Aatrox

Fleet with Bone Plating
D Blade start -> Swifties (+Refillable) -> Executioners -> Tri

Play for wave prio level 1 rather than poke. Aatrox will be able to hit you with Q1 and Q2 if he times them well aginst your autos in the early levels. You're goal is to farm well in the early levels until you have enough for Swifties (and Refillable if possible), at that point the lane opens up quite a bit.

Aatrox will often play his bread and butter Q1-E-W-Q2-Q3-AA combo for lots of burst. If you're able to dodge his qs or run out of his w, you have a window.

Akali

Fleet
D Shield -> Refillable -> Mercs rush if its a good item in the game, otherwise Swifties

Almost never see her, but the GOAL of this lane is to survive. She has 100 to 0 kill pressure on Mini Gnar with her ult, even if she is somewhat down. This means your only real windows to do something are usually with Mega or if she is in kill range.

If you're ahead I'd consider Hexdrinker.

Ambessa

See Riven.

Aurora

Fleet
D Shield start -> Refillable -> Swifties (or Mercs) -> Tri

Aurora will play to poke you out hard in the early levels. You may have to give CS early to stay healthy, but Mega with 6 will stat check her if you can get onto her.

Camille

Fleet
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Tri

Early, this is a lane of razor thin margins. Gnar can win this lane, but you have to diff her spacing.

You have kill pressure with Mega Gnar ult at level 6, but that won't last too long. She'll out scale you hard and will be able to 1v1 you on side if she hasn't lost lane very hard.

The biggest thing I'd recommend to better your lane vs Camille is to play her. This will give you a better understanding of how she wants to use her abilities together and the windows where she can be punished.

Unlike the other AD melee champs that can force onto you, Sunfire does not work into Camille because of her true damage.

Cassiopeia

Fleet
D Shield start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> Tri

You and Cass both have a weak level 1, so you can try to get prio, first to hit level 2 has a huge advantage. Most important thing in this lane is dodging her es. If she can't poison you, you'll win short trades.

Cho'Gath

Grasp
Either Doran's item -> Refillable -> Swifties (maybe Mercs) -> BORK

Freezing and slow pushing are your best friends vs Cho'Gath, if you play with good spacing and wave manegment, you'll out farm him, get plates in his face, and maybe get some kills.

Because Cho has very poor gank survivability he can be punished hard by your Jungler. The only way you can die in this lane is though ganks or playing too aggressive when Cho has ult.

Darius

Take either rune page
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties (or Plated) -> Tri

Darius players understand one thing and one thing only. How to kill their opponent in lane.
https://youtu.be/VPOMkKVf18w?si=Bqpf0hJTQ3S6slCe&t=318

This is one of those lanes where taking e level 1 can be good. If he gets an aa on you near the wave at level 1 and you're able to e out: you can trade even, chasing him down a bit and get the wave shoving into you. Don't try to get Grasp procs early unless he's used his q or e, your aa range for the first few levels is low enough that he can e or q you if you try to auto him.

Darius always wants to run you down. Play for the wave. If you're able to play the wave well, he won't get his windows to run you down and you will win lane or go even. You out scale but he will always have kill pressure on side if you mess up.

Dr. Mundo

Grasp with Cash Back and Cosmic
D Blade start -> Swifties -> BORK

Don't try too hard to trade onto him, camp behind minions and trade as he tries to cs. If he gets a lead in lane he can do Mundo things, but if you go even or win lane, you can 1v1 him on side with BORK until very late game.

Fiora

Fleet
Either Doran's item -> Refillable -> Plated -> Tri

Skill lane. Playing against Fiora is all about her vitals and w cooldown. Keep in mind vitals spawn South/West or North/East and play around walls to deny them.

Garen

Grasp with Second Wind
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

Hard harass him until he has 6. Garen isn't the one shot monster he was earlier in the year, but if you're 70% hp he will one shot you with q-flash-ignite-e-ult. The window to flash out before the q auto is very small, so once he's 6 play to stay healthy. You can still poke him down, just don't lose hp if you can help it.

Gnar

GNARRRR

Gragas

Grasp with Second Wind
D Shield -> Swifties (or Mercs) -> Tri

This is a skill lane where whoever can poke better will win. That being said, you can get lane control early. Care him ulting you under his tower.

If you don't win lane, he will out sustain and out push you in the mid game.

Gwen

Illaoi

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

Dodge e = gg. You'll want heal cut if you get ahead. Very few Illoais in higher elos.

Irelia

Malphite and Irelia are the two Gnar 'counterpicks' I see the most often. The first time I hit diamond, I was an Irelia otp. So this might be the single lane I understand the best from both sides of the matchup. So here's the run down:

Fleet
Sword start -> Refillable -> Plated -> Bramble -> Tri

There are 3 kinds of Irelia players: the good, the bad, and the guys stuck in season 8. Any of them can get a huge lead vs even a very good Gnar player, so don't beat yourself up over losing your lane to Irelia. 8/10 Irelia players if they're not turbo ahead coming out of lane will die trying to 1v3 and throw their lead.

This lane is all about Irelia's passive stacks. If she has full stacks, you'll probably lose, mega doesn't make too much of a difference unless you're able to kill her in one rotation with ult.

Bad Irelia will try to kill you as she shoves in the wave, space so she can't q or e onto you and use your q to farm. Let her do whatever with the wave, bad Irelia will shove too hard (because she can), so you can kill the wave before the next one arrives, creating wave states that are either even or shoving into you.

Season 8 Irelia will freeze, q onto you with full passive, THEN e. The key vs these players is to let them freeze, use q to farm, space their e and q range, and save your flash for their ult-flash. Even if you're down CS, if Irelia isn't getting plates the game will outpace her.

A good Irelia knows it isn't season 8, and therefore will mix freezing when its appropriate with stacking huge waves. She'll then try to dive you (often with her jg but sometimes solo) or grab plates in front of you while you try to CS. Good Irelia will get a lead, but your goal is to stay healthy, space her q and e (just like there other 2), and CS. If you do that well, her lead will be small enough that she'll probably int the mid game trying to 1v3.

Jax

Fleet
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

Fighting for prio early is very important in this lane. If Jax has shove you will lose trades, if you have shove you can look for poke. Play disciplined and you will most likely win.

Jayce

Fleet
D Shield start -> Swifties (or Plated) -> Tri

Every Jayce before Diamond will play different.

Will update this one

K'Sante

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Black Cleaver

You get prio, play your Grasp procs in the very early levels, then w burst procs as the lane goes on. K'Sante has kill pressure with his Q3s and/or ult if he can get close to you.

Kayle

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties (or Plated) -> Tri

Make her CS with her abilities and punish her for it.

Kennen

Fleet with Second Wind
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Mercs (or Swifties) -> Tri

Don't try to out trade Kennen unless he's just skill diffed. Focus on CSing early and play for your level 6.

Kled

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

Malphite

Malphite and Irelia are the two Gnar 'counterpicks' I see the most often.

Grasp with Second Wind (The biscuits are really important here.)
Shield start -> Refillable -> Mercs (or Swifties) -> Cleaver

You win in mega and are deadly with cleaver in mega. The Malphite will just try to poke you out with q. Early, you're trading hp for shove, getting grasp autos when you can and playing to sustain. Neither of you should die before 6. Once a good malphite has ult, he WILL ult you if he sees you in range in mini. He isn't trying to kill you then and there, rather he's get a massive chunk on you and its a lot harder to flash out of when he ults you seeming out of the blue. You probably won't see many good Malphites. After 6, avoid equal or only slightly favorable hp trading and play for mega all-ins.

Maokai

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties (or Mercs) -> Black Cleaver

Mordekaiser

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

Time to dodge skillshots. This whole lane is about baiting out his qs and es and playing very disciplined, especially if he has ult.

Nasus

Grasp with Second Wind
D Blade start -> Swifties (to negate some of the wither) -> Black Cleaver (Tri first if you're far ahead)

If you're playing in an elo high enough that 3 point e nasus is a concern, take biscuits, refillable, d shield. You'll want all the sustain, but it means you can turbo bully him.

Olaf

Fleet
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

I don't have much to say about this one, I don't see him often.

Ornn

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Black Cleaver

You control this lane early. Just be weary of his level 6, once he has ult he has great setup for his JG and 1v1 kill pressure if you miss step.

Pantheon

Fleet
D Sheied -> Refillable -> Plated (or Swifties) -> Tri

Panth doesn't have a combat ult, if you can survive to level 6, you win with Mega. Avoid getting poked out because his qs will get bonus execute damage.

Quinn

Fleet with second wind
D Shield Start -> Refillable -> Plated (or Swifties) -> Tri

It's not hard to survive a lane into Quinn, but she can bully you off CS early and will have way more map impact before you're able to 1v1 her.

Renekton

Either rune page
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties (or Plated) -> Tri

Rengar

Fleet with Bone Plating
D Blade Start -> Refillable -> Plated -> Sunfire (Maybe skip the Plated first for Sunfire rush)

Haven't played against a Rengar top in D+ yet. But everything points to this being a hard lane.

Riven

You may notice Sunfire is one of the items I might build first. You have Riven to thank for that.

Fleet with Bone Plating,
D Blade Start -> Refillable -> Sunfire RUSH, get the armor first

You still have to play well, but building Sunfire, even masters Riven otps will int trying to kill you over and over again. Before your Sunfire is complete, she can 70 to 0 you with her ult and sums.

Rumble

Ryze

Fleet
D Shield Start -> Refillable -> Mercs (or Swifties) -> Tri

Don't see much of Ryze. Take trades standing outside the wave to avoid getting hit by flux for free.

Sett

Grasp
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> Tri

Sett is like Darius but worse. He gains move speed with his q but his e is easier to space than Darius e. baiting out either his q or e can give you a window. Like Darius, I wouldn't play too aggressive until you've grown your aa range a bit.

Shen

Grasp with Demolish
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties (or Plated) -> Black Cleaver

Shen passive shields him when he uses an ability which makes his early good into poke champs like Gnar. Early, you're better off using your q for CSing and only taking free trades onto him, a w proc at most. (Free is where he cant hit you back or you take much more of his hp than he does of yours.)

Singed

Fleet with Second Wind and Overgrowth
D Shield Start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> Tri

One of Gnar's biggest weaknesses is wave clear, so Singed naturally gets free reign to proxy. Don't stress about the proxy, just make sure you're pinging where he is for your team.

Sion

Grasp
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> BORK

The trick against Sion is to force him to decide whether to use his abilities on the wave or on you. In other words, don't stand in your wave vs Sion. Gnar doesn't have the damage early to punish him super hard, but it can be done.

Sylas

This is my ban. Even if he's the mid laner, he is a monster with Gnar ult.

D Shield start -> Refillable -> Mercs -> Tri (maybe a hexdrinker)

He can take crazy favorable trades with e start.

Tahm Kench

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

FISH

Teemo

Fleet
D Shield start -> Refillable -> Mercs -> Tri

Care level 1 Teemo cheese. The goal here is to not die. Go down CS, maybe a plate or two if you must. Only kill pressure you have is with mega.

Tryndamere

This lane is my biggest puzzle atm. Fleet, current thought is Swifties into Stridebreaker. If he is able to get on top of you, you will die, but if he tries too hard to kill you, you maybe able to e on his head and run him down.

Udyr

Grasp
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> Tri

Urgot

Fleet
D Shield start -> Swifties (or Plated) -> Tri

Play around them shotgun knees. Care level 1, Urgot e. DO NOT try to start e and bounce on his head level 1 like Darius, he will kill you.

Vayne

Fleet with Second Wind
D Shield Start -> Refillable -> Plated -> Tri

I'd treat this lane like Kennen. Save your q for farming, don't try to out poke her, and only look for angles once you have ult.

Vladimir

Either rune page
D Shield start -> Refillable -> Swifties (or Mercs) -> Tri

Volibear

Grasp with Second Wind
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> Tri

Warwick

Grasp
D Blade start -> Swifties -> Tri

When WW is low or you're low he is dangerous. Take Grasp poke when it's up but once he's below half, don't try to trade (beyond the grasp proc) with him if he has a wave.

Wukong

See Riven.

Wukong may start e and just e into you level 1. Give prio level 1. If he qs the wave you have a window for a w proc trade. It's important trades you take with him should last only as long as it takes you to get a w proc, otherwise he will have his q back to hit you.

Yasuo

Fleet with Second Wind
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Plated -> Sunfire

Yasuo is the OG Gnar counterpick. Yasuo become very strong vs you at level 2. Once you have Sunfire, there are kill angles with mega.

Yone

Fleet with Bone Plating
D Shield start -> Refillable -> Plated -> Tri

Yorick

Fleet with Absorb Life
D Blade start -> Refillable -> Swifties -> Tri

Early game, you want to shove Yorick under tower, this keeps his ghouls occupied and forces him to split his attention between him CSing and you. The only kill pressure you have in this lane is if you're able to poke him down and then kill him with a single rotation in Mega with your ult.

Your GOAL is to survive. Yorick is a bad team fighting champ and if he doesn't hard win against you, you can match him as he crashes on the side. If you die at the wrong time early, he will take 3 plates minimum.