The plan here is Rock Solid into Bloodthirster: stack armor and lifesteal to weather the lane.

Matchups › Graves › vs Malphite

Graves vs Malphite

YOU · TOP

ENEMY · TOP

Heavily unfavoredPre-6 HardPost-6 HardTake Ignite

How to play it

✓

Respect his all-in

The author's verdict is blunt: you will lose this lane, so respect his ult and never hand him a clean engage.

✓

Dodge in champ select

Dodge if possible: this is a hard, losing matchup for Graves.

✓

Take Teleport

Run TP and play safe for scaling rather than forcing early fights you can't win.

Never force this lane: the verdict is you will lose, so dodge in champ select or play purely to scale.

Runes

PRECISION

INSPIRATION

SHARDS

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

MAX

Q→

E→

Graves · Top · Patch 26.17 · Ranked Solo · Updated Sep 5, 2026

Graves vs Malphite in Top lane is a hard lane on patch 26.17. The one thing to respect: this is a losing lane, respect his all-in and don't get caught out.