Pros: Cons:
Massive Burst DMG Mana hungry when played aggressively
Amazing Ultimate with AOE Focused hard in team fights
Huge gun, looks very chic Good farming needed to carry late
Hardcore AS carry with E Can be crushed by CCs and AOE spells
W has good CC and is anti-carry Long CD on E when used for getting away
Ranged but not too squishy
Last hit very well

Graves is one of the best carries in the game, not only bursting squishy mages in the game down in no time but deals tons of damage with his ultimate and his insanely increased attack speed. His passive is very good early and late as the bonus increases but it is not enough to let Graves receive tons of damage and CC mages. Graves also has get-away skills such as his E and his W. Late game his W has crazy CC if landed accurately and correctly, almost always insuring a victorious team fight. I grab flash and exhaust for mobility and repositioning and controlling the enemy's DPS carries. I go 21/9/0 for the laning sustainability of mana and defence. Combined with your passive it is very difficult to harrass Graves very well.

In the laning phase from level 1-6, you should really ration your HP and last hit the minions with good timing. Graves is a ranged, high-damage champion and he should last hit quite easily.
Ration your mana by not Qing to harrass but rather than to farm as well as using your E to increase attack speed. If you are laning with a tank or support with a stun or heal, then at level 5 you should start playing aggressively by throwing your smokescreen and Quick dashing in range then Buckshotting all you can reach. If you rationed your mana correctly then you will have no problem getting the enemy low and exhausting and flashing to get possibly first blood. At the first base run, you should aim for greaves and parts of your latern. Grab red buff as often as you can because of Graves' range damage and mobile chasing of your E you will have no problem soloing champions and chasing them down with the slow that comes with the red buff.

Grabbing a Black Cleaver early is very effective in increasing your damage output and the armor reduction stacks very well due to the attack speed increase of your E skill. After rushing Black Cleaver it is your choice to grab Frozen Mallet or IE, Frozen Mallet greatly increases your chasing abilities and survivability in team fights while IE gives your Q and R insane burst damage. If the enemy team has high mobility carries such as Corki, Ashe and Caitlyn or it has high ap bursting mages such as Brand or Veigar then grab Frozen Mallet, otherwise with squishy mages and carries that can be controlled by your team mate, grab IE. The Last Whisper is purely for ripping through tanks, it can be replaced with survivability items such as Banshee's or Quick Silver Sash.

Graves' high bursting skills makes him a focus point in team battles and often gets exhausted or stunned to be eliminated first. Usually, you should wait for the casters to finish their AOE run or the single target bursting combos maybe throw your W in for some decent CC, then it comes the pleasure of shredding everyone to pieces with your Q and R, together fired it can half or erase the health bars of most champions, especially annoying AOE mages such as Karthus, Malz, Annie or Brand. With the CC of the team gone the rest just goes with it. When playing Graves it is essential to be alert and at the back of the teamfight. If you feel like you are venturing in too close to the casters, immediately flash and reposition yourself to deal the maximum damage you can do. Remember, once you die without unleashing your combos then your team would have to have extreme dominance to win the team fight, but if you do the mentioned above, then its time to say GG because Graves is LEGENDARY!

Thanks for reading my guide! Please rate and leave me a comment on your thoughts about Graves the GG Carry!