press the attack graves top is kinda... too much

Hey, So after getting my main ready with the new itemization and runes involved in this season, I've been practicing my oddball low silver off main (Graves top)

So far between my two accounts i've destroyed a nasus in lane even as his quinn ganked me six times, a malphite, a rumble, and a maokai.

what it comes down to is press the attack combined with the lifesteal and "vs higher hp targets" runes in the precision tree. I can literally get a cutlass into a black cleaver and defensive boots and the poor tanks can't handle me,

Now graves top isn't the type of cheese pick that vayne top is, the champion is significantly surdier than vayne and has a more balanced kit for top lane, which is his secondary position since he's generally supposed to be a jungler.

Now against carry picks he's kinda trash for top lane, But against tanks and juggulanauts (Woot woot) he's a monster. I'd like to stress that graves top isn't the same as ad carry top, and doesn't ever get above 50% crit, he just builds anti-tank, defensive ad, and lifesteal and due to his increased damage at closer range can essentially kite any tank into the ground

while on the item page i made I have placed both lord doms and mortal reminder, I've needed nothing more than cleaver+botrk in any match, and i've had zero trouble getting him to that in lane phase.

In the mean time I've been opting out of tele since the minor amounts of early lifesteal honestly is amplified by his 30% damage increase short range or his AOE splash on his aas into creep waves giving him enough sustain to undo any damage he receives. His armor bonus from his dash is enough to keep him at higher effective HP and with overheal and a potential "If ahead" bloodthirster will give him a shield that makes it look like he got Karma shielded at all times... which doesn't depreciate the value of his increased damage to higher max health pool targets.

Now again I don't think vayne top should actually be a thing, and i think it's a somewhat newly abused strat that needs to be either rebalanced with top lane vayne in mind or completely shut out with some item alterations

but I do think graves fits the top lane carry niche and aesthetic perfectly, with him being presented in character as a hearty killer who can take a punch. He simply lacks the character elegance that other marksman have that present them as precise nimble crackshots who are fragile but deadly. Graves has that "Fuck you hit me" vibe going for him, and his personality really fits that of the true top laners.

meanwhile he is also someone that suffers from a depreciated value in auto attack range since a.) he deals more damage at closer range, B.) his range is short, and C.) he's the only champion in the game with the capacity to miss an auto attack.

Graves is the guy you don't want to cross because he bullrushes and puts the barrel of his 10 gauge to your gut before he pulls the trigger, and with a durable anti-tank build, his play fits that perfectly

Quinn, Gnar, Jayce, Urgot, Teemo are the Ranged top laners that nobody bats an eye at, Jayce top is generally closer in build and relative niche to a riven than anything (Sure he snipes but this is from the perspective of someone with 750k mastery on the guy), Quinn and Teemo are both scouts, they fit the role by being presented as wily underdogs who have to use their wits to overcome bigger, badder enemies like Darius or Nasus or renekton.

Gnar is undeniaby a top laner since he essentially is forced into a melee form, his entire kit is balanced around that whole concept and he's not really an issue for most experienced top laners.. yeah he's fucking annoying and I think we all bitch about that cute little fucking moster from hell, but he's not exactly overpowered or overtuned generally.

Urgot just got buffed and some people are complaining but he's rarer than gnar and quite frankly will probably get the nerf club until he's back in line sooner or laner

vayne on the other hand.... shouldn't be top lane, it's just brutal. I don't even play that many melee champs and I hate the sight of a vayne top when I'm in a different lane. She comes off as a mary-sue who has all of the characteristics of "Cheese picks" ever. Her whole personality is grimdark bs, she can build literally any AD items to varying decent effect if she's top lane, and she can abuse rageblade, lethality, and triforce. She has zero need for armor pen whatsoever top lane.

Graves gets pidgeonholed a little, you can't really get away with his normal jungle build in top if the enemy is smart enough to just keep building tank and playing safe under tower. He is forced to buy a cleaver (Which is actually a really good item for him, since he gets high value out of all of its stats offered), But if they keep going tankier he's forced to go for Botrk which honestly, while effective in the lane, is a weakening item for him in the match. This is a good thing, it essentially nerfs graves top into being more like a specific top laner, by making him build some stats that aren't really optimal for his damage output but provide an answer for the bruisers and tanks on the enemy team. Botrk being an On-Hit item doesn't increase in damage on graves, its attack speed is of less value, and its AD is fairly low. What it offers is anti-tank damage and lifesteal, which are great for top lane graves who plays sort of like a Drain bruiser. Late game he has to be really careful to deal with the AD carry or AP mid, but in exchange he has an easier time with tanks from Top, Mid, and Jungle, and well balanced tank busters are pretty rare in the game.

Now i'm not talking about lethality 1shot graves, it's sorta of a bludgeoned horse corpse.

Now here's the thing, NORMALLY the build type is fine, it's a niche pick for sure, but it's not particularly overpowered. But with Press the attack he winds up just fucking a level 1 enemy tank in the face, especially if he gets his Q on them just right and as soon as that third AA hits