How to win lane as Graves against K'Sante · 43.18% win rate over 44 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | K'Sante | He out-trades you at Lvl 1 — one ability, no E mobility yet, and his W damage reduction plus HP eat what little poke you have. |
| Level 2 | Graves | You hit Lvl 2 and your second ability lets you weave E for the point-blank shell spread, out-DPSing him before his stats matter. |
| Level 3 | Graves | At Lvl 3 your full Q-E-W kit lands: E in, blind his autos and Q with Smoke Screen, dump the Q-cone — your strongest window in the lane. |
| Levels 4-5 | K'Sante | His HP and resists outpace your True Grit through 4-5, and W damage reduction keeps blunting your shells — he reclaims the trades. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Even moment: Collateral Damage can flip a trade and wall-escape his dive, but his R all-in answers it, so neither side owns Level 6. |
| First item | K'Sante | His first tank item blunts your shell burst faster than your Eclipse/Youmuu's damage scales into his growing HP — he edges the item spike. |
| Two+ items | K'Sante | Full build his on-hit passive, resists and R wall-knockback isolation grind down your tank stacking entirely and he runs you down 1v1. |
His W (Path Maker) is the whole problem early — it gives him damage reduction while charging and a long knockback, so a clean E-in combo does far less than it would into a squishier bruiser and he can answer your engage. Your one real window is Levels 2-3: weave E for the point-blank shell spread and use your W (Smoke Screen) to blind him so his autos and Q-swipe poke whiff. Bait his W charge or his Q with a single auto before you commit the real Q-cone, because he sustains and reduces what he can't dodge. Take what trades you can here — it only gets worse as his HP climbs.
The full Graves vs K'Sante 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? K'Sante vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →