Season 4 edits incoming
Gragas, The
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(His name was change so "Cask master" wouldn't be confused with "Card Master")
Hes fat, hes drunk, hes awesome.
He can be built AP, AD or Hybrid depending on your tastes, and can fill many roles ingame. It is mostly agreeable however, that he is best built as an AP carry. His AP ratios on his Barrel roll and his Ultimate are incredibly good, and he is naturally tanky enough so you don't need to specifically build tanky ap items on him (although if you do it makes him much harder to kill).
Skills
Passive. Happy Hour! - Gragas takes a drink from his cask every time he uses an ability, restoring 2% of his maximum health over 4 seconds.
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Spam your skills and you get more sustain? Yespls. This passive lets him stay in lane a lot longer than most other champions. The heal isn't very noticeable until you start to spam your skills a lot, but over time you will notice the regen.
Q. Barrel Roll - Gragas rolls his cask to a location, which can be activated again to explode or will explode on its own after 5 seconds. Enemies struck by the blast have their attack speed slowed for 3 seconds.
Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mana
Cooldown: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 seconds
Magic Damage: 85 / 135 / 185 / 235 / 285 (+0.9 per ability power)
Slow: 20% / 25% / 30% / 35% / 40%
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Long range harrass, decent damage plus great slow, awesome AP ratio. Basic core laning skill. I max this first. You can toss this in front of fleeing opponents to hit them as they try to escape, or throw it into a fight and slow the attack speed of the opponent AD carry. It is a fairly slow rolling barrel, so try to predict where the opponent will go before you throw it. Also factor in the split second that it doesn't allow you to explode the barrel after it stops moving. Once you get two dorans rings and level 4 in this skill, you can 1-shot the opponent caster minions, and 2-hit combo with your E on the melee minions.The cast range of this spell was reduced slightly in the 3.14 patch. That same patch added a small QoL feature to this skill, if you press Q right before the barrel reaches its target, it will explode on impact.
W. Drunken Rage - Gragas guzzles down brew from his cask, channeling for 1 second. He gains mana while channeling, and becomes empowered after finishing, increasing attack damage, and reducing damage taken for 20 seconds.
No Cost
Mana Restored: 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90
Bonus Attack Damage: 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70
Damage Reduction: 10 / 12 / 14 / 16 / 18 %
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Imo one of the best steorids in the game for tank or AD Gragas. For AP gragas, this is more used for the mana regen. This skill at level 3 is like a free BF sword, that also regens mana and reduces incoming damage. Awesome skill, one point at lvl 2, then Make the decision to max it second or last. The other half of Gragas's lane sustain. I used to prefer getting this maxed second, however since you are not building Tanky DPS or AD, you won't really need the bonus AD. The damage reduction is nice on level up, but not extremely noticeable. As of the Jayce patch, leveling this skill over your E is up to personal preference, considering E's speed does not increase with level any more.
E. Body Slam - Gragas charges forward, colliding with the first enemy unit he hits, dealing magic damage to enemies in the area. Units hit by Body Slam are slowed by 35% for 2.5 seconds. If Body Slam hits an enemy, the cooldown of Body Slam is halved.
Cost: 75
Cooldown: 12 seconds
Total Magic Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+0.5 per ability power) (+0.66 per attack damage)
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Pretty usefull skill, can go through walls. Useful for escaping chasers. One point at 3 or 4 then make the judgement to max it second or last. Can be used as a second flash to get out of scary situations. This spell can go over most walls, although the thicker ones will still block it. Can use this to charge in and use your ultimate to initiate a fight. The higher rank in the spell, the faster and slightly longer it reaches, so I max it second for quick getaways in the midgame. This was changed in the Jayce patch, it now travels the same speed at every level. Lategame this skill will be on a 5 second cooldown with bluebuff, so don't be afraid to use it just to get around a little faster. This was slightly nerfed in the Late august patch, bringing the mana cost from 50 to 75.
R. Explosive Cask - Gragas throws his cask to a location, which explodes on impact, dealing magic damage to enemy units in the area and knocking them back.
Cost: 100 / 125 / 150 mana
Cooldown: 100 / 90 / 80 seconds
Magic Damage: 200 / 325 / 450 (+1.0 per ability power)
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Huge knockback, good damage. Great for fucking up teamfights, scattering chasers/opponents or seperating people from their team. Trolololo spell. Does incredible damage lategame, with a pretty low cooldown. Don't be afraid to use this skill to secure a kill, the cooldown at level 3 is less than a minute with over 25% CDR. If you are chasing an opponent who has flash or a blink skill, try to wait for them to use that spell/flash before using your ultimate. Too many times have opponents escaped by blinking at the right time and having a Gragas ultimate push them further to safety. This ultimate's cooldown was nerfed in the Late august patch, going from 90/75/60 to 100/90/80.
Pre-Game Setup (Runes/Masteries/Summoner Spells)
Runes:
9x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration (+0.95)
OR
9x Greater Mark of Hybrid Penetration (+0.9)(+0.62)
9x Greater Seal of Scaling Mana regeneration (+0.065/ 5 sec. per level)
OR
9x Greater Seal of Armour (+1.41) (If up against an AD lane like talon)
9x Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power (+0.17 per level)
3x Greater Quintessence of Ability Power (+4.95)
Masteries:
21-X-X
9 into defense or utility is up to personal preference. I put 9 into defence, as I tend to be fairly agressive and like the slight extra defence for the inevitable counterattack.
Here is the masteries build I use on Gragas.
Summoner Spells
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Flash and Ignite are the normal picks, as with most AP carries.
Other summoner Spells:
Exaust - Better suited for AD/Tanky DPS Gragas, although Exaust is a viable option against Certain opponents (Mainly AD mids) or gank-oriented junglers.
Ghost - Similar to Exaust, better on AD/Tanky Gragas. One may prefer Ghost over flash as your E ability is like a built in flash every 5-7 seconds, but My preference is still to take flash over Ghost.
Heal - I've seen people take heal mid, but the only reason I could see taking it on Gragas is if you are facing Leblanc or another heavy burster that does not disable you from using summoner spells.
Barrier - Similar to Heal, you can take it against instagib champions like Leblanc or Veigar, but you sacrifice that kill potential of ignite/exaust for defence.
Revive - No.
Smite - If you are jungling Gragas, go for it. Otherwise, No.
Cleanse - I've never really tried cleanse on Gragas, although If I was in a spot where CC was trouble, I'd just build merc treads and go flash.
Clairity - This spell should not exist outside of ARAM games.
In-Game Stuff (Items/Matchups/Strategies)
Items
Starting Items
2x + 3x
1x + 3x
2x + 2x
1x + 2x
Trinkets: or
There are many different options for opening items. Double Faerie charm + pots opens you up for a quick chalice or Morellonomicon. Boots+3 potions openings have been heavily nerfed, but if you feel the extra movespeed is critical, go for it. If you plan on going agressive early, you can also open Amplifying tome + 2 potions for an impressive 40+ AP at level 1. As of the 3.08 patch, another possible opening is Doran's Ring + 2 potions. This is similar to the amp tome opening with a little more sustain (through the Mana on kill and health), but its a dead-end item and is usually sold by the mid-late game. As for Trinkets, Warding totem or Sweeping lense are my usual picks. Sweeping lense can be good against Khazix/Akali/teemo or other stealth champions after 9 when you can upgrade it to an oracle's lense.
Items for when You Need to Back Early
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Most of the time, you aren't going to stay in lane long enough to get 2k+ gold. I usually get a Chalice of harmony for mana regen to use more barrels to CS/harrass. You can also work towards your sorc shoes. If the opponent is packing a lot of physical damage, has a lot of CC, or is nuking you through your damage reduction, you may opt for Nina Tabi or Merc treads. Finally, if an AD opponent is bullying you, a Seeker's Armguard is a good choice for early defence.
Core Lane Items
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If the opponent is playing really passive, you are managing your mana very well and you are confident you can start snowballing early, you can go right for your blasting wand and/or Needlessly Large Rod. I still reccomend the Chalice, but you can skip it if you get the second bluebuff and get a blasting wand/NLR.
Core Game Items
And/Or
Your first major item should be Deathcap or Athene's unholy Grail, depending on if you went for a chalice in lane or not. If you did get Deathcap first, think about skipping Athene's if you also know you'll be getting blue buffs,
OROR
Usually my second item is one out of these three. I get Haunting Guise if my opponent is starting to build Magic Reistance in fear (Which they should be). If the opponent is continuing to only build their main items, but isn't strong enough to kill you straight up, you can work towards your Deathfire grasp. Otherwise, I tend to build Void staff as my 2nd main item to increase the burst damage you can do.
OR OR /
After that, build what fits the situation. Liandry's Torment if the opponents are starting to get more MR, Hourglass or other defensive AP items if you are getting focused, Bveil/GA if you need to stay alive to carry your team.
Specific Items
I personally try to avoid Rylai's crystal sceptre when playing Gragas. While it does give him a good amount of HP and AP, You will only be able to use the 15% slow as all Gragas's damaging abilities are AOE, and in the case of his ultimate, a large portion of the slow will be used up by the knockback.
I see a lot of players building Rod of Ages on Gragas. I said earlier that I prefer to not turn the lane into a farm fest and would rather get agressive, which the Rod of Ages isn't meant for. If your lane is going nowhere and simply turning it into a farmfest, RoA may be viable, but I do not build it.
Skill Order
Q, W, E, Q, Q, R then R > Q > E or W > E or W
Q is 90% of the time the best skill to open with. If you spot a jungle invade coming and you can level your E fast enough to escape, that should be one of (if not the only) reason not to get Q first.
Try to get your entire spell kit as soon as possible, as each skill brings great utility to the field.
In certain matchups, you may want to get E before your W (against a level 2 ganker like Leesin or against fizz). While it will leave you with no mana regen until level 3, it could save your ass.
W or E maxed second is up to preference and your lane opponent. If you are taking a lot of damage/harrass, max W second. Otherwise get your E maxed first for the extra damage.
Lane Matchups
This section is still under construction. I have tried to put most characters that may be seen mid here, although if there are any I missed please just post a reply and I will add them.
MAGIC DAMAGE BASED CHAMPIONS
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VS.
It is a tough lane for Gragas. You cannot get in range for a bodyslam combo without eating a face full of foxfire. Wait for her to use her cooldowns before trying to harrass, or just farm safely from afar with your barrels. At best you can farm from a far and maybe hit a few barrels, at worst she will constantly charm you and you will take a lot of damage. You can push her to her tower, but she is also an excellent farmer, so its kinda pointless. Make sure you call your MIAs, Ahri is extremely mobile and a good ganker. Take advantage if you hit 6 first, Ahri without her ultimate is considerably less threatening.
Replay Example:
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This lane is heavily in the favour of Gragas. While Akali doesn't use mana, she is still squishy and you can burst her down pretty quickly. All of your skills are non-targeted AoE so you can kill her even in her shroud (or knock her out of it), and if she goes for the kill on you, R+E creates enough distance to prevent her from Shadow dancing back to you. Play the lane agressive starting at 3, and never let her get in CS range without taking some damage. Consider early wards for the bushes or pink wards to avoid being ganked/see her in shroud.
Replay Example:
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Anivia's Q travels fairly slow, so it should be easy to dodge. Just avoid her Qs and farm. When she hits 6 there is 0 chance you can outpush her, so clear the wave and gank. If you ever get her into egg form, take advantage by knocking her back towards you. The Egg can be moved by your ultimate, so if possible egg her with your other skills first. If you can, stay away from the creepwave so you don't get damaged by her RE combo. If the Anivia player is good at landing that combo, you will end up taking a lot of damage, so buy a few extra health pots and consider early MR in the form of Merc treads or Athenes.
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Annie is very annoying simply put. She will constantly harass you with QstunW, and her shield makes it hard to counterattack and trade. Her burst is equal to yours at level 6, she has a stun while you have a knockback. It is completely up to player skill and if Annie can consistently stun you with Q and harass with W. Ask for a jungler gank at 6 and try to burst her down before she can beardrop you. Lategame use your ultimate to counter-initiate after she uses hers to initiate a fight.
Replay Example:
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This lane is more decided by player skill. If the Gragas player can dodge the Qs and Ws, he will win the lane. Be careful when getting close though, you don't want to take a point blank EQ and then the rest of his combo. Brand's CDs are fairly long, so when he uses his W to farm, you can try to be aggressive if you are confident. Otherwise, play it safe. Brand's power is mostly in early/mid game so just outlast him and reach the lategame. If he uses his ultimate on you, E AWAY from your minions to avoid letting the ultimate bounce between them and you.
Replay Example:
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Against someone who knows how to play Cass, this is a really tough lane for Gragas. You are melee so you have no choice about getting close to the minions, and Cassiopeia will most likely land her Noxious blast on you. Try the best you can to avoid her poison and farm. Going in for the kill is really risky because of her ult, if you can time it right and flash behind her right as she ults, you can kill her, but that takes a lot of skill and timing. Lategame try to surprise her by jumping out of a bush and instabursting her before she can ult you. If you are good at remembering item actives, DFG can be extremely helpful for bursting in this matchup.
Replay Example:
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Treat her the same way that you would treat Akali. She trades the defensive aspects of the shroud for a small shield and better farming. Play the lane agressive starting at 3, and never let her get in CS range without taking some damage. Gragas is fairly powerful in melee range, so if she uses her moonfall pull, throw everything you have at her.
Replay Example:
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When she was first released, Elise was occasionally seen midlane. Now she is almost only played top and in the jungle, although if a lane swap occurs you may end up facing her in lane. Her Q harass in both human and spider forms are annoying and the damage can ramp up and add up quickly as she levels. Her spider form E (Rappel) can be used to dodge your Q or ultimate and can also chase you after using E. If she swaps into spider form, that is the time to play defensive as that usually means she is about to jump on you. Avoid her human form E stun as it sets up for a lot of damage.
Replay Example:
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When she was first released, Elise was occasionally seen midlane. Now she is almost only played top and in the jungle, although if a lane swap occurs you may end up facing her in lane. Her Q harass in both human and spider forms are annoying and the damage can ramp up and add up quickly as she levels. Her spider form E (Rappel) can be used to dodge your Q or ultimate and can also chase you after using E. If she swaps into spider form, that is the time to play defensive as that usually means she is about to jump on you. Avoid her human form E stun as it sets up for a lot of damage.
Replay Example:
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Eve was flavour of the month in the midlane until both her and DFG got nerfed, but now she is coming back as a popular jungler rather than a mid laner. She brings great roaming and burst potential. Buy at least 1 pink ward per back, place it in lane. This is a very fast-paced midlane. When she is in lane pre-6, don't be afraid to trade damage, Eve is faily weak early on. However, once she gets her DFG and ultimate, you need to be careful and start farming from a far. Tell other lanes to get pink wards, because Eve will roam and go to burst down your allies (more likely bot than top). Either roam with her or push as hard as you can and tell other lanes to be careful. If you have the choice, don't pick Gragas in this match.
Replay Example:
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Fiddlesticks mid is rarely seen, but in the odd case he is difficult pre-6. His drain can sustain him through anything you throw at him so wait until 6 to get agressive. Make sure to ward the sides of the lanes and if possible the wraith camps to prevent surprise crowstorms.
Replay Example:
Avoid this matchup matchup if possible. Fizz is just a bitch to deal with in general, he will Playful/Trickster your Qs and Rs, and since he can just walk through minions he can get out of the way of your E easily. He is also very bursty, but he depends on his ult to set up kills. Dodge the his ultimate, as it is a fairly slow moving skillshot. You will need some jungler help with this lane, try to get ganks early before Fizz gets his ultimate. When he Qs to you, return the favour by Body slamming him and if possible, throwing your Q.
Replay Example:
Farm. You can't kill him and unless you do something stupid he won't kill you. Dodge his Qs and farm. Without jungler interference, both of you should get farmed up. The only thing over Galio is better ganks when you start to roam, Your huge knockback trumps his aoe taunt. Help your bot/top lanes win because Galio will farm, and he will hurt lategame. Try to avoid getting taunted when teamfights start, Your ultimate is a good counter-initate against Galio's flash ultimate.
Replay Example:
Tough early, but gets easier when you are able to 1-shot his turrets with your barrels. Try to avoid hitting the turrets with your body slam, and farm. When he ults just disengage and wait for the upgrade to end. You can safely farm from a distance, and unless heimer has his turrets set up to kill all the minions, he has to stay at tower to farm. Gank, because heimer can't gank other lanes very well.
Replay Example:
This is actually a pretty good lane for Gragas. Karthus is really squishy earlyame, and will just die if you harrass him. Constantly force him out of lane and while he is back at base clear the wave and then gank/steal wraiths. If you see him channeling his ultimate, throw yours in and ruin his day. If the karthus is good at landing his Qs, you want to move in a different direction each time to make it harder for him to hit you. He should be trying to farm, you should try to stop him. This is one of the matchups I reccomend an early banshees veil or heavy MR (Chalice/Athenes + Mercs)
Replay Example:
A melee AP carry against a squishy melee anti-AP carry. Either swap with your Ranged AD or don't pick Gragas in this matchup. It is an extremely difficult lane for gragas post-6. Before Kassadin gets his ultimate, you can try to harrass with an EQ combo, but he will probably end up silencing you and giving you a void bitchslap if you charge at him. Post-6 just farm to the best of your abilities and stay away from Kassadin. He has the mobility to chase you down even through multiple body slams so don't assume you can escape a greedy kassadin just because you can slam through a wall.
Replay Example:
Katarina is annoying in the right hands. Her constant Bouncing blade harass adds up over time, Sinister steel can punish you for charging into melee range and her Shunpo makes it difficult to harrass with Q. However, with good reaction times, you can punish her for shumpoing to you by quickly using your E followed up by Qs and autoattacks. Your ultimate stops hers, so be on your guard for a shumpo-ult combo and be ready to ult. In teamfights you can save your ultimate for when she ults, but good kats will wait until you use it. E away if possible to avoid damage.
Replay Example:
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Fiddlesticks mid is rarely seen, but in the odd case he is difficult pre-6. His drain can sustain him through anything you throw at him so wait until 6 to get agressive. Make sure to ward the sides of the lanes and if possible the wraith camps to prevent surprise crowstorms.
Replay Example:
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Avoid this matchup matchup if possible. Fizz is just a bitch to deal with in general, he will Playful/Trickster your Qs and Rs, and since he can just walk through minions he can get out of the way of your E easily. He is also very bursty, but he depends on his ult to set up kills. Dodge the his ultimate, as it is a fairly slow moving skillshot. You will need some jungler help with this lane, try to get ganks early before Fizz gets his ultimate. When he Qs to you, return the favour by Body slamming him and if possible, throwing your Q.
Replay Example:
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Farm. You can't kill him and unless you do something stupid he won't kill you. Dodge his Qs and farm. Without jungler interference, both of you should get farmed up. The only thing over Galio is better ganks when you start to roam, Your huge knockback trumps his aoe taunt. Help your bot/top lanes win because Galio will farm, and he will hurt lategame. Try to avoid getting taunted when teamfights start, Your ultimate is a good counter-initate against Galio's flash ultimate.
Replay Example:
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Tough early, but gets easier when you are able to 1-shot his turrets with your barrels. Try to avoid hitting the turrets with your body slam, and farm. When he ults just disengage and wait for the upgrade to end. You can safely farm from a distance, and unless heimer has his turrets set up to kill all the minions, he has to stay at tower to farm. Gank, because heimer can't gank other lanes very well.
Replay Example:
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This is actually a pretty good lane for Gragas. Karthus is really squishy earlyame, and will just die if you harrass him. Constantly force him out of lane and while he is back at base clear the wave and then gank/steal wraiths. If you see him channeling his ultimate, throw yours in and ruin his day. If the karthus is good at landing his Qs, you want to move in a different direction each time to make it harder for him to hit you. He should be trying to farm, you should try to stop him. This is one of the matchups I reccomend an early banshees veil or heavy MR (Chalice/Athenes + Mercs)
Replay Example:
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A melee AP carry against a squishy melee anti-AP carry. Either swap with your Ranged AD or don't pick Gragas in this matchup. It is an extremely difficult lane for gragas post-6. Before Kassadin gets his ultimate, you can try to harrass with an EQ combo, but he will probably end up silencing you and giving you a void bitchslap if you charge at him. Post-6 just farm to the best of your abilities and stay away from Kassadin. He has the mobility to chase you down even through multiple body slams so don't assume you can escape a greedy kassadin just because you can slam through a wall.
Replay Example:
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Katarina is annoying in the right hands. Her constant Bouncing blade harass adds up over time, Sinister steel can punish you for charging into melee range and her Shunpo makes it difficult to harrass with Q. However, with good reaction times, you can punish her for shumpoing to you by quickly using your E followed up by Qs and autoattacks. Your ultimate stops hers, so be on your guard for a shumpo-ult combo and be ready to ult. In teamfights you can save your ultimate for when she ults, but good kats will wait until you use it. E away if possible to avoid damage.
Replay Example:
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VS.
This lane is just a huge pain in the ass. Kayle will slow you, speed her self up and kite you all around. If the Kayle has good reaction times or smart-self-cast enabled they can even block your ultimate with theirs (the damage not the knockback). If possible try not to pick Gragas in this matchup.
Replay Example:
Kennen can be annoying for Gragas or an easy target, it depends on the opponent's playstyle. If the opponent EWs the minion wave to CS, he will constantly be getting into Melee range, allowing for a EQ combo. If he decides to farm with Q and autoattacks however, he can harrass you from afar and you may need to use barrels on harassing instead of CSing. He can dodge barrels pretty easily with his E, so its hard to harass. Farm and try to catch him out of position after he uses his E. An early hourglass is fairly useful in this matchup.
Replay Example:
She hurts. Consider switching with your toplane. If you have to play against her, play extremely safe early. Once you can instaclear waves with your barrel, Instaclear and gank another lane. LB has trouble CSing under tower, so shove it in her face every wave and go to gank/steal wraiths. If she starts roaming, make the judgement to push the tower or follow her and countergank. Pink wards may be helpful to prevent her using her passive to escape.
Replay Example:
VS.
This lane is just a huge pain in the ass. Kayle will slow you, speed her self up and kite you all around. If the Kayle has good reaction times or smart-self-cast enabled they can even block your ultimate with theirs (the damage not the knockback). If possible try not to pick Gragas in this matchup.
Replay Example:
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Kennen can be annoying for Gragas or an easy target, it depends on the opponent's playstyle. If the opponent EWs the minion wave to CS, he will constantly be getting into Melee range, allowing for a EQ combo. If he decides to farm with Q and autoattacks however, he can harrass you from afar and you may need to use barrels on harassing instead of CSing. He can dodge barrels pretty easily with his E, so its hard to harass. Farm and try to catch him out of position after he uses his E. An early hourglass is fairly useful in this matchup.
Replay Example:
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She hurts. Consider switching with your toplane. If you have to play against her, play extremely safe early. Once you can instaclear waves with your barrel, Instaclear and gank another lane. LB has trouble CSing under tower, so shove it in her face every wave and go to gank/steal wraiths. If she starts roaming, make the judgement to push the tower or follow her and countergank. Pink wards may be helpful to prevent her using her passive to escape.
Replay Example:
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VS.
I cannot think of a word to describe this matchup other than annoying. Her ult can either lock you down and set you up for more damage or ganks, or it could protect herself from your agression and/or ultimate. Try not to engage fights with her until her ultimate is down. Watch where her ice claw is headed and lead your barrels properly.
Replay Example:
Dodge her Bindings and harrass her. If she uses her shield, wait for it to return to her before going in so the first shield is wasted. E away from lazers. She has decent farming, so you can't just push her face in, but you can instaclear and then threaten with E, just be careful not to eat a binding to the face. Post-6, she can instaclear with enough AP, and can also gank from far away with a lazer, so you need to be on top of your MIAs. Your ultimate does not stop hers, so unlike some channeled abilities, the only way to stop it is killing her.
Replay Example: http://www.leaguereplays.com/replays/match/2585584/
Malzahar is very strong against Gragas (luckily he isn't extremely popular). Even with drunken rage on, Malefic visions hurt, and since you need to get in melee range of the minions he gets free shots at you and can ult easier. When he lays down his pool, E away ASAP, as he will probably try to ult you. Your E doesn't make enough distance to break the channel, so he will get the full suppression. Lategame, if your team lacks CC, build a QSS and if he ults someone else, use your ultimate to break his channel.
Replay Example:
Morgana is good at clearing idle waves, so instaclear and screw up her farming. Her ganks are even better than yours, so don't let her roam if you can. If she ults you, you should be able to RE to create enough distance to break the chains. Also, dodge her bindings. They are a slow skillshot so you should be able to E away in time. Bait black shields by dashing in and then just walking back. An early Hourglass helps you avoid a lot of damage in this matchup, but may set you up for easy bindings.
Replay Example:
Morde does the same thing that you do, instaclears waves then go ganks. Just do it better than him. If you don't kill him early, you probably won't kill him at all, his shield absorbs a lot of your barrel harrass. Lategame try to seperate him from your AD carry and take him out.
Replay Example:
Nidalee throws spears. Dodge them. Harrass while the cooldown on her spear is down. After level 6, its very unlikely that you can kill her, so keep farming and dodging. Like Leblanc, she has a hardish time farming under tower (assuming AP nidalee, AD nidalee farms like a boss), so shove it and gank. Not a lane gragas always wins, but he doesn't really lose either. She is difficult to chase, so be careful when using your ultimate on her, she may pounce in the wrong direction and get thrown to safety.
Replay Example:
Orianna has picked up in popularity after the season 2 world finals, and is still a very strong character. Her autoattacks carry an additional magic-based punch, so her AA harass will do more damage than your average opponent. Stay away from the ball and harrass/farm from afar. Try to stay away from your minions so she has to give up CSing to harrass. She has similar area control (her Q/Resonance combo is just like your Q, just a slow rather than aspeed slow), so just outskill her. If you manage to stay away from the ball, you should be able to win this lane. Wait until the ball is on the field rather than on her to ult, as you don't want to bring the ball to you for an easy shockwave from Orianna.
Replay Example:
Ryze is very strong against Gragas. His snare punishes you for dashing in, and since all of his spells are ranged and lock-on, he can freely harass you whenever he wants. His pre-6 laning is not as strong, and he has trouble CSing until he gets his tear/catalyst/ultimate, so shove early if you can. Post-6, dont even try to get anywhere near him. Clear the wave and gank, you won't beat ryze but you can still help your other lanes.
Replay Example:
Sion will be doing basically the same thing as you all game. Instaclearing waves and then going to gank. He just has a stun instead of a knockback. The one big difference is you can stop him from farming while he can't really do the same back. Try to pop his shield from afar so he can't stunshield combo you. AD sion is a completely different story, and should be treated differently. He has a weak earlygame, so crush his face in and don't let him near to farm. If the opponent Sion is AD, it is very important to shut him down early before he gets items and his level 2 ultimate.
Replay Example:
Swain is a tough lane for Gragas, his constant EQ and occasional Ws zone you off creeps. Pre-6 he has a bit of a hard time farming, so shove the lane the best you can. You really want to dodge his Ws, if he roots you say goodbye to at least half your health. His E will make him do even more damage to you, so when he uses torment back off. Post-6, wait until he turns his ultimate off to harrass, each time he toggles his ultimate off, you have an 6-8 second window to do as much damage as possible. Learn to abuse this window and you can possibly kill Swain. Ganks are nice in this matchup, but are risky because of Swain's W.
Replay Example:
Syndra is one of the other champions I play fairly often in the midlane. This matchup can be in the favour of Gragas depending on how agressive he is. Syndra has a problem with champions that can get in her face, so Dash in and Q before she knocks you back. Maxing W second in this lane will reduce a large potion of the damage from her ultimate (reduces damage from each individual sphere). Her range is fairly low, so go on the agressive and force her out of lane.
Replay Example:
Everyone hates Teemo. His consistant ranged harrass is annoying, and will add up over time. Push and gank, teemo can't really do either. Don't expect to win this lane, but do as much as you can to help your other two lanes win. Consider early pink wards to clear out mushrooms and make it easier for your jungler to gank / you to roam.
Replay Example:
Twisted Fate has the range advantage on you, which makes this already annoying matchup even more annoying. Gragas has a large hitbox so its hard to dodge wild cards. TF can freely harrass you with his pick a card and stacked deck. His ganks are also better than yours considering the fact he has a semi-global teleport and can completely ignore wards. He does everything you do better, and aside from facing a bad TF, you will probably lose this matchup.
Replay Example:
Veigar is basically the same thing as karthus, just he can instagib you at level 6. Try as hard as you can to stop him from farming, but don't get caught by his stun. You need to be smart with your agression. Try to ult him to you instead of dashing to him and then ulting, this gives him less time to react with a stun and lets you get right next to him without dashing through a stun. Also, gank more than he does. A Zhonya's Hourglass is a great purchase in this matchup.
Replay Example:
Viktor is fairly annoying to face in general, moreso for a Melee champion like Gragas. His Power transfer is good at preventing counterattacks (especially at higher ranks), his Gravity field will stun you if you try to charge in, and his Death ray Instaclears just as fast as you after level 7ish. Viktor outclasses Gragas in everything but two categories: Initation and Escaping. The cooldown on his W is quite long, so wait for him to waste that to go in for the kill, since he has no way to escape other than killing you.
Replay Example:
Vladimir gets annoying very fast, almost to the point of being as annoying as Fizz. Unless you manage to kill him before he buys a revolver, you probably won't kill him. Try to wait for his Sanguine pool to go on Cooldown before using your Q/R. His constant Targeted harrass will wear you down, so consider buying more health pots than normal and asking for the jungler to help often.
Replay Example:
Along with Kogmaw (and to some extent Ziggs), Xerath is one of the few champions that can outrange your abilities. Normally this would be a bit of a problem for Gragas, but in Xerath's case, he has to lock in place to get that range, and when an opponent champion is locked in place, it is very easy to hit them with skillshots. Do the best you can to dive dip duck dodge and dive around his skillshots while hitting yours on the locked down Xerath. When he begins to ult, You can try to use your own ultimate to push him out of range, or use your E to dash away.
Replay Example:
Ziggs is like a ranged version of you, so naturally he has the advantage. His Semi-global presence will pressure you and your teammates to play defensive. If he throws his Q at you, it is possible to body slam under the bomb and dodge it completely, but Gragas has a large hitbox so this takes careful timing. Wait for him to use his satchel charge to go in for the kill.
Replay Example:
I haven't had much experience against Zilean mid, if you have any criticism on this matchup, please leave a comment or PM me.
Replay Example:
She is similar to Heimer in a way, although currently she is played more as a support character rather than mid. Many consider Gragas to be one of the best counters to her, but the early levels are a bit tough. Her snare is fairly scary, E away if you have the reaction time when she casts it. If she uses her ultimate on you, you can use yours to knock her out of the area and then dash out yourself.
Replay Example:
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I cannot think of a word to describe this matchup other than annoying. Her ult can either lock you down and set you up for more damage or ganks, or it could protect herself from your agression and/or ultimate. Try not to engage fights with her until her ultimate is down. Watch where her ice claw is headed and lead your barrels properly.
Replay Example:
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Dodge her Bindings and harrass her. If she uses her shield, wait for it to return to her before going in so the first shield is wasted. E away from lazers. She has decent farming, so you can't just push her face in, but you can instaclear and then threaten with E, just be careful not to eat a binding to the face. Post-6, she can instaclear with enough AP, and can also gank from far away with a lazer, so you need to be on top of your MIAs. Your ultimate does not stop hers, so unlike some channeled abilities, the only way to stop it is killing her.
Replay Example: http://www.leaguereplays.com/replays/match/2585584/
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Malzahar is very strong against Gragas (luckily he isn't extremely popular). Even with drunken rage on, Malefic visions hurt, and since you need to get in melee range of the minions he gets free shots at you and can ult easier. When he lays down his pool, E away ASAP, as he will probably try to ult you. Your E doesn't make enough distance to break the channel, so he will get the full suppression. Lategame, if your team lacks CC, build a QSS and if he ults someone else, use your ultimate to break his channel.
Replay Example:
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Morgana is good at clearing idle waves, so instaclear and screw up her farming. Her ganks are even better than yours, so don't let her roam if you can. If she ults you, you should be able to RE to create enough distance to break the chains. Also, dodge her bindings. They are a slow skillshot so you should be able to E away in time. Bait black shields by dashing in and then just walking back. An early Hourglass helps you avoid a lot of damage in this matchup, but may set you up for easy bindings.
Replay Example:
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Morde does the same thing that you do, instaclears waves then go ganks. Just do it better than him. If you don't kill him early, you probably won't kill him at all, his shield absorbs a lot of your barrel harrass. Lategame try to seperate him from your AD carry and take him out.
Replay Example:
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Nidalee throws spears. Dodge them. Harrass while the cooldown on her spear is down. After level 6, its very unlikely that you can kill her, so keep farming and dodging. Like Leblanc, she has a hardish time farming under tower (assuming AP nidalee, AD nidalee farms like a boss), so shove it and gank. Not a lane gragas always wins, but he doesn't really lose either. She is difficult to chase, so be careful when using your ultimate on her, she may pounce in the wrong direction and get thrown to safety.
Replay Example:
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Orianna has picked up in popularity after the season 2 world finals, and is still a very strong character. Her autoattacks carry an additional magic-based punch, so her AA harass will do more damage than your average opponent. Stay away from the ball and harrass/farm from afar. Try to stay away from your minions so she has to give up CSing to harrass. She has similar area control (her Q/Resonance combo is just like your Q, just a slow rather than aspeed slow), so just outskill her. If you manage to stay away from the ball, you should be able to win this lane. Wait until the ball is on the field rather than on her to ult, as you don't want to bring the ball to you for an easy shockwave from Orianna.
Replay Example:
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Ryze is very strong against Gragas. His snare punishes you for dashing in, and since all of his spells are ranged and lock-on, he can freely harass you whenever he wants. His pre-6 laning is not as strong, and he has trouble CSing until he gets his tear/catalyst/ultimate, so shove early if you can. Post-6, dont even try to get anywhere near him. Clear the wave and gank, you won't beat ryze but you can still help your other lanes.
Replay Example:
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Sion will be doing basically the same thing as you all game. Instaclearing waves and then going to gank. He just has a stun instead of a knockback. The one big difference is you can stop him from farming while he can't really do the same back. Try to pop his shield from afar so he can't stunshield combo you. AD sion is a completely different story, and should be treated differently. He has a weak earlygame, so crush his face in and don't let him near to farm. If the opponent Sion is AD, it is very important to shut him down early before he gets items and his level 2 ultimate.
Replay Example:
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Swain is a tough lane for Gragas, his constant EQ and occasional Ws zone you off creeps. Pre-6 he has a bit of a hard time farming, so shove the lane the best you can. You really want to dodge his Ws, if he roots you say goodbye to at least half your health. His E will make him do even more damage to you, so when he uses torment back off. Post-6, wait until he turns his ultimate off to harrass, each time he toggles his ultimate off, you have an 6-8 second window to do as much damage as possible. Learn to abuse this window and you can possibly kill Swain. Ganks are nice in this matchup, but are risky because of Swain's W.
Replay Example:
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Syndra is one of the other champions I play fairly often in the midlane. This matchup can be in the favour of Gragas depending on how agressive he is. Syndra has a problem with champions that can get in her face, so Dash in and Q before she knocks you back. Maxing W second in this lane will reduce a large potion of the damage from her ultimate (reduces damage from each individual sphere). Her range is fairly low, so go on the agressive and force her out of lane.
Replay Example:
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Everyone hates Teemo. His consistant ranged harrass is annoying, and will add up over time. Push and gank, teemo can't really do either. Don't expect to win this lane, but do as much as you can to help your other two lanes win. Consider early pink wards to clear out mushrooms and make it easier for your jungler to gank / you to roam.
Replay Example:
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Twisted Fate has the range advantage on you, which makes this already annoying matchup even more annoying. Gragas has a large hitbox so its hard to dodge wild cards. TF can freely harrass you with his pick a card and stacked deck. His ganks are also better than yours considering the fact he has a semi-global teleport and can completely ignore wards. He does everything you do better, and aside from facing a bad TF, you will probably lose this matchup.
Replay Example:
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VS.
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Veigar is basically the same thing as karthus, just he can instagib you at level 6. Try as hard as you can to stop him from farming, but don't get caught by his stun. You need to be smart with your agression. Try to ult him to you instead of dashing to him and then ulting, this gives him less time to react with a stun and lets you get right next to him without dashing through a stun. Also, gank more than he does. A Zhonya's Hourglass is a great purchase in this matchup.
Replay Example:
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VS.
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Viktor is fairly annoying to face in general, moreso for a Melee champion like Gragas. His Power transfer is good at preventing counterattacks (especially at higher ranks), his Gravity field will stun you if you try to charge in, and his Death ray Instaclears just as fast as you after level 7ish. Viktor outclasses Gragas in everything but two categories: Initation and Escaping. The cooldown on his W is quite long, so wait for him to waste that to go in for the kill, since he has no way to escape other than killing you.
Replay Example:
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Vladimir gets annoying very fast, almost to the point of being as annoying as Fizz. Unless you manage to kill him before he buys a revolver, you probably won't kill him. Try to wait for his Sanguine pool to go on Cooldown before using your Q/R. His constant Targeted harrass will wear you down, so consider buying more health pots than normal and asking for the jungler to help often.
Replay Example:
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Along with Kogmaw (and to some extent Ziggs), Xerath is one of the few champions that can outrange your abilities. Normally this would be a bit of a problem for Gragas, but in Xerath's case, he has to lock in place to get that range, and when an opponent champion is locked in place, it is very easy to hit them with skillshots. Do the best you can to dive dip duck dodge and dive around his skillshots while hitting yours on the locked down Xerath. When he begins to ult, You can try to use your own ultimate to push him out of range, or use your E to dash away.
Replay Example:
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Ziggs is like a ranged version of you, so naturally he has the advantage. His Semi-global presence will pressure you and your teammates to play defensive. If he throws his Q at you, it is possible to body slam under the bomb and dodge it completely, but Gragas has a large hitbox so this takes careful timing. Wait for him to use his satchel charge to go in for the kill.
Replay Example:
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I haven't had much experience against Zilean mid, if you have any criticism on this matchup, please leave a comment or PM me.
Replay Example:
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She is similar to Heimer in a way, although currently she is played more as a support character rather than mid. Many consider Gragas to be one of the best counters to her, but the early levels are a bit tough. Her snare is fairly scary, E away if you have the reaction time when she casts it. If she uses her ultimate on you, you can use yours to knock her out of the area and then dash out yourself.
Replay Example:
PHYSICAL DAMAGE BASED CHAMPIONS
+ Show Spoiler +
VS.
Khazix has incredible burst when you are isolated from your minions. This is one of the matchups you might want to stay in the safety of your creep wave.
Replay Example:
Khazix has incredible burst when you are isolated from your minions. This is one of the matchups you might want to stay in the safety of your creep wave.
Replay Example:
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Lee sin mid has been popularized by some EU players recently, although I have no experience facing it. Any insight would be appreciated.
Replay Example:
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Lee sin mid has been popularized by some EU players recently, although I have no experience facing it. Any insight would be appreciated.
Replay Example:
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Talon is built to screw with AP carrys like you. He will jump in, QW you and then ult, either running away or finishing off his combo by AAing again. As soon as the silence ends, you need to EQ him and possibly ult. You will take a lot of damage in this matchup, you need to play safe and hug your tower. Call for jungle ganks and try to bait out his cuttthroat. If all else fails, swap with your top laner. Consider early pink wards.
Replay Example:
Zed is like talon on steroids. You will need to rush an hourglass in this matchup, otherwise Zed can just kill you every time his ultimate is up. He can use shadows to dodge your spells and make it very hard for you to go aggressive.
VS.
Talon is built to screw with AP carrys like you. He will jump in, QW you and then ult, either running away or finishing off his combo by AAing again. As soon as the silence ends, you need to EQ him and possibly ult. You will take a lot of damage in this matchup, you need to play safe and hug your tower. Call for jungle ganks and try to bait out his cuttthroat. If all else fails, swap with your top laner. Consider early pink wards.
Replay Example:
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Zed is like talon on steroids. You will need to rush an hourglass in this matchup, otherwise Zed can just kill you every time his ultimate is up. He can use shadows to dodge your spells and make it very hard for you to go aggressive.
In Game
Early Game:
Depending on lane opponent, you can choose to farm during the early game or focus on being aggressive and forcing the opponent out of lane. If the opponent stands in a place (such as in their caster minions), throw a barrel at them and deal out some pain. At level 3 or 4 you can burst your opponent from about 50% health using QE+ignite.
For the first little while, you won't have infinite sustain, so try to limit yourself to 1 barrel per minion wave. After you get a Chalice or getting blue buff, you can afford more per wave.
After hitting level 6, look for opportunities to knock the opponents back towards you. Gragas's burst is considerably high, so don't be afraid to get more aggressive to secure kills.
Midgame:
After a tower or two goes down and teams start grouping up, it is your job to be at every teamfight/objective dealing tons of AoE damage and resetting bad engagements with your ultimate. If you can at this time, try to hog your team's blue buff (unless you have a blue-hungry jungler like Fiddle, who is a terrible partner for Gragas ._. ). You might want to save your E as an escape tool instead of a damage dealer, as once you start putting levels in to it, it does a fair bit of damage while your W is on.
Lategame:
Barrels everywhere. Continue to AOE everything, hog blue buff, and continue what you have been doing since the midgame. Isolate targets with your ultimate, throw your barrels in to poke, make the judgement of using E for damage or escaping. Your ultimate can turn the tides of a fight, and it will be at about 60 seconds cooldown, so don't be afraid to spam it for damage.
If the opponents start building MR (which they should be if they are good), now is a good time to get a void staff.
If you are getting focus fired every fight, hourglass and GA are good item choices.
Finally, Lich bane can be pretty good on Gragas after a certain point. W gives you AD, and since your E will move you to the opponents, your autoattacks can get pretty powerful along side your spells.
If your games don`t look like this, you are doing it wrong.
(Last Updated January 15th)