Gragas

His Lovely Face

Hi all Im YPYN Propain currently on NA Server and i play AP mid for my clan most of the time and of my top 3 favorite AP Mids is my Gragas! I bought him long ago before i knew about shushei and all the famous people and immedietly fell in love with him, even though shushei plays a mean gragas don't get me wrong :3.Please read the entire guide if you want a thorough depth of how i play gragas you can do your own way if you feel the need this is just a guide/build on how i play him.I play Graggy as ap burst tanky in his own ways, enough with this chapter let us move on, Enjoy :D!

Gragas
Pros:
1.Heavy Burst.
2.Good Escape ability
3.Epic ultimate to initiate.
4.Great Chaser.
5.Takes less damage.
6.Free mana
7.Great farm.
Cons
1.Mana costly If you spam.
2.Focused often.
3.Ulti can backfire if used wrong
4.Has to melee last hit can be hard against ranged ap if the challenge you.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration- Just and all around great rune for any AP Nuke, recommend on all.

Greater Seal of Vitality-You do not need mana too much in my opinion you get a good amount whenever your Drunken Rage is up. the health just make him more of a bruiser and hard to kill.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist- In lane vs a ap mid these glyphs are really under rated really helps alot to win.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power-My Second choice good AP late game i suppose but the MR glyphs i feel are better.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power-Free 15 AP for the early game punches makes you a little more scary.

I roll a well balanced Mastery page 21/0/9 i take all the damage i can that i benifet from in the offense and aim for the MS and the 20% increased on buffs, baron and blue buffs are great to have especially 20% longer.


i have tried 9/21/0 and its okay i just dont really think he should be tanky he has his W and is tanky enough i feel Sraight damage masteries is perfect.

EARLY GAME
Boot's Of Speed Health Potionx3 This i feel Is more perfect than a dorans ring, 450 HP From pots and be able to run in and out for cs and escape ganks easier is DEFINATELY better than a dorans ring which you sell later in the game.

Sorcerer's Shoes- Usually my first item i buy when i back because i frankly never stack Doran's Ring's unless i am doing HORRIBLY bad and need to sustain my lane. easier.

MID GAME
Rabadon's Deathcap- The best AP item for a AP Nuke, what more do you want? If you are doing bad in lane and run dorans rings i usually go Rylai's Crystal Scepter to sustain till i get my deathcap.

Void Staff- I Run the void staff as my 3rd major item because well i usually do well in my lane and when i get fed i dont have to worry about survivability and i can just pack that Extra punch to kill sooo much faster and eliminate any MR resists left over.
LATE GAME
Rylai's Crystal Scepter- Late game if it carries out you need to get survivability because people will focus you so the extra slow with your E will easily make you able to catch opponets and that health is great not to mention AP all around great item.

Abyssal Mask- The MR Reduction is golden. and free MR and AP for yourself nice item.

LATE LATE GAME ><
My last item is a choice up to What i really need or i really Feel.
Zhonya's Hourglass-I usually pick this great 100 AP and a free untargetable for two seconds to remove stuff or run in there make them focus you, and just use that :3

Lich's Bane-I ran this once or twice kinda liked it, good MR AP and the passive makes your auto attack HURT because you get free AD from Drunken Rage and the MS if you need more! helps ><.

Moonflair Spellblade- REALLY underated item if you feel the team has alot of CC you can have your Magic pen boots and tenacity and a tad bit AP it just really helps out.

*ALWAYS BUY ELIXERS/ORACLES WHEN BUILDS ARE COMPLETE PRACTICLY A WALKING BARON*

Barrel Roll-Since i play AP mid Gragas in the build i max my best AP nuke first. This thing hits like a trunk and allows you to harass very well!, but if you get challenged by your AP mid and lose do to your Melee Last hitting you can always farm with This every few waves or so.

Drunken Rage- I level this last but kind of in between W And E because i like more mana gain kind of early and it scales with my Body Slam So well. The 18% Reduced damage is so nice if you keep this spell up and makes you a very tanky ap. Use this whenever it is up and before fights because, you dont wanna drink during a fight lose time and melee hits!

Body Slam- Level 4 ganks make me laugh, boots + This and even flash if i ever need it, ungankable, it can also go Through thin walls if you use it right and has a great 4 second CD i believe and is just amazing for chasing and escaping. I level this second because well it hurts when your AP decides he has the balls to fight you 10 feet away, always catches them off gaurd.

Explosive Cask- This ultimate is pretty amazing if used right, if used wrong well your team will get mad at you as if you helped the team like Alistar headbutts them away. Be warned this ultimate has a second delay kind of so they get a bit of free time to make it used to their advanatge.

Explosive Cask can be used when defending yourself or an ally push them back or hunting down a enemy or even initating. I also use this to split up team especcially when a Amumu Ulties or a Morgana to make their ultimates useless.

MY COMBO ON HOW TO USE GRAGAS ABILITES
Early game lvl 4-5 he has amazing damage, if your AP mid has balls to fight near you grab a drink of Drunken Rage, surprise him Body Slam and use Barrel Roll usually they are 20% or lower when i use this if you have hit a Barrel Roll at least once during farming phase. and then i can finish off with a few auto attacks and an ignite, since auto attacks with drunken rage do so much.

I use this combo in team fights as well just add a Explosive Cask In the mix.

Ignite I do not use anything to fill this spot because gragas is all burst damage and when that burst is down, all you can do is auto attack and try to catch your fleeing target, ignite helps down that last 10% :D

Flash Great escape or great hunting tool, this with Body Slam and you are golden! :D

ALTERNATIVES

The only two alternatives would be maybe a top lane gragas, as a Teleport To have map control or Exhaust If you face an AD top. but other than these four i find the others not as Good.

I usually last hit my creeps because i can easily do it with my Drunken Rage but your Barrel Roll and Body Slam combo means insta kill wave, sometimes even just a Q which makes gragas an awesome Farmer, can even steal your jungle wraiths/theirs just dont tell them :) be wary though if you use Q Alot even your Drunken rage wont be able to keep up.

Gragas Excels at ganking Top and Bot lane when he hits 6 or pre 6 he can rush down there fast, pop his ultimate and then Body Slam to them for the slow and they just got a free kill or two also please ping when you gank it really helps your team be aware.


Buy wards whenever you can!!! help your team, and ward around especially your lane!

Call MIA When your lane goes missing :3

It is very viable with his Body Slam A slow and his Explosive Cask knockback and can actually do it pretty fast with a blue. With his body slam you can run everywhere and gank well.

Masteries: i grab a hybrid type to clear early and still hold my AP carnage to gank.


For runes i run the armor penetration to jungle quicker, and armor seals to withstand jungle, and attack speed glyphs to down it all faster, for my quints i grab more health because gragas is very squishy in jungle with just boots and pots.

Items: I go boots and pots first because lets face it the jungle is so weak i can do boots pots on nearly any champion as long as they got minor sustain.early you want GP5 items to get some gold by the 30-40 minute mark you can sell these easily for your money back and more. and after those two i just grab my normal AP Build.

Skills: your passive Happy Hour lets you sustain a bit longer without potions use as much.i Do Body Slam first as it helps clear jungle faster and gank easier, getting 3 points early then i run my normal AP Barrel skill.

Route: i Do blue and just run around, gragas can gank very easy and roam everywhere when you need it most. [always get a pull on blue pull or else you will die usually] Farm whenever you get the chance as he needs farm to build ap mid game even with GP5 items it falls off.

And thats how i play jungle gragas, dont believe the non believers it is ver affective! :D

Thank you all

Thank you all for reading my guide i hope i gave you a excellent outline of how gragas works and hopefully you can excel with him as well, if you have any questions my name is YPYN Propain on the NA server, i usually solo que and am in need of a duo que partner :3 but i have done a few good matches with my team!

HAVE FUN!