Graves vs Sion — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Graves against Sion · 49.06% win rate over 53 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Closer than it looks — Graves owns 3 of the 7 game windows to Sion's 2, but the win rate still favours Sion: you have to convert those windows or the game slips away. Graves wins 49.06% of games vs Sion in top lane (53 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1SionSion's — your level 1 is one ability with no E mobility and short shell range, while his charged Q knockup punishes you for stepping up to CS and his W shield eats your return poke.
Level 2Even / skillEven — you pick up a second ability but still have no full combo, and his charged Q plus W shield keep the early trades roughly square.
Level 3GravesYours — with Q, W and E online you E in for the point-blank shell spread and drop W to blind his auto and zombie-state chip, out-DPSing an immobile Sion.
Levels 4-5GravesYours — your True Grit armor and two stacking E charges compound in the extended melee fight that an escape-less Sion can't disengage from.
Level 6Even / skillEven — your R nuke makes the all-in lethal, but Sion's level 6 is only more tankiness and his fresh W shield still eats a full shell volley.
First itemGravesYours — your Eclipse/Youmuu's first-item spike is your peak duel power, well ahead of a Sion still finishing his first tank item.
Two+ itemsSionSion's — at two-plus tank items his HP pool shrugs off your armor-stacking burst, and his Glory in Death zombie passive lets him keep swinging and trade back even after you win the fight.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Sion owns the very first level — your kit is just the Q powder trail with no E dash to reposition, and his charged Q can knock you up the moment you step into your already-short shell range to CS, while his W shield eats your return poke. Don't walk into a fully-charged Q to last-hit; take the safe farm with the tip of your Q detonation and wait for level 3. The lane flips there: E in for the point-blank 4-shell burst, throw W on top of him so the blind cancels his auto and zombie-state chip, then E back out on your second charge before he can W-shield and detonate the AOE.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Graves vs Sion 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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Related guides

Playing the other side? Sion vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →