How to win lane as Graves against Zaahen · 47.35% win rate over 3,487 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Level 1 is even — both sides are farming before spells matter. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Level 2 stays even as neither kit is fully online yet. |
| Level 3 | Graves | Level 3 is Graves — Buckshot plus the Smoke Screen blind and reload autos simply out-DPS him up close. |
| Levels 4-5 | Zaahen | Levels 4-5 are Zaahen's: his early ult engage punishes a spent Quickdraw — do not burn E for damage in this window. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Level 6 evens out — your burst answers his ult commit, chunking him out of clean all-ins. |
| First item | Graves | First item is Graves: your lethality spike bursts through his sustain before it can matter. |
| Two+ items | Zaahen | 2+ items is Zaahen — he out-brawls a squishy, peel-less Graves in any extended fight, so keep everything short and ranged. |
Open patient — levels 1-2 are pure farming — then hit the gas at 3, where Buckshot, the blind, and reload autos out-DPS him point-blank. The catch: his ult comes online around 4-5 and it hunts a spent Quickdraw, so from that point E is an exit, not a damage tool. Trade hard inside your window, then give the 4-5 stretch real respect.
The full Graves vs Zaahen 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? Zaahen vs Graves guide →
All Graves top lane matchups →