doesn’t have enough damage on her own to battle with Graves. The enemy champion can easily kite back with his abilities and force Vi into a weak position. Not to mention that Vi can’t really invade Graves or match his jungle clear so her only way to win the matchup is by impacting the lanes more than Graves does.
A similar concept is applied to Sejuani. Graves can decide between ganking and power farming while Sejuani will always be forced to help her lanes out since she will fall off later on anyway. It’s one of the worst matchups, especially in non-coordinated games like the one you have in solo queue.
When going up against Graves, it’s recommended to stack a mix of armor and HP. Below is a list of items to build you should consider, based on the class of champion you’re playing:
The three best counters are Bel’Veth, Viego, and Nidalee. Other strong counters are Nunu and Willump, Taliyah, and Fiddlesticks.
Jarvan IV has a substantial advantage over Graves thanks to his early game presence. Not only does he win short trades but Jarvan IV can also rely on better gank potential thanks to his kit. That said, if Graves doesn’t find himself too behind in gold and experience, he will get the upper hand as the game goes longer.
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