Graves vs Lee Sin

How to Trade

Graves holds a significant advantage in extended trades against Lee Sin due to his passive True Grit, which stacks armor and magic resist through Quickdraw (E) usage. When Lee Sin engages with Sonic Wave (Q), Graves should immediately dash with Quickdraw to gain defensive stacks while repositioning to ensure all shotgun pellets connect. The key interaction is that Graves' auto-attacks cannot pass through minions or monsters, so fighting in open jungle paths favors Graves heavily. If Lee Sin lands Q on you, don't panic - use Smoke Screen (W) on yourself before he reactivates Resonating Strike to limit his view of your team's positioning outside the smoke. In early skirmishes at Scuttle or during invades, Graves wins by front-loading damage with the auto-Q-E-auto combo while maintaining True Grit stacks. Lee Sin's burst requires hitting Q and following up, so if you sidestep or he misses Sonic Wave, immediately turn aggressive as his damage output drops dramatically. Be cautious of Lee Sin's level 6 power spike - Dragon's Rage can displace you into his team. Save Flash or Quickdraw specifically to reposition after his ultimate, and never fight him near walls where he can kick you into terrain for extended CC via his team.

Wave Management

As a jungler matchup, wave management translates to jungle tempo and camp control. Graves has superior clear speed and sustain compared to Lee Sin. He can full-clear efficiently while Lee Sin typically opts for 3-camp into gank paths. Use this to your advantage by tracking Lee Sin's starting buff and route - once you know which side he started, expect his first gank on the far side of his clear. Counter this by either matching his gank timing or invading his opposite-side camps. Graves should prioritize vertical jungling when ahead. If you spot Lee Sin committing to a gank on one side of the map, take whichever camps on the opposite side of his jungle are actually up, as long as your nearby lanes can cover you. Landing your pellets on camps shortens Quickdraw's cooldown, so you can dash between camps and steal several of them quickly. A Red-Krugs-Raptors-Wolves-Blue-Gromp full clear gets you to Scuttler with True Grit stacks active. This route gives you level 4 and high HP to contest or fight Lee Sin at the river objective.

Itemization

Rush Youmuu's Ghostblade as your first completed item - the lethality spike combined with the active movement speed helps you kite Lee Sin's engage attempts and chase him down when he tries to Safeguard (W) away. Serrated Dirk on first back is essential, as the lethality makes your burst significantly stronger in early skirmishes. For boots, Plated Steelcaps are mandatory in this matchup. Lee Sin deals mostly physical damage (only Tempest is magic), and the auto-attack damage reduction pairs well with your True Grit armor stacking. If Lee Sin builds Sundered Sky or other bruiser items, prioritize Lord Dominik's Regards third for the armor penetration and bonus damage against his bonus health. Against heavy AP threats elsewhere on the enemy team, Maw of Malmortius is a strong fourth item that also provides a shield to survive burst.

Team Fighting

In teamfights, Graves and Lee Sin have opposing roles that create interesting dynamics. Lee Sin wants to flank and Insec a priority target into his team, while Graves wants to position as a backline damage dealer who can dash forward to execute. Your primary job is to watch for Lee Sin's engage angle - if he ward-hops or Q's toward your ADC or mid laner, land Smoke Screen on him and anyone following so they are slowed and lose vision of everything outside the smoke. Graves outscales Lee Sin significantly in teamfight damage output. While Lee Sin falls off and becomes a one-combo champion, Graves' sustained DPS with True Grit stacks makes him deceptively tanky while dealing massive area damage. Use Collateral Damage to execute low-health targets Lee Sin might try to escape with via Safeguard. Position to hit multiple enemies with your cone-shaped auto-attacks, and save Quickdraw to dodge Lee Sin's Sonic Wave or reposition after his ultimate displacement.

Pro Tips

• Stack True Grit before fights by E'ing into walls or camps - entering a Lee Sin duel with stacks already built gives you extra armor against his mostly physical damage
• Place Smoke Screen on Lee Sin when he Q's you; inside the smoke he is slowed and loses vision of everything outside it, so step out of the cloud to make his follow-up harder while you wait on your cooldowns
• Lee Sin players often ward-hop to escape after failed ganks - track his ward usage and punish with Collateral Damage when he's locked in the Safeguard animation for a guaranteed hit

Common Mistakes

• Fighting Lee Sin in minion waves or near jungle camps where your shotgun pellets get blocked, drastically reducing your damage output, even though his Sonic Wave (Q) can also be stopped by a minion or monster in its path
• Using Quickdraw aggressively without True Grit stacks already built up - you fight with fewer total resistance stacks and take more of Lee Sin's full combo burst
• Burning Collateral Damage early in fights before Lee Sin uses Dragon's Rage; save your ultimate to finish kills after he's committed his displacement tool and can no longer peel or escape