Graves vs Shaco Counter Pick

Shaco is rated 9 for difficulty and Graves 3, yet the record still favours Graves at 52.9% over 2,679 games on patch 16.13.1. That combination usually means the harder champion needs a specific setup to convert, and Shaco does: Backstab only pays out from behind, and Deceive has to teleport him there while invisible, with the first attack out of stealth empowered.

Graves is well equipped for that pattern. His attack fires four bullets that cannot pass through units, so a Jack In The Box triggered in front of him absorbs shots meant for its owner; dropping Smoke Screen on his own position cuts the sight range the setup depends on, and Quickdraw’s armor and magic resist boost covers the opening burst. Shaco’s damage is mixed, which means no single resistance solves him and raw health is often the better purchase.

Straight-fight stats favour Graves on every relevant line: 66 base attack damage to 63, 2,427 health at level 18 to 2,313, and 111.2 armor to 98. Hallucinate complicates that by spawning an illusion which attacks nearby enemies and explodes on death, spawning more; emptying a full magazine into it is the usual way this matchup gets thrown away. Two-Shiv Poison slowing on hit makes disengaging awkward, so the fight should start on Graves’s terms. Numbers in full: Graves.