How to win the jungle race as Graves against Talon · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Graves's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Talon.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Graves Favoured | End of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit. The Noxian Diplomacy bleed wins short trades at shared entrances, 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 Rake's return damage makes mid-range poke trades free for them. 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. Talon can make it awkward — the Q-W bleed burst plus wall-hop angles start fights you never saw coming — 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 | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Talon, 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, while Shadow Assault stealth plus converging blades burst anyone they touch. You win the breakpoint against Talon, not the whole game — cash it on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| 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. Talon's first item is the point where the bleed rotation goes from a heavy chunk to a full kill on a squishy. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Graves Favoured — Wins Late | Talon falls off relative to you — from two items on you win the raw stat check, even though he removes an isolated carry and leaves over a wall before anyone reacts. Drag the game long and force the 1v1s. |
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. Talon clears fast with Rake and Noxian Diplomacy bleeds, and the wall-hops mean his path is shorter than yours.
Ranked by the race windows in Graves's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Graves vs Talon 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 Talon 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 Talon.
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? Talon vs Graves guide →
All Graves jungle matchups →
More Graves jungle matchups: vs Shyvana · vs Skarner · vs Taliyah · vs Trundle · vs Udyr · vs Vi