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.
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
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:
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.
Jarvan IV
More walls. You get to play secondary engage and have massive ult potential.
Nocturne
Gnar and Nocturne naturally cover one another's engaging weaknesses.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Jarvan IV
More walls. You get to play secondary engage and have massive ult potential.
Nocturne
Gnar and Nocturne naturally cover one another's engaging weaknesses.
This guide is a work in progress. I'm teaching myself how to code froms for this. Please bear with me, its taking a while.
Notes on matchups will be added over time and I will eventually have a real Gnar guide in here.
Why Gnar
Pros
•Very blindable
•Fits most team comps
•Mega
•Lots of CC
•High damage output
•Massive team fighting pressure
•Very mobile/good kiting
•Tank shred in mini
•Great to main or OTP
Cons
•Cannot be Mini or Mega at will
•Bad vs gap-closers
•Balanced for pro
•Mini has bad wave clear
Gnar is a very unique champion in League of Legends. He's a form swapping champion that has very little control over when he changes forms. In combination with his long form 'cycle' time, Gnar is left with two separate play styles that he alternates between throughout a game.
Personally, I love to main Gnar for two reasons. He's a very blindable champion who can neutralize (if not get a lead) in most lanes. Second, he does it all. In Mini, you're an adc, shredding front line and waving in and out of enemy attacks. In Mega, you're a high burst tank with the ability to find great engages (though preferably your following up) or peel for your back line.
As a bonus, Gnar players fly under the radar. Due to his jack-of-all-trades design and low pick rate, until higher ranks your opponents will fail to understand how he works and rarely ban him.
Kit
The league wiki is great, so I've just taken screenshots from it and added notes where I thought nessasary. I will talk about rage later in the guide.
Combos
Mini
Simple trading pattern - this is your ideal pattern for short trading early
aa-q-aa
Burst pattern - this is your fastest method for getting a w proc on an opponent
aa-e-q
Mega
Extendend ult rotation - The default combo for Mega Gnar
Ult-aa*-w-aa-q-aa
Mini Gnar hop can be used just BEFORE hitting 100 rage to allow its animation to be canceled. This allows the usage of a Mega ability while in the air. This is shown below on the right.
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