B. F. Sword is the most important item for Graves to acquire early on due to his extreme AD scaling and AD caster nature. If he cannot purchase it early, a Vampiric Scepter and another Doran's Blade should suffice and keep him in lane until he can afford his Best Friend Sword. Boots can honestly just be bought "whenever you feel like it" in the early game.


Bloodthirster and Statikk Shiv grant Graves nearly unrivaled raw burst damage. Getting these items quickly can allow Graves to quickly dispose of softer targets that are caught out before team fights actually start, making him somewhat of an assassin if played right. Bloodthirster hyperscales your AD ratios and gives you even harder sustain. Statikk Shiv on the other hand is your primary attack speed item. Why is it better than Phantom Dancer in the normal build? Because Graves is an AD Caster type Marksman designed to deal a lot of damage in a very short frame of time, the lightning procs on Statikk Shiv far outweigh the slightly higher attack speed and crit chance of Phantom Dancer by giving him additional burst.



Last Whisper will finish your main damage items, allowing you eat through armor like it's paper. Infinity Edge makes your critical auto attacks outright nasty and it is generally a massive damage boost all around. Guardian Angel gives you a second life when you die, at lowered health of course. Many people buy the item, use it, then sell it for a different defensive item. Make sure you still try to stay alive as long as possible with this item as to not waste it.


Blade of the Ruined King is a great alternative to Bloodthirster if you are at great risk of being dived or focused by beefy melee champions. The item helps you a lot in dealing with tanks and bruisers as health stacking generally counters Graves' damage, while also giving him another way to kite or catch up to targets. Zephyr can be a great pickup to eat through CC duration while still having great offensive stats, including sexy CDR. A common practice is to sell Berserker Greaves after you have 6 items and buy this because it offers far greater stats at the cost of a bit of movement speed. Phantom Dancer is your primary attack speed item, and it greatly increases your dueling power when your abilities are on cooldown and you are forced back into auto attacking. It also allows you to "phase" through enemy units, which is very useful when making escapes. This item is interchangeable with Statikk Shiv.


Mercurial Scimitar is an alternate defensive item against hard CC, as you won't normally take Cleanse. The active also removes suppression, something Cleanse does not. When being focused by multiple AD's, Randuin's Omen can go a long way to saving your life with it's passive and active effects. It also makes you beefy as hell, which in itself is a deterrent to trying to kill you. Banshee's Veil is a specialized defensive purchase. It usually for countering champions who rely on a single ability to engage on you ( Bandage Toss, Charm, etc) or abilities that will severely damage you from long ranges ( Javelin Toss, Shock Blast+ Acceleration Gate, etc). It also gives you a generous helping of health and magic resistance, which is always welcome, as Mages are your primary aggressors.

Caster vs. Carry

Graves functions better as more of an AD Caster. He scales incredibly hard on attack damage, and his abilities have very high base damage. This, in combination with his low auto attack range means it's far more advantageous to build him with a focus of AD and Armor Pen. He can function as a normal attack focused AD carry, but it is both risky, and less efficient. This build can be effective though if fighting multiple tanks, as your abilities will deal far less damage to them than crit enhanced auto attacks.

Dat Burst

The combination of Buckshot, Smoke Screen and Collateral Damage can instantly kill or seriously maim squishy targets. Be sure to get as close as possible with this kill combo to get the most damage from Buckshot! Also be sure that getting so close to pull this combo off won't get you killed in the process.

Smoke Screen Juking

Smoke Screen can be used to juke and further confuse enemies. For instance, when running from an enemy at bot lane, you can fire Smoke Screen in front of yourself and walk into it, forcing your pursuer to follow. Quickdraw in a seemingly random direction as they enter the Smoke Screen and they may keep going the wrong way, creating a massive gap in distance between you.

Wall Dashing

Quickdraw can be used to cross certain walls. Graves is capable of crossing over the Dragon and Baron Nashor pit walls as well as over all jungle camp walls. You must be very close to the walls to do this. use this tactic to save your life without burning Flash!