How to win lane as Gnar against Graves · 49.62% win rate (1,971 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Bait his key tool — kite him mini and Mega-stun the Quickdraw cooldown.
Track: Graves's E — Quickdraw (16–12s cooldown). His dash + armor stacks. Engage when it's down.
Read from Gnar's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Graves.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Both of you are ranged, so it is a clean poke trade — his Q shotgun twin-shell burst matches your auto-plus-Boomerang at level 1. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | Your third-hit Hyper proc and move-speed burst plus a Boomerang win the level-2 trade outright — Graves only has Q then, no dash to escape it. |
| Level 3 | Graves | He gets E at 3 and can smoke your vision to break the Boomerang slow chase, so the kiting duel between two skirmishers tilts toward the champ with the dash. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Volatile form RNG, but the edge is yours when it lands: with Mega up you Wallop-stun or wall him after his E dash for the kill. |
| Level 6 | Gnar | Your 6 adds no spell to Mini — it only matters if Mega is up to wall-GNAR! him after his E; without it, level 6 is a standoff he out-pokes. |
| First item | Graves | His first armor/lethality item lets his shotgun burst your fragile Mini form, and his True Grit armor stacking means your Mega trades stop one-shotting him back. |
| Two+ items | Graves | He scales into a tanky-ADC shotgun bruiser that kites your form-dependent burst with E and smoke, deciding the solo skirmishes you can no longer pick. |
Two ranged skirmishers, so nobody gets the free melee-bully lane here — this is a poke duel decided by who lands cleaner. At level 1 trade autos and a single Boomerang, but respect that his Q shotgun's twin-shell burst out-damages a flat auto exchange if you stand still and eat both pellets. Level 2 is your window: stack Hyper to the third-hit proc on him plus land a Boomerang and you win that trade outright, because he only has Q at 2 — no E dash yet to escape the move-speed burst Hyper hands you. Watch his smoke (W) — it blinds your autos and Hyper magic procs, so don't dump a trade into the cloud, wait it out and re-engage on your Boomerang slow.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Gnar's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Gnar vs Graves report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Nobody on paper — a 49.62% win rate over 1,971 games makes this a coin flip decided by play, not champion select.
Yes — Gnar vs Graves is a genuine skill matchup: 49.62% win rate, and the favour swings window to window rather than being set at champion select.
No hard counter either way — the Gnar vs Graves win rate is 49.62%, an even lane decided by execution.
Gnar takes Grasp of the Undying on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, and Resolve secondary (Bone Plating and Unflinching) vs Graves.
Start Doran's Blade + Health Potion and back for Core component + boots (≈1300g). Build Stridebreaker (stick + waveclear) first, then Sterak's Gage, with Plated Steelcaps.
Playing the other side? Graves vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →
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