How to win the jungle race as Xin Zhao against Gragas · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Xin Zhao's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Gragas.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Xin Zhao Dominant | Three Talon Strike's knock-up plus passive healing wins the first buff-pit duel. Barrel Roll poke plus passive sustain wins the slow first trade, and before either of you has a second camp down that is not an answer. Take the level-1 crossing and make Gragas path away from the camps you want. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Xin Zhao Dominant | Wind Becomes Lightning (W) challenge poke starts trades you finish for free. There is no version of this Gragas wins right now — Drunken Rage damage reduction makes their short trades strictly efficient, and that folds on the second camp. Show on their side of the river and take the second buff and the tempo that comes with it. |
| Level 3 Route | Xin Zhao Dominant | The full knock-up combo with W slow is among the top three level-3 duels. Later in the game this bites, because a Body Slam stun into barrel burst wins any trade he starts. But as the first scuttle timer lands none of it is online, so take the level-3 river fight and tax every camp Gragas concedes. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Xin Zhao Dominant — Keep Fighting | You are the stronger side all through 4-5. Gragas knows it — he plays 4-5 around Body Slam angles into lanes, softening with Barrel Roll before the engage — so shadow that side of the map and make them fight you anyway. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Crescent Guard Favoured | Crescent Guard makes the 1v1 literal — outside help is deleted from your duel, while Explosive Cask displacement decides objective fights. You win the breakpoint against Gragas, not the whole game — cash it on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| First Item Spike | Sundered Sky / Eclipse Spike | Completing your core item triggers a massive damage, health, and sustain multiplier that completely overpowers traditional brawlers or isolated targets. Gragas' first item makes the Barrel Roll into Body Slam combo a real chunk instead of a nuisance, on a short cooldown. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Respect Gragas Late — End Early | The full-build comparison goes to Gragas: he is a displacement engine — the Cask decides objective fights he does no damage in. Play for picks and objectives, and end before the fight has to be fair. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Q resets and passive to maximize early clear speed and health. Gragas clears comfortably off Barrel Roll and Happy Hour sustain, and he reaches the river with health to spend.
Ranked by the race windows in Xin Zhao's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Xin Zhao vs Gragas 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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Xin Zhao's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Xin Zhao holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Xin Zhao's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows, so Gragas is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Gragas vs Xin Zhao guide →
All Xin Zhao jungle matchups →
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