Graves Scaling: Grade A
Yes. Graves scales well into the late game. Grade A, Great late, in The Scaling Codex. The grade belongs to one specific build, described below.
Reviewed for League of Legends Season 16 (2026).
Verdict. Full AD crit build. Serious damage, but somewhat squishy and able to be bursted down.
- Build-dependent
Why Graves gets an A
On the full crit build, every clean auto is an event. If somebody enters his effective range without respecting it, a health bar disappears quickly enough to change the fight before the next decision.
Smoke Screen keeps value when raw numbers stop being special. Late fights are decided by what carries can see and respond to, and taking vision away for a few seconds can remove more damage than another item would have added.
Range is what prices the grade
He has to stand close enough for the damage to matter, and at full build that is also close enough to be caught and deleted. He is much stronger when the fight comes through him than when he has to cross the enemy team to find it.
Let them enter the range where your damage is unfair. Do not walk through five people to prove the number is large.
Common questions about Graves scaling
Does Graves scale well into the late game?
Yes. Graves scales well into the late game. Grade A, Great late, in The Scaling Codex. The grade belongs to one specific build, described below.
What holds Graves back?
He has to stand close enough for the damage to matter, and at full build that is also close enough to be caught and deleted. He is much stronger when the fight comes through him than when he has to cross the enemy team to find it.
Which Graves build gets this grade?
He has to stand close enough for the damage to matter, and at full build that is also close enough to be caught and deleted. He is much stronger when the fight comes through him than when he has to cross the enemy team to find it.
What is the late-game rule for Graves?
Let them enter the range where your damage is unfair. Do not walk through five people to prove the number is large.
How this grade was judged
The grade weighs range, target access, sustained and burst damage, crowd control, mobility, durability, healing and shielding, resets, cooldown structure, objective and formation control, split pressure, and how well the champion survives a long fight. Builds and forms that scale differently are graded separately. This is Vambient's gameplay evaluation of coordinated late-game fights, not a win-rate calculation. Full methodology.
Related champions
- Garen is also build-dependent
- Kai'Sa is also build-dependent
- Karma is also build-dependent
- Katarina is also build-dependent
- Other champions that share this: build-dependent
- See the full Grade A tier
The grade measures one thing: how much a champion can influence a coordinated late-game objective fight once both teams reach full builds. It does not measure early strength, snowballing, or win rate. A weak late-game champion still wins by ending the game first, which is what the rest of the library teaches. How the grades are decided.