Purpose

I created this guide because there were no particularly in-depth Graves guide, there are Featured guides, which are nice but it wasn't as analytic as I wish it could be. I figured I would step up to the challenge and make it user friendly. The guide will be explaining everything I personally know about Graves in the bottom lane as an AD carry. I hope you learn something from reading this!

The Author

My name is RainDevour (IGN: DevouringRain), I am an average player in League of Legends. I was 1411 Elo in Season One and acquired the silver frame (yay :D) playing the jungle role. I have transitioned from being a jungler to an AD carry due to my love for playing Vayne and now Graves. I reached Platinum in 24 games (21-3) with an Elo peak of 1871 in Season 2. I have almost exclusively played Graves in my ranked games and he's an excellent AD Carry for beginners and gaining Elo.




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Graves is an AD carry who is designed to bully and obliterate the enemy AD carry in the laning phase. True Grit gives him a flat rune set of armor and magic resist to withstand any trade. Buckshot and Collateral Damage completely decimates his enemies while his Smoke Screen allows him to dictate temafights and can completely zone off an area. His mobility and attack speed comes from Quickdraw which allows him to dominate small skirmishes.

1. Area of Effect Abilities

Graves' abilities which consist of Buckshot, Smoke Screen, and Collateral Damage consist of area of effect damage. Meaning his presence is teamfights can be very influential if you are able to land those abilities correctly.


2. Relatively Easy to Learn

Graves' is easy to learn because his skillshots are not difficult to hit, he's reliable as an AD carry, and he's not punished when harass (passive + above average base armor). It makes him easy to learn because he doesn't have a very high skill cap, and he a lot of his damage does come from his abilities. Another bonus is that he has Quickdraw which makes him more safe in the laning phase and more forgiving when caught.


3. High Burst and Great Sustained DPS

His burst comes from his abilities (mainly Buckshot and Collateral Damage) which deal a great amount of damage within a short time, and his sustained DPS is great combined with Quickdraw which gives him a significant attack speed steroid that is lowered every time you auto attack.


4. Effective During All Phases of the Game (except late-late game)

He's effective during all phases of the game because, he strong as a laner (early game), he's good at teamfighting (primarily mid game) and he's has a great attack speed steroid (intended for late game). He does not have a weak point of the game such as Vayne (early game) or Tristana (mid game). However, in 50 minute games, his 525 range may be detrimental and his burst isn't as effective.


5. Strong Laning Phase & Slightly Durable

Graves laning phase is great because of his passive, True Grit which makes him great for trades, Buckshot has a good range is great for harass, and he has the highest base and level 18 health regeneration in the game, making him more difficult to push out of the lane. He also has a repositioning tool.
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1. No Hard Crowd Control (Stuns, Roots, etc)

He does not have a hard crowd control such as Vayne's Condemn when the target is near a wall or Ashe's Enchanted Crystal Arrow. The only type of crowd control he has is a 15%-35% slow on Smoke Screen.


2. Low Auto Attack Range

Graves sports a 525 auto attack range, which is below average for an AD Carry (normally 550). This is what makes laning against Caitlyn (650 auto attack range) or Varus (575 auto attack range) more difficult. It also makes his teamfight presence a little more riskier.


3. Long Cooldowns on Abilities During Early Levels

Buckshot: 12 seconds
Smoke Screen: 20 seconds
Quickdraw: 22 seconds (can be lowered by auto attacking)
Collateral Damage: 100 Seconds (1 minute and 40 seconds)

Those are the all the cooldowns of Graves' abilities starting at level 1. They're relatively high, so try to not miss your skill shots.


4. Mana Hungry Early Game

You can redirect to my "Base Statistics" chapter (8th chapter), where there are mana costs in that chapter. To sum it up, Graves used to have a higher mana pool and lower mana costs on his Buckshot, but eventually those were adjusted to amounts that makes Graves out of mana with repeated use of his abilities. Refrain from frequently using your abilities.

Fury 4/4: This gives you 4% attack speed at 4 points, since Graves has the lowest base attack speed out of all AD carries, this can help you with your low base Attack Speed. Synergizes nicely with Quickdraw.

Deadliness 4/4: This gives you .67 AD per level at 4 points, totaling to 12 AD at level 18, which is nice, it gives you some more Attack Damage on top of your runes and Brute Force. Makes your Buckshot and Collateral Damage deal more damage.

Havoc 3/3: This increases damage dealt by 2%, it's not going to be very noticeable, but it's the best in the slot.

Weapon Expertise 1/1: This is great for some late game damage, and all your physical damage including your abilities will utilize the 8% armor penetration. This makes Last Whisper a better choice.

Lethality 2/2: This gives you 5% more critical damage, it won't be effective early game simply because you don't rush critical strikes early game, but as the game progresses and you start buying your Phantom Dancer and Infinity Edge, this will start kicking in.

Brute Force 3/3: You gain 3 Attack Damage from this mastery at 2 points, it basically allows you to cs better, it allows for more harass and some Buckshot and Collateral Damage scaling.

Frenzy 1/1: This grants 10% attack speed after critically striking for 2 seconds, which is nice, this mastery becomes more active the later the game drags on. Makes stutter stepping with Quickdrawing more useful if you constantly crit. This scales very well with Infinity Edge + Phantom Dancer.

Sunder 3/3: This gives you +5 armor penetration at 3 points, which is more than 1/3rd of how much armor you receive from your runes. It allows for better harass and auto attacking the opposing AD carry.

Executioner 1/1: This increases your damage dealt by 5% when a target is below 50% health, it allows you to execute targets better in the laning phase and teamfights, especially with long range abilities like Buckshot and Collateral Damage.

General Explanation

Standard AD carry Offensive masteries placement. This mastery tree is a must have for all AD carries! The reason for that is you benefit from all the stats that are given. The other Offensive Masteries is damage intended for Ability Power champions, and Graves certainly doesn't need to completely fill in points for the Defensive and Utility masteries. As an AD carry, you don't need the utility provided from other trees, you want more damage because that's what you're supposed to do. Also, Executioner is huge for your role, because AD carries are excellent at cleaning up in teamfights.

Offensive Tree Alternatives

Butcher: This gives 2 / 4 additional damage if you put 1 / 2 points into it. I don't feel the extra damage to minions in necessary on Graves, you want to bully the enemy AD carry more than actually focus on csing, at least that is what I personally do. Plus Graves is has an easy time clearing waves with Buckshot + Smoke Screen.
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Durability 4/4: This gives 6 health per level (108 health at level 18) at 4 points in. This combined with your armor/magic resistance can make you more tanky than other AD carry, and gives you more overall survivability.

Hardiness 3/3: This gives you 5 armor if you put 3 points in. This on top of your runes, passive, and high base armor? It makes trading with you even more difficult!

Veteran Scars 1/1: If you place one point into this, you receive 30 health. 30 health is nice for the laning phase, again like Durability, combined with your passive can make you more tankier.

General Explanation

Why defensive mastieries? Because Graves already has such an advantage in lane (harassment, innate tankyness), with your runes and masteries on top of this, it's very difficult to be forced out of lane. Your passive becomes more effective with the health-related masteries too. Basically, this makes you one tanky AD carry and more difficult to 1 v 1.

Defensive Tree Alternatives

Perseverance: This mastery is if you feel like you're going to have to play passive against something like Caitlyn and Sona who are very prone to harass. However, you most likely have to sacrifice the Durability Mastery points to invest into this if you want the most lane presence (because taking out Hardiness and Resistance makes you squishier obviously).

Resistance 3/3: Instead of investing 3 points into Hardiness, you can invest 3 points into Resistance if you're against more magic damage or something similar to Leona + Corki.
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You can use this tree if you find yourself to be constantly out of mana with Graves. Graves does tend to be very mana deprived early game if you harass with your abilities. The reason why I don't use it is because I usually know how to handle and manage my mana, and Graves' is an AD carry, he can auto attack to harass. Also, these masteries have less potential late game on an AD carry. The Wanderer mastery isn't necessarily useful for an AD carry, as you don't roam and 2% movement speed for getting back to your lane is unneeded. I don't use invest in the Expanded Mind mastery because I certainly don't need mana as a stat late game because I can auto attack and shouldn't be out of mana in the first place. All the ones in the utility tree are the best in slot, but this is mainly oriented for lower summoner spells and mana regeneration for Graves. Another advantage of using these masteriies is significantly lower Flash cooldown (almost a minute) and lower Barrier cooldown, along with longer Red / Blue buffs.

Total of of 15.3 Attack Damage, 12.69 Armor, and 24.3 Magic Resist at Level 18

0.95 Attack Damage Per Rune

Total of 8.55 Attack Damage

These runes are great for Graves because it allows him to cs especially combined with his high base AD. His high AD ratios on Buckshot and Collateral Damage make these marks even more useful. This makes both his auto attacks and his abilities very deadly. Helps with your already strong laning phase. One of the biggest advantages is that these runes make csing so much easier.


1.41 Armor per rune

Total of to 12.69 armor

It allows you to mitigate against early game harass at bot lane which the AD carry will auto attack to harass you. Remember, Corki and Ezreal do a mix of both, so don't expect these runes to protect you. It also allows you to take some minion damage if you do happen to harass and draw minion aggro.


0.15 magic resist per level (2.7 at champion level 18) per rune

Total of 24.3 Magic Resist at Level 18

These runes are used so you're not completely vulnerable to AP burst casters. It's scaling because they're not as effective early game as they are late game, not to mention your MR doesn't increase every level and these essentially give you a scaling. It may also help against harassing AD Carries/Supports with magic damage skills.


2% Lifesteal per rune

Total of 6% Lifesteal

These runes have proved prevalent when starting the game with a Doran's Blade. Currently, Doran's Blade is one of the strongest start, these runes allows you to sustain and trade efficiently.






2.25 attack damage per rune

Total of to 6.75 Attack Damage

It gives a small amount of additional damage to your Buckshot ability, it allows early game harass and easier last hitting. Especially combined with Graves' exceptional base AD.


1.28 Armor Penetration per rune

Total of 11.52 Armor Penetration

Makes your damage scale into the late game when you need it. I prefer AD Marks due to more lane dominance and AD scaling with your abilities because you already get Last Whisper anyways. But, with these runes, you can essentially ignore the Resilience (Flat Armor) Seal, or if they don't have any armor from runes or masteries, your physical damaging abilities and auto attacks will deal true damage.



1.49 magic resist per rune

Total of 12.06 Magic Resist

This is if you're against a very harassing or aggressive mixed damage type of lane, (ex: Ezreal/Sona), this is so you can mitigate both armor and magic damage. However, this makes you somewhat more vulnerable to AP casters later the game, and magic resist doesn't scale. This is mainly so you take less harass.


.055 mana regeneration per level per rune

Total of 9.72 mana regeneration at level 18

I kind of wanted to address why these are used rather than suggest them. Again, these have no late game value (I'm unsure why you would Buckshot everything when you can just auto attack at that point of the game), it' not difficult to maintain your mana, you're not like the AP carries, auto attacking actually hurts the enemy, you don't need the mana regeneration if you can manage your mana. These aren't the worst runes to be stuck with, but they're certainly not optimal.

What makes this summoner spell so effective is that this can be use offensively and defensively in fights. Also, the shield combine with your passive makes you more difficult to kill, and it has more usefulness in teamfights compared to Ignite. While you don't have as much killing capabilities, you have more teamfight presence and this can be used against ganks in the laning phase.

Flash on Graves essentially gives you two repositioning abilities, which is immense for teamfights. In the laning phase, it allows you to escape ganks / small skirmishes, and it allows you to secure certain kills in certain situations. Being able to go through walls TWICE gives you a lot of options. Overall a great ability for, really any champion.







Effective
Nice Summoner Spell, it allows you to effectively duel the other AD Carries (assuming he has no Heal/Cleasne), and it's more effective than Ignite late game. However, early game, this is only used to constantly auto attack the AD carry, when you're in a duel, which is good but if they have a repositioning ability, it's not as useful and the AD carry probably won't linger too far. They'll usually Flash and escape away under their tower, and it could be that little health that could've made a difference between Ignite and Exhaust. IMO, not the best since you can't secure as much kills as Ignite, especially since Graves has a lot of burst.





Effective
As Graves, you're tankier than other AD carries due to your passive, so you can expect not being immediately bursted down in the laning phase unlike some other AD carries such as Vayne. I wouldn't worry about having Cleanse because you can also effectively 1 v 1 other AD carries, and you still have the Quickdraw ability to use for escape. You also have the option of buying Quicksilver Sash. However, this can be useful if the jungler and AD carry and or Support has crowd control that can be cleansed, especially if they are playing really aggressive.




Effective
This allows you to secure kills in the laning phase when you intend to go in and use all your abilities. It's also very nice against healing supports (Soraka, Sona, Taric). If they have a healing support or Summoner Spell Heal, use this early when you're going in. Delay it a little if you're not, if you know you can kill them, use it before they Flash / use their escapes. However, this requires you to be aggressive, you cannot use this summoner spell defensively, thus making it less useful when you're behind or you have to play passive.





Situational
This Summoner Spell would be great if it were not for the nerfs to the person that holds the Summoner Spell. You do win early game against Exhaust and Cleanse, but late game this spell isn't as useful. It's very useful for heal baiting and surprising the enemy, especially in those small fights. But otherwise, a lot of AD carries now run Ignite or Cleanse which counters Heal if used immediately. If you do happen to use this, try to heal before the ignite to gain the full effects. This is more of a support spell




Situational
This Summoner Spell isn't as good as Flash, in the laning phase it's definitely not as useful as Flash. Having Flash over Ghost might be the reason why you were able to land that last auto attack or last Buckshot. Ghost is nice for repositioning, but if you do happen to get caught, it's not going to save you like Flash would. It's good for chasing in the longer fights, but you will be focused early in teamfights against a team that has an idea of what they're doing.








Nonviable
The only use I see for this is possibly teleporting to your own lane which as Graves, you shouldn't constantly need to teleport back to your lane, roaming which isn't the AD carry's role and only sets you behind if you fail, and splitpushing which against isn't what an AD carry is supposed to do. All of those are essentially the options you have when running teleport.




Worthless
Even if you're mana hungry early game, this summoner spell isn't useful in any phase of the game except possibly the laning phase. You shouldn't be spamming your spells, also you're an AD carry, you have the option to auto attack. I would rather redirect you to mana regeneration masteries and runes than using a whole summoner spell for this.





Worthless
As an AD carry, you shouldn't be dying at all! It has too long of a cooldown to be used in Summoner's Rift, and it's just useless in the laning phase. Maybe late game it might be more useful, but yoy have the option to buy Guardian's Angel, not use a whole summoner spell for this.




Worthless
Shouldn't be used on an AD carry, the only place you should really need vision in, is the dragon area and the tri-bush. The extra vision is not a necessity, especially on an AD carry. Just ward properly and you don't have to sacrifice a full summoner spell, you don't need to know the exact position of the enemy, just their movement around the map. Especially since Support can buy the Sightstone item, you definitely do not need this Summoner Spell




Effective: Strong and considerable alternatives, can be interchanged with these Summoner Spells

Situational: There are other Summoner Spells that better are suited for Graves and in majority of the cases are superior, however these Summoner Spells do have their advantages

Nonviable: Rarely used or seen, ineffective as a Summoner Spell, not the absolute worst option out there. can be used for a specific comp.

Worthless: Useless, should never be be used. In many situations cannot be utilized by Graves and is not worth a Summoner Spell slot.

Graves gains 1 / 2 / 3 bonus Armor and Magic Resist every second he remains in combat (stacks up to 10 times).

Graves is treated as in combat if he has dealt or taken damage in the last 3 seconds.


This passive essentially gives you a whole flat rune set of Armor/Magic Resist, which is huge in the laning phase and for trading. It also makes him a great a duelist in all phases of the game. It's difficult to keep this passive up in the laning phase without pushing, but when the lane is pushed to your side, it becomes a lot easier. Although, when you get caught, you're still vulnerable so don't expect this to make you invincible to damage.

Helpful Tips:

• Try to keep 10 stacks by auto attacking the minions before trading against the opposing AD carry
• If you're contesting Baron and your team is attacking it while the enemy comes for you, try to keep auto attacking before the fight erupts

Graves shoots three bullets in a cone at 750 units, each dealing 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+80% of bonus attack damage) physical damage to all enemies in their path.

Enemies hit with multiple bullets take 35% damage from each additional bullet.
2 Bullets: 81 / 128.25 / 175.5 / 222.75 / 270 (+108% of bonus attack damage)
3 Bullets (Max Damage): 102 / 161.5 / 221 / 280.5 / 340 (+136% bonus of attack damage)

Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 seconds

Mana Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 mana



This is your burst ability, it has a very good range, incredible damage, great scaling, and it's an AoE. This is you use for trading and harassing. Don't always Quickdraw and Buckshot as that puts you in the danger of enemy minions and your repositioning. Be sure to walk up to the minions and Buckshot to clear the mininos effectively. As an AD carry, you don't always want to take advantage of the additional damage, take advantage of it when you see the opportunity (like if they were going in on your support), but otherwise you want to position. This is not an ability you want to constantly spam though, start auto attacking the opposing AD carry if you have to when you get low on mana.

Helpful Tips:

• Auto Attack + Buckshot to effectively harass in the laning phase
• Every time the opposing AD carry intends to cs, use this
• When someone jumps on you, use Buckshot first for the additional damage and then Quickdraw away unless they are fed, then just book it
• This is longer than your auto attack range, you may want to use this to pick off kills where you can't auto attack people
• When at the tower, you can Buckshot and immediately walk away to harass and avoid tower damage
• Buckshot makes a sound if it hits a unit, can be useful for checking if someone is in the brush

Graves fires a smoke canister dealing 60 / 110 / 160 / 210 / 260 (+60% of ability power) magic damage on impact and creating a 500 diameter smoke cloud at the location that lasts 4 seconds. Enemies inside the cloud have their sight radius reduced and are slowed by 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 % while they remain in the cloud.

Cooldown: 20/19/18/17/16 seconds

Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 mana

Range: 700




Incredible skill. Denying vision is huge in teamfights, and even in the laning phase. This can also be used for clearing the waves along with your Buckshots. It can also be used for chasing (if level 2, at level 1 it's not as useful) or disengaging. It's just such a good ability, you can use this in nearly every situation. I would like to note for all those free week Graves that this only reduces the vision of champions (so don't smoke screen those towers). When you're chasing, don't use the skill for the damage (unless they're very low) you want it for the slow and the vision reduction. Like I said in the section below, don't use this offensively frequently at level 1, only for disengaging from something, or when an enemy jungler comes by, this should be more of a defensive skill. Remember the projectile speed is low. Also, the vision reduction is not immediate, and the person in the smoke can see anyone attacking them.

Helpful Tips:

• When someone jumps you, use this for the slow.
• Use this AHEAD of your target if they're running away
• You can use this against the enemy jungler when you're doing Dragon/Baron to possibly make him/her miss the Smite
• If you know someone is in a relatively small brush, use this to scare them off or to deny their vision
• If you're running away and you're near a safe brush, use this skill near it and you can juke/kite around it (Tri-brush).
• If you have excess mana, you can smoke screen the AD carry at their tower to make it difficult for them to CS.

Graves dashes 425 units forward gaining 30% / 40% / 50% / 60% / 70% increased Attack Speed for 4 seconds.

Each of his basic attacks lowers the cooldown of Quickdraw by 1 second.

Cooldown: 22/20/18/16/14 seconds

Cost: 50 mana

Range: 425



Strong repositoning skill, potentially one of the best late game offensively because of the constant use. Defensively however, the range is shorter than Ezreal or Corki's repositioning skill. You want to use this ability in teamfights, try to save it when you're actually in danger, but if you're winning definitely use this for chasing or running away. Definitely don't use this in the beginning of the fight, you may have to repositon. In lane, you only want to use this to: reposition, securing a kill, dodging a vital skill shot, or positioning after your support landed his CC. This is not an imitation tool, do not use this to harass when you're preparing for a teamfight.

Helpful Tips

• You can use this to get in range for Buckshot. Remember your escape is down afterwards.
• This can be used over thin walls, (certain areas at the back of baron and dragon, thin walls in the river,)
• If you already used this during the laning phase, auto attack the minions to lower the cooldown.
• Stutter stepping (attacking while constantly moving) is a very valuable tactic with this ability, it allows for more repositioning in teamfights, and possibly a kill in the laning phase

Graves fires off a 1,000 unit explosive shell dealing 250 / 350 / 450 (+150% of bonus attack damage) physical damage to the first enemy champion hit. After hitting a champion or reaching the end of its range, Collateral Damage deals 140 / 250 / 360 (+120% of bonus attack damage) physical damage in a cone at 800 units behind the inital explosion.

Cooldown: 100/90/80 seconds

Cost: 100 mana




This ability combined with Buckshot is immense burst, with 380+ Damage which is huge at level 6. You want to use this ability as a finisher in the laning phase or when you intend to go in. In teamfights, you want to use it to finish someone off (hopefully a high priority target), or when the enemy team is clumped together. If they do happen to have some sort of dash or flash, don't use it immediately, you may miss (especially in the laning phase). I would like to note that Collateral Damage only deals the initial damage to the first champion and does not deal any additional damage to that target (doesn't deal Initial + Cone Damage).

Helpful Tips:

• In the laning phase, you might want to save this until AFTER they flash, then use this to snipe them
• Try to hit the champions with the initial damage portion, not the damage after it blows up
• Can be used to steal Dragon, Baron, Buffs, etc. Smite will always win, but this has a lot of damage so if the person misses their Smite or it's on cooldown, you might be able to do it.

Note: Information used from the LoL Wiki: http://leagueoflegends.wikia.com/wiki/Graves

Like most ultimates, get this whenever you can. You are an AD carry, this gives you more Area of Effect damage and makes you very scary in teamfights. The cooldown reduction every level into the ability is also a nice addition to it.



You want to max this ability first because this is your main damaging skill. It allows you to push the lanes, and it allows you to harass the opposing AD carry. It also gives you some burst combined with Collateral Damage. The poke is one of the most important factors of this skill, which is why you max it first.




You want to get this ability at level 2 over Smoke Screen because this ability allows better use of your Buckshot, with an attack speed increase, better repositioning for dodging skillshots, escaping from ganks, etc. You also want this after level 2 Smoke Screen because of the lower cooldown and more attack speed gives more overall DPS. It also has a static mana cost throughout all levels (50).




You only want to get two levels early on this (at level 4 and level 8) for the wave clearing along with your Buckshot. It also increases the slow percentage to 20% which is great since 15% is nearly non existent when chasing/disengaging with Graves. It also adds some burst to this ability, it's nearly impossible to finish someone off with a level 1 smoke screen, but at 110 base damage it becomes much easier. Attack Speed can be saved for late game. You don't want anymore points into this because it doesn't scale nor and it only deals magic damage, and it's mainly used for the utility of vision reduction.

Note: Don't always use this to clear minion waves, especially in the laning phase unless you absolutely have to, this costs a hefty amount of mana and should only be reserved in vital situations.

Health: 410 (+84 per level)
Attack damage: 51 (+3.1 er level)
Health regeneration: 5.5 (+0.7 per level)
Attack speed: 0.625 (+2.9% per level)
Mana: 255 (+40 per level)
Armor: 15 (+3.2 per level)
Mana regeneration: 6.75 (+0.7)
Magic resistance: 30
Range: 525
Movement Speed: 330

Graves' base stats are relatively great for AD carry, excelling in Attack Damage and Health Regen (highest out of all AD carries), with Armor, Mana, and Movement Speed being above average while the rest is below average (aside from the obvious magic resistance). (Note: Base stats, not per level). Most of that really contributes towards why he is so good in lane. Especially having the highest base Health Regen, combined with his passive and his above average armor makes him more difficult to force out of lane.
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Looking at Graves' stats, Graves has 295 mana at level 1 with mana regeneration of 7.45. At level 1, Buckshot (assuming you took that ability first) will cost around 1/5 of your mana (60). At level 2, if you level Quickdraw second, two of your abilities will cost 110. And it starts to slowly increase as you level Buckshot and put a level in Smoke Screen, so you have to use your abilities conservatively.

I'll make a little graph of how much mana you get at all the levels, and the cost of all the abilities combined.

Level 1 - Mana: 295 Cost of all the abilities: 60
Level 2 - Mana: 335 Cost: 110
Level 3 - Mana: 375 Cost: 120
Level 4 - Mana: 415 Cost: 190
Level 5 - Mana: 455 Cost: 200
Level 6 - Mana: 495 Cost: 300

Yeah, it's pretty hefty if you use all your abilities together, try to use it conservatively, such as only Buckshotting and Quickdrawing in the laning phase and Smoke Screening when you really want to disengage or zone an area. I personally think Smoke Screen at level 1 shouldn't really ever be used offensively as it costs too much mana, only if it guarantees a kill or the person has to literally walk out of the Smoke Screen after the enemy has been initiated on.
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So this sub-chapter section thing, is used to calculate how much damage you can do (base, not with scaling as that has too much variables).

At level 1, a Buckshot will deal 60 damage (assuming you're not up close) + an auto attack with my suggested Runes and masteries will be 73 damage. In total, that it 133 physical damage not factoring resistances. If you execute the auto attack + Buckshot combo early, it will deal at least 90 damage, which is probably at least 1/5-1/6 of their health early game at level 1.

I suggest not using Buckshot at level 2 to harass, and saving mana until level 3, where a lot more burst comes in, same thing with 5.

At level 6 however, it goes from Buckshot and Smoke Screen dealing 190 mixed damage to 440 mixed damage with Collateral Damage. If you wait another level, it can be up to 475 damage, and if you ignite it will deal 665 damage, that is at least half of the enemy AD carry's HP, and that's not even combined with auto attacking or possible scaling.

So, you have a really high potential at level 7 to start killing. That's personally where I start to take advantage of the lane.



Level 1: 60 + 73 = 133 + 0.8 Bonus AD (Auto Attack + Buckshot)

Level 3: 80 + 95 = 175 + 0.8 Bonus AD (Auto Attack + Buckshot)

Level 5: 87 + 130 = 217 + 0.8 Bonus AD (Auto Attack + Buckshot)

Level 6: 130 + 250 + 60 = 440 + 2.2 Bonus AD (Buckshot + Collateral Damage + Smoke Screen)

Level 7: 165 + 250 + 60 + 190 = 665 + 2.2 Bonus AD (Buckshot + Collateral Damage + Smoke Screen + Ignite)

Additional Damage from Buckshot is not calculated, initial damage and scaling from Collateral Damage is used.

Doran's

• 10 Attack Damage
• 5 Health Per Auto Attack
• 80 Health

This item is a very strong opener, because the 80 health gives you some durability along with some sustain with the 5 health every auto attack and you can trade really well with all those stats combined.






Vampiric Scepter

• 10 Attack Damage (from Long Sword)
• 10% Lifesteal
• Starter item for Bloodthirster

This follow up allows you to stay in lane with the lifesteal. You only want to buy this if you have less than 1650 gold or if you're losing your lane/it's a difficult lane. This setup allows you to trade better and guarantees more safety and sustain in lane. The reason you don't buy double Doran's is because Vampiric Scepter offers AD now and buying another Doran's is unnecessary.




BF Sword

• 45 Attack Damage
• More kill potential
• More damage than the opposing AD carry (if they started the Doran's + Vampiric)

If you have the opportunity, you want to just immediately get your core items. You'll be ahead of the AD carry in terms of damage, and you'll be faster in getting your core items which is very important. Note: If you're losing your lane, you may want to consider the other option.





Boots of Speed

• 25 movement speed
• More Mobility
• Optional

Since flat AD is very prevalent at the moment, you do not have to buy boots until the tower is taken or if teamfights are starting to happen, however if I have the extra 350 gold and I cannot invest into anything more useful, I'll buy this. Movement speed is nice, this is if you just have the extra money for the item. Normally, you don't have to rush boots as of now, so you can buy this AFTER your core item.




Bloodthirster

• Gives you lifesteal and attack damage over more auto attacks
• Can abuse the lifesteal to farm minion to get your HP back
• More attack damage than Infinity Edge w/ all the stacks, but not DPS.
• Can be used against thornmail instead of hitting yourself to death.
• Longer sustain in lane

The reason you want this over Infinity Edge is because the lifesteal is amazing with your durability. You also receive more Attack Damage with this item at full stacks so you're able to deal more damage with your ability. However, you are trading auto attacking damage for lifesteal and ability damage essentially.

Berserker Graves

• Movement Speed (+45 overall)
• More attack speed

This is simply for more movement speed, and it's a cheap upgrade for such a valuable stat, especially for an AD carry. The attack speed is definitely a nice addition, and this item itself helps with your Quickdraw exponentially. It's also the cheapest boot available, so that's definitely a plus. You want this item usually after a tower is taken down or when it's the mid game phase just for the mobility, but otherwise I would consider waiting to get this item.



Statikk Shiv

• Allows you to be an efficient auto attacker.
• Better usage of Quickdraw
• Relies on critical strikes
• More movement speed
• Great for split pushing

This is a better item mid-game than Phantom Dancer because of the great passive that deals a considerable amount of damage. However, you are sacrificing 10% attack speed and 10% critical strike for movement speed and the passive. Another advantage is that it builds out of a GP10. Phantom Dancer is great for single target damage, but Statikk Shiv combined with Buckshot, Smoke Screen, and Collateral Damage makes Graves amazing at teamfights. Generally when you buy this item, you're opting in for mid-game (which is Graves' strongest phase) and you want to push lanes and try to end the game at that point.


Infinity Edge

• More Overall DPS
• Critical Strike Damage Increase
• Higher Initial AD

The reason I take Bloodthirsters first is because it grants you nearly permanent sustain in lane, lane presence is still important even when it's mid game or near that time. Unless you're a very organized team, you will find yourself constantly in lane in the mid game time. My second reason is that Graves scales off the AD better than most other AD carries simply because he has three abilities that work well around it. At full stacks, you will be doing comparable damage to Infinity Edge with an additional x2 Doran's or a Brawler's and Dagger, while receiving more lifesteal (reason why I added the extra items with BT is because they're around the same cost). Another important note to lifesteal is that Graves is a bit tankier than other AD carries, you can rely on his innate tankyness and really benefit from lifesteal since it is basically like extra health, so in the end it'll just make Graves more difficult to kill.

Afterwards, I take Statikk Shiv second because you would benefit with more attack speed, it allow for more uptime on your Quickdraw too, and gives base movement speed which is huge for repositioning. Finish it with Infinity Edge for the most damage possible. Be sure to note that you don't always have to finish Infinity Edge, sometimes I find myself needing that QSS or GA earlier because of the attention I receive in teamfights. Always remember that items are interchangeable.



These items can be obtained earlier if you find yourself in need of it (be sure to have at least 2 core items before you decide to get a defensive item, or else you will lack damage output).

Mercurial Scimitar

• Used against long/game changing crowd controls (Ex: Suppressions, Rammus Taunt)
• Magic Resist for durability
• Cannot be used against Knockups / Knockbacks
• Nice amount of Attack Damage

You want this item if anyone is focusing you with CC or there's a Skarner on the enemy team. Sometimes, it's better to be able to remove the CC, rather than having an extra life. You're unable to do damage for the majority of the fights if you're going to be CCed / killed. Mercurial Scimitar should be your last item, do not ever upgrade it from Quicksilver Sash unless you have all your items.

Guardian Angel

• Used against people generally focusing you
• Armor and Magic Resist for durability

If there's no one focusing you with CC or no suppression, you can buy Guardian Angel, it will help a lot in teamfights, and if you have at least one teammate protecting you, they can usually help during the time you're being revived. While you do have an extra life, you're still very vulnerable late game, don't let your guard down.

Warmog's Armor

• Health stacks well with passive

Health is one of the strongest defensive stats in the game right now, this is perfect for an AD carry because it makes focusing you a lot harding especially with True Grit as your passive.


Last Whisper

• Used against those building large amounts of armor
• Armor Penetration works for abilities that deal physical damage too (Buckshot, Collateral Damage)

This should be one of your last items, it used for late game where the tanks/tanky DPS would start building defensive stats. You want to be doing a lot of damage late game and since tanks/tanky DPS have a tendency to focus you in teamfights, this is an ideal item.
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This build is usually very standard for me, this prioritizes damage output on lower armored units. This is usually when you can position well into teamfights, when you find yourself not being focused, or no one is a threat to you. It's usually when you're ahead in your game, and you feel confident to be able to end the game by doing as much damage as possible. This build is very expensive, but very effective if you're able to reach that point of the game. If you notice people are building armor before you finish your Infinity Edge, I'd suggest looking at Build #3, unless your Infinity Edge is nearly complete. However, if no one is building Infinity Edge, then you can completely demolish them with this build.
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This build is usually when you're behind or you're being focused in teamfights by certain champions. Notice how you get Last Whisper over Infinity Edge because it's cheaper, and by the time you finish your defensive item, people will start prioritizing defenses, so you'll need the Last Whisper for more damage.



Usually, it's against that one Skarner or Warwick who are constantly using their ultimates to suppress and cc you. You need this to survive against those long duration crowd controls to be able to do damage. This is the more popular option because even when you position well, they're still a huge threat because that's how their ultimates work.

Early Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel is somewhat less useful to rush. I would imagine rushing it only if you're in a situation of where you're the only one that has damage on your team, and you're being focused constantly. You don't necessarily want to rush this item, very good positioning and playing it safe can be the alternative. However, this alleviate some of the pressure you have in teamfights. However, if you are relatively behind, and the game is already late game, this is an option. The only issue is because it's more expensive than Quicksilver Sash, and you can be losing a lot of damage by that time. I'd suggest going Warmog's over Guardian's Angel, but in the event that Warmog's becomes less used, I will leave this here

Warmog's Armor

Warmog's Armor provides high amounts of health which can be very effective with Graves' passive, True Grit. This item allows AD carries to survive in teamfights longer and not be bursted as quickly. This also doesn't rely on a source of damage being more effective that the other (Example: Having more MR than armor).

Note on Early Defensive Items

I would also like to note that you only rush defensive items after two core items. If you don't have two core items and you're rushing defensive items, not only are you losing out on damage, but you're not playing your role correctly. The AD carry is supposed to have the most damage, you need at least two core items if you even consider a defensive item.
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This build is usually against those targets who are focusing on armor and are of a threat to you. This can also include certain champions such as Rammus who would naturally benefit building armor. This is also the cheaper alternative for high and consistent damage output. People build health now, I'm not sure if this is as effective currently.
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This item build is essentially the same as other except there's a possibility of replacing Berserker Greaves with Zephyr, and replacing Statikk Shiv with Phantom Dancer. This build is to maximize your damage output as an AD carry if the game drags on to late game. What this essentially gives you compared to other item builds is all the stats of Zephyr (10% cooldown reduction, 30% attack speed, 20 attack damage) along with the additional stats of Phantom Dancer compared to Statikk Shiv (+10% Attack Speed, +10% Critical Strike).
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TL;DR: Can be used alternatively, but not optimal

This item isn't bad considering Graves is slightly a hybrid of an AD caster and AD carry. This item enhances his Buckshot and Collateral Damage tremendously and his auto attacks deal more damage too It doesn't grant critical strike or attack speed and doesn't give as much Attack Damage like Bloodthirster does. It could be a decent item to rush, but you have to buy an attack speed item right after because your attack speed will remain relatively low if you do not. I really like the cooldown reduction given, it allows you to use all your abilities faster while still benefiting from the other stats greatly. However, you're meant to auto attack late game, not to cast abilities. If anything, this item is great for mid-game, but it starts to fall off since it doesn't grant attack speed or critical strikes, and Bloodthirster gives more.

The real downside of this item is that even with 5 procs, it only reduces 25%, admittedly useful for your team, but not necessarily yourself. Plus, the fact that you have to proc it 4 times to fully benefit from the armor penetration makes it worse because you want to do as much damage as possible whenever you can and your Buckshot and Collateral Damage don't apply the full 5 procs in to everyone unlike Miss Fortune for example. If you have multiple AD's that are not willing to buy this, this item can be considered. However, this item has received a couple of nerfs in the past, making it less cost-efficient that it used to be.





TL;DR: Can be used alternatively, but not optimal

This item is great for auto attackers such as Vayne or Kog'Maw, but since Graves scales of off Attack Damage so much, Bloodthirster is more beneficial if you really want to make the most out of your abilities. However, in the a health reliant metagame like this, it can be a strong item.





TL;DR: Does not synergize well with Graves' kit and build order

Runaan's Hurricane is an interesting item. In the perfect scenario, your overall DPS in a teamfight is increased by 100%, however that is very unlikely the case. The attack speed granted is nice, but it doesn't necessarily help because it's not like Phantom Dancer or Statikk Shiv where it grants other stats. People think the passive on Runaan's would be great for Graves, but to be honest, Quickdrawing every 2-4 seconds isn't actually THAT good. You want to buy the item for its passive, because to be honest 70% attack speed isn't that great on a single target. In teamfights, it's usually a bruiser looking out to target you, or their AP carry so you cannot always benefit from the passive. To summarize, Runaan's doesn't increase your single target DPS as much, and can only be benefited if the enemies group up.

However, this item can synergize nicely if you buy a lot of on-hits or have a strong on-hit. Graves isn't provided any on-hits and you don't necessarily want to buy Blade of the Ruined King or any other on-hit so it's best not to buy this item. An example of an AD carry making use of this item is Kog'Maw with Blade of the Ruined King and Runaan's Hurricane would work fine.





TL;DR: The item requires too much aggression to be reliable

Bad item overall, the active is what makes it decent. First, the item only gives attack speed which makes it already lackluster compared to other options. Second, the item's attack speed stats are gone if you use the active, which is even worse because then you could be statistically behind in DPS compared to other AD carries. Third, Graves doesn't even benefit from having 100% attack speed & crit (since most of his burst comes from his abilities), the only AD carry than can benefit is Vayne with the way her Final Hour and Tumble works.

As an AD carry, in early game you have to cs properly and not get behind on the other AD carry. When you're in lane, you have to determine your position in lane, whether you'll be passive or aggressive (usually aggressive). If you do intend to be aggressive, wait until level 2, 3, 5, and 7. Those are key levels to Graves, mainly because of the Buckshot. You want to try to get ahead of the other AD carry by at least experience if not by creep scoring. You have to know that as you level up, you start gaining more kill potential than the other AD carry, it's just the way your abilities work (their base damages are high). One thing to do is when the opposing AD carry want to get a creep, you want to Buckshot him/her away. The point is to constantly harass the AD carry, and then when they least expect it, you want to coordinate a kill with your support for the kill.

Tip: You should never be full mana in the lane, you have mana regeneration for a reason. Try to use your Buckshot at least once against the enemy.



There may be an opposing AD carry + support that pokes more than you (Caitlyn, Ezreal, Sona, Lulu), and if you're in that situation, having your support presence is everything. You can lose your lane easily against good poking AD carries due to the fact that they're doing their job better than you. If they're constantly harassing you, try to at least keep up with levels, ask for ganks (mainly to insinuate fear), buy more health potions. Stay in exp range, but out of harass. If your support is an aggressive support, wait for that level 6 window, you'll most likely be stronger at level 6 than the opposing AD carry. Instead of going BF Sword (if you happen to have 1,650 gold), go for Vampiric Sceptor and Doran's for sustain and being safe in the lane. Your lane would most likely be pushed if you're being dominated so don't worry too much about jungle ganks, just stay alive and try to wait it out until you can go in.


This is the lane where your know your lane matchup has around the same skill as you or they're playing an AD carry that is even with you. It's usually where both of you are just back and forth harassing and creep scoring at the same time. When you're in this situation, you definitely have to watch out for jungle ganks as that can tip the odds to the opposing AD's favor. It's usually whoever gets the first kill win snowball on that side. Stay safe, don't do anything risky (tower dives) wait for jungle ganks, but if they're at their tower, you may want to disengage. If they're on your support, Smoke Screen 'em, do anything to stay in the game, wait for a certain window of opportunity, it can be something as little as you having one more health potion. Watch your mana, wait for 6 or a level advantage, and be sure to do anything to get the first kill on the AD carry rather than you. Remember you most likely always have a bigger kill potential.


This is when you're against a weak AD dueler like Ashe or when you're against a weaker laner like Vayne. You have to constantly harass, make sure you acquire that lane dominance. Watch out for jungle ganks, and be sure you and your support zone the enemy team out of the lane if possible. You can rush straight up damage items if you're winning your lane, and start to snowball the game. Your level 6 is also a very strong time, try to kill during that point. Nothing really much to explain, just don't get cocky and harassing at every opportunity. If they're being too passive, or if you killed them, try to pressure or destroy their towers.


Remember, Dragon control is huge during this phase of the game, the 975 gold is huge, it can give a possible additional item which can be significant. Keep it warded, don't die a lot, and when the enemy jungler is near without yours, don't even risk it. It can lead to a free dragon. Be sure to keep an eye on your part of the jungle, ward key areas (around dragon and tri-bush), and you should be at least safe.

The lane is only about sustaining in the lane and getting creep score, usually coupled with moderate amounts of harassing and aggression. They win in prolonged fights, lose in the shorter fights. I know there are other supports with heals, but they usually harass or are aggressive.

AD carries:

Supports:


The lane that aims to constantly use an ability or attack the opposing team and lower their health until they're low enough to go in. The lane that zones the enemy and constantly kites they go in. I personally think all supports can provide some sort of harass, like CCing the opponent, letting the AD carry get some hits then running, but there are some that just excel at it in any situation.

AD carries:

Supports:


The lane that intends to go all in once that crowd control is placed, or with the intention of zoning the opposing lane, usually champions with a lot of burst. Normally a lane that tries to snowball. It is a high risk, medium rewards. Some people would refer this as a kill lane.

AD carries:

Supports:
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Focus

• Her first auto attack in the laning phase will most likely be a critical strike
• Avoid it by waiting for her to last hit a minion
• Nearly nonexistent in the laning phase (aside from the first auto attack) and in teamfights

Frost Shot

• When toggled, her auto attacks will slow you down
• This enables her to chase a lot
• Her Volley ability will have the slowing capability also depending on the rank of Frost Shot

Volley

• Fires 7 Arrows in a Cone (larger width and length than Buckshot)
• Her primary poking ability (high range)
• Standing behind minions may help in avoiding damage

Hawkshot

• The passive allows Ashe to be an efficient farmer.
• The active can reveal brushes that aren't warded within her vicinity

Enchanted Crystal Arrow

• Global Skillshot
• Long duration stun (increases up to 3.5 seconds)
• Possible to dodge with Quickdraw or Flash

Easy - Moderate
You can Quickdraw out of her ultimate, you need really good timing. She has 600 range over your 525 range, be sure not to get hit by her first critical strike from her passive, Focus. You want to constantly force her out of lane or kill her because late game she has the range advantage which can be huge for an AD carry. I'd be wary of her ultimate, Enchanted Crystal Arrow because the crowd control and damage from that is strong, don't get caught with it because it's hard to escape from Ashe with her Frost Shot buff active.

Sustain Lane: Somewhat easy, especially with an aggressive suppport. She has very low defensive stats and Flash is her only escape. Play an aggressive support against her and you'll easily win. She'll most likely try to kite as much as she can, just keep pressuring her.

Harass Lane: Annoying, she can already outpoke you with auto attacks. She also has Volley which is incredibly annoying, especially with the slow. She has a lot of kiting potential with her support constantly backing off and harassing with their abilities. You have to catch them off guard, they can't win in a straight up fight, CC one of them and you should be able to force a Flash or get a kill. You may have to play a little passive until certain levels or when your support goes in.
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Headshot

• Her auto attacks will deal 150% damage to a champion with this buff active
• She will most likely try to poke you down early with this
• Similar to Ashe's focus, let the buff wear out when she has to last hit
• The buff is indicated by the model of Caitlyn glowing

Piltover Peacemaker

• Primary poking ability (high range)
• Somewhat long animation, can predict when she's using it
• Can be dodged by Quickdraw
• Less consecutive damage the more units she hits (has a minimum damage %)

Yordle Snap Trap

• Roots for 1.5 seconds, and reveals the target it hits
• Will most likely be set around the lane or in primary ganking areas against the jungler
• Has a red glow on the trap

90 Caliber Net

• Self-knockback medium range repositioning ability
• The net fired slows (by a lot) and damages
• Makes Caitlyn somewhat difficult to trade with or kill along with her auto attack range

Ace in the Hole

• Channels for 1 second to fire a long ranged homing projectile that deal physical damage
• Can be blocked
• Avoid getting too low in the laning phase

Hard
Contrary to what I see people do, you can't just out trade her with Quickdraw and Buckshot, that's a very inefficient way to trade, all it does is make you out of mana, and vulnerable to minions and a counter attack. She also can also 90 Caliber Net away. She 125 range over you, which is significant however you have more killing potential, be aware of the Piltover Peacemaker, and when your support goes in, take advantage of her vulnerability before she nets away. Avoid taking hits from her passive, Headshot, it is a lot of damage, if she does try to, Smoke Screen or Buckshot her to trade damage or reduce her vision. You can straight up 1 v 1 her, but it's unlikely that you will be given the opportunity to, and if she does, she'll most likely try to kite.

Sustain Lane: Boring lane, she will most likely constantly harass and place traps all over the lane. If you try to harass, she will be healed back up and she can harass back making you lose that trade. Play conservative until 6, and make sure your ignite is up when you plan on killing her. Try to keep CC down on her before she nets back.

Harass Lane: Unbearable, not only will you be constantly zoned, but you will take damage every time you try to kill a minion. Very difficult to trade effectively if the Caitlyn knows what she is doing. Wait for 6+ and aim for the support, as it is very likely that she does not have an escape besides Flash and will be going in for the harass majority of the time.

Aggressive Lane: Not as much killing potential as others, but if they execute their combo perfectly, you can be rooted/stunned for a long time, especially with that trap. You can still kill her more easily than she can kill you, but she will most likely try to whittle you down to go in for the kill.
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Hextech Shrapnel Shells

• Auto attacks deal True Damage (goes through resistances)
• Makes trading with Corki difficult
• One of the better late game passives for an AD Carry

Phosphorous Bomb

• Primary poking ability in the laning phase (medium range)
• Relatively high base magic damage and scales off of AP
• Reveals the target/area hit (makes juking Corki in the Brush a limited option) for 6 seconds

Valkyrie

• Long range dash (800 units)
• Leaves an area of fire behind that deals magic damage
• Makes Corki difficult to kill in the lane, and an excellent chaser in teamfights
• Long cooldown at level 1 (26 seconds)

Gatling Gun

• Shreds armor and deals physical damage in front of Corki for 4 seconds
• Can be used while auto attacking
• Range is very limited (600 units)

Missile Barrage

• Primary poking ability outside the laning phase
• Spammable ultimate on a low cooldown (12 seconds)
• Try to move behind minions to avoid damage
• Two of these rockets will deal around the initial base damage of Collateral Damage
• Beware of the Big One, you can keep track by clicking on Corki and looking at his stacks

Moderate - Hard
This is an even matchup, you have slightly more burst with your full combo, but he has better dueling capabilities, especially with longer range than you, you can trade back and forth with Buckshot against his Phosphorous Bomb. Watch out from the constant pokes from his Missile Barrage, they deal considerable damage too. He can use Valkyrie to disengage or to chase, be aware of the huge range of it (nearly double of Quickdraw). You have to win this lane because since it's an even matchup, if you're behind, it can be very troublesome. He also wins during late game due to his passive Hextech Shrapnel Shells, being more useful as a lategame passive, along with negating your passive and +25 more attack range.

Sustain Lane: Not as effective mainly because he's limited to using Phosphorous Bomb, and he has a lot of killing potential, so I'm unsure why they would do this. It's irritating because it's very difficult to trade with a sustain support, and his Valkyrie alone goes very far when you catch him off guard. Wait until Ignite is up when you want to go for the kill, but play conservatively for the first few levels, because they will out sustain you.

Harass Lane: Somewhat annoying, you can predict when he will use his Phosphorous Bomb, but him combined with his support harass will be very painful. If you have an aggressive support, try to catch the support off guard and burst her/him down before Corki can react, you want to go for the support because they hopefully won't have an escape, or wait until Corki's Valkyrie is down.

Aggressive Lane: This is where it gets interesting, and whoever can trade the most effective before going in the kill will most likely win. Dodge his Phosphorous and Buckshot him whenever you can. Again, he can disengage effectively with Valkyrie, so you may have to wait for a really good opportunity. Don't get caught, use Quickdraw to reposition, and Smoke Screen to disengage when you have to.
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Wicked Blades

• Deals damage over 4 seconds when hit by Spinning Axes or a critical strike

Spinning Axes

• Auto Attack modifier that additional physical damage based on Draven's Attack Damage
• Axes can be caught to keep the buff
• Since it procs his passive, makes it difficult to trade with Draven in lane
• If constantly caught, can deal a lot of damage and does not consume a great amount of mana
• Can Buckshot or Smoke Screen the area marked for the axe to be caught for damage

Blood Rush

• Increased Attack Speed and increased dimiishing movement speed
• Refreshes every time Spinning Axes is caught
• Makes Draven an efficient chaser
• Will most likely be used to proc Draven's Q against you/support.

Stand Aside

• Knocks the units hit to the side and slows
• Try dodging whenever you can in the laning phase, will most likely be used to disengage or engage in a fight

Whirling Death

• Global Boomerang Skillshot
• Diminishing damage every unit hit, resets when it returns
• Avoid when possible

Moderate-Hard
Draven has one of the strongest laning phases if not the strongest, if he can constantly catch his Spinning Axes, he can do immense damage. Remember, his Spinning Axes does leave a marker of where it will land, you can Buckshot in that location for damage. Try to fight him when his Spinning Axes buff is not up. While he doesn't have a dash or blink, his Blood Rush and Stand Aside is a good disengage combo. You can fight him outside of the laning phase as his DPS isn't amazing without catching his axes and constantly proccing his passive. So try to survive the laning phase and then when it's around midgame, you can start winning fights over him. Remember his ultimate, Whirling Death is global and can be used as a sniping ability, it's not relatively difficult to dodge, but it does deal good damage if you're hit twice by it.

Harass Lane: Seriously, this lane is ridiculous, I think this is one of the worst harassing lanes for Graves. If he hits you with his Spinning Axes buff on, it hurts a lot, and it's very low mana and can be caught again for another one. Plus, if you try to harass him, he will fight back and possibly his support too, play a little passive, wait until he gets caught as he has no dashes or blinks, and you may want to buy more health potions.

Aggressive Lane: The crowd control allows Draven to constantly attack you while grabbing his axes without harass, and if he uses Stand Aside correctly, it can be very difficult to escape after you've been caught. He has a lot of burst with just one ability, don't get caught, use Quickdraw to stay away. Hopefully your support has control of your own brush.
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Rising Spell Force

• Increased attack speed every ability that successfully hits a unit (up to 50%) for 6 seconds
• Makes dueling with Ezreal difficult at max stacks

Mystic Shot

• Primary poking ability (medium range)
• Reduces the cooldown of all of his abilities by one if he hits something
• Low mana cost, can last hit minions safely from a distance
• Procs on-hit effects

Essence Flux

• Linear skillshot that deals magic damage towards enemies hit
• Goes right through minions
• Buffs the attack speed of allied champions

Arcane Shift

• Medium range blink
• Also deals magic damage
• Longer range than Flash
• Makes Ezreal very good at disengaging in the laning phase

Trueshot Barrage

• High magic damage global skillshot ultimate that diminishes upon every consecutive unit
• Can be dodged with Flash or Quickdraw with the predictable channel
• Somewhat low cooldown with the way Mystic Shot works

Moderate
Due to the Essence Flux nerf, you don't have to worry about that ability as much. Ezreal is now more of a poker than a duelist. Stay behind minions and keep an eye out for his Mystic Shots, because he will be maxing that first from now on. Be sure you watch where you want to move, if it's outside the protection of the minions, you might be taking a Mystic Shot to the face, you don't want that. Like Draven and Ashe, his ultimate, Trueshot Barrage is global. In my opinion, if you play it right against Ezreal, you'll be fine, he doesn't really beat you without kiting unless you allow him to hit you with everything, although he can Arcane Shift away from a lot of situations it's also is a longer range than Quickdraw and acts as a blink. Dodge his skill shots, and you will come out ahead.

Sustain Lane: Constant harassment from his Mystic Shot and Essence Flux, especially since he will most likely be supplied with mana. Agains constantly dodge his skills shots, if you constantly do it, he'll never have an advantage over you. Don't expect to kill him when you go in on him, as he has Flash, Arcane Shift, and Soraka heal. Try to get him when Soraka is low on mana, has heal on CD, or when she's not with him.

Harass Lane: You may have to play very passive, this lane can completely shut you down if you don't take the extra second to dodge skill shots. Quickdraw has a long cooldown early level + low attack speed means you can't constantly dodge everything, let alone waste your mana on just dodging projectiles. Only auto attack if the enemy support is not within range to harass, or when Mystic Shot is on cooldown. Ezreal is not the most difficult to 1 v 1 because he's mainly about ktiing, try to save Quickdraw for one of his skillshots, mainly Trueshot Barrage or Mystic Shot.

Aggressive Lane: Ezreal does have a lot of potential to kill if he uses all his abilities, and having CC on his side just makes his skillshots easier to land. Only be near the enemy support if Ezreal has just recently used his abilities. Like all the other lanes, try to use minions to your advantage whether for effectively trading after they've drawn aggro or just dodging Ezreal's Mystic Shot. Smoke Screen the enemy support if you have to, to actually get some cs.
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Icathian Surprise

• True damage area of effect ability
• Can only be used when Kog'maw dies
• Increased movement speed can make it difficult to dodge
• Quickdraw is exactly the AoE range

Caustic Spittle

• Passively increases Kog'maw's attack speed
• Magic damage nuke that reduces armor and magic resist

Bio-Arcane Barrage

• Increases Kog'maw's auto attack range for 8 seconds
• Deals magic damage based on target's maximum health
• Reason why Kog'maw is feared late game

Void Ooze

• Linear skillshot that deal magic damage upon contact, and leaves a trail that slows for 4 seconds
• Slow will be used constantly for kiting purposes
• Can Quickdraw out of it
• Can make chasing Kog'maw somewhat difficult

Living Artillery

• Long range ability that deals magic damage
• Mana costs increases every consecutive every 6 seconds
• Area indicated by a thin green line
• Reveals the area, and reveals the enemies hit
• Good at executing enemies from range

Moderate
Kog'maw has more range than you when he activates his Bio-Arcane Barrage, which is somewhat of a nuisance, but that could be easily remedied by Buckshotting and Smoke Screening him (not frequently in the laning phase), and if he uses Void Ooze , Quickdraw diagonally or away from the area so you're not affected by the slow, if Quickdraw is used too early, he can harass you after using Void Ooze so I would suggest saving it in a lot of situations. You can win the lane against him, more push the hell out of it, but he can farm safely from a distance, he does have a better late game so I would suggest try to force him out of lane if possible. Also, Quickdraw can sometimes save you from Icathian Surprise if you juke properly.

Passive Lane: The irritating thing is he can constantly use his Bio-Arcane Barrage to farm safely, try to take advantage of when the buff is off or when the ability is on cooldown. You want to constantly pressure the lane, make sure you ward potential gank spots and just try to harass him out of lane. He has no real escapes, and he's relatively weak in durability so definitely try to kill him if you have the opportunity. He'll bait you into Void Ooze if you're chasing so save your Quickdraws.

Harass Lane: This is most likely the Nunu + Kog'maw lane, and honestly I only see that effective against skillshot reliant champions because they are relatively hard to land when Kog'maw has Blood Boil and rushed Phantom Dancer. You won't win straight up auto attack as his Bio-Arcane Barrage + Blood Boil will hurt, so try using Buckshot and immediately disengaging until the Bio-Arcane Barrage is over, he does significantly less DPS without it. Only go in when your support goes in, Nunu's Ice Ball and Void Ooze slows down your movement speed by quite a lot and allows Kog'maw to constantly kite you with his range.
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Strut

• Gives movement speed (up to 70)
• Negated when Miss Fortune takes damage
• Be sure to auto attack or Buckshot her to remove the passive

Double Up

• Deals physical damage to an initial unit, and bounces to a unit behind it for 120% of that damage
• Applies on-hit effects
• Will be used to poke in lane

Impure Shots

• Passively deals additional magic damage the more auto attacks on the same target (up to a cap)
• When activated, attack speed increases and gives off a healing reduction debuff of 50% for the next 3 seconds
• Obviously, try not to use a potion right after the healing debuff unless you have to
• Makes trading with Miss Fortune difficult in an auto attack duel

Make It Rain

• Deals constant magic damage and slows for 2 seconds in an area
• Can be used to disengage or chase

Bullet Time

• Large AoE cone that deals constant physical damage for 2 seconds
• Can be used to clear minion waves
• Can Quickdraw out of it to avoid damage
• Due to large range (1400), can be used to snipe people

Moderate - Hard
She can be a bit tough in lane, especially the way her Double Up, it's a lot of damage from her harass, she will try to harass you by hitting Doubles Up on a minion in front of you for more damage when the second part of Double up comes up, try and predict which one. With Impure Shots, if you both auto attack each other, she'll come out on top, try to constantly harass her with Buckshot and not auto attack her for long periods. As the game progresses, you will start eventually winning if you're on equal footing. Your 6 is stronger than her 6 if you do manage to get out of her Bullet Time. Otherwise, you will most likely lose to the tremendous damage of Bullet Time. Biggest tip is to save your escapes for that ultimate.

Harass Lane: I have to give credit, Miss Fortune is really good at this type of lane, if you try to attack back, Impure Shots and Double Up will be very punishing for your HP, and she can also disengage Make It Rain if you choose to go after her. I'd say wait it out for a bit, you can win straight up dueling her, but she'll most likely just harass you until she has an advantage. She has no escapes, so be sure you have an aggressive support and go in on her.
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Fleet of Foot

• Grants 50 movement speed every time Sivir auto attacks an enemy champion for 2 seconds
• One of the reason why Sivir is an excellent in kiting and chasing

Boomerang Blade

• Primary poking ability (long range)
• Linear skillshot that deals physical damage twice (initial and return)
• Damage diminishes upon consecutive units hit
• Avoid whenever possible, deals tremendous damage if hit twice, especially without any minions

Ricochet

• Auto attacker modifier (also resets auto attack animation)
• Deals additional physical damage and bounces 5 times (every consecutive bounce deals less damage)
• Sivir will most likely try to use this if you end up trading with auto attacks

Spell Shield

• Blocks enemy abilities used on Sivir (Buckshot, Smoke Screen, Collateral Damage)
• Returns mana
• Due to the way this functions, you have to time your abilities (especially since it returns mana). If you plan on bursting her down, use Smoke Screen first to take out the shield.

On the Hunt

• Grants movement speed and attack speed to her and all nearby allies for 10 seconds
• Makes her very strong at disengaging, chasing, and kiting

Moderate-Hard
One of Sivir's biggest weaknesses in all phases of the game is her Auto Attack range. It makes her somewhat easier to harass. You want to always Quickdraw Boomerang Blade, the damage from that alone is punishing, especially if it doesn't hit any minions. In the early levels, you don't want to really trade with her, as she has a Spell Shield and Ricochet and it really helps for her to trade. Smoke Screening her spell shield then using Buckshot is effective, but at the same time it costs a lot of mana in the laning phase. I'd suggest laying back a bit until you have an advantage or wait until the game slowly progresses because you're stronger than her mid-late game. Her passive, Fleet of Foot and ultimate, On the Hunt allows her to escape or chase very effectively, be wary of that.

Passive lane: It's going to be a long laning phase if you guys are at equal skill level. You can't harass her easily, and you can Quickdraw out of Boomerang Blade if she uses it. And when you do happen to harass her, she'll just be healed. Honestly, don't expect much out of this lane. Tell your jungler that you might need a gank if you want to stop this passivity. But otherwise, Sivir has no escape except her ultimate, but she has a shield, burn that shield and telling your support to go in might work.

Harass Lane: You just want to dodge her Boomerang Blade as that is her only harass outside of 500 range. I would suggest playing passive for the first few levels, then as you slowly progress, start going aggressive, especially if you can get yourself at 10 stacks of your passive.

Aggressive Lane: Sivir has a lot of burst with her Boomerang Blade and Ricochet, that with her support means she has a lot of potential to kill, and your support can't even CC her because she'll shield it, try to Smoke Screen her shield before your support goes in on her. Play passive until you feel like you're stronger, or again go in when you have 10 stacks of your passive.
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Draw a Bead

• Auto attack range increases by 9 every level (703 range at level 18)
• Gives Tristana a significant range advantage later levels
• Defines Late Game Tristana

Rapid Fire

• Increases Tristana's attack speed for 7 seconds

Rocket Jump

• Long range dash that deals magic damage on the area she lands
• Cooldown resets upon assist or kill
• Contributes to Tristana's burst early game
• Quickdraw away to avoid the burst

Explosive Shot

• Passive makes Tristana's pushing very efficient, try avoiding low HP minions
• Active deals damage over time and reduces healing by 50% for 5 seconds
• A lot of damage over time combined with ignite
• As will all healing debuffs, avoiding using potions until it's over

Buster Shot

• Deals magic damage and knocks the target and his surrounding allies back
• Combined with Rocket Jump, has a lot of burst potential, it also makes it hard to chase Tristana

Moderate
Tristana has high burst with her Rocket Jump and Buster Shot combo (around 505 magic damage at level 7). But one of the mechanics of Rocket Jump is that she has to jump on you to do damage, when you can react by using Buckshot and maximizing your damage against her. If she Rocket Jumps on you, you can Buckshot and Quickdraw away from her. Don't underestimate the burst she can do. She has a somewhat awkward midgame, her abilities don't scale off AD so her burst falls off slightly, and she's restricted to using her W, take advantage of her midgame. In the laning phase, you want to bully her as much as you can, she has more presence late game because of her obnoxious range she receives from her passive Draw a Bead. Her main source of damage will be from Rocket Jump so she can't constantly trade with you unless she uses it. Always try to Buckshot her and harass her whenever you can.

Aggressive Lane: Tristana's kit is designed to be aggressive in the laning phase, obviously you don't want to pop a Health Potion if her Explosive Shot debuff is on you unless you absolutely have to. Try to get an aggressive support so when she Rocket Jumps on you, she can be punished. I'd definitely try to get ahead of her simply because she's a hyper carry late game. She can disengage from fights really well with Rocket Jump, you can use Collateral Damage to snipe her if she's low enough. Your support should try to CC her as much as she/he can before she Rocket Jumps away.
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Living Vengeance

• On kill or assist, grants 40% attack speed for 6 seconds. Killing minions grants 20% attack speed for 3 seconds
• This passive does not stack and will take the higher value
• If you want to duel with Varus, don't let him use this passive against you, because more attack speed means more Blight stacks on you

Piercing Arrow

• Varus fires an arrow dealing physical damage that diminishes by 15% per unit hit (minimum 33%)
• Range can vary from short to very long
• Can predict WHEN he's casting it
• Can use Quickdraw to dodge
• Very unreliable skill for harassing the enemy (which is why it isn't maxed first)

Blighted Quiver

• Varus' basic attacks deal bonus magic damage, also applying the Blight debuff which stacks up to 3 times.
• If Varus uses one of his abilities, the Blight stacks will detonate dealing magic damage based off the unit's maximum health
• Avoid taking too many auto attacks, any aggressive Varus would use this ability along with other abilities to do tremendous damage

Hail of Arrows

• Primary poking ability (medium range)
• Fires a hail of arrows that deals physical damage, reduces healing by 50%, and slows in an area
• This is ability is pick because it's more easier to hit, the healing reduction is good, and the slow allows for more Blight stacks

Chain of Corruption

• Fires a linear skillshot tendril that roots and deals magic damage to the enemy champion hit. The tendril then spreads towards nearby champion dealing the same damage and will also root them for 2 seconds
• Cannot be hit twice by this
• Quickdraw away from the tendril, or the teammate that has been hit
• Avoiding getting hit because Varus already has superior auto attack range, and being rooted is not the position you want to be in

Moderate
It's quite easy to differentiate whether the Varus player is good or not. A Varus player who knows what he's doing will max Hail of Arrows simply because it's easier to hit and the slow on it is very powerful (allows more stacks of Blight. If he does cast Piercing Arrow, you can dodge it with Quickdraw, it's relatively predictable and leaves him vulnerable if he casts it for too long. In teamfights, be sure to save your Quickdraw for when Chain of Corruption is casted, and the teammate that was hit was close to you. Varus does have 50 range over you, and with Hail of Arrows, it makes him difficult to lane against if you don't have an aggressive support. Don't let him get free Blight stacks on you. As the game goes on, you start doing more damage and you scale better later in the game.

Sustain Lane: He can spam Hail of Arrows quite a lot if he's with Soraka, since he has no escape, it's quite relatively easy to catch him off guard. Just don't get harassed too much, it's not very easy to trade Buckshot with Hail of Arrows, so don't count on it. It's very difficult for him to kill you if you're even, just wait until your support goes in one of them.

Harass Lane: Ok, this lane is relatively annoying. There's a lot of zoning potential in this lane, it's very easy for them to take out a lot of your HP. You're going to have to play passively until you get some levels, you can also ask for a gank if they're really focused on harassing you. Just wait until you start doing more damage at higher levels.

Aggressive Lane: Varus can land a lot of Blight stacks and detonate them with CC, and with his ultimate, his 6 becomes very scary. You don't want to be behind in this lane, they have a lot of killing potential post-6 because of their CC alone. Just wait until you feel like you're stronger than them, but be wary.
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Night Hunter

• Grants movement while facing in the direction of a visible enemy champion for a certain range
• Cannot necessarily be used defensively
• Makes Vayne an excellent chaser

Tumble

• Vayne's next basic attack is increased by a percentage of her Attack Damage
• Small range repositioning dash
• Resets auto attack
• In the laning phase, it will be used for harass and applying Silver Bolts

Silver Bolts

• Consecutive attacks to the same target will mark the target, after 3 auto attacks Vayne will deal true damage based on percentage of health
• Rings will be removed if she switches target
• When leveled the first time in the laning phase, Vayne will say something

Condemn

• When Vayne uses this ability, it will deal physical damage to the targeted enemy and will knock them back, if the target is knocked back, it will deal physical damage again and stun the unit for 1.5 seconds
• Used for disnegaging fights, knocking a bruiser back, or just for the CC and damage
• It also applies 1 tick of Silver Bolts

Final Hour

• When activated, Vayne temporarily gains Attack Damage and her passive effect will be tripled
• She is stealthed for 1 second every time she tumbles while Final Hour is active
• Makes Vayne very difficult to duel when used (especially because of the stealth)

Easy - Moderate
Vayne is relatively easy to go against in lane, you can constantly zone her, and if she decides to take a Buckshot, it will hurt her for a tremendous amount of damage due to her low base HP and armor. Some Vaynes try to Tumble out of the Buckshot, if you're noticing this pattern, don't Buckshot too frequently, just constantly auto attack. You also want to avoid the harass from her Tumble, think of it like Caitlyn's passive. She cannot harass outside her auto attack range. If your passive is in 5-6 stacks, you can easily trade against her with auto attacks, however don't let her get 3 auto attacks in because her Silver Bolts ignores your passive and deals a good amount of damage. If she's trying to go for the third hit, smoke screen her. Avoid standing near walls because of her Condemn. She does however outscale you if she's even with you, you want to bully her out of the lane, and win the lane. However, you'll usually do well against her early - mid game.

Aggressive Lane: The most popular lane for Vayne because she has a lot of early killing potential, great chasing capabilities, and with a properly landed condemn you can be CCed for quite some time or even knocked back. Do not get caught by any of the aggressive supports, you want to properly zone Vayne out from her farm while not getting caught. Tell your support to ward the bush, or possibly even harass the enemy support so they can't land CC on you. Do not die to Vayne, or if you get behind in lane, it will be very difficult to catch up against Vayne.
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Champions Soon To Be Added:
The reason why I haven't added them is because I haven't had much opportunity to play against them. Luckily, you won't see these two very much anyway.

I would also like to note that majority of this information would be used in the laning phase. This is also under the assumption that they will build Attack Damage.

The highlighted abilities are the skills the champions will usually max.

During mid game you want to have map control and objective controls. Taking objectives can change from what was once a stalemate to an advantage for one team. Map control is everything, I'm pretty sure everyone has experience not having access to 70% of the map due to no wards and not being able to fight without the team, if you haven't, it's a horrible feeling, and since you're the AD carry, if you're caught, that's very detrimental to your team. In the early stages of Mid Game, you're still playing in the lane. Usually the towers are slightly damaged, but it's not that phase where you start roaming and taking objectives (unless you're grouped with your team).



The priority objectives are: Dragon, Baron Nashor, Towers, the lower priorities are: Blue Buff, Red Buff, and Ward Clearing. Dragon is probably going to be the most contested objective this game, it's easy to kill when grouped as five, and it gives 950 global gold. It's something that can set a team ahead, be sure to ward it. Baron Nashor isn't as important, because during mid game, you can't necessarily kill it fast, it may take up to 20 seconds, which gives a huge window of opportunity for the other team to counter. Baron also massive amounts of damage, and teamfights can won just from Baron contributing into the teamfight, keep it warded so they don't take it by surprise, but don't expect them to Baron 17 minutes in. I would suggest taking at least the tier 1/outer middle tower, if you haven't already, it just grants a lot more access to the map and mid is easier to push.



Ward control and map control is also very important in this phase of the game. During Mid Game, teamfights tend to happen if they're not too busy try to take objectives. Map control is everything due to the teams roaming. Being outnumbered can lead to lost towers, dragons, and Baron Nashor. Biggest areas to ward are definitely Baron Nashor and Dragon, warding around your jungle is also a good idea (around red buff, and blue buff). Be sure to check the obvious spots if you jungler/suppoort has oracles (around dragon and Baron Nashor). Take any objectives that you and your team can take.


Take Red Buff to prepare for teamfights, push your lane so you don't have to worry about it, and kill the jungle creeps if your lane is pushed to the point of where you don't have vision to keep up in farm. Don't get behind the other AD carry. One lovely thing about Graves' is when you push your lane, you can farm off jungle creeps by constantly using Quickdraw, it's a way to still farm even when your lane is pushed.

Late Game, everything is revolved around you and the opposing AD carry, you are the highest (sustained) damage dealer in the game. You will see people targeting you because of this. You have to stick with your team, and make sure to walk into places you're certain of. This is where one teamfight or mistake can determine where the game is going. If you guys lose a teamfight at this stage this means free Barons/buffs if not contested, free roam over the map, and more importantly, free towers and inhibitors.


The most important items of this game at this stage are:



Tell your support and possibly jungler to buy these items, heck you might even have to buy them. Ward around your own jungle and Baron Nashor to have some map control. Warding the enemy jungle is optional, but at least want control of your side of the map and baron. I cannot emphasize how important map control is in this phase of the game. One ward can be the difference in a teamfight. You always want somewhere to go when you're walking around the map, not waiting for Buckshot to come off cooldown and using it to see if the enemy is there.



Baron is potentially the most important objective all 10 players are alive. The buff is significant in teamfights, especially if you can whittle them down. It gives you regeneration to constantly pressure the enemy lanes, and some offensive stats (40 Attack Damage, 40 Ability Power) for an edge in teamfights. You can't forget the 1,500 global gold Baron gives, that's the most gold you will receive from a single objective! Having vision and or control is important. Always have more than one ward around Baron, and be sure to watch where the enemies are. If someone is at bottom lane farming/pushing, you need to force it. If you're going to contest Baron, always bring an Oracle, especially if you're going to bait them. Nothing like a good bait as 5 members of a team in that one small bush near Baron and 1 enemy Annie nearby. Also when you have oracles, please don't risk your life just to clear one ward that all the enemies probably placed to bait someone into it, it's not worth it. To sum it all up, ward baron, force it if someone is at bot or in base, and don't die.

I would also like to formally note that Statikk Shiv can be replaced by Phantom Dancer at this stage of the game.

One of the biggest and most obviosu things you have to do is look out for your team and yourself is if your ultimates are available. They're so gamechanging in a teamfight your teammates should already know this, but if notice your ultimate or that Amumu's ultimate is down, be sure to yell it out for reassurance. Another thing is, you shouldn't go to bot lane if the enemy is contesting Baron, it Baron grants 4 minutes of constant pressure and pushing towards the team that gets it. Always be sure to spend all of your gold if possible, use it on the Elixir of Fortitude, the temporary damage increase can be vital. If both teams are near each other and both are ready to strike whenever, the only thing you should be poking with is Buckshot, don't be auto attacking that Amumu, or Quickdrawing towards that Irelia, stay safe in the back of the team, you can take some punishment, but being out of position is another thing. Be sure to secure your own buffs as they are vital for teamfights, especially when you have Red Buff.


You don't want to be the first one going in, and if your team is tower diving, never tank the tower, you are too important to the team to be taking free damage from a structure. Always try to auto attack, use Buckshot and Collateral Damage when the enemies group up or when you need to kill someone out of your range. To be honest, all of your abilities in a teamfight aside from Quickdraw should always be on cooldown for maximum DPS (assuming you hit them). I see a lot of people do this but when you're pushing try not using Smoke Screen as having it in the teamfight is very strong and wasting it on a certain area that the enemy can move out of is stupid, especially if you're constantly being targeted.

Positioning

Positioning is a key part to playing the AD carry, or really any Ranged DPS role. It's important to be alive and dealing as much damage as you can. Since you are such a significant factor in a teamfight, you will see people prioritizing you as a target such as a Tanky DPS or possible the AP carry. If the tanky DPS is melee, this is when Quickdraw and stutter stepping really comes in handy. You want to kite the tanky DPS and constantly auto attack to lifesteal and to lower the cooldown of Quickdraw at the same time. Use Quickdraw as if you were using Arcane Shift on Ezreal or Valkyrie on Corki, you will do a lot of damage without the additional attack speed, if there are no nearby threats, go ahead and use it, but don't use it offensively and Quickdraw in (unless you want to get in range). Also, unless a Tanky DPS is going in for you, the extra bullets from Buckshot should never be hitting the others, if you're that close to the enemies, you better be winning that teamfight. Smoke Screen the tanky DPS prioritizing for you, the vision reduction and slow is vital for consistent kiting. Again, be safe and don't go straight for the enemy AD carry (unless they're exposed and you can get him/her).

It is very tempting to be in front of your team and harass the enemy as much as you can with your auto attacks when you're being pushed or pushing near a tower against the enemies, but you have to realize that's you're putting yourself at risk of losing a teamfight if you get caught. Smoke Screen or Buckshot to always poke. You shouldn't be auto attacking the enemies in front of your teammates, especially since you only have 525 range.

Peeling

Peeling is when your teammate(s) are protecting you and reassuring that you don't die. This is when supports can make a gamechanging move that can win you the teamfight. If there are threatening targets, be sure to tell your support to peel for you. Really, the only time the support shouldn't peel for you is when they're Alistar or Leona and they have to initiate the fight. Otherwise, that one Dazzle to stun that AP carry targeting you, or that one Monsoon to make sure that Irelia stays away from you can save you. Always be sure your support is nearby, and tell your team to peel for you when you feel it's appropriate.



The objectives you want to aim for is towers and inhibitors as those are of greater significance, they grant more map control and it's one step closer to the nexus. If your minions are already pushing or someone can tank tower shots, I would prioritize that. Baron should only be taken if you have enough teammates alive (unlikely if both teams were at even foot), because having 3 of your teammates only having the Baron buff isn't as effective. Push until they are near respawning, take red/blue buff if they are available, and recall. Don't push all the way to Nexus if they're about to respawn, you can end up throwing the game.

- Sabastian (IGN: sab), awesome friend who created the ability pictures for me.
- Slater, best guide moderator TSM, reason why Mafia Graves is in the background
- Justice, a friend who really helped me with the knowledge of certain aspects of the game, (does not want to be formally acknowledge so let's call him by his Skype display name)







I'm surprised Graves is just dancing around 50% win rate when he's easy to play, and he's great at his role. He's not the most difficult champion to learn, especially if you play AD carries. While he's not relatively difficult, I still see people missing his Buckshot and Collateral Damage (by a large margin), I mean seriously? Anyways, that's my Graves guide, he's a great starter AD carry (if he were only cheaper) and he's fun to me. I love him, and if you're good at him, you can probably beat all the AD carries out there (except Caitlyn in the laning phase). I wouldn't be surprised if he was nerfed again.

Oh, and please do comment if you do happen to see something I can improve on, or if there is an error on my guide, even if it's the slightest thing. Thanks!



I'm on number 3. A little back story, Mordekaiser was the most fed on the team, and we had a huge advantage because we had him. Sivir was only 300 gold behind me, Skarner decided to try to grab someone but Ahri charmed him which is why he was caught in the beginning. After Skarner died, they initiated the fight onto us. I felt we were going to lose this fight regardless of our gold lead and baron buff because 5 v 4's are no fun. I decided I would at least try to kill someone and I tried to kill Ahri, but she got away. I was going to use Collateral Damage on her but Soraka silenced me, I didn't notice I was exhausted until it was nearly too late and I thought I might as well do as much damage by Buckshotting and using Collateral Damage and I flashed to try to kill someone. It turns out they were all pretty low afterwards and I kept auto attacking because of ignite. I also got Ahri in the back. And Mordekaiser tries to kill Sivir, (he said he was trying to keep her low, but I think he wanted the kill), so I decided to Quickdraw for the kill.

• Support Synergies
• Mastery Alternatives, Utility Tree Mastery explanations?
• Add Twitch

Author's Update (5/4/13): I have not been playing Graves as much. This happens with all champions I main, they eventually become more boring to play, Graves being another one. I have also started playing as a jungler simply because I absolutely love stealing buffs, dragons, and baron with Smite. I will try to keep this guide updated, but you won't see me updating as much until I become more interested in Graves again.