Champion Guide

Gragas Guide

By LoLSuggest

Top

AP Gragas scales into lane pressure: he is weak early with high cooldowns and mana costs, but once he has a few points in Barrel Roll he bullies lanes, sets up ganks and can launch an enemy carry into his team with Explosive Cask. Top lane is more forgiving for newer players, since full-AP mid is higher risk.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Gragas build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

The top-lane setup always takes Stormraider's Surge with Manaflow Band, Transcendence and Scorch, plus Cut Down and Legend: Haste; Grasp of the Undying with Demolish is the alternative. Take Flash with Teleport in top (Ignite in low-ranked mid). Its core is Lost Chapter into Lich Bane, Sorcerer's Shoes, Shadowflame, Rabadon's Deathcap, Void Staff and Stormsurge, with Hextech Rocketbelt, Banshee's Veil, Zhonya's Hourglass or Horizon Focus as options. The mid-lane setup runs Electrocute with Sudden Impact, Grisly Mementos and Ultimate Hunter (or Arcane Comet into poke lanes) and builds Luden's Echo, Sorcerer's Shoes, Cosmic Drive and Shadowflame. Max Q first in almost every game.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Strengths

Scales extremely well with AP and can delete squishy carries.
Built-in sustain from his passive and Drunken Rage's damage reduction.
Great engage, disengage and gank setup, plus strong teamfighting.

Weaknesses

Very weak early: low damage, high cooldowns and high mana costs.
Predictable engage — tenacity and escapes make his combo easy to dodge.
Countered by magic resist stacking and high-risk against bruisers.

Laning Phase

Farm with Drunken Rage early — it extends your attack range, reduces damage and procs your passive cheaply. Avoid spamming Barrel Roll at 80 mana unless it also last-hits a minion. After your first recall or level 6, push as much as possible and play aggressively; Stormraider's Surge helps you escape ganks. Teleport back to lane when your wave is slow-pushing toward the enemy, but walk if the enemy wave is coming to you, and save Teleport for early fights when you can. Combine your combo with Flash so it's hard to react to.

Mid & Late Game

From around 15 minutes Gragas excels at grouping and teamfighting. Always pick up Oracle Lens and buy Control Wards — engaging from unseen angles is far more effective. Look for quick Body Slam, Explosive Cask and Flash catches, or split-push the side lane that mirrors the next objective and Teleport in when the fight starts. You can also hide a cask in terrain and ult enemies into it.

Key Tips

Flash during Body Slam to extend its range.
Auto, then Body Slam during Drunken Rage's empowered attack to cancel its animation and deal damage faster.
Cast Barrel Roll and Explosive Cask during Body Slam so opponents have less time to react.
The full combo is W, E, R, Flash, Q.