How to win the jungle race as Graves against Kindred · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Graves's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Kindred.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Graves Favoured | End of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit. The margin is thin: Dance of Arrows kiting beats melee kits that can't close the gap, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. Commit only with a hard gap-close ready — chasing her through camps is a lost race. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Graves Favoured | Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets you out-trade in tight jungle lanes. Wolf's Frenzy plus Q resets let them skirmish from untouchable range, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-2 skirmish only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 3 Route | Graves Favoured | Smoke Screen's blind caps a kit that wins almost every close-quarters exchange, but with three dashes banked they kite backwards and win every disengage fight. You still win the straight exchange at the opening scuttle; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Graves Favoured — Take Duels | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Kindred, but only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Even Ult Window | Both sixes are real: Collateral Damage adds a dash-reset execute to your close-range shred, while Lamb's Respite denies your kill at the last second and flips the reset fight. Whoever lands their ultimate first wins the window — track the level race and avoid being the one caught at five and a half. |
| 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. Kindred's first item plus a few stacks is where the ranged trade stops being poke and starts being a duel they win. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Danger — Kindred Outscales | Every minute past 25 tilts toward Kindred — a stacked Kindred kites for free and Lamb’s Respite un-loses the fight you thought you won. Force your win condition early or watch it slip away slowly. |
Start at Red Buff so early Quickdraw (E) hits into camps refresh its cooldown and keep stacking Quickdraw's armor/MR buff through the clear. Track which side Kindred opens on to know whether he's pathing to mirror your clear or crossing away toward the opposite scuttle. Kindred clears fast at range with Dance of Arrows and Wolf's Frenzy, and takes almost no damage doing it.
Ranked by the race windows in Graves's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Graves vs Kindred 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.
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Graves's race plan controls 5 of the 7 windows — Graves holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Graves's race plan controls 5 of the 7 windows, so Kindred 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 Kindred.
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? Kindred vs Graves guide →
All Graves jungle matchups →
More Graves jungle matchups: vs Karthus · vs Kayn · vs Kha'Zix · vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke