Hello! My name is Zing. I am a Gnar One-Trick in Platinum elo with about 3 million points. I primarily play mid lane, but I am also experienced in other roles and champs.

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Simply having an understanding what you need to do to leave laning phase with a lead is by far the most important thing to do as Gnar mid. Gnar has a wide variety of tools in his kit to deal with all kinds of situations, and almost every traditional mid-laner is highly exploitable. With Gnar Mid, having a good game-plan is more important than having perfect mechanics.

Trading

Knowing what your opponent's champ does is very important. If you arent closely familiar with that champ, I recommend at the start of every game, use https://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/abilities to look up your opponent, and understand the cooldowns of your opponents abilities.

Gnar has relatively high combat power within his auto attacks, meaning he does not have "down-time" from cooldowns like many other midlaners do. Punishing your opponents for using their abilities is the core concept behind trading as Mini Gnar.

The main way to bait out ablilities from your opponent is to push the wave. Most other midlaners cannot match Gnar's ability to shove the wave without using abilities with cooldowns. When you shove the wave with auto-attacks, your opponent has 2 options: use abilities to shove the wave back, or let you shove in the wave. If your opponent uses their cooldowns on the wave, you have an opening. Walk or E forwards and take a heavy trade against your opponent.

Even if you cannot dodge or bait out abilities from your opponent, taking an even trade can still be very beneficial. Setting yourself up for a Mega-Gnar engage with both champions at half-health is a winning fight for you, and you can jump in and CC your opponent to death. Just make sure you are able to land your CC.

Engaging and All-ins

Mini Gnar

Mini Gnar's all-in is mostly based on his high DPS auto-attacks. His E, in addition to allowing him to position agressively for an all-in, also gives him high attack speed. This, along with his passive attack speed and his on-hit effect from Hyper gives him a high ammount of DPS.

Combos:

Standard Combo
AA > Q > AA
A short trade with a small ammount of burst. Will proc Hyper

Fast Engage Combo
AA > E > Q
A very fast burst of damage. Use your Q in mid-air shortly before landing. Will proc Hyper and give you attack speed from Hop after landing.

Mega Gnar

Mega Gnar's all-in is based around jumping in with Hop / Crunch and using his full rotation of abilities, while also weaving in auto-attacks.

Combos:

Full Perfect Rotation into wall
E > R > AA > W > AA > Q
Use this combo when you stun your opponent into a wall with GNAR! and you land near-enough to them to auto-attack them immediately. This is the optimal combo and should do most or all of an opponent's HP during laning phase.

Full rotation into wall with poor positioning
E > R > Q > W
Use this combo when you stun your opponent with GNAR! but you don't land close to them. When you dont land close to your opponent, you waste time walking to your opponent before you can auto-attack them. Lead with abilities that can reach, and then walk in for extra damage.

Full rotation in middle
E > R > W > AA > Q
Use this combo when your opponent is in the middle of the lane and cannot be stunned against a wall with GNAR!. Use your R to pull them behind you/away from their tower, and then immediately apply a stun with Wallop

Things to Consider

Your opponent will obviously not want to be engaged upon, and they may save defensive tools to protect themselves when you jump in. Think about what things they have, and how you can play around them.

Do they have an ability with CC? If you cannot bait it out, think about how to avoid it. If it can be blocked by minions, try and engage by jumping over your own minions, especially if your opponent is close to them. If it is a delayed ability, then engage quickly, and animation cancel your R if possible.

Do they have a dash? If it is a free-aim dash or blink, they will want to escape backwards. Compensate for this by overshooting when using your E. If it is a dash or jump, It can be interrupted with good timing because your GNAR! is a displacement.

Roaming

Gnar's roams are potentially incredibly powerful. When roaming, it is best to roam with Mega Gnar ready. If you do not enter the side-lane while in Mega form, try to enter with as much rage ready as possible, especially before your first completed item. Mega Gnar's front-loaded damage and CC is much more valuable for ganks. If you leave midlane with 100 rage or while in Mega form, you will run out of time before you make it all the way to a side-lane, so when leaving midlane, try and leave with as close to 100 rage as possible. Top-off your rage while in river by hitting scuttle crab or a plant if possible.

Here I will list all of my knowledge on runes and how they relate to Gnar's laning and matchups.

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Conqueror is best taken into matchups where you expect to take extended fights as Mini Gnar, generally against tankier targets who dont have high burst damage. The extra attack speed also slightly augments your early wave clear. This rune also notably helps the potency of your Mega Gnar all-ins.

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Arcane Comet is best taken into difficult early matchups, usually mid/long range control mages. Stay out of their poke range, and hit them with Boomerang Throw as much as possible, then set up for an all-in. This rune can be taken into almost any matchup you struggle with or are uncertain about, since Boomerang Throw poke is always valuable for winning laning phase.

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Summon Aery is best taken into easy early matchups where you expect to be able to poke with both Boomerang Throw and auto-attacks, or champions who can dodge Arcane Comet. Use this rune to bully champions who are weak early, punishing them as hard as you can early, to try and deny them farm or xp.

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Press the Attack is best taken into matchups where you expect to take short and/or frequent trades as Mini Gnar. This rune also slightly helps the potency of your Mega Gnar all-ins.

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Electrocute is best taken into matchups that you want to all-in with Mega Gnar. This rune is also great into difficult matchups that will try to trade or poke often, since Electrocute will help a lot with short trades, and secondary runes will slightly help with sustain. The full AD build makes it very easy to one-shot opponents

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Hail of Blades is best taken into Squishy opponents when you plan on building full AD/Lethality. The extra auto attacks greatly help your damage in both forms, and the full AD build makes it very easy to one-shot opponents with mega Gnar. If fed, you can one-shot people with mini Gnar as well.

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Dark Harvest is best taken into where you plan on hard carrying while building full AD/Lethality. The bonus to your burst damage is good for your early game all-ins. In addition, its reset on-kill makes it great for carrying late-game teamfights.

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Grasp of the Undying is a good defensive rune against melee champs to take if you aren't prioritizing solo kills in lane. Stay safe in lane with Second Wind, build tanky, and safely take towers with Demolish

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Overheal in combination with Doran's Blade will grant you a constant shield in lane when you are at full health. Take this rune into matchups that you aren't confident in your kill pressure.

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Triumph is a good rune to take into matchups that you are confident in your ability to kill in lane. Also take this rune into games that you expect a lot of team-fights.

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Legend: Bloodline is a rune that provides good life-steal, especially late game. I would recommend always taking this rune when you are in precision.

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Coup de Grace is a solid rune that greatly helps your damage. Always take this rune when you take Precision.

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Taste of Blood is a great rune for sustain and trading, especially early game.

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Ravenous Hunter is a great rune for consistent sustain from spell-vamp, especially late game. Always take this rune when you take Domination.

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Nullifying Orb is a decent rune that provides some survivability against magic damage. Always take this rune against any team comp with any amount of magic damage. If a team has no magic damage, you can take Nimbus Cloak instead.

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Take Celerity against a lane opponent or team comp who you can kite. Celerity grants you 4 to 6 Movement Speed passively from your Rage Gene. You get 8 to 19 decaying Movement Speed each time you trigger Hyper. You gain 2 Movement speed from Boots, 3 or 4 from most upgraded boots, and 9 Movement Speed from an active Mobility Boots.

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Absolute Focus is a solid rune to help your damage at all points of the game. Take this rune when you expect to poke a lot.

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Scorch is a good rune to greatly empower your early-game poke. Always take this rune when you take Sorcery

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Gathering Storm is a good rune to significantly help your late game scaling. You can take this rune instead of Scorch if you do not feel like your early game needs help.

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Demolish is a solid rune to help take you towers faster. Take this rune if you are confident in your early game, to help you get plates early.

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Second Wind is a good rune to sustain through early game poke. You can take this rune as a secondary instead of taking Domination when facing a difficult matchup.

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Bone Plating is an option against champions that have high amounts of burst and all-in potential, and low amounts of poke.

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Unflinching is a good rune to take against teams with moderate or heavy CC, and it helps your survivability at all stages of the game.

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Overgrowth is another option instead of Unflinching, granting you a small amount of scaling health.

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Magical Footwear should be your third rune in Inspiration.

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Minion Dematerializer is the most important rune in Inspiration as it helps your wave-clear during lane phase. Always use them on Cannon minions when possible. Cover for your allies by using Minion Dematerializer to shove in the wave when your opponent might want to roam. You can also shove in the wave to set up for your own roam.

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Approach Velocity should always be your second rune in Inspiration. The movement speed you get after landing your Boomerang Throw helps you position aggressively for an extended trade.

The difficulty of the matchup is indicated by the number of orange squares, with 5 orange squares being the most difficult.

Keystone runes within the same tree are mostly interchangable. You can pick one that suits your preference.

If you are ever unsure, remember that Conqueror is always good for both scaling and all-ins.

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Poke her with Boomerang Throw as often as possible. Stay out of range of her Orb of Deception, and always be behind minions to avoid her Charm. You can all-in her at lv 6, but always engage with an animation cancel, otherwise she will dodge with her Spirit Rush or counter with a Charm.

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Poke her with Boomerang Throw as often as possible. Avoid trading as Mini Gnar, especially while she is in her shroud. If she is in her Twilight Shroud while you are Mega, you can GNAR! > Boulder Toss > Wallop her while she is invisible. If you are in Mini form while she has access to Perfect Execution, play very safe, as he has a lot of mobility and damage at this point, and can easily kill you if you aren't tanky.

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Poke her with Boomerang Throw as often as possible. Before level 6, you can take heavy trades with her in either form. Once she is level 6, she will do a lot of damage with her Glacial Storm, so save your Hop to avoid it if you are in Mini form. If you are in Mega form, try to engage when either Glacial Storm or Flash Frost are on cooldown. You can GNAR! her into her own Crystallize to stun her. Don't forget about her Rebirth, which has a cooldown of 4:00 regardless of her CDR. If you aren't healthy and don't think you can kill her during or immediately after her egg form, then don't waste time fighting it, and just back up to safety, and shove the wave if necessary.

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Poke her with Boomerang Throw as often as possible, and stay out of range of her Disintegrate and Incinerate. Her Molten Shield Grants her movement speed and defensive stats, so running her down as Mini Gnar is very difficult. Engage at lv 6 with a Mega Combo. She can likely one-shot you with Summon: Tibbers if you are in its range, so try to lead with an animation cancel, and don't leave gaps in between your CC during your combo. Make sure that she is low enough to die to your full combo.

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He will likely try to hard-shove in waves early using his Cosmic Creator and Astral Flight in order to set up for a roam as early as lv 3. Take heavy trades and poke him as much as possible. You can all in him as early as lv 3. When you jump on him, immediately hit him with Wallop, or you will be stunned by his Breath of Light. When you are lv 6, you can kill him with a Mega combo. Try to only engage with an animation cancel, otherwise you can be pushed back by his Falling Star or stunned by his Breath of Light.

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Jumping on top of him in Mega form is difficult due to his Emperor's Divide. If you take Electrocute, you can win forced small trades. If you take Conqueror, you can win a DPS check as Mini Gnar by positioning away from his soldiers, and using Hop to avoid his Conquering Sands.

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All of his abilities hurt, and his Sear is a stun on an 8 second cooldown, so always stay out of his range. He will always win early trades if you step into his range. You out range him with your Boomerang Throw, so poke him whenever you can. Try and set up for an all-in with a mega-combo at lv 6, with the waves near your tower. His Blaze and Pyroclasm do a lot of damage over time, so don't leave gaps in between your CC during your combo, and make sure that he is low enough to die to your full combo.

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Always stay either out of her range, or on top of her, so she cant ground you with her Miasma. Be ready to face backwards to dodge her Petrifying Gaze. If you can dodge her Noxious Blast, you can win a head-on fight in Mini form. Otherwise, engage at lv 6 with GNAR!.

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His Phosphorus Bomb deals a lot of damage, so make sure to be positioned far enough away to avoid it. His Valkyrie is quick, and can be used to avoid a Mega-Gnar engage. Poke him down with Boomerang Throw, and engage with Mini Gnar when you have a significant health lead. You can potentially kill him with an animation-cancelled GNAR!, but make sure to overshoot your jump, because he will try to Valkyrie backwards immediately to avoid it. His Special Delivery will interrupt your jump.

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Her Crescent Strike travels in an arc shape, so you will have a much easier time dodging it by moving counter-clockwise and inwards around Diana. If she lands this, she will most likely win a short trade. Her Crescent Strike Cooldown is very low, so punishing her with an extended trade is very difficult. If you can't consistently dodge, then just stay out of her range and poke with your Q. Remember that her Moonfall will interrupt your jump, so try to use it very early if you are afraid of an all-in. Her only mobility that she can use to avoid an all-in is using Lunar Rush on your minions.

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If he hits you with Phase Dive, he will most likely use Timewinder right after, so sidestep immediately. After this, he will have no offensive abilities, so punish him hard. His Timewinder returns to him even when he moves, so don't stand between them. Always watch the positioning of the ghost of his Chronobreak. He will most likely return to it when he is very low, so don't stand on top of it, but try to be close enough to punish him when he uses it.

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Fizz will most likely engage by dashing with Urchin Strike. Then he will use Playful / Trickster as either a follow-up, or as an escape. Take an extended trade with him at this time, but don't allow yourself to be low health, or you will get all-inned. At lv 6+, save your E to dodge his Chum the Waters. Keep in mind that he will use his Playful / Trickster to dodge your all-in if you engage with Mega Gnar.

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Always stay out of range of his Shield of Durand. He cannot use Flash while charging, so positioning against it should be easy. Use your Hop Sideways or backwards to avoid his Justice Punch. Those two abilities are his only way to activate Aftershock if he takes it. Be aware that he will try to roam with Hero's Entrance, so try to poke him or shove the lane as much as possible.

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Never fight him head on within range of his H-28G Evolution Turrets. Bait out his CH-2 Electron Storm Grenade if possible before engaging with Mega Gnar. Otherwise, try to lead with an animation cancel, and don't leave gaps in between your CC during your combo. Make sure that he is low enough to die to your full combo, otherwise he will likely kill you with a full combo of his abilities.

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Save your E to dodge her Flawless Duet. She will only have 1 dash if she doesn't land it or her Vanguard's Edge, and can be kited. If you get hit by her Vanguard's Edge, save your E for right after you hit its wall, since it heavily slows. You probably don't win a fight if she uses her Vanguard's Edge, so just try to escape to tower.

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His Lay Waste is very easy to dodge as long as you aren't slowed by his Wall of Pain. Starting at level 3, you can position and trade against him very aggressively. If you are slowed by his Wall of Pain, immediately jump out, or jump in if you are healthy and willing to trade heavily or all-in. Killing him at level 6 is very easy, since he has no mobility or self-peel. Just be sure to watch your health, since he can return kill you with his Death Defied and Requiem if you are low.

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Kassadin is very weak and easy to bully early. Harass him with auto attacks and Q during the early levels whenever possible. Once he hits lv 6, his Riftwalk can be used to dodge your Mega Gnar engage, so try to read his blink by overshooting your jump.

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Katarina is very easy to bully early. Harass her with auto attacks and Q during the early levels whenever possible. Always watch where her daggers land, or will land, and make sure to not stand on or near them. Her Bouncing Blade will leave a dagger behind the first target, and her Preparation will leave a dagger where Katarina is standing. The range around her daggers is somewhat deceiving, so be sure to give them more space than needed.

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Leblanc will try to trade heavily. Either try and avoid this by staying out of range of her Distortion, or step forward and trade aggressively. She will try and control space by dashing in and out of your range. Stand behind minions to avoid her Ethereal Chains. Her Ethereal Chains have similar range to your Hop, so if you get hit by them at short range, you cannot escape them by jumping, unless you bounce. When her passive Mirror Image is activated, her clone will appear after a delay. The original will likely have less health and more stacks of Hyper.

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Her Ice Shard is the only ability she will use for poke. The blink on her Glacial Path can be stopped by stunning her. If she wants to engage or disengage, she will use her Ring of Frost. This will stop you from chasing her, but does little against a Mega Gnar engage. Make sure to land on top of her. Make sure to kill her quickly when doing so, or she will likely avoid your combo or burst you back with her Frozen Tomb.

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Lux's Light Binding Is her only tool to avoid your engage or set up her burst. Save your E to dodge this. If she misses or misuses this, you can jump on her in either form and kill her fairly easily.

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Malzahar will likely use his full set of abilities on the wave starting from lv 3. Use this time to engage on him, especially in mega form. Make sure to drop his passive Void Shift first, either by hitting him with an auto attack or Q, or by landing on top of him with E. His Nether Grasp can be parried by predicting it with a well-timed Wallop.

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Mordekaiser is a stat-stick who is nearly impossible to kill unless you are fed, or play mechanically perfectly. Kite him and stay out of range of his Darkness Rise, and dodge his Obliterate and Death's Grasp. Buy a Quicksilver Sash if he uses his Realm of Death on you. Otherwise, be careful inside of it, as you can get stuck to his walls. He will be fairly tanky, so killing him with a Mega Gnar combo will be difficult.

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Focus on poke, and take trades only when you know you are safe from her Dark Binding. All-inning her will be difficult. Even if you dodge her Dark Binding, you will be stunned by her Soul Shackles if you don't disengage. She will be difficult to stun due to her Black Shield.

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Neeko's Tangle-Barbs are usually needed to get the full value out of her Blooming Burst, so trade or engage if it is on cooldown. Save E to dodge her Pop Blossom. Remember that her Shapesplitter will hide her Pop Blossom, so disengage or sidestep if she uses either of these.

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Stay out of range of her Command: Attack and Auto-Attacks. She will always win early trades if you step into her range. You out range her with your Boomerang Throw, so poke her whenever you can. Try and set up for an all-in with a mega-combo at lv 6, with the waves near your tower. Keep in mind that she can shield herself with Command: Protect and stun you with Command: Shockwave to use defensively when you go in, so try to lead with an animation cancel, and don't leave gaps in between your CC during your combo. Make sure that she is low enough to die to your full combo.

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Her Edge of Ixtal when enchanted with either river or brush can be used engage or disengage, so be careful when fighting in Mini form. Her Audacity can be used to dodge your stuns when you engage with Mega form. Use your stuns quickly, or predict her movement. Her Supreme Display of Talent can be used to disengage or counter engage, but it does have a slight delay, and can be dodged with Flash or sometimes E.

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Ryze will usually win extended trades. If you step into range, he will likely use his Rune Prison to snare you, and get in a few free hits. Focus on poke, or take short trades. He has no way to avoid a Mega Gnar combo. Make sure it kills though, or you will get kited.

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Swain's Nevermove is fairly long ranged. Your best chance to avoid it is to sidestep. If he doesn't hit this, he will lack the damage to kill you in most cases. He is fairly tanky, especially with his Demonic Ascension, so make sure he is low before engaging in Mega form. Alternatively, take an extended fight in Mini form if you are confident you are stronger, and can dodge his Nevermove.

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Sylas will probably engage with his Abscond. Avoid his Abduct by standing behind minions or sidestepping. Avoid standing near walls if his Hijack is available against you. He will always take GNAR! is possible. Be careful of his burst, but otherwise try to take extended trades.

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Syndra's Dark Sphere and Force of Will are strong poke/trading tools. Try to stay out of their range. When a sphere is in front of her, don't stand lined up with it. Move to the side preemptively or you will get stunned by Scatter the Weak. When this happens, there is no way to avoid a full combo including Unleashed Power. Your only option to engage is to bait out her Scatter the Weak first, before jumping in with Mega Gnar, otherwise her Scatter the Weak can be used to push you away.

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Taliyah's Seismic Shove can usually be dodged by walking, however, if you are slowed by her Unraveled Earth, then you will likely have to use your jump to dodge it. Try to jump through as few rocks as possible. If you are in Mega form, and have enough health to tank through the rocks, this can be a good opportunity to jump in, since her Seismic Shove is her only defensive tool. If you engage without baiting out her Seismic Shove, jump first, and then dodge her immediate Seismic Shove that she will cast reactively.

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Talon has very poor poke with his Rake as long as you are able to consistently avoid the second hit. If he uses his Noxian Diplomacy, then take an extended trade, but be careful, since his early burst is surprisingly strong. He has little in-lane mobility, but if you engage with Mega form, be sure to finish him off, since his Assassin's Path is a very good escape. If he uses Shadow Assault while you are engaging, you can still hit him with skillshots. Just use R > W > Q, then path forward towards where he will probably try to escape if you need to finish him off.

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Twisted fate's Wild Cards are easy to dodge, especially at max range. Shove him in, and he will use a blue or red Pick A Card to push the wave. You can trade or engage him when this is on cooldown. Aside from his gold card, he has no way to escape a Mega Gnar engage. You can't realistically stop most of his roams from Destiny, so simply try to either shove the wave or kill him as often as possible.

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He will most likely be focused early game on farming with his Baleful Strike, leaving only his easily-dodgeable Dark Matter and his auto attacks to trade with. Hit him aggressively with Boomerang Throw and auto attacks. Once you both are level 6, play very safe while in Mini form. His Primordial Burst does a lot of damage and can't be avoided. He is fairly easy to engage upon with Mega Gnar due to the delay in his Event Horizon

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His poke hurts. He will likely use most of his spells to poke you to set up for a burst combo. Save your E to dodge his Tectonic Disruption, as it is his only CC. If you can dodge it without E, save your E to dodge his Life Form Disintegration Ray by bouncing over him. You can fairly easily kill him in Mini form by dodging his skill shots. Alternatively, jump on him in Mega form, since he has very little self-peel.

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Vex will try to poke you a lot, starting with her [Looming Darkness]. Buying boots early will help a lot. Her [Personal Space] is very good at self-peel. Try and engage when either [Personal Space] or [Doom 'n Gloom] are not up, as it is otherwise almost impossible to engage on her.

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You don’t win head-on fights with him. Stay out of his Siphon Power range, and poke him with max range Boomerang Throw. Try and set up for an all-in with a mega-combo at lv 6, with the waves near your tower. Try to only engage with an animation cancel, otherwise you can be interrupted by his Gravity Field. Make sure that he is low enough to die to your full combo.

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Vladimir is fairly weak early game. Poke him with Boomerang Throw as much as possible, and auto attack him whenever his Transfusion is on cooldown. Buy an Executioner's Calling as soon as possible. Don't attempt to stun him while his Sanguine Pool is on cooldown, unless you can bait it out with your W, then use Ult when he reappears.

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You can fight him with mini Gnar if you can dodge his skill-shots. Otherwise lead with an Animation-Canceled GNAR!, or overshoot your jump when engaging on him. He will most likely stun you in mid air or as you land with Shocking Orb, but its stun duration scales with distance, so if you are close enough you can still kill him with a mega combo.

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Be aware of where you and your own minions are positioned. He effectively has infinite mobility within your minion wave. When fighting him in mini form, constantly sidestep back and forth randomly to make it difficult for him to land his Steel Tempest. When you land on top of him as mega Gnar, he will almost always dash through you if available. Either cast your R immediately, or use your W behind yourself in anticipation.

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This is your most difficult matchup. Consider building a tank item first. You can’t easily fight him early, so poke him with Boomerang Throw whenever you can. If he casts his Living Shadow forward, immediately sidestep, then step backwards. Until he starts to recognize this dodge pattern, this is the best way to avoid his following Shadow Slash and Razor Shuriken. Once you have a completed armor item, unless Zed is fed, you should win 1v1s much more easily against him in either form. Once you are strong enough to fight him, if he casts his Living Shadow forwards, walk or Hop forward and punish him hard with an extended trade, taking advantage of his longer cooldowns. Be mindful of his Living Shadow and Death Mark cooldown when engaging with mega Gnar, since they both can be used to dodge either of your stuns. If Zed casts Death Mark on you, time your jump backwards, and you can bounce on him as he reappears. He will almost always immediately throw Razor Shuriken at you if you do this, so sidestep immediately after landing.

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If you engage, he will use Satchel Charge to try and escape. Make sure to stay behind or on top of him when doing so. If you can dodge his Bouncing Bomb, you can win extended trades easily.

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Stand behind your minions with some space between. Her Paddle Star! has a small AOE. If you jump on her, she will use a point-blank Sleepy Trouble Bubble. Try and bait this out first. It is sometimes possible to dodge it by immediately sidestepping after you E in. If you engage, she might use Portal Jump to dodge, so mix up your timing, or wait for her to waste it.