How to win lane as Graves against Vayne · 43.9% win rate over 41 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Vayne | You have one ability, a 2-shell magazine and no Quickdraw (E) at level 1 — Vayne tumbles (Q) to reposition and poke, and you cannot close to punish it. |
| Level 2 | Vayne | At level 2 she keeps tumbling to chip you down while you still lack the full E-W-Q combo to engage, so she controls the lane and you only farm. |
| Level 3 | Graves | With Q, W and E online you Quickdraw in, blind her kite auto with Smoke Screen and unload the point-blank shell spread plus End of the Line cone — your strongest trade. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Your True Grit resists and second Quickdraw charge make you sturdy, but her third-hit Silver Bolts true damage ignores armor, so the 4-5 window stays even rather than yours. |
| Level 6 | Graves | Collateral Damage off a Quickdraw gap-close with Smoke Screen blinding her escape is a one-shot kill if her tumble (Q) or Flash is down — your best window in the lane. |
| First item | Vayne | Her first-item power plus tumble kiting outpaces your shell-reload windows — she pokes you down and resets distance before you can re-engage. |
| Two+ items | Vayne | Silver Bolts percent-max-HP true damage shreds through every resist stack, Condemn walls your gap-close, and Final Hour invis lets her tumble out — at full build she kites you to death. |
Level 1 is rough — you have one ability, a 2-shell magazine, and no Quickdraw (E) yet, so you cannot close on a Vayne who tumbles (Q) to reposition and chips your short range from outside your shell spread. Last-hit with the edge of your range and accept the chip. Your turn comes at level 3: once Q, W and E are all up, you Quickdraw in, drop Smoke Screen (W) directly on her to blind the auto she tries to kite with, and unload the point-blank 4-shell spread plus the End of the Line (Q) cone. That is your one clean trade pattern — do not throw it on cooldown; wait until her tumble (Q) is already down so she cannot dodge your dash and reposition out of the blind.
The full Graves vs Vayne 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? Vayne vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →