ES
Graves

Graves build & guide

Patch 2026-09-26

S
Win rate56.6%
Pick rate41.8%
Matches172,384
Create a Graves build

Is Graves good right now?

Graves sits in tier S (#2 of 39): one of the best picks in the meta. They win 56.6% of their matches and appear in 41.8% of them (172,384 matches on patch 2026-09-26). The patch barely moved them (56.7% before). In high ranks (Oracle+) they do worse: tier A at 53.2%.

The best-performing build right now is a spirit build: "Hudini's spooky scary skeletons", at 64.1% over 206 matches. If you prefer a hybrid style, "Lane Control Graves 1V11" sits at 53.0%.

Graves does especially well against Mirage, Shiv and The Doorman and struggles most against Rat King (45.5%) and Paige. Their best teammate is Rat King.

Written from match statistics; updated daily.

The daughter of high-power defense attorneys, Darcy Graves grew up in a home where every conversation was a debate, argument, or negotiation. It was exhausting. But while her parents were often too busy meeting with clients or working on cases to bond with her, the dead were always there to listen. Graves enjoyed her time in the cemetery. It was a quiet place to calm her thoughts and talk through her problems...but one day her one-sided conversations started to change. It began with a faint whisper. A woman's voice that seemed to respond to Graves' complaints. Intrigued, the teenager listened...and followed the voice's instructions until it guided her to a lead-lined box buried in Van Cortlandt Park. But while most high school students would freak out if they were to unearth a severed lich hand, Graves was certainly not most teens. The hand now free of its prison, the lich's voice grew stronger... It had spent years looking to find a student she could pass her knowledge to, and Graves was eager to learn. Now a fledgling necromancer, Darcy balances not only her homework at Blackmore Academy...but the demands of graveyard denizens, each of whom have their own unfinished business that they seek her aid in resolving.

Best Graves builds by win rate

Most played · Spirit64.1%
Hudini's spooky scary skeletons206 matches · 185 players · In-game build ID: 542786
  • Diviner's Kevlar
  • Spirit Burn
  • Escalating Exposure
  • Refresher
  • Infuser
  • Transcendent Cooldown
The build most players run on Graves right now.

Real builds published in-game, ranked by win rate over the last 14 days. When a better one appears, it takes its place automatically.

Most winning ability order

  1. 1Jar of Dead+1
  2. 2Jar of Dead+2
  3. 3Essence Theft+1
  4. 4Grasping Hands+1
  5. 5Grasping Hands+2
  6. 6Grasping Hands+3
  7. 7Borrowed Decree+1
  8. 8Grasping Hands+4
  9. 9Borrowed Decree+2
  10. 10Borrowed Decree+3
  11. 11Borrowed Decree+4
  12. 12Essence Theft+2
  13. 13Essence Theft+3
  14. 14Essence Theft+4
  15. 15Jar of Dead+3
  16. 16Jar of Dead+4

Win rate: 69.1% · 893 matches

Items with the highest win rate for Graves

Early (< 10 min)

  1. Mystic Shot83,332 matches · ~8 min57.6%+1.0 pp
  2. Arcane Surge100,015 matches · ~9 min57.1%+0.5 pp
  3. Extra Spirit113,903 matches · ~7 min57.0%+0.4 pp
  4. Extra Health11,087 matches · ~10 min57.0%+0.4 pp

Mid (10–22 min)

  1. Heroic Aura79,158 matches · ~18 min58.8%+2.3 pp
  2. Cold Front525 matches · ~20 min59.8%+3.3 pp
  3. Bullet Resist Shredder1,382 matches · ~17 min58.9%+2.3 pp
  4. Mystic Burst24,821 matches · ~18 min58.3%+1.8 pp

Late (22+ min)

  1. Magic Carpet6,266 matches · ~30 min65.0%+8.5 pp
  2. Diviner's Kevlar25,926 matches · ~32 min62.3%+5.7 pp
  3. Spirit Burn42,202 matches · ~34 min61.7%+5.1 pp
  4. Divine Barrier924 matches · ~35 min62.8%+6.2 pp

Items bought late win more partly because only players who are already ahead can afford them; compare items within the same timing column.

Graves counters and synergies

Strong against

  1. Mirage13,243 matches62.9%
  2. Shiv26,442 matches62.1%
  3. The Doorman18,098 matches61.2%
  4. Paradox27,129 matches61.0%
  5. Silver26,856 matches61.0%

Weak against (counters)

  1. Rat King16,203 matches45.5%
  2. Paige37,067 matches48.7%
  3. Seven31,895 matches50.1%
  4. Victor26,952 matches50.3%
  5. Haze47,610 matches52.3%

Best teammates

  1. Rat King18,186 matches66.3%
  2. Paige28,193 matches63.1%
  3. Victor32,326 matches61.8%
  4. Seven28,192 matches61.4%
  5. Kelvin15,446 matches60.8%

Graves's win rate in full matches against or alongside each hero, adjusted for sample size. Minimum 200 matches per pair.

See every Graves matchup →

Best Graves players →

Top Graves builds

No builds yet for this patch. Be the first to publish one.

All Graves builds →

Abilities

Jar of Dead

#1 · Cooldown 0s

Passive: Collect death when anything dies nearby and store it in your Jar of Dead. Active: Throw a jar to summon Deadheads that repeatedly deal spirit damage to enemies. Deadheads follow you instead if there's no nearby enemies, and prioritize the target of your weapon.

  1. 1 AP Heal On Pickup: +5 · Heal On Pickup: +0.16
  2. 2 AP Move Speed: +24% · Slow Duration: +1s
  3. 5 AP Deadheads: +2 · Deadhead Lifetime: +4s

Grasping Hands

#2 · Cooldown 34s

Unearth a line of grasping hands, summoning a Ghoul and leaving behind a rift. Enemies who pass through take spirit damage and receive immobilize. Alt-Cast rotates the orientation of the wall.

  1. 1 AP Duration: +2s
  2. 2 AP Damage: +90 · Wall Length: +10mm
  3. 5 AP Immobilize Duration: +0.75s · Ghouls Raised: +1 · Cooldown: -14s

Essence Theft

#3 · Cooldown 0s

Your weapon steals weapon damage and spirit resist over time, up to a maximum amount per target.

  1. 1 AP Max Spirit Resist Stolen: +5%
  2. 2 AP Max Weapon Damage Stolen: +20%
  3. 5 AP SkullBuildUp: +0.15 · ZombieMeleeBuildUp: +0.15 · ZombieExplosionBuildUp: +1.0 · Max Steal Targets: +1

Borrowed Decree

Ultimate · Cooldown 140s

+25% Ghoul Speed -15s Cooldown

  1. 1 AP Cooldown: -15s · MoveSpeedPercent: +25
  2. 2 AP Duration: +10s · Time to Summon: -0.3s
  3. 5 AP Current Health as Damage: +5%

Base stats

Base statsScaling (per boon)
Health730+35
Health regen1—
Move speed7 m/s—
Sprint speed2.2 m/s—
Stamina2—

Stats for patch 2026-09-26. Game data from the community Deadlock API. Data since September 26, 2026 · refreshed every 6 h