Graves vs Karthus in Top lane is a favourable lane on patch 26.14. The one thing to respect: his Q (Lay Waste) is his only damage — dodge it and he has nothing left. Below is the exact page the OTP runs — runes, skill max order, summoner spells, item build and the four tips that decide the lane, plus a quick quiz before you lock in.

⇄ ChangeYOU · TOPGRAVESthe Outlaw

⇄ ChangeENEMY · TOPKARTHUSthe Deathsinger

VS

Favors youPre-6 EasyPost-6 EasyTake Ignite

How to play it

✓ DO

Dodge his Q

Lay Waste is his only real damage — with Fleet and your E dash you sidestep most of them, and he's harmless once they miss.

Free to all-in

He has no damage after his Q — dodge it, dash on top of him with E, and there's nothing he can do back.

Weave your dashes

Use your E to break his line and dodge ~60% of his Qs on reaction — landing zero Qs means he can't contest scuttle or skirmishes.

✕ DON'T

⛔

Never stand still in his Q line — dodging Lay Waste is the entire matchup.

Runes

PRECISION

INSPIRATIONuniversal page

SHARDS

No rune change for this matchup — run the universal page, our every-game default.

Spells

FLASH

IGNITE

Items

Start

Core

→

→

Graves flexes lethality and crit every game, but the constant is Bloodthirster first for the lifesteal and shield that keep him healthy in lane, then Youmuu's Ghostblade to snowball. Rush an early Cloth Armor or Hexdrinker into heavy AD/AP bursts, and grab Boots of Swiftness when you need to stick to a target.

Skill order

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Q			Q	Q		Q	Q
			W											W	W		W	W
		E							E	E		E	E
						R					R					R

MAXQ→E→W

IMPROVE YOUR MACRO

Winning lane is only half the game — rotations, wave control and objective tempo decide the rest. Train the map on MOBA Trainer.

IMPROVE YOUR MACRO →