Hey guys, I am One Gnarly Guy, a Gnar OTP currently ranked in Diamond 4 on EUW. Most guides out there recommend Fleet Footwork, Conquerer or Grasp. That's why I wanted to share my playstyle that revolves around getting 40% CDR, safely poking them down and then following up with a devastating finisher. As you can see in the statistics below, I am able to deal lots of damage with this build while still being useful in other ways. I hope you enjoy the guide :) I will add new chapters over time.

I have played lots of different runes and build on Gnar and finally stuck to the runes Sorcery + Domination + Ignite, but why?

It improves our poke capabilities

Gnar is a lane bully. He is ranged and he can safely poke with his Boomerang Throw. With Summon Aery and Scorch we amplify his poke dmg. We can deal a significant amount of damage to the enemy laner without getting into danger. Even if you hit a minion first before hitting the enemy champion (thus reducing the damage of the boomerang), we still deal about 20-40 damage by proccing Summon Aery and Scorch.

It gives us sustain in lane

You can safely get the heal from Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter by throwing your Boomerang Throw at the enemy champ. These two runes give you a moderate amount of sustain in lane and scale well into the lategame. Gnar will heal everytime he induces ability damage, so every time you proc Hyper as Mini Gnar, you will heal. Combine this with a Wit's End and you become a sustaining HP shredder.

It makes us a kiting monster

Gnar is already pretty fast when he procs Hyper. To improve his kiting abilities we utilize Nimbus Cloak which gives us a movement speed boost every time we use a summoner spell. This is why I prefer Ignite over Teleport. Although Teleport is a great spell that can change the outcome of a game, it is hard to pull off correctly in Solo Queue. The benefits of Ignite are threefold:
Firstly, there are so many champions on the toplane with high sustain which you can reduce with the use of Ignite (e.g. Vladimir, Darius, Fiora and Renekton). Next, it helps you to stick to the enemy and get away! Sometimes I proc Ignite at the beginning of a fight, just in order to get the movement speed. And then, once I am able to proc my first Hyper I am most likely fast enough. Also, Ignite can be used to disengage. It only has a 180 seconds cooldown. So, if the movement speed buff helps you to disengage and survive, use it! Lastly, it helps you to secure kills! Getting a lead in lane is so important. A lead of 1 or 2 kills let's you control the lane. You will not only be ahead regarding items and experience but you can also decide whether you want to push the lane and roam the map to apply pressure elsewhere, or whether you want to deny the enemy laner even further by freezing the lane.

Finally, I would like to mention that you should still contest drakes if the conditions are right. Try to get a lead early and join the team for the 2nd or 3rd drake contest. Before roaming botside, make sure to push your wave to apply pressure on topside. The drake pit makes it easy for Gnar to land a well-placed GNAR! which can change a fight in your favor. However, if you died several times in the early game and you are behind, it will be hard to leave toplane!

Grasp instead of Aery

I use the Aery rune setup in 95% of my games. However, there are some matchups where I prefer to pick Grasp of the Undying + Teleport. These matchups include tanks that have lots of sustain/tankiness in lane making them hardly killable, but can be attacked easily to get those sweet Grasp procs. Grasp always works against sustain tanks like Maokai, Ornn, Zac, Dr. Mundo, Cho'Gath. You can also consider picking Grasp against bruisers like Renekton, Darius and Garen.

Hard Matchups

Irelia - Sorry, but I can't really give you any tips on this matchup since I always ban her. Check some other guides for this one :P

Darius - In this matchup you want to let him push. Only last hit the minions until level 6. If you can poke him without hitting too many minions, do it of coure. Darius players often run Flash and Ghost. By letting him push, we minimize the distance within he benefit from his Ghost. Once we hit level 6 and he is pushed, we can poke him down until he is around half-health and then full engage.

Sylas - The problem about Sylas is that he can steal GNAR! and use it whenever he wants. Also, since our ult scales with AP, he deals a signifant amount of damage with it. This is a really hard lane because Sylas can easily close the gap to reach us. You have to play very carefully, poke whenever you can and dodge his gapcloser with Hop. To reduce his healing, use Ignite when he gets close up to you.

Tryndamere - Play very safe early. If he gets his slow on you and spins towards you, use Hop to jump off of him towards your tower. You have a good chance of killing him at level 5. If you struggle laning against him, you can also try the primary runes Glacial Augment or Phase Rush which help you to gain distance. Also, get an Executioner's Calling after getting Kindlegem.