How to win the jungle race as Graves against Zac · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Graves's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Zac.
| 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 a fog-charged Elastic Slingshot knock-up opens a gank-grade engage onto you. 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 Zac concedes. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Graves Dominant | Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets you out-trade in tight jungle lanes, while Elastic Slingshot is for ganks. 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. Blob sustain keeps their clear healthy, but champion trades are losers, and as the first scuttle timer lands that is not an answer. Take the level-3 river fight and make Zac path away from the camps you want. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Graves Dominant — Keep Fighting | You are the stronger side all through 4-5. Zac knows it — he charges Elastic Slingshot from fog through 4-5 and is more dangerous off your screen than on it — so shadow that side of the map and make them fight you anyway. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Collateral Damage Favoured | Collateral Damage adds a dash-reset execute to your close-range shred. Zac's six is not empty — the fog Slingshot into Let's Bounce! keeps your whole side airborne. Take the duel from even health rather than from behind, and ward his charge walls — a grounded Zac is just a sad puddle. |
| 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. Zac's first item is a durability spike, so he does not start killing you — he starts surviving whatever you send. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Even Scaling — Prep Decides | Neither of you out-scales the other. He is a fog engage with two health bars, so the first kill is only temporary, so the late game is decided by who starts the fight, not who wins the stat sheet. |
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. Zac clears steadily with blob sustain and Unstable Matter, and he never has to recall for health before six.
Ranked by the race windows in Graves's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Graves vs Zac 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 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 Zac 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 Zac.
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? Zac vs Graves guide →
All Graves jungle matchups →
More Graves jungle matchups: vs Warwick · vs Wukong · vs Xin Zhao · vs Zyra · vs Amumu · vs Bel'Veth