Graves Skins

Graves has been my go-to jungler since they reworked him back in season 6, and honestly his skin catalog tells a weird story. Thirteen skins over more than a decade, ranging from bare-bones recolors to a full Legendary with new VO. Not gonna lie, some of these feel like Riot forgot he existed for stretches, then suddenly remembered and dropped two bangers in a row. The collection has real highs and some stuff thats just... there. If you main Graves or you're thinking about picking him up, the skin you lock in actually matters more than most champions because his auto attack animations feel different across tiers.

How Graves Built His Skin Closet Over 13 Years

Thirteen skins. For a champion released in 2011, that number feels about right. Not Lux or Ezreal territory, but Graves has stayed relevant enough in the jungle meta to keep getting attention from Riot's skin team. The breakdown is 6 Standard tier skins, 6 Epics, and exactly one Legendary. Decent spread honestly.

The early stuff is rough. Hired Gun Graves dropped alongside his release in 2011, and it shows its age hard. Same with Jailbreak Graves. These are texture swaps from an era where Riot thought changing a jacket color counted as a skin. Been playing since season 3 myself and even back then those felt outdated. Crime City Graves at least had some personality to it, the pinstripe suit and tommy gun vibe worked for the character fantasy even if the model was basic.

Things picked up around 2015-2016. Pool Party Graves, Snow Day Graves, those were the first skins where Riot actually put effort into his particles. Kinda feels like the rework into a jungler gave them more to work with visually. His shotgun autos, the smoke screen, the collateral damage ult. All of it reads better with custom VFX.

Then 2021 hit and Sentinel Graves changed everything. Full Legendary treatment. New voice lines, new animations, the whole package. After that came EDG Graves in 2022 (Worlds skin, solid but nothing crazy) and Porcelain Graves in 2024 which is his most recent. The catalog went from forgettable to genuinely competitive in the back half. Season 12 onwards is where Graves mains actually got options worth caring about.

Best Graves Skins Worth Your RP

Sentinel Graves sits at the top and it isnt even close. 1820 RP Legendary with completely new VO, new recall, reworked animations across the board. The way his Q (End of the Line) detonates has this clean light-burst effect that reads way better in teamfights than base. His W smoke screen got a full visual overhaul too, looks like a sanctified mist instead of generic grey fog. Played maybe 150 games with Sentinel last season in Diamond and the auto attack animation alone is smoother than any other Graves skin. His R (Collateral Damage) has this massive golden explosion that makes landing it from fog of war feel incredible. Real talk though, the voice lines carry this skin harder than the visuals. Graves goes from gruff smuggler to reluctant hero and the writing is genuinely good.

Pool Party Graves at 1350 RP is the fun pick. Water gun shotgun, beach shorts, flip flops. His smoke screen becomes a splash of water. Sounds dumb on paper but in-game it reads clean and the recall where he grills burgers has been a community favorite since 2015. Been running this one in normals with friends for years. Perfect for when you dont want to tryhard the aesthetic.

Snow Day Graves competes directly with Pool Party at the same 1350 price point. Snowball autos, winter coat, his ult launches a massive snowball. Could be wrong here but I think the particle clarity on Snow Day is actually better than Pool Party in lane. The white VFX against the Rift's green reads super clean, especially when you're clearing jungle camps pre-6.

Praetorian Graves surprised me. Sci-fi robot theme, 1350 RP. The auto attacks have this metallic punch sound that makes his shotgun feel heavier. Not the most popular pick in my ranked games but every time I see one in loading screen I respect the choice. The E (Quickdraw) dash animation has a mechanical slide to it that feels faster even though the gameplay is identical.

Battle Professor Graves rounds out the top five. Academic skin with glasses and a lab coat over body armor. His Q bounces off walls with this energy effect thats distinct from base. Good skin. Not best-in-class but solid for the price. (Random aside: the glasses on Graves look way more natural than they should for a guy who canonically smuggles goods across Bilgewater.)

Skinline Breakdown and Where Graves Fits

Graves shows up across a bunch of skinlines but his thematic home is clearly the outlaw/criminal fantasy. Crime City Graves, Cutthroat Graves, Jailbreak Graves. The character was designed as a gunslinging outlaw and Riot leaned into that hard early on. Makes sense. Not every champion needs to be forced into Star Guardian.

Pool Party is the outlier that works. Graves has enough rugged personality that putting him in swim trunks with a water gun feels like a natural vacation episode rather than a forced fit. Snow Day follows similar logic. Casual Graves works because the character has swagger regardless of what he's wearing.

The Sentinel skinline from the Ruination event was a left turn. Graves as a chosen warrior of light? Sounds wrong on paper. But the execution sold it. Maybe just my experience but the Sentinel line gave Graves more narrative depth than his base lore ever did. Victorious Graves from 2017 is the ranked reward skin, so if you didnt hit Gold that season you're out of luck. Legacy vault situation.

Praetorian threw him into a dystopian robot future and honestly it fits better than it should. Graves with a mechanical shotgun just works. The Porcelain skinline in 2024 was the most unexpected pick. Delicate ceramic aesthetics on a guy who smokes cigars and shoots people. Might be overthinking it but I think Riot specifically picks champions that contrast hard with elegant skinlines because the juxtaposition sells.

EDG Graves exists because JieJie won Worlds on him. Esports skins are their own category. You buy them to rep the player, not for the VFX. Solid particles though.

Budget Picks vs Premium: Where to Spend on Graves

The price range on Graves skins runs from 520 RP up to 1820 for Sentinel. Big gap. If you're climbing ranked and want one skin that does everything, Sentinel Graves at 1820 is the answer. Full stop. The animation smoothness and VO alone justify it for anyone who plays him regularly. Worth 1820 if you main Graves.

But if you're not dropping Legendary money, Pool Party at 1350 punches above its weight class. Custom particles on every ability, great recall, fun theme. Best value Epic in his catalog I think. Snow Day is the runner-up at the same price.

On the budget end, Crime City Graves at 520 RP is the only cheap skin worth mentioning. The mafia aesthetic works for the character even with dated visuals. Hired Gun and Jailbreak are skippable unless you're a completionist. Fair warning, the Standard tier skins on Graves really show their age. No new particles, no new sounds, just texture changes from 2011-2012. The jump from 520 to 1350 RP on Graves is massive in terms of what you actually get in-game.

Riot Graves is a special case. Limited availability, you had to attend an event or get lucky with Hextech. Not worth stressing over, the skin itself is mid. (Sidebar for jungle mains specifically: the auto attack feel on Standard skins versus Epic+ is night and day on Graves because his shotgun spread particles change so dramatically.)

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