How to win the jungle race as Graves against Hecarim · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Graves's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Hecarim.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Graves Favoured | End of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit, but Rampage spam clears quickly and stacked Q wins camp-side trades. You still win the straight exchange at the first buff; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Graves Favoured | Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets you out-trade in tight jungle lanes. Hecarim can make it awkward — stacked Rampage spam plus the E charge knock-back wins fights that start at his pace — but not with one camp still up on both sides. Trade, then walk away with the second buff and the tempo that comes with it. |
| Level 3 Route | Graves Favoured | Smoke Screen's blind caps a kit that wins almost every close-quarters exchange. The margin is thin: the Devastating Charge knock-back engage rounds out a solid skirmish kit, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. Trade when his Q stacks have dropped — off-stack Hecarim hits half as hard. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Graves Favoured — Take Duels | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Hecarim, but only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Collateral Damage Favoured | Collateral Damage adds a dash-reset execute to your close-range shred. The Onslaught fear charge opens fights with their carry running the wrong way, so the margin is real but narrow: fight when your ultimate is up and Onslaught of Shadows is the one on cooldown. |
| First Item Spike | Youmuu's / Umbral Glaive Spike | Completing your core lethality component grants a devastating physical damage and armor penetration spike that completely destabilizes their defensive stat builds. Your camp clearing mechanics become completely automated, letting you wipe whole sides in seconds before invading deep into their jungle tracks. Hecarim's first item is where the Rampage spam stops being clear speed and starts being a real health bar of damage. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Graves Favoured at Full Build | Full-build math leans your way: extended fights and side-lane duels favor you over Hecarim — make late fights about 1v1s, not coin-flips. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp to maximize early health optimization via E shell resets, before executing a full 6-camp clear path straight down into the scuttle crab. Hecarim clears fast with stacked Rampage and Spirit of Dread sustain, and his passive means he is always moving.
Ranked by the race windows in Graves's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Graves vs Hecarim report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
Read the full guide — plans from $1.99/month →🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · ✋ Cancel anytime
Lane Pass $1.99/mo · All Lanes $3.99/mo · Annual $24.99/yr. Renews automatically — cancel anytime.
Graves's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows — Graves holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Graves's race plan controls 7 of the 7 windows, so Hecarim is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Graves takes Fleet Footwork on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace, and Domination secondary (Sudden Impact and Treasure Hunter) vs Hecarim.
Start Mosstomper Seedling + Health Potion and back for Serrated Dirk / Cloak of Agility — keep full-clearing into invades. Build Youmuu's / Umbral Glaive first, then Infinity Edge, with Plated Steelcaps / Berserker's Greaves.
Playing the other side? Hecarim vs Graves guide →
All Graves jungle matchups →
More Graves jungle matchups: vs Evelynn · vs Fiddlesticks · vs Gragas · vs Ivern · vs Jarvan IV · vs Jax