Buzz
In the recent match against DRX, Canyon literally 'sold punches' to the opponent with Bloodthirsty Graves.
If you've been following DWG KIA's team play this season, you'll easily recognize Canyon as the number one 'team carrier' in this group. Not only in terms of performance, Canyon also frequently employs innovative strategies, high-variance plays to create significant advantages for DK.
And in the latest match against DRX, Canyon brought out a very unusual Graves by using Bloodthirsty and Duelist items. While in the minds of the majority of gamers, this champion is usually built in two directions: Assassin with Lethality items or 'super lifesteal' with Immortal Shieldbow. Remember that not only Canyon but also many high-ranked gamers worldwide use Bloodthirsty Graves. Why is this playstyle so strong? Let's find out.
Basically, this playstyle first appeared about 3 weeks ago when a YouTuber named Arfreezy used it and successfully climbed to the Grandmaster rank. He realized that in patch 12.3 before that, Bloodthirsty had been buffed to slightly reduce health plus a considerable increase in damage. Therefore, this item has proven to be much more suitable for a character with good damage dealing skills like Graves.
Moreover, if you play Graves extensively, you'll realize that this champion, despite being classified as a Marksman in theory, often needs to get up close to the opponent to deal the most damage. Clearly, this exposes Graves to many dangers as he is susceptible to enemy abilities and being taken down. Enter Bloodthirsty and Duelist items as a perfect solution, allowing Graves to engage the enemy while still maintaining excellent survivability thanks to the powerful healing activation.
Not only that, Bloodthirsty also makes this champion less susceptible to being countered by items that reduce healing. The reason is that items like Bloodthirsty, Black Cleaver don't have basic lifesteal stats. So when Graves is affected by healing reduction effects, he doesn't weaken as much as the conventional Immortal Shieldbow, Bloodthirster build. As a result, with the Duelist items, Graves becomes a 'beast', dealing considerable damage and especially difficult to counter.
To effectively build Bloodthirsty Graves, you should opt for the Precision primary rune tree and choose the Fleet Footwork and Presence of Mind keystones. With consistently high health, the recommendation is to select Overheal instead of Last Stand as in conventional builds.
Regarding the 'anti-Marksman' items, the duo of Bloodthirster and Black Cleaver are the most crucial items for Graves. Afterward, depending on the situation, you'll purchase items like Phantom Dancer, Maw of Malmortius to ensure Graves' survivability. Moreover, if you want to be even more aggressive, you can follow in Canyon's footsteps and buy Randuin's Omen as the third item to counter the enemy Marksman.
