How to win the jungle race as Graves against Maokai · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Graves's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Graves Dominant | End of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit. Later in the game this bites, because Twisted Advance's untargetable root locks you down for the counter-trade. But before either of you has a second camp down none of it is online, so take the level-1 crossing and tax every camp Maokai concedes. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Graves Dominant | Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets you out-trade in tight jungle lanes, while Twisted Advance root trades keep skirmishes on their schedule. Only one of those wins on the second camp, so press it: take the level-2 skirmish, then leave with the second buff and the tempo that comes with it. |
| Level 3 Route | Graves Dominant | Smoke Screen's blind caps a kit that wins almost every close-quarters exchange. Bramble Smash knock-back plus the W root is a solid pick kit, not a stat-check, and as the first scuttle timer lands that is not an answer. Take the level-3 river fight and make Maokai path away from the camps you want. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Graves Dominant — Keep Fighting | Nothing about 4-5 helps Maokai here: he plays 4-5 through sapling vision and root ganks into lanes that already hold the wave, while you can take any duel you can reach. Invade on the clear-timer, not on a whim. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Collateral Damage Favoured | Collateral Damage adds a dash-reset execute to your close-range shred. Maokai's six is not empty — a forest of roots arrives ahead of every objective contest. Take the duel from even health rather than from behind, and flank around the root wave — it is slow and dodgeable from the side. |
| 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. Maokai's first item mostly buys health and cooldowns — his spike is durability, not damage, and it arrives early. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Graves Favoured at Full Build | Two items on, the edge is yours. The one thing to plan around is that he is a root wall with a health bar — hard to kill, and the whole river is his zone — take that away and the fight is a formality. |
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 Maokai opens on to know whether he's pathing to mirror your clear or crossing away toward the opposite scuttle. Maokai clears comfortably with Sap Magic sustain and saplings, and he is close to full health at every crossing.
Ranked by the race windows in Graves's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Graves vs Maokai 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 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 Maokai 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 Maokai.
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? Maokai vs Graves guide →
All Graves jungle matchups →
More Graves jungle matchups: vs Lee Sin · vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri