Gragas

[Cakedaddy]

Wanted to go over him again now that I know him a bit bettter.

All of his abilities benefit heavily from his AP. His ult applies 100% of his ap in damage to all caught in the blast. So, I take a ton of AP.

Q - Barrel. Explodes after 5 seconds or is activated by me. Does 85-285 damage plus 90% of my AP to ALL enemies in the blast area. It also slows their attack speed by 40% for 3 seconds. Late game, it's cool down is around 6 seconds. This is a huge debuff, obviously.

W - Gives me 30-70 mana (negligable) and increases my attack damage by 30-70 and reduces damage taken by 10-18%. It doesn't specify if it's magic, physical, etc. Just says 'damage'. I have to channel for 1 second to get the buffs. Mana comes instantly. So, I have to pause to receive the buffs.

E - I charge forward slamming into the first hostile target I hit. I then do 80-240 damage plus 66% and plus 50%. I don't know what the percentages are. AP and AD? AP twice? Don't know. But, it has two bonus of something of 66% and 50%. It also slows any enemy that body slam hits by 35% for 2.5 seconds. The damage is split among all targets hit.

R - I throw my barrel and it immediately explodes doing 200-450 damage plus 100% of my AP to ALL enemies in the blast area. It also knocks them away from the point of the explosion.

Tips say to body slam the enemies, applying my slow, then dropping the ult to scatter the slowed enemies setting up kills for my team. I suppose I can also throw my Q before my ult slowing all of their attack speeds as well. But that's a pretty complicated combo.

I play him as a mage, even though he's melee and can hit pretty hard. I'm too squishy to be too far forward. I will body slam individual enemies to slow/damage them. But I don't see myself pulling off a full team body slam slow any time soon. It will be more the reverse. Spread the enemy out, then slow the closest one. My barrels have pretty good range, but can be dodged as they are slow. But, I'm learning how to lead with them better so I still hit my target. My E (body slam) has a very low cool down. I can spam this to help me get away. I can even make it hard for Yi to catch up to me. His ult lasts forever, so he WILL catch me. But I can run up to two full screens before he does. I have to use the walls and dash through them for the most effective escape.

You will see me in the back of the group lobbing barrels in most team fights. I use the ult to create opportunities. Blast enemies closer for the kill. Blast them away for an escape. Ect. It has a short cool down, so I will just use it for bulk damage at times as well.

My last item (when I get that far), I've been trying to pick something with utility. I like the item that slows the enemy after taking magic damage. That, stacked onto the attack debuff will slow an enemy and make them do way less damage. it's uncommon for the game to go long enough for that to show up though.

I've noticed that when enemies are blasted against a wall, they are stunned just a bit. I think they are stunned for the amount of time it would have taken them to reach their destination had there been no wall. So, if they are against a wall and my blast hits them into that wall, they will appear stunned for around 1 second. If they are far away from the wall and just barely hit it, they will appear stunned for just a fraction of a second.

That's pretty much it. Some people I've been playing with claim that I'm not doing enough damage. I'm buying full mage gear, etc. So, not sure what I'm doing wrong. I do know that when the fighting is heavy (especially if I'm the target), it's hard to land the barrels. Anticipate the fight, lead the target, throw the barrel, activate it when the enemy is on it, etc. But sitting back and sniping makes it much easier. I normally have way more assists than kills.

So, that's pretty much it.

[Cakedaddy]

Countering Gragas. I'm not good enough with him yet to be in depth yet.

I'm squishy. Early game, if my barrels land, they hurt. So I can really put some harass on you. So, dodge my barrels. Best way to dodge is like any other skill shot. Run left or right, not away from it. I'm leading your retreat and my barrel has a long distance. Forcing my to guess left or right will make me miss more AND the damage is much less likely to hit my minions. And since I'm melee, it's hard for me to get last hits without the barrels. If I try, I'm too close and a ranged opponent will hit me. However, if you let me hit my minions, I'm forced to push my lane to your turret due to the AOE damage hitting all minions, killing them quickly (but softly).

Most bursty champs can out burst me. After a couple of levels where you have your abilities built up, charge me. I have a barrel, that you can dodge by coming TOWARDS me. I have my body slam, but I'm probably going to use that to get away. If I don't, then fine. Because now all I have is my auto attack. Yes, I have my W that will boost me, but, I have to channel. That means, I'm sitting there taking damage and you aren't. Do your burst, continue with your auto attack. If I'm not dead, I'm really hurt. I'm learning to avoid this, but, I still get caught.

All that being said, don't over extend against me. Much like blitz, singed, etc. Don't get too close to my turret. I WILL use my ult to blast you under my turret, following it up with a body slam to slow you. If you don't have flash, my Q is going to hit you as well. So, wait for me to over extend, burst me, chase if viable.

Ganking me. I normally have my body slam available. I rarely farm with it. And even if I am, it's on a very low cool down. It's pretty much a free flash. However, I can't flash through enemy minions. I WILL stop and damage them. But, I can use it through walls, etc. So, when I'm getting ganked, I'm trying to time my body slam to dodge your attack. So cut off my retreat. Don't go right for me cause I'm going to create distance with my body slam. Then I have my flash, and I'm out of reach. Silence me or stun me if possible. Otherwise, I'm probably getting away. Oh, and if I have my ult, I'm going to blast you away from me as well. All that being said, I'm still gankable cause I'm squishy and flash and my ult have longer cool downs. Won't always be available.

I'm an early fight focus. I not primary, but I'm an easy kill. Most champs can 1v1 me. My only option is my multiple escape options. Take me out of the fight by putting even one person on me. If you dare taking that champ off of the carries. . . Just saying, like ANY mage, I can't take damage. Most people ignore me until the carries are dead. Then I better be on the other side of a wall.

[Cakedaddy]

Switched to a tankier build. I was watching other people play and learning how they play, but wasn't copying their build. When I copied their build, I did a lot better with their play style. Started the game in mid against Ryze. He was really dumb though. Hit him with 5 barrels in a row for the first kill. I'd hit him, and he had no potions, so he'd stay hurt. Hit him again. Again. Again. He down to about 75HP and never leaves to heal. Throw one more barrel and I get first blood. Next death, I went at him and was hitting him with barrels and my auto attack. Killed him. Then he went bottom and Nid came mid. When in cougar form, she'd dodge my barrels with that leap she can do. When in human form, I'd land them. I'd weaken her down to about 75% with barrels. Then let her push a little bit and charge in on her with my ult and stuff. I'd have her down to nothing. Sometimes I'd get her, other times someone else would have to finish her cause she's so mobile. Rengar would try to gank but I'd be able to flash, exhaust and body slam away. At one point, there were three diving me, Rengar being one of them. He dove the turret and I was down to 100hp or so. I was going to die, so I stopped to fight while he got hit by turret. But, since I exhausted him, he couldn't finish me. I dropped a barrel and got him. Then body slammed away further from the other two so they couldn't pick me off.

Ended the game 6/0/1. BUT, it wasn't the most difficult set of enemies I've seen. The Ryze was horrible, and Nid's super spear was only doing about 15% damage to me, so she was never a threat. But, the tankier build definitely helped me incorporate my basic attack into the fight. And by tankier, I'm just taking items that give health. Not buying armor/resist.



Edited By Cakedaddy on 1347147725

[Cakedaddy]

I'm just not getting the hang of this guy. I do well in about 40% of the solo queue games, and never good in premade. At this point, I don't think it's a lack of practice, but a lack of ability. I have played a TON of games with him and this is as good as I'm going to get.

Could be the laptop. Could be the lack of sleep. But, I played a game as Veigar just now and went 13/2/19. So, I'm able to play Veigar under these circumstances, but not Gragas.

In summary, I'm abandoning Gragas.

[Leisher]

Fair enough.

I know Gragas is played a lot in pros, but I'm not sure his skills match our team's needs. And not ALL pro teams use him.

I'd rather see you playing someone you're comfortable with rather than someone you're not just for some meta.