How to win lane as Graves against Kennen · 40% win rate over 10 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Kennen | He pokes you with Q (Thundering Shuriken) and W (Electrical Surge) from outside point-blank shell range while your blind does nothing to his ability damage — the range war is entirely his. |
| Level 2 | Kennen | Still his window — he keeps poking from range and your W (Smoke Screen) blind is useless because his damage is abilities, not autos you could blind. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Skill: with E, Q and W up you can finally E-dash in and burst him if he mispositions to farm — but he can Lightning Rush (E) straight back out, so it's a read. |
| Levels 4-5 | Kennen | Your True Grit armor stacking does almost nothing against full-AP poke, so he just kites and chips you from range through 4-5. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Skill: at 6 your Collateral Damage (R) plus shell burst is a real E-engage kill, but his Slicing Maelstrom AOE-stun makes committing your only gap-closer a coinflip. |
| First item | Kennen | Your Eclipse/Youmuu spike still can't reach him — he kites on Lightning Rush (E) speed and pokes you out before you close to point-blank range. |
| Two+ items | Kennen | He out-ranges and out-scales you — Mark of the Storm stuns lock you before you E out, and his AOE-stun ult turns every teamfight against you. |
Kennen never lets you touch him — his Q (Thundering Shuriken) and W (Electrical Surge) poke you from outside point-blank shell range, and your W (Smoke Screen) blind is dead weight here because his whole kit is ability damage, not autos. Your only early window is Level 2-3: if he steps up to last-hit, E-dash in and dump the 4-shell spread plus Q before he Lightning Rushes (E) out. Don't burn E chasing into the open — without it you have no gap-closer and no escape, and every Q and W that lands also drops a Mark of the Storm toward a stun.
The full Graves vs Kennen 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? Kennen vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →