How to win the jungle race as Xin Zhao against Graves · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Xin Zhao's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Graves.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Xin Zhao Favoured | Three Talon Strike's knock-up plus passive healing wins the first buff-pit duel. The margin is thin: End of the Line plus knockback autos shred melees holding a buff pit, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. Fight him in the open where his pellets spread, never inside a tight buff pit. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Xin Zhao Favoured | Wind Becomes Lightning (W) challenge poke starts trades you finish for free. Quickdraw (E) True Grit armor stacking lets them out-trade in tight jungle lanes, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-2 skirmish only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 3 Route | Xin Zhao Favoured | The full knock-up combo with W slow is among the top three level-3 duels, but Smoke Screen's blind caps a kit that wins almost every close-quarters exchange. You still win the straight exchange at the opening scuttle; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Xin Zhao Favoured — Take Duels | The 4-5 window is yours if you pick it: he uses 4-5 to take your camps, because True Grit stacking makes him the better invader. Track that pattern, arrive one camp early, and take the fight before the follow-up shows. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Crescent Guard Favoured | Crescent Guard makes the 1v1 literal — outside help is deleted from your duel. The R execute plus True Grit armor closes out any trade he starts ahead — respect that one window, but the six-spike comparison favors you: take the post-6 duel whenever HP bars start even. |
| 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. Graves' first item is a large step in raw damage — the double-shot at point blank starts removing squishies outright. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Danger — Graves Outscales | The clock is your enemy. He shreds anything in a corridor and holds a side lane against most of the map, so close the game on the first two objectives you actually win. |
Start your clear at the Red Buff camp utilizing your Q resets and passive to maximize early clear speed and health. 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.
Ranked by the race windows in Xin Zhao's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Xin Zhao 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.
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.
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 Graves is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Graves vs Xin Zhao guide →
All Xin Zhao jungle matchups →
More Xin Zhao jungle matchups: vs Evelynn · vs Fiddlesticks · vs Gragas · vs Hecarim · vs Ivern · vs Jarvan IV