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Gnar Build Guide by Calesh

Top Overall Gnar Toplane Guide

Top Overall Gnar Toplane Guide

Updated on July 6, 2018
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Calesh Build Guide By Calesh 43,481 Views 3 Comments
43,481 Views 3 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Calesh Gnar Build Guide By Calesh Updated on July 6, 2018
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Runes:

Sorcery
Summon Aery

Resolve
Bone Plating
Chrysalis

Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Teleport

Teleport

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Introduction



Hi I am Calesh and I play League on the EUW-Servers.










Gnar - The Missing Link
Ranged, Melee, Tanky DPS
What or who is Gnar? Gnar is a tanky toplaner, which is especially good in teamfights, when he is Mega Gnar. On the left and on the right side you can see Gnar´s abilitys when he is Mini Gnar and Mega GNAR!. As you could see he has different abilitys. We talk later about them. Below you can see Gnar´s typical fullbuild items. We talk later about them, too!

News:
You can build the new Trinity Force on Gnar. It´s very strong for Mini Gnar, because you gain lots of attack speed! Important Information/tip!





Back to Top

Skill Explanation





Rage Gene PASSIVE

This is one of the most important thing Gnar has and which makes him unique. You have to take your rage into decision what you will to do next. You decide if you want to fight, to teleport into teamfights or something else. But always remind that your passive has a limited time.

Stats
Gnar´s passive gives Gnar:
  • It makes Mini Gnar ranged and gives him speed (good to kite)
  • Makes Mega Gnar Tanky (good for teamfights)
  • He has no Mana - he uses Rage; If you reach 100 rage, Gnar triggers a transformation after 5 seconds or using the next ability
  • Unable to transform intro Mega Gnar for 13 seconds (sleeping time)
  • Get more Rage while dealing damage or taking damage ( Sunfire Aegis´s passive will stack it too!)


Boomerang Throw Mini Gnar´s Q


RANGE: 1100
COOLDOWN: 20 / 17.5 / 15 / 12.5 / 10
Width: 55 units out and 75 units on return

This is the main ability to farm if you have a hard matchup. If you catch your boomerang you will get less cooldown. If you hit many enemies with the boomerang, you will stack Rage Gene faster.
  • Always max it first
  • Try to catch the boomerang as often as possible, the cooldown goes up to 60 % if you do
  • Use to slow enemies and keep them away from you (maybe if they engage you)
  • Play safe to catch the boomerang
  • Only the first target gets full damage
  • It only deals damage once to an enemy
  • Shares cooldown with Boulder Toss (if you are mega)



Boulder Toss Mega Gnar´s Q


RANGE: 1100
COOLDOWN: 20 / 17.5 / 15 / 12.5 / 10
Width: 90 Units

In a fight this is the main damage tool you have as Mega Gnar. It has a short cooldown, if you pick it up. It can slow multiple targets and can deal full damage to all of them. It hase a long range to poke and her***.
  • Try to hit at close range (to pick it up easily)
  • Good waveclear
  • Easy to hit if the enemies are stunned (maybe use your Wallop first)
  • Try not to use it to poke in the early game / levels if you can´t pick it up, because it has an very large cooldown if you can´t pick it up. Your enemies will normally engage you, if they know you don´t have your Boulder Toss / Boomerang Throw (if you got Mini).



Hyper Mini Gnar´s W


This is why Gnar is one of the strongest top laners and the annoying champion. It deals good damage to tanks, too, and gives you a speed buff, if you got 3 stacks. Gnar wouldn´t be that strong if he hadn´t this ability.
  • Max after Q against immobile / tanky champs
  • Try to proc it before your transformation
  • Great for escaping or chasing. You get the speed boost from all enemy targets you hit.
  • Spells and auto attacks stack. If you reach 3 stacks you will get a speed boost and you deal some extra damage to the target.


Wallop Mega Gnar´s W
COOLDOWN: 15 / 13 / 11 / 9 / 7


With this spell you can stun enemy targets up to 3 seconds. It is good to set up a gank or just to zone your enemy. You can use it for a combo with your other spells (W+Q+... / E+W+Q+...). Later you can use it after your GNAR! (ultimate) to stun the enemies again.
  • You can stun multiple targets
  • Use it if your enemy tries to last hit
  • You can also use it before you are transforming to mini. It doesn´t share the cooldown, because your Hyper has no cooldown.


Hop Mini Gnar´s E
RANGE: 475
COOLDOWN: 18 / 16.5 / 15 / 13.5 / 12


It has a hight cooldown, so use it if you really need it. If you used it, play a bit passive to get killed or out traded. You gain an attack speed boost for 3 seconds and also stacks, like every other spell, your Hyper and Rage Gene. You can use it to transform instantly into Mega Gnar, if you have full rage (can be triggered with every spell).
  • Max after your Q against very mobile champs or low max. health
  • Use Hop to get the attack speed bonus, if you push a tower. But be sure that you can get ganked.
  • If you use hop on a champion / minion, you get a double jump.


Crunch Mega Gnar´s E
RANGE: 475
COOLDOWN: 18 / 16.5 / 15 / 13.5 / 12


This is similar to Mini Gnar´s Hop. The only difference between Hop is that you have a larger damage radius and its and AOE slow, but you are not able to do a double jump. It is great for teamfights to hit your combos (E+R+W+Q).
  • Enemies get slowed if they are directly under Gnar
  • Scales with you max. health, so decide if you use Hop or Crunch.
  • You can also use it with Randuin's Omen. Jump in and use it to slow all enemies next to you.


GNAR! Mega Gnar´s R
RANGE: 590
COOLDOWN: 120 / 100 / 80


This has 2 parts, a passive which increases Hyper´s movement speed buff and an active. The active ultimate is one of the strongest ultimates in the game. With the active you can knock all nearby enemies in the specified direction. If you are infront of a wall, you are going to stun them. You can use your Wallop after it. You can easily 1v2 if you don´t fail.
  • Does more damage if the enemies hit a wall.
  • It will stun if the enemies hit a wall.
  • On lane, try to ult the enemy under your tower and stun them. They will get tower aggro, if they have Sunfire Aegis.
  • Try to aim your ult to the wall and stun the enemies. Otherwise they just get knocked away from you.
Back to Top

Items



Black Cleaver is one of the main items you build on Gnar.
Item Stats: 50 Attackdamage, 20 % Cooldown Reduction, 300 Health
Frozen Mallet is a nice item for Gnar too, because you can slow your enemy with every single auto attack. It´s nice for the Mini Gnar but for the Mega GNAR! it´s not that important.
Item Stats: 40 Attack Damage, 650 Health
Sunfire Aegis deals 25 + your level magic damage to enemies nearby. It has a range of 400 and deals 150 % damage to minions and monsters. This is a typical item and can be build after the black cleave if you fight vs an AD-Champion on the toplane.
Item Stats: 50 Armor, 500 Health
Thornmail is strong against a heavy / full AD comp like Tryndamere, Jax, Quinn, Vayne, and other ADC´s / AD champions. Buy it as 3rd or 4th item, that the passive can start working; you need some health first.
Item Stats: 100 Armor
Mercury's Treads are good against a team with many stuns, like Leona, Veigar, Morgana, Irelia, or champs with hard CC. It is good because you get some extra MR, too.
Item Stats: 25 Magic Resistance, 45 Movement Speed





Randuin's Omen is good against auto attack based champions. It is also strong in fights, if you use the active correctly. This is good against almost every ADC and champs, which build critical strike and attack speed itmes, like Yasuo or Tryndamere because you reduce the critical strike.
Item Stats: 60 Armor, 500 Health
Dead Man's Plate is gread against champions, that are hard to catch, because you get some extra movement speed with its passive. You also get some extra burst damage while roaming around and you get some good stats with the health and armor.
Item Stats: 50 Armor, 500 Health
Spirit Visage is gread against sustained damage like Rumble or Ryze do. You get higher health regeneration, so you have better sustain against them. It also works with your Rage Gene when you get Mega Gnar.
Item Stats: 55 Magic Resistance, 500 Health, 10 % Cooldown Reduction, 200 % Base Health Generation
Maw of Malmortius can be build against AP toplaners which do a lot of magic damage. You can build it but you won´t get that tanky. Maw of Malmortius isn´t great to rush because it is very expensive so you can rush Hexdrinker and buy some other items first before you finish maw.
Item Stats: 40 Magic Resist, 55 Attack Damage, 10 Armor Penetration
Trinity Force is a strong item for Mini Gnar at the moment, because you gain very much attack speed from the Trinity Force. You can build it instead of Black Cleaver. But the attack speed is not this usefull for Mega Gnar, but it is O.K.
Item Stats: 25 Attack Damage, 40 % Attack Speed, 20 % Cooldown Reduction, 250 Health, 250 Mana, 5 % Movement Speed
Guardian Angel revives your Champ upon death and restores after a few seconds 700 Health or 30 % of your maximum Health and Mana. This item can be used once every 5 Minutes. You can use this item to survive massive burst and fight after your "death" again.
Item Stats: 60 Armor, 40 Magic Resistance
With the Warmog's Armor you restore 3 % of your maximum health every second if you didn´t take damage for 8 seconds. This passive works only, if you have more than 3000 maximum Health. This item is good, if you have to be very tanky and survive long teamfights.
Item Stats: 800 Health, 10 % Cooldown Reduction, 200 % Base Health Generation
With the Ninja Tabi you block 12 % of the basic auto attacks. This is good vs a team with many AD-Champions, which work with auto attacks. (almost every ADC, AD Jungler & Toplaner)
Item Stats: 30 Armor, 45 Movement Speed
With the Boots of Swiftness you get a slow resist. Movement slowing effects are reduced by 25 %, which is good vs a team with many slows. (Nasus, Janna, Maokai, etc.)
Item Stats: 55 Movement Speed
Back to Top

Runes, Masteries & Spells




(will be updated shortly)





(will be updated shortly)



Flash is the most important Spell for almost every Champ. You can get out of fights, maybe turn fights or loose fights, if you fail your flash. So don´t waste it and use it, if you really need it. You can Flash + ult for example, if you are Mega Gnar.



In my opinion Teleport is very important for every toplaner, because you can splitpush by teleporting, you can teleport into fights and flank them, you can help your botlane by teleporting onto a ward and maybe kill the eneym botlane etc. Teleport helps you to get on the lane very fast, if you died or you just went into base. So Teleport is the best spell for the toplane.



Ignite, Barrier, Heal, Cleanse, Exhaust and Smite are some other spells, you could use. Some players take Ignite on toplane, but they have the advantage, that they cant teleport into fights, on their lanes etc. They have the opportunity to kill you, but in teamfights Ignite is useless. Heal, Barrier and Cleanse are not recommended for toplane, especially for Gnar, because you won´t need any of these spells.


Back to Top

Laning phase / Matchups

Im in my mums car... get out of myRiven
Good to know:

Skilling Order
#1. Broken Wings
1 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 9

Cooldown: 13
Range: 260
Deals: 10 / 30 / 50 / 70 / 90 (+0.4/0.45/0.5/0.55/0.6 of total attack damage)

#2. Ki Burst
3 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18

Cooldown: 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 / 7
Range: 250
Dealing: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

#3. Valor
2 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 13

Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6
Range: 325
Dealing: 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 / 210 (+1.0 per bonus attack damage)

#4. Blade of the Exile
6 / 11 / 16

Cooldown: 130 / 95 / 60
Range: 900
Dealing: 80 / 120 / 160 (+ 60% bonus AD)


Recommended Start items: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (x4)

Your first 2 items: Get Ninja Tabi and rush Randuin's Omen or Sunfire Aegis

2nd ability, you max: Skill Hop / Crunch after Boomerang Throw / Boulder Toss

Tips:
You can fight Riven, if she used her 3rd Broken Wings (Q) proc.

The matchup is very hard, if you play against a good Riven. Her playstyle is an heavy AD burst type. If she goes for an all in and she hits her stun, you will be very low / dead if you go out of the fight. If she wasn´t able to kill, she will definitely go in again, after getting her cooldowns back.
If you play against a normal / bad Riven, you will normally win your lane by poking her with your Boomerang Throw and Hyper. But don´t forget that Riven is able to deal brutally high damage, if you get stunned and she uses her ult.

If Riven started with her Q at level 1:
- poke with your Boomerang Throw
- wait until she used the 3rd proc of her Q
- poke with your auto attacks, if she has no Q

If Riven started with her E at level 1:
- wait until the shield is on cooldown an poke with your Q and auto attacks
- poke, poke, poke until she reached level 2 / 3
- her damage is very low now (because her shield - E - does no damage)

To fight against a level 2 Riven is really annoying, because she is very mobile now. She can dash with her E (if she skilled it) and can use her Q to get near / or hit you, even if she is slowed by your Boomerang Throw.

So if you hit level 2, skill your E ( Hop ), to get away from her. Try to jump on a minion to get a double jump. Use your Boomerang Throw while you are jumping, to slow her.

You can fight Riven if her Q is on cooldown, because this is her main ability to deal damage. But be careful, because she can stun you and deal lots of damage, using her W. Try to make short trades if she already has some cooldown reduction and some points in her Q, because it has almost no cooldown.

The most dangerous time on lane is, if she hits level 6. She is able to deal tons of damage, using her ult, so be careful and try to farm safe and poke, poke, poke... You can fight her if she used her ultimate and her Q. Try to get Mega Gnar and all in her.




Im in my mums car... get out of myIrelia
Good to know:

Skilling Order
#1. Bladesurge
2 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18

Cooldown: 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 / 6
Range: 650
Deals: 20 / 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 (+1.2 per attack damage)

#2. Hiten Style
3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 9

Cooldown: 15
Range: -
Dealing: 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 (adds this as truedamage + her pysical damage)

#3. Equilibrium Strike
1 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 13

Cooldown: 8
Range: 425
Dealing: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+50% of ability power)

#4. Transcendent Blades
6 / 11 / 16

Cooldown: 110 / 85 / 60 / 50
Range: 1200
Dealing: 80 / 120 / 160 (+50% of ability power, +0.6 per bonus attack damage)

Recommended Start items: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (x4)

Your first 2 items: Get Giant's Belt and build Randuin's Omen (good against her attack speed etc.)

2nd ability, you max: Skill Hop / Crunch after Boomerang Throw / Boulder Toss

Tips:
This is a skill matchup to both champs. You can deal lots of damage to her but she starts dealing massive damage at level 4 - 5. She isn´t a hard counter, but a mistake from you or Irelia can be decisive. She can bully you hard, but you can do the same if you are ahead. But always be careful, because she can stun / slow you very easy and has truedamage + lifesteal with her W.

Try to harass her in the first 2 levels, to keep her down. If she lost some waves, she will be under the tower and farm. Max your Hop (W) to jump away from dangerous situations. Irelia is a very mobile champ, like Riven but if she already used her Q and it is on cooldown, she has no chance to get away. She can only stun / slow you with her W, but you are able to chase her and slow her with your Boomerang Throw. If she engages on you, try to slow her or jump away. If you are stunned, you will definitely lose the trade, because of her truedamage (W).

If Irelia started with her Q at level 1:
- poke with your Boomerang Throw, if she wants to lasthit
- stay away from low minions (your minions) and poke if she farms

If Irelia started with her E at level 1:
- stay away from her and don´t get stunned
- poke, poke, poke until she reached level 2 / 3

Try to have good vision - ward the whole time, if Irelia gets level 3. She can setup some good ganks and you have no chance to get away the most time or you lose your Flash. You can fight her, if you know that the enemy jungler is not near and she has less health than you. She can outscale you with her damage, but you will be better in teamfighst, because of Mega Gnar.

Also try to 'bait' her mana to farm and if she reachs level 6 to use her ult to wave clear. You have no mana, so if she is OOM (out of mana), she has to go back or she will lose trades. You can fight her, if she already used her ult, because she gets so much life back, that you can´t fight her.

You can build Mercury's Treads against her (+ depending on the enemy team), because of her hard CC (E). She also has a bit AP damage, so this can be pretty nice decision against her. If you have got Vayne, Tryndamere, etc. and champs like this in the enemy team, you can also build Ninja Tabi. They are also strong against Irelia.

Get Giant's Belt at first back, because she has mixed damage - physical and ture damage. Get Randuin's Omen as early as you can.



Im in my mums car... get out of myGaren
Good to know:

Skilling Order
#1. Decisive Strike
1 / 5 / 8 / 9 / 12

Cooldown: 8
Range: -
Deals: 30 / 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 (+0.4 per attack damage)

#2. Courage
3 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18

Cooldown: 24 / 23 / 22 / 21 / 20
Range: -
Dealing: it´s a shield that reduces 30% of the damage

#3. Judgment
2 / 4 / 7 / 10 / 13

Cooldown: 9
Range: 325
Deals over 3 seconds: 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 / 30 (+0.34 / 0.35 / 0.36 / 0.37 / 0.38 per attack damage)

#4. Demacian Justice
6 / 11 / 16

Cooldown: 120 / 100 / 80 / 50
Range: 400
Dealing: 175 / 350 / 525 magic damage (+28 / 33 / 40% of the target's missing health)

Recommended Start items: Cloth Armor + Health Potion (x4) / Doran's Blade + Health Potion (x1)

Your first 2 items: Get Frozen Mallet + boots (depending on the enemy team) or Sunfire Aegis

2nd ability, you max: Skill Hyper / Wallop (you deal lots of damage with it) after Boomerang Throw / Boulder Toss

Tips:
This matchup is normally very easy, if you know how to play against Garen. The annoying thing is his silence ( Decisive Strike) and his passive. If you got silenced and you are marked by his passive, he deals lots of damage to you, because you can´t jump away and you get hit from his E ( Judgment) the whole time.

If Garen started with his Q at level 1:
- poke with your Boomerang Throw if he wants to engage
- stay away from him
- poke and harass with your auto attacks and Boomerang Throw if it is on cooldown
- you can easily win a trade now!

If Garen started with his E at level 1:
- also stay away from this spell (it´s his main damage in early, so it hurts)
- also use Boomerang Throw to slow him, if he tries to engage
- his damage is very low now, so you can trade

If Garen hit´s level 6 he is able to kill you with an all in, if you are mini Gnar and you build a damage item. You have to care about his ult, because it deals lots of damage. So if you want to fight him, wait until he used his Q, so you won´t get silenced and you can use all your spells. He can´t even run away from your Boomerang Throw, because he already used his Q.

If he used his Q and he activates his spin (E), try to fight him if the spell is near the end, because this spell is the main damage, so it hurts.

On level 1 poke him with your Boomerang Throw and harass him away from minions, like if you play against Irelia or Riven. Always auto attack or throw your boomerang if he wants to last hit a minion. If you do this, you will hit level 2 before he does. Skill Hyper to deal lots of damage and push him out of the lane. Ward as soon as you can because the enemy jungler could gank you, if you push toplane. You can´t get this easy, because you don´t have Hop now.

Important is that you poke with your Boomerang Throw and auto attacks, so Garen's passive won´t be active. If you don´t poke him that often, he can easily lifereg. the whole time.




Im in my mums car... get out of myMaokai
Good to know:

Skilling Order
#1. arcane smash
2 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 9

Cooldown: 8 / 7.5 / 7 / 6.5 / 6
Range: 700
Deals: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205/color] / 250 (+40% of ability power)

#2. Twisted Advance
3 / 8 / 10 / 12 / 13

Cooldown: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9
Range: 525
Dealing: 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13% of its maximum health(+3% of ability power)

#3. Sapling Toss
1 / 14 / 15 / 17 / 18

Cooldown: 12
Range: 1100
Deals: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+40% of ability power) on impact and 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+60% of ability power) if it explodes

#4. Vengeful Maelstrom
6 / 11 / 16

Cooldown: 60 / 50 / 40 / 50
Range: 475
Dealing: 100 / 150 / 20 magic damage (+50% of ability power)

Recommended Start items: Long Sword + Health Potion (x4) / Doran's Blade + Health Potion (x1)

Your first 2 items: Get Hexdrinker + Mercury's Treads / Boots of Swiftness or Spectre's Cowl into Spirit Visage

2nd ability, you max: Skill Hyper / Wallop after Boomerang Throw / Boulder Toss

Tips:
This matchup is a bit difficult if you dont know how to play against Maokai. His base damage is very high and if you spam spells, he has a nice sustaind because of his passive (every 5 spells from anybody he gets almost the same effect like Grasp of the Undying). Try to run away from his little saplings, if they are going to explode, they deal lots of damage.

If Maokai started with his Q at level 1:
- stay away from him until he used it on minions
- now you can trade with him by using Boomerang Throw and auto attacks
- poke with your auto attacks, if he wants to farm

If Maokai started with his E at level 1 (typical):
- try to dodge the impact and the explosion
- now you can easily win a trade
- poke with your auto attacks, if he wants to farm

If Maokai hit´s level 6, he is able to kill you with an all in, if you have low magic resistance and you are mini Gnar. So try to long range poke him with your Boomerang Throw and stay away from his W range. If he is out of mana or he already used is ultimate to waveclear / etc. you can fight him. Like always, engage with your Boomerang Throw and just proc Hyper and so on.

Maokai won´t be able to win a trade unless you get hit by his Q and his exploding sapling (E).

On level 1 poke him with your Boomerang Throw and harass him away from minions, like if you play against Irelia, Riven or Garen. Always auto attack or throw your boomerang if he wants to last hit a minion. If you do this, you will hit level 2 before he does. Skill Hyper to deal lots of damage and push him out of the lane. Ward as soon as you can because the enemy jungler could gank you and Maokai is able to stun you, if you push toplane. You can´t get this easy, because you don´t have Hop now.

Important is that you poke with auto attacks and Hyper, so he is not able to get his passive this fast. You can build Mercury's Treads or Boots of Swiftness against him, depending on the other champs of the enemy team.

( Rumble, Ekko, Yasuo, Nasus, Jax, Rengar, Teemo, Tryndamere ... coming soon!)



Here are some exampe item builds.





All these example itembuilds depend on the enemy team. This is just, like the name says, an 'example itembuild' with some explanations why you can! pick these items, you don´t have to.


Against AD Top & Jungle



If you play against Jax, Irelia, Riven, Garen, Jarvan IV, Rengar, Yasuo or other AD toplaners with Kindred, Jarvan IV, Lee Sin, Rengar, Kha'Zix or other AD junglers, you can go this itembuild.

If you don´t have any problems on your lane, you can build Black Cleaver as your first item. The 2nd item is decisive. If you play against Yasuo, Riven or Irelia (etc.) you should build Randuin's Omen as 2nd item.
If you play against Jax, Garen, Jarvan IV, Rengar, Sunfire Aegis would be enough as your 2nd item.

Your 3rd item could be Ninja Tabi or Thornmail, but this depends on the enemy team. If you got Veigar, Syndra or other AP midlaners in the enemy team, you could go Spirit Visage as 3rd item, to be stronger in 'mini' fights. Your boots depend also on the enemy team. As I said, if you got Veigar, Syndra, Leona or other champs with hard CC in the enemy team, you should build Mercury's Treads instead of Ninja Tabi. You will have much more sustain and you won´t be stunned this long.

Against a full AD Team



If you play against a full AD team, your enemy toplaner & jungler make AD damage, so if you got no problems on your lane, you can build Black Cleaver as first item. If you got problems and you just lose trades, you can build Sunfire Aegis or Randuin's Omen as first item. But this depends on the enemy toplaner.

If you play against Yasuo, Riven or Irelia (etc.) you should build Randuin's Omen as first item.
If you play against Jax, Garen, Jarvan IV, Rengar, Sunfire Aegis should be a good decision. You can also build Dead Man's Plate to be faster and get some health and armor. You can rush Thornmail as your 2nd item, if you play against champs, which benifit from auto attacks, like Vayne, Jax, Tryndamere, Quinn, etc.

The boots, you are going to build are the Ninja Tabi. They are also good against champs which work with auto attacks, like Vayne, Jax, Tryndamere, Quinn, etc.
You should always build Randuin's Omen if the enemy AD-Carry builds crit items, like Infinity Edge, Statikk Shiv, Essence Reaver, etc. because you reduce 10% of the damage from critical strikes. If the enemy AD-Carry doesn´t build any crit item, like Varus (sometimes), Ezreal, etc. you can build Randuin's Omen, if there is a Yasuo or Tryndamere.


Against a (almost) full AP Team



A full AP team does not exist, because there is always an AD-Carry, which deals AD damage. So if you got no problems on your lane, you can build Black Cleaver as your first item.
If you got problems, because you lose trades etc. you can build Hexdrinker as first item (Hexdrinker is not so strong on Gnar in my opinion).
GAINFOGA
You can also rush Spirit Visage and Mercury's Treads against Maokai, Nidalee and other AP champs, which have hard CC.
Against Rumble and Singed I´d build Spirit Visage and Boots of Swiftness as your first 2 items. You get extra sustain against them and you won´t be slowed this hard.

You should also build at least one armor item like Sunfire Aegis , Randuin's Omen, Dead Man's Plate or Thornmail against the enemy AD-Carry. But the item, you choose depends on the enemy AD-Carry! (like I said above)

You can also build Black Cleaver + 2 magic resit items (3 if you build Mercury's Treads + Maw of Malmortius + Spirit Visage) + 1 armor item ( Sunfire Aegis / Randuin's Omen / Dead Man's Plate / Thornmail) + Warmog's Armor (instead of Frozen Mallet), to be super tanky.


Information / Tip:

You can also build Guardian Angel, to survive heavy burst and it´s also a good item for the ultra lategame. This is not only a tip for Gnar, this is a item for almost every champ. You can sell your boots and buy Guardian Angel. This item can 'decide' if you win or lose a game, because you get an 'extra' life, if this item is not on cooldown.
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Teamfight




If you reached the Midgame, your job is to be the initiatior of a teamfight, or just following up a teamfight, depending on who is in your team and which items do you have.

Before the team fight starts, try to zone their team with your boomerang and try to proc Hyper on some enemies, if you can do it from a save position. Your boomerang should be maxed now, so if you throw it, it will have literally no cooldown if you catch it. Using your boomerang here is good, because you will slow (if you hit them) the enemy tank line, if they want to engage, you deal damage to some enemies, so they are easier to kill, if the fight starts and you gain lots of rage, if you hit many targets, so you will transform very fast to Mega Gnar. Try this before you start a teamfight.

If your team engages:

First of all get Mega Gnar / rage very fast using your Q. If you got Mega Gnar and your team is able to follow you, try to use your Crunch or just Flash into the enemy team and hit as many targets as you can with your ult. Try to ult them agains a wall / a turret, to stun them. If you hit like 3-4 enemies, including a carry, you normally win this figh. If you stunned them with your ult, try to use your Wallop (Mega Gnar W) to stun them again. Now you can use your Boulder Toss to deal more damage to them. If you get Mini Gnar now, try to get away, if you are lowlife and they are able to kill you. Normally you can chase the surviving champs by hitting your Boomerang Throw and auto attacks, if you got Frozen Mallet.

If the enemy team engages:

Try to use your Boomerang Throw to slow their front line. Hit as many targets as you can, to slow more enemies and get your rage faster. If you are Mini Gnar and you won´t get Mega Gnar try to disengage and don´t fight. But if you got a very tanky jungler with hard CC like Sejuani, Amumu, etc. you can try to fight this. Your job is to use your Boomerang Throw and proc Hyper, to deal lots of damage. You should normally get Mega Gnar very fast and now you can engage, too. If you don´get Mega so fast, try to CC the enemies and disengage.

Most of the time, if you don´t fight or don´t take dragons / barons, you try to split push, unless your team is ahead. You can teleport into fights, if you splitpush, but in the lategame teamfights you could be to late with Teleport. So try to splitpush if your team is in a safe position and they are not going to fight. Always be sure that you can win late game fights with your CC and your team needs you. Try to stay at your team all time in late game, so you can decide if you want to fight or you disengage.

Keep warding all time if you chase someone or if you splitpush, because 1 teamfight can win or lose the game in the late with long death timers!
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Pros / Cons





  • Squishy early game (Mini Gnar)
  • High Skill Champion
  • Short ranged for ranged champion
  • Cannot switch forms without rage
  • Ultimate is unavailable in Mini Form
  • Weak to all-in Champions
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Changelog

26.06.2016 Reworked the whole, unpublished guide
Started to rework the whole design

27.06.2016 Added more situational items

28.06.2016 Edited the item explanations
Reworked Items / Runes / Masteries

05.07.2016 Added Matchup / Laningphase / Teamfight

06.07.2016 Added more / edited Matchups ( Garen, Maokai)

27.03.2018 Reworked some parts of the guide.
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Teamfight Tactics Guide