Since his inception in 2010, Gragas has been a staple champion in League of Legends. Most remember him for his Season 3 days as an AP assassin, in which he would more often than not two-shot the opposing carries since both his Q and R had a ludicrous 1.0 AP Scaling. But in the later seasons, Gragas has taken on the role of a tank and main engage tool for his team. Nowadays, you only see him as a toplane and jungler building strictly tank items with few exceptions.

Now, one must ask oneself, "How have I not learned earlier of Gragas' excellence?" Well ye shall no longer tread in the path of uncertainty about a drunk video game character. The most marvelous Gragas guide is upon you. What do I build? Which masteries and runes must I run? How can I make plays for my silver montages? Can I play ADC Gragas? All these questions and more will be answered shortly. Except for the last one. No, you can't play ADC Gragas, what is wrong with you.

Ability Overview

Happy Hour: Gragas heals for 6% maximum health upon using an ability.

Gragas' passive gives you great sustain that can easily be activated in return for mana. Your W and E only cost 30 and 50 mana respectively, and if you have two or three Doran's Rings or the Runic Echoes enchantment mana shouldn't be a big issue. When your passive is about to come off cooldown, I suggest waiting just a bit before using your abilities/combo, especially when early jungling.

Barrel Roll: Gragas rolls a cask to the target location, granting sight around it and fermenting over 2 seconds, increasing its damage and slow strength, up to a maximum of 150%. After 4 seconds or upon reactivating the cask explodes, dealing magic damage to all surrounding enemies, reduced by 30% against minions, and slowing them for 2 seconds.

Can be used for many, many things. Pushing, poking, picking, waveclearing, and trapping to be precise. Most of the time you want to pop your Q either instantly or wait until a hard CC is about to fade away and then press Q. Don't be greedy when Q-ing an enemy champion - the damage and slow you get for waiting for 0.2 seconds is miniscule. Just be safe and quickly reactivate your Q. If you are waiting in a bush and you see an enemy approaching you, you can Q and W in advance, then knock your enemy into your charged Q for some juicy burst damage. Always max this ability first, with the exception of support Gragas.

Drunken Rage: Gragas reduces incoming damage for 2.5 seconds and channels for 1 second, retaining his ability to move but becoming unable to use abilities or basic attacks for the duration. Upon completing the channel, Gragas' next basic attack within 5 seconds deals bonus magic damage to the target and nearby enemies, capped against monsters.

One point wonder ability, great synergy with your passive, and deals 8% of your enemy's maximum health as magic damage. The only irritating aspect of this ability is the 1 second long channel, during which you can only move around. This channel can cost you kills if you use this ability carelessly, but synergises well with Sheen and the AoE helps your jungle clear greatly. Always max this ability last.

Body Slam: Gragas charges forward, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies upon colliding with one as well as knocking them back and stunning them for 1 second. Body Slam's cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds if Gragas hits an enemy.

My personal favourite ability. Insane playmaking potential, reliable CC and it's rather easy to hit. The hitbox is a bit iffy though, since it goes further than Gragas' model. Not only do you stun your opponent, you also slightly knock them back. This might seem irrelevant, but you can knock enemies into a charged Q this way. Often enemies disrespect you and dance around the edge of your Q model, just knock them into your Q with your ultimate or E. The flat 3 second cooldown reduction when hitting an enemy compensates for the long cooldown and synergises well with a CDR focused build. Max this ability second, unless you are playing support, in that case be sure to max it first.

Explosive Cask: Gragas hurls a cask to the target location exploding on impact, damaging all nearby enemies and knocking them back 600 units from the epicenter of the explosion, while also briefly granting sight of the nearby surroundings.

Yet another great tool to make plays with and pick your enemies off. Together with your E you can stun and then insec any enemy into your team. It doesn't deal quite as much damage as one would hope, but if you build just a Protobelt you can kill squishies with one full combo. Obviously, always level this ability when you hit levels 6/11/16.

Gragas Toplane

Runes:

This page works well in most matchups. Against bullies like AD Kennen, Fiora, or Renekton, I suggest switching to flat armor seals.

Masteries:

Again, this page will do well in basically all matchups. Nothing special here, move along.

Summoner Spells:

Not much of a choice here, honestly. Flash is a must and Teleport helps you get back to lane and join early skirmishes all around the map. I don't think there ever is a situation in which you would choose another summoner spell over these two.

Item Builds:

In nearly all match-ups, Doran's Ring is the best starting item. Try to get a first back with 800 gold so you can buy 2 more rings. With 3 Doran's Rings you will not only look like a pimp but also have insane mana sustain and thus health sustain with your passive. Gragas prefers an AP matchup, so he can rush Abyssal Mask, which has become the best MR item for Gragas. Spirit Visage is still a great item, but 10% free bonus damage is just too good to pass on, even for a tank like Gragas. Despite the nerf, Ninja Tabi is a ridiculously strong item and blocks 10% damage of most ADC's. Mercury Treads is also good if the enemy team has a bunch of hard CC. If the enemy ADC is fed or they have something along the lines of a Yasuo, be sure to build a Randuin's Omen. If not, build a Dead Man's Plate.

Do not buy Sunfire Cape however, since you already have enough waveclear with your kit. Next up, you'll want some CDR and you'll want to get it maxed out if possible. A great synergetic item is Iceborn Gauntlet. Not only do you get Sheen and another CC, you can now also crack open a cold one with the boys. With your runes, Abyssal Mask, and a shiny new Iceborn Gauntlet, you'll have 40% cooldown reduction. If you want to be a bit cheeky however, pick up a Hextech Protobelt. I like it in many tank builds since it gives you health, a mini-dash, and you'll deal some nice damage with Abyssal Mask. If the opposing team is AD heavy, be sure to pick up a Thornmail, which also has synergy with Abyssal Mask.

Example build against an AP toplaner but an otherwise AD heavy enemy team.

Gragas Jungle

Runes:

Not much different from the toplane page. A bit more early CDR for clear, and we throw in some scaling armor seals since Gragas' early clear is just fine. If you're not comfortable with so little early armor, you can change your page to half flat armor and half scaling armor.

Masteries:

So yeah, I genuinely think a more AP centric build is better in the jungle than strictly going full tank. Most people build Runic Echoes with Lucidity Boots into full tank, but I believe there are better options, since you'll have a surprising amount of damage with Thunderlord's Decree.

Summoner Spells:

Once again, not much of a choice here. Just make sure Flash is on F because that's literally what it stands for.

Item Builds:

Starting items never change: a Hunter's Talisman and a Refillable Potion is the best option. I believe that the best enchantment for your Hunter's Talisman is the Tracker's Knife. As soon as you hit level 9, you can switch your warding trinket to an upgraded sweeper for better vision clearing. Next up is the Hextech Protobelt. Protobelt gives you health, CDR, and AP so basically all you need. If you're ahead you can get an early Hextech Revolver, but don't upgrade it until you think it's necessary. I recommend buying Abyssal Mask. It's a great item even when the enemy team only has 1 AP champ. But if they have even 2 AD threats, don't build your first armor item too late. While a Zhonya's Hourglass sounds good, I feel that it doesn't deal enough damage and the active isn't worth the price. Once again I think that a slighty tankier choice in the Iceborn Gauntlet is just a better item. Banshee's Veil is a good item as well, but watch your CDR cap if you have purchased an Iceborn Gauntlet.

If you'll get too much CDR with Iceborn Gauntlet, buying a Dead Man's Plate won't give you much damage, but getting tankier can't harm you. In most cases, you can choose between Ninja Tabi's, Mercury Treads or Sorcerer's Boots. If you are the only AP threat in your team, Liandry's Torment is a good choice to burst squishies. Sorcerer's Shoes, the Precision mastery and Liandry's you will have over 35 Flat magic penetration. If you are the only AP Champ on your team the enemy ADC likely won't build a Maw of Malmortious or Mercurial Scimitar, since they won't think they will have to itemize against a Gragas. This leaves them at around 40-50 Magic Resist, most of which is now nullified thanks to all the magic pen items you have bought. As a quick sidenote: I dislike building Lucidity Boots since you get 40% CDR easily with runes and other core items.

Generic example build. Can be built in many games, but shouldn't be strictly followed.

First Clear:

Gragas can get a great early clear in the jungle. Basically, it's Razorbeaks -> Red Buff -> Wolves -> Blue Buff -> Gromp. Without a leash you will be level 4, and have around 60% Health at minute 3:35. If your team is on blue side you can now gank top or mid, and if you are red side you can gank either bot or mid. The only real difficulty in this clear is the first camp. Skill your Q and throw it into the camp at 1:34 minutes. AA every little bird once, then throw your second Q. Let it ferment for around 2 seconds before reactivating it. The Hunter's Talisman passive should kill all the small birds and grant you level 2, at which point you skill W and AA the big bird down. Smite the red and blue buff. I suggest trying this route at least once in sandbox mode to properly utilize it without dropping to low health.

Gragas Midlane

Runes:

The rune page really changes depending on the matchup. The most basic AP page, as shown above, is a cheap and simple page that works well enough in all matchups. If you are against an AD champ like Zed or Talon, you can run scaling magic resist or cooldown reduction glyphs instead of flat magic resist runes. If you lane against an AP mage you can switch your seals to scaling health runes, but be sure to include armor in your item build in the form of a Zhonya's Hourglass, but more information regarding the build will come later.

Masteries:

Not much interesting here. A basic AP assassin page with Thunderlord's. The only other option you have available is to take Fresh Blood instead of Feast, if you're against an easy lane like Gangplank.

Summoner Spells:

Here we actually have to choose between Ignite and Teleport. If you think you will have kill pressure on your lane opponent, take Ignite. If you think the lane might be difficult, take Teleport. And pick Flash on F as you should.

Item Builds:

A simple Doran's Ring as a starting item should suffice in all matchups. Try to get a Lost Chapter at your first back, if you can't afford one pick up another Doran's Ring. If you're against an AP champ getting an early Banshee's Veil is crucial in 1v1 situations. If you're laning against heavy AD an early Seeker's Armguard is necessary for laning. Thus, your first completed item should either be a Morellonomicon, Zhonya's Hourglass or a Banshee's Veil. From here on out your itemization strongly resembles a regular AP Mage. Be sure to build Morello's every game and eventually build either Zhonya's or Banshee's as your 3rd or 4th item, depending on the enemy's team composition. Hextech Protobelt is once again a great choice that fulfills all your wants and needs.

Next up you want some burst. Lich Bane synergises well with your W and allows you to deal some juicy burst damage to your opponents. Similiar to every AP Champ, Rabadon's Deathcap is a great choice as a 4th or 5th item and gives you so much damage you'll be left wondering if what you are doing is even legal. Round out your build with either a Luden's Echo or an Abyssal Mask, depending on your preference and the enemy's team composition. Try to figure out beforehand how much CDR your build will include, and if you have under 40%, get yourself some fresh Lucidity Boots. If you reach the 40% CDR cap through other items, grab yourself some new kicks, preferably some Sorcerer's Boots.

Standard buildpath against an assassin. Get Lost Chapter and then buy Zhonya's in a bad matchup.

Gragas Support

Runes:

In terms of support Gragas, I basically copy C9's support player Andy "Smoothie" Ta's set-up, who actually played Gragas in Game 4 against TSM in the 2017 Spring Split finals. While he ran 3 mana regen glyphs, I think swapping them for scaling magic resist glyphs will work just fine. If you aren't playing against an AP heavy support, you can run full scaling magic resist glyphs.

Masteries:

Once again, you can simply copy C9 Smoothie's set-up. You can proc Stoneborn Pact with 3 out of your 4 abilities, which helps you win many 2v2 fights.

Summoner Spells:

In terms of summoner spells, we get to choose between the two support favourites: Exhaust and Ignite. If the enemy team has an assassin, pick Exhaust. If you think you can win lane with your ADC, take Ignite. Just make sure to use Ignite before the enemy ADC uses Heal in case you take Ignite.

Item Builds:

Surprisingly, all 3 support items are viable on Gragas support, but Relic Shield is just a bit better than Ancient Coin and Spellthief's Edge. Face of The Mountain or Eye of the Equinox are both good choices, just make sure to get a Sightstone. The boot choice is up to you, grab yourselves the kicks you fancy the most and you'll be fine since basically all of them are viable. Name a more iconic duo than Redemption and Locket of the Iron Solari, I'll wait. Pick both of them up and suddenly your whole team has +1k health in teamfights. If you built Face of the Mountain, you can make even the worst Vayne in your server look like the one only Imaqtpie.

If you're ahead and want to be a bit cheeky then, yeah you guessed it, Hextech Protobelt is once again a decent choice, though probably worse on Gragas support compared to other positions due to its lack of utility. If your team is looking to hard engage with champions like Olaf, pick up a Righteous Glory. Randuin's Omen is a tank item I enjoy building on many supports since it gives you tankiness and yet another CC. If you have another AP heavy champion in your team, consider buying Abyssal Mask in the mid to late game. Knight's Vow is always a helpful item if one teammate is carrying and Mikael's Crucible can singlehandedly turn late game teamfights.

A simple support build, which can honestly be built on any support.

Combos

W->Q->E

Your most basic combo. Important to note is that a W empowered AA and your E triggers Thunderlord's, allowing for surprising amount of burst damage. If your opponent has flash or a dash in his kit, be sure to detonate your Q while your opponent is still stunned from your E. Try to throw your Q either right before using your E or while mid-E.

E->F

A flashy move that is easy to pull off and can be used every game. In this clip E->F is used to stun a backline target, but E->F can be used as a general long range gap closer as well. Also note that the target dummy gets pushed into the direction of the originial E, instead of the direction of the F.

Another use of E->F. If you wouldn't F in this scenario you would only stun the target dummy in the very front. By flashing you take advantage of the huge hitbox and stun all three target dummies.

W->E->R

Your most basic insec combo. IMPORTANT: Press R instantly after you use E. If you try to AA during the E stun duration and then use R the opponent has a few frames during which they can Flash away from you. This combo can be sped up a considerable amount by pressing R mid E.

E->F->R

Just a combination of 2 basic mechanics. In the late game everyone will respect you, so keeping your F for picks and engages is crucial.

Q->E->R

You throw your Q where you want to knock your opponent to. You then stun your opponent to make sure he doesn't Flash, and while he is stunned you can easily R him into your Q for great damage. If you weave in a W empowered AA right after you ulted you got the perfect damage combo.

The Full Combo

W->E->Q->R->AA->Q. The difficulty in this combo lies in using both your Q and your R mid-E, but if done correctly the enemy will have to tank your entire combo. If the enemy is further away you can E->F into range. I recommend practicing this combo in practice tool the most since it is the most difficult and most satisfying to pull off. And the burst when you play AP is ridiculous.

In conclusion, I like Gragas. He's got everything you want in a toplaner, jungler, midlaner and support. So go ahead, play some normals, learn Gragas and then bust him out in ladder and you won't be disappointed.

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