Naafiri vs Graves — Jungle Matchup Guide

How to win the jungle race as Naafiri against Graves · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15

Verdict: Graves pressures 6 of the 7 windows in this race — survive the early game and scale into your windows.

The jungle race — the windows in Naafiri's plan

Read from Naafiri's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Graves.

StageReadWhy
Level 1 ClearRespect GravesEnd of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit, and Naafiri has no clean answer to it at the first buff — True Grit armor plus point-blank double-shot autos win any close-range brawl. Fight him in the open where his pellets spread, never inside a tight buff pit, and give up your opening camps rather than the kill.
Level 2 SkirmishRespect GravesThe window on the second camp belongs to Graves: Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets them out-trade in tight jungle lanes. Your own line is real — the Hounds' Pursuit dash trade chunks anyone contesting your second buff — but it arrives second here. Fight him in the open where his pellets spread, never inside a tight buff pit, then refuse the level-2 skirmish.
Level 3 RouteRespect GravesAt level 3 this window belongs to Graves: Smoke Screen's blind caps a kit that wins almost every close-quarters exchange, and True Grit armor plus point-blank double-shot autos win any close-range brawl. Fight him in the open where his pellets spread, never inside a tight buff pit. Give up the level-3 river fight and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map.
Levels 4-5 MacroRespect Graves — Path OppositeLevels 4-5 still belong to Graves in a straight fight — farm the opposite side, answer their ganks cross-map, and wait for your spike.
Level 6 BreakpointRespect Graves's RGraves wins the breakpoint outright — Collateral Damage adds a dash-reset execute to their close-range shred, and the R execute plus True Grit armor closes out any trade he starts ahead. Respect the burst threshold and fight him in the open, never the pit, then trade objectives cross-map until your items land.
First Item SpikeEclipse / Profane Hydra SpikeCompleting your core item triggers a massive physical damage and shielding multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or assassin targets. Graves' first item is a large step in raw damage — the double-shot at point blank starts removing squishies outright.
2+ Items ScalingDanger — Graves OutscalesEvery minute past 25 tilts toward Graves — he shreds anything in a corridor and holds a side lane against most of the map. Force your win condition early or watch it slip away slowly.

How to beat Graves as Naafiri: the first clear and pathing

Start your clear at the Red Buff camp and use Eviscerate (E) as your dash-and-damage tool between camps; it recalls and fully heals your packmates, not Naafiri herself, so track your own HP bar rather than assuming sustain. Move into a fast 3-camp clear straight into an aggressive lane gank or invade path, and monitor Graves's opening lane arrivals to determine if they are pulling a full clear from their red side or setting up an opposite river scuttle contest. Graves has one of the fastest clears in the game — End of the Line through two camps at once means he is level three early.

Hardest and easiest matchups for Naafiri in the jungle

Ranked by the race windows in Naafiri's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.

Hardest

Easiest

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Naafiri vs Graves 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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Common questions

Who wins Naafiri vs Graves in the jungle?

Graves pressures 6 of the 7 windows in this race — survive the early game and scale into your windows.

Is Naafiri vs Graves a skill matchup?

Not exactly — Graves pressures 6 of the 7 windows, so Naafiri is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.

Related guides

Playing the other side? Graves vs Naafiri guide →
All Naafiri jungle matchups →

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