Gragas is a niche pick that can be flexed in multiple roles, although he is played the most in jungle and the top lane. He is distinguished by low cooldowns, utility, and high burst damage. To make the most out of Gragas, we will be following the build of top EUW and Korean challenger Gragas players.
Best Items for Gragas
Lich Bane
Lich Bane is a core for every successful AP damage Gragas build. It has a passive which enhances our auto-attacks after casting a spell, which comes really useful as Gragas is a low cooldown champion that can spam abilities frequently.
Stormsurge
Stormsurge is one of the most satisfying League of Legends items, and it just so happens to work perfectly on Gragas. The item will calculate all the damage you have done to enemies, then take a percentage of it to deliver yet another strike in the form of lightning. The item is great for one-shotting enemies due to the extra damage it gives, as well as its magic penetration stats.
Shadowflame
The AP Gragas build truly lives up to its name, as we will continue building the highest AP ratio items. Shadowflame will serve as one of the best items for this task as it will give us the huge 120 flat AP boost, as well as some much-welcome magic penetration.
Rabbadon’s Deathcap
The Deathcap needs no introduction. This staple AP item is the most amazing follow-up item for our build, as it will increase the power of all other APs in our loadout by 35%. It also gives a flat amount of 140 AP. Building this item will put us in a territory where we can comfortably one-shot enemy carries, and pose a significant threat to everyone else in the opposing team.
Mejai’s Soulstealer or Void Staff
Our last item will be either Mejai’s or Void Staff. Some people like to build Cryptbloom, but we aren’t one of those who invest our gold into healing support items. Instead, we will go for the full-damage cocktail. To accomplish our mission we will go with one of the two highlighted items.
Mejai’s Soulstealer is my personal favorite, and to start stacking it earlier I always pick up a Dark Seal earlier in the game. The item is really gold-efficient, especially if you are able to keep a healthy amount of stacks. If you happen to be a “limit tester,” (some might say a feeder, we don’t like that term) it would be better to simply take Void Staff.
Boots
Our build will be accompanied by Sorcerer’s shoes, as these will give us armor penetration, one of the most useful stats for AP Gragas.
Runes for Gragas
- Electrocute
- Sudden Impact
- Eyeball Collection
- Relentless Hunter
- Magical Footwear
- Cosmic Insight
The best damage rune for our dish is electrocute. We will follow it up with Sudden Impact to deliver as much damage as possible with our combos. Next up we will take Eyeball Collection, a rune that stacks damage per every unique kill.
To police around the map efficiently, we will take Relentless Hunter which grants generous amounts of movement speed. We will top off our rune choice with Magical Footwear and Cosmic Insight. The first will save us gold and enable us to buy items earlier in the game, while the second is taken for cooldown utility.
In Conclusion
Gragas is a powerful champion with a unique playstyle. He can be played in many roles, with many different builds. Currently, however, the best way to play Gragas is with a full AP damage build, either in the jungle or the top lane.