How to win the jungle race as Graves against Nocturne · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Graves's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Nocturne.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Graves Favoured | End of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit. Umbra Blades' AoE sustain clears fast and wins the raptor-pit brawl, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-1 crossing only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Graves Favoured | Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets you out-trade in tight jungle lanes, but Duskbringer's trail damage plus speed wins straight-line trades. You still win the straight exchange on the second camp; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Level 3 Route | Graves Favoured | Smoke Screen's blind caps a kit that wins almost every close-quarters exchange. Nocturne can make it awkward — Unspeakable Horror's fear tether turns any extended trade into a lost one — but not as the first scuttle timer lands. Trade, then walk away with the first scuttle and the gank window behind it. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Graves Favoured — Take Duels | The 4-5 window is yours if you pick it: he spends 4-5 on Duskbringer trails into side lanes and takes camps in the gaps between them. Track that pattern, arrive one camp early, and take the fight before the follow-up shows. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Even Ult Window | Neither ultimate cleanly beats the other — Paranoia darkens the map and delivers a fear-tether dive straight onto you, but Collateral Damage adds a dash-reset execute to your close-range shred. The breakpoint goes to whoever reaches it first with an objective on the map. |
| 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. Nocturne's first item is where the Duskbringer trade stops being a chunk and becomes a kill on any squishy. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Graves Favoured at Full Build | Two items on, the edge is yours. The one thing to plan around is that he removes your vision and arrives on your carry with a spell shield already up — take that away and the fight is a formality. |
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. Nocturne clears fast off Umbra Blades sustain and Duskbringer, and he is at full health almost every camp.
Ranked by the race windows in Graves's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Graves vs Nocturne 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 6 of the 7 windows — Graves holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Graves's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows, so Nocturne 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 Nocturne.
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? Nocturne vs Graves guide →
All Graves jungle matchups →
More Graves jungle matchups: vs Morgana · vs Naafiri · vs Nidalee · vs Nunu & Willump · vs Olaf · vs Qiyana