How to win lane as Graves against Heimerdinger · 50% win rate over 8 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Heimerdinger | He plants a turret and pokes with Hextech Micro-Rockets while you have one ability and no E dash — you literally cannot reach him to trade back. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | You pick up your second ability and start contesting, but his turret zone still out-pokes a Graves who can only step in to last-hit — it comes down to dodging rockets and grenades. |
| Level 3 | Graves | With Q, E and W online you dash the turret line, W-blind the beams and his vision, and burst him before his next CH-3X grenade lands. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Your True Grit armor/MR and two E charges let you survive the turret crossfire in an extended fight, but his stun grenade can still flip it — a coin-flip you edge on his cooldown. |
| Level 6 | Graves | Collateral Damage nukes through his turret zone — R him or the wall behind him on his grenade cooldown for the kill. |
| First item | Graves | Your Eclipse/Youmuu's spike is your peak duel power, letting you blow him up faster than the turrets can punish the dive. |
| Two+ items | Heimerdinger | Turret farm and a Liandry's/Rylai Heimer out-scale you — the burn ticks through your armor stacking and he re-walls every all-in, so the lane slips away. |
Levels 1-2 are his. He plants an H-28G turret on the wave and his Hextech Micro-Rockets chip you every time you walk up to last-hit, and with only your Q (no E dash yet) you can't close the gap to trade back. Farm at max Q range, eat a little poke, and don't burn Q trying to kill his turret early. Everything flips at Level 3: now you have E to dash the turret line, W-smoke to blind the turret beams and slash his vision, and Q to burst — that's your first real all-in window.
The full Graves vs Heimerdinger 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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Playing the other side? Heimerdinger vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →