Gravesvs Karthus
Graves vs Karthus is a moderate matchup in LoL patch 26.11. Karthus wins with a 52.1% win rate (+4.2%) over Graves based on 48 games. Graves wins the early laning phase while Karthus scales better into the late game. Below you'll find the best Graves build, runes, laning stats, and strategies for the Graves vs Karthus matchup.
Graves Matchup Breakdown
Use the dropdown to select an opponent and see a detailed breakdown of how Graves performs against them. You'll get head-to-head win rates, laning stats, the best build and runes for the matchup, and early vs late game analysis — all based on real ranked data.
Who Wins the Graves vs Karthus Matchup?
Graves vs Karthus Matchup Summary
The Graves vs Karthus matchup is a moderate matchup in League of Legends ranked play. Based on 48 recent matches analyzed, Karthus wins with a 52.1% win rate compared to Graves's 47.9%, giving Karthus a 4.2 percentage point advantage. Game phase dynamics play a critical role here: Graves controls the early laning stage, but Karthus outscales as the game goes longer. The matchup shifts dramatically depending on game length — Graves needs to press advantages before Karthus reaches their power spikes, while Karthus should focus on safe farming and hitting key item breakpoints. The most significant statistical gap is in damage output, where Karthus leads by 442 DMG/min — a difference that heavily influences the outcome of trades and skirmishes. While Karthus is slightly favored, Graves can absolutely win this lane through smart trading patterns and wave management. Focus on playing around your cooldowns, conceding CS only when necessary, and capitalizing on Karthus's mistakes. Understanding these matchup dynamics is essential for champion select decisions and in-game strategy when facing this lane opponent.
Graves vs Karthus Laning Phase Breakdown
Graves is favored during the laning phase against Karthus, winning 4 out of 5 key stat categories. Graves holds advantages in farming, gold income, crowd control and sustain, making them the stronger laner in this matchup.
Best Graves Build Against Karthus
Slightly Magical Footwear is the optimal boots choice against Karthus, providing the mobility and stats Graves needs most in this matchup. The top-performing core items for Graves against Karthus are The Collector, Immortal Shieldbow and Youmuu's Ghostblade. This combination gives Graves an effective balance of damage, survivability, and utility for the matchup. This build performs exceptionally well, achieving a 80.0% win rate across 5 games — well above average and making it the top item path against Karthus. Adjustments may be needed based on team compositions and game state, but this build provides the strongest foundation for the Graves vs Karthus matchup.
Early Game vs Late Game
Graves52.9%
Karthus47.1%Graves45.2%Karthus54.8%Graves dominates the early game (first 15 minutes) with a commanding 52.9% win rate — a 5.9 percentage point lead over Karthus. This lopsided early game means Graves can dictate the pace of the lane from level 1, controlling trades, wave state, and river priority.
Karthus is far superior in the late game (25+ minutes), boasting a 54.8% win rate — 9.7 points above Graves. Extended games heavily favor Karthus, whose kit and scaling make them a dominant force in team fights and objective control.
This matchup features a dramatic power shift: Graves must aggressively press their early advantage and close out the game before Karthus reaches their scaling breakpoints. If Karthus survives the laning phase without falling too far behind, the matchup flips in their favor. Dragon and Rift Herald control are pivotal — the team that secures early objectives can snowball or buy time to scale.
Best Graves Runes Against Karthus
Domination
Precision
The Domination and Precision rune setup gives Graves the best tools to compete against Karthus in this difficult matchup, compensating for the statistical disadvantages with optimal rune synergies.
Graves matchup data for League of Legends patch 26.11. The table below shows Graves's win rate, gold difference, and performance stats against every champion in the current meta. Click any champion name to see a detailed head-to-head breakdown including the best Graves build, runes, laning stats, and early vs late game analysis for that specific matchup.
Opponent | Win Rate | Matches | CS/min | DMG/min | Gold/game | Early WR | Late WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51.09% | 274 | 1.5 | 858 | 14,206 | 52.5% | 50.0% | |
| 45.66% | 265 | 1.5 | 775 | 13,733 | 52.9% | 39.4% | |
| 50.00% | 252 | 1.6 | 831 | 14,099 | 50.9% | 49.3% | |
| 49.20% | 250 | 1.5 | 705 | 13,523 | 50.0% | 48.5% | |
| 49.58% | 240 | 1.6 | 875 | 14,332 | 48.6% | 50.4% | |
| 56.58% | 228 | 1.6 | 837 | 14,103 | 59.8% | 53.7% | |
| 53.99% | 213 | 1.6 | 847 | 13,830 | 52.4% | 55.5% | |
| 41.06% | 207 | 1.6 | 795 | 13,954 | 41.9% | 40.5% | |
| 45.30% | 181 | 1.6 | 825 | 14,352 | 49.2% | 43.1% | |
| 50.00% | 158 | 1.6 | 812 | 13,982 | 50.7% | 49.4% | |
| 44.52% | 146 | 1.6 | 920 | 14,364 | 46.0% | 43.4% | |
| 46.72% | 137 | 1.5 | 764 | 14,444 | 40.4% | 51.3% | |
| 59.09% | 132 | 1.6 | 850 | 14,335 | 57.6% | 60.6% | |
| 44.62% | 130 | 1.4 | 733 | 13,359 | 42.4% | 46.5% | |
| 48.80% | 125 | 1.7 | 817 | 14,655 | 45.0% | 52.3% | |
| 48.39% | 124 | 1.7 | 763 | 13,094 | 41.5% | 55.9% | |
| 54.10% | 122 | 1.4 | 792 | 13,979 | 53.3% | 54.8% | |
| 53.39% | 118 | 1.7 | 800 | 14,216 | 52.7% | 54.0% | |
| 47.71% | 109 | 1.7 | 799 | 13,630 | 47.6% | 47.8% | |
| 52.78% | 108 | 1.7 | 901 | 14,026 | 46.0% | 58.6% | |
| 46.81% | 94 | 1.5 | 839 | 12,521 | 38.8% | 55.6% | |
| 55.68% | 88 | 1.5 | 782 | 13,552 | 52.4% | 58.7% | |
| 51.72% | 87 | 1.7 | 877 | 13,913 | 40.5% | 62.2% | |
| 48.28% | 87 | 1.5 | 835 | 12,917 | 48.1% | 48.6% | |
| 51.25% | 80 | 1.8 | 805 | 13,945 | 48.4% | 53.1% | |
| 44.74% | 76 | 1.8 | 936 | 14,228 | 41.2% | 47.6% | |
| 48.68% | 76 | 1.6 | 787 | 13,963 | 41.9% | 53.3% | |
| 44.00% | 75 | 1.8 | 859 | 14,325 | 53.3% | 37.8% | |
| 49.33% | 75 | 1.7 | 788 | 14,252 | 54.8% | 45.5% | |
| 48.61% | 72 | 1.4 | 750 | 13,111 | 47.2% | 50.0% | |
| 52.11% | 71 | 2.0 | 824 | 13,989 | 54.5% | 50.0% | |
| 60.61% | 66 | 1.8 | 892 | 15,196 | 55.6% | 64.1% | |
| 52.54% | 59 | 1.6 | 875 | 14,778 | 50.0% | 54.5% | |
| 50.00% | 52 | 1.7 | 927 | 14,227 | 42.1% | 54.5% | |
| 36.73% | 49 | 1.4 | 809 | 13,133 | 34.6% | 39.1% | |
| 47.92% | 48 | 1.6 | 817 | 15,672 | 52.9% | 45.2% | |
| 54.17% | 48 | 1.3 | 752 | 12,633 | 59.3% | 47.6% | |
| 44.68% | 47 | 1.6 | 809 | 14,149 | 30.0% | 55.6% | |
| 53.19% | 47 | 1.4 | 798 | 13,817 | 64.0% | 40.9% | |
| 48.84% | 43 | 1.4 | 781 | 14,661 | 52.9% | 46.1% | |
| 34.15% | 41 | 3.0 | 774 | 13,600 | 27.8% | 39.1% | |
| 46.34% | 41 | 2.2 | 822 | 13,948 | 50.0% | 42.9% | |
| 50.00% | 40 | 2.0 | 881 | 13,852 | 50.0% | 50.0% | |
| 54.05% | 37 | 2.2 | 1,005 | 12,783 | 47.4% | 61.1% | |
| 52.78% | 36 | 1.5 | 680 | 13,917 | 60.0% | 47.6% | |
| 50.00% | 34 | 1.9 | 747 | 14,288 | 50.0% | 50.0% | |
| 54.84% | 31 | 2.0 | 708 | 12,045 | 57.9% | 50.0% | |
| 32.26% | 31 | 1.9 | 713 | 13,444 | 35.7% | 29.4% | |
| 53.33% | 30 | 2.0 | 854 | 13,648 | 37.5% | 71.4% | |
| 34.48% | 29 | 2.2 | 801 | 13,579 | 45.5% | 27.8% | |
| 39.29% | 28 | 2.8 | 735 | 13,154 | 50.0% | 31.3% | |
| 62.96% | 27 | 2.0 | 872 | 14,560 | 58.3% | 66.7% | |
| 57.69% | 26 | 2.5 | 859 | 13,403 | 54.5% | 60.0% | |
| 80.00% | 25 | 1.7 | 1,098 | 15,785 | 81.8% | 78.6% | |
| 52.00% | 25 | 1.8 | 820 | 14,501 | 55.6% | 50.0% | |
| 60.00% | 25 | 2.4 | 822 | 13,527 | 69.2% | 50.0% | |
| 60.87% | 23 | 1.5 | 787 | 14,663 | 20.0% | 72.2% | |
| 40.91% | 22 | 3.3 | 803 | 12,460 | 44.4% | 38.5% | |
| 38.10% | 21 | 1.5 | 819 | 15,213 | 16.7% | 46.7% | |
| 47.37% | 19 | 1.7 | 802 | 14,234 | 63.6% | 25.0% | |
| 56.25% | 16 | 1.4 | 807 | 15,312 | 71.4% | 44.4% | |
| 62.50% | 16 | 1.7 | 736 | 12,665 | 75.0% | 50.0% | |
| 30.77% | 13 | 1.7 | 760 | 12,207 | 20.0% | 37.5% | |
| 46.15% | 13 | 3.5 | 752 | 12,941 | 60.0% | 37.5% | |
| 33.33% | 12 | 4.2 | 882 | 12,539 | 20.0% | 42.9% | |
| 36.36% | 11 | 2.0 | 723 | 13,506 | 25.0% | 42.9% | |
| 81.82% | 11 | 1.5 | 892 | 16,099 | 83.3% | 80.0% | |
| 54.55% | 11 | 4.5 | 774 | 12,599 | 50.0% | 60.0% | |
| 20.00% | 10 | 2.3 | 732 | 13,738 | 33.3% | 14.3% | |
| 70.00% | 10 | 4.7 | 1,132 | 17,672 | 50.0% | 75.0% | |
| 50.00% | 10 | 6.1 | 699 | 13,693 | 66.7% | 42.9% | |
| 50.00% | 10 | 2.2 | 1,027 | 14,402 | 60.0% | 40.0% | |
| 50.00% | 10 | 4.5 | 884 | 13,836 | 66.7% | 42.9% | |
| 60.00% | 10 | 1.4 | 648 | 10,487 | 71.4% | 33.3% | |
| 40.00% | 10 | 2.9 | 975 | 18,281 | 50.0% | 37.5% | |
| 40.00% | 10 | 1.6 | 850 | 16,430 | 75.0% | 16.7% | |
| 50.00% | 8 | 6.3 | 1,168 | 15,996 | 0.0% | 66.7% | |
| 75.00% | 8 | 4.4 | 1,063 | 15,850 | 100.0% | 71.4% | |
| 50.00% | 8 | 4.8 | 732 | 15,119 | 0.0% | 50.0% | |
| 85.71% | 7 | 7.5 | 805 | 14,236 | 100.0% | 75.0% | |
| 42.86% | 7 | 6.5 | 777 | 17,515 | 50.0% | 40.0% | |
| 66.67% | 6 | 6.0 | 850 | 14,257 | 100.0% | 50.0% | |
| 83.33% | 6 | 5.5 | 1,123 | 17,594 | 0.0% | 100.0% | |
| 40.00% | 5 | 1.7 | 855 | 15,735 | 0.0% | 50.0% | |
| 60.00% | 5 | 5.9 | 683 | 10,010 | 66.7% | 50.0% | |
| 40.00% | 5 | 4.4 | 923 | 15,240 | 100.0% | 0.0% | |
| 80.00% | 5 | 4.8 | 853 | 11,533 | 66.7% | 100.0% | |
| 80.00% | 5 | 2.4 | 965 | 15,287 | 100.0% | 66.7% | |
| 80.00% | 5 | 6.5 | 806 | 13,582 | 100.0% | 75.0% | |
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Graves vs Karthus - Frequently Asked Questions
How does Graves do against Karthus in League of Legends?
Karthus wins the Graves vs Karthus matchup with a 52.1% win rate compared to Graves's 47.9%, a 4.2 percentage point difference. This data is based on 48 recent ranked games in patch 26.11.
How does Graves do against Karthus in the early game?
In the early game, Graves has the advantage against Karthus with a 52.9% win rate versus 47.1%. Graves players should look to press their lane advantage through aggressive trades and wave control during the first 15 minutes.
How does Graves do against Karthus in the late game?
In the late game, Karthus takes over the Graves vs Karthus matchup with a 54.8% win rate compared to 45.2%. Karthus scales better into team fights and objective contests after 25 minutes.
Who wins the Graves vs Karthus matchup?
Karthus wins the matchup against Graves with a 52.1% win rate in League of Legends patch 26.11. The 4.2 percentage point advantage means Karthus is moderately favored in this lane matchup based on 48 games analyzed.
What is the best Graves build against Karthus?
The best Graves build against Karthus includes The Collector, Immortal Shieldbow, Youmuu's Ghostblade with Slightly Magical Footwear. This build achieves a 80.0% win rate in the matchup. Check the matchup breakdown above for the full item path and build order.
What are the best Graves runes against Karthus?
The best Graves runes against Karthus use the Domination primary tree with Precision secondary. This rune setup achieves a 71.4% win rate in the Graves vs Karthus matchup. See the full rune breakdown in the matchup comparison above.
Does Graves counter Karthus?
No, Graves struggles against Karthus with only a 47.9% win rate. Karthus has the advantage in this matchup. Graves players should focus on safe farming and avoiding extended trades to minimize Karthus's lead.
How do I play Graves against Karthus?
When playing Graves against Karthus, play cautiously and avoid Karthus's power spikes. Look for jungle assistance and team-dependent plays since Karthus has the statistical advantage at most stages. Use the matchup-specific build and runes above to optimize your chances.