Gnar ARAM Build and Guide

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch; ARAM balance numbers come from the League of Legends Wiki’s champion data.

A Gnar ARAM build is fighter items with Health and Armor shred on a champion the mode quietly buffs: Gnar deals 105% damage, takes 95% and attacks at 102.5% Attack Speed on the Howling Abyss. Mini Gnar pokes with a boomerang, Mega Gnar stuns a clump, and a single lane keeps the Rage bar full.

Every item below was picked from its patch 26.21 text. No stat site was consulted.

How is Gnar changed in ARAM?

Three modifiers, all of them in his favour. Gnar deals 105% damage, takes 95% and gets 102.5% Attack Speed, which is the Wiki’s way of saying the map doesn’t trust a 175-range champion who turns into a melee one at random. Why the help? Because Rage Gene is not under his control. He generates Rage while in combat, and at maximum Rage his next ability transforms him into Mega Gnar whether the moment suits him or not, and on a map with no bushes to hide in and five enemies in view, the wrong-timed transformation is a real cost. The extra damage and the small cut to damage taken pay for it. Thing is, the Attack Speed bump is the one that matters for Mini Gnar, since Hyper is driven by his attacks and spells hyping him up, and a faster attack is a faster Hyper.

Why does Gnar fit the Howling Abyss?

Because he is two champions and the Abyss has a job for both. Riot’s data for patch 26.21:

• Rage Gene (passive): he generates Rage while in combat. At maximum Rage, his next ability transforms him into Mega Gnar, with more survivability and new spells.
• Boomerang Throw / Boulder Toss (Q): Mini Gnar throws a boomerang that damages and slows and returns; catching it reduces the cooldown. Mega Gnar throws a boulder that stops on the first unit hit and damages and slows everything nearby. Cooldown 16/14.5/13/11.5/10.
• Hyper / Wallop (W): Mini Gnar’s attacks and spells hype him up for bonus damage and Move Speed. Mega Gnar rears up and smashes the area in front of him, stunning enemies. Cooldown 7.
• Hop / Crunch (E): Mini Gnar leaps and bounces off the head of any unit he lands on. Mega Gnar lands with force and damages an area around him. Cooldown 22/19.5/17/14.5/12.
• GNAR! (R): Mega Gnar throws everything around him in a chosen direction, damaging and slowing; anyone who hits a wall is stunned and takes bonus damage.

One lane means the boomerang always has something to hit, so Mini Gnar is never out of combat and Rage Gene never stops filling. That’s the first half. The second is that a Howling Abyss team fight happens between two walls, and GNAR! stuns anyone it throws into a wall. On Summoner’s Rift you hunt for a wall. Here you can’t avoid one. Crunch lands on a clump, Wallop stuns the clump, and the ultimate finishes the sentence. Where does it fall apart? Mega Gnar with the Rage bar empty is a slow 175-range creature with no Hop, and if the transformation happened while he was poking from the back, that’s where he is when the Rage runs out (it happens to everyone).

What should a Gnar ARAM build focus on?

Health and Attack Damage together, because both forms use the same items and only one of them is tanky. Four items from the current patch.

Black Cleaver is the first buy: 45 Attack Damage, 400 Health and 20 Ability Haste. Carve reduces a champion’s Armor by 6% for 6 seconds each time you deal physical damage, up to 5 stacks, and Fervor grants Move Speed for 2 seconds on physical damage. Mini Gnar attacks fast and Hyper adds damage to every hit, so he stacks Carve quicker than almost anyone, and the Move Speed stacks with Hyper’s own. Honestly, it’s the only item on this list that both forms love equally.

Stridebreaker next, since the Abyss is where its active earns its gold. 40 Attack Damage, 25% Attack Speed and 450 Health, with Cleave making attacks deal physical damage to nearby enemies and Breaking Shockwave dealing physical damage and slowing nearby enemies by 35%, with 35% decaying Move Speed per champion hit for 3 seconds. Mega Gnar has no dash in his kit (Crunch is a drop, not a leap away), and a slow on five people is how he keeps them inside Wallop range.

Sterak’s Gage is third, bringing 400 Health, 20% Tenacity and bonus Attack Damage from The Claws that Catch. Lifeline grants a decaying Shield for 4.5 seconds when damage would drop you below 30% Health. The transformation itself is the reason: Mega Gnar gains survivability but still arrives in the middle of five champions, and a shield that triggers on the way down is the difference between a stun landing and a corpse. In practice this is the item that turns a forced transformation into an acceptable one.

Jak’Sho, The Protean rounds it out with 350 Health, 45 Armor and 45 Magic Resist, and Voidborn Resilience raises your bonus Armor and Magic Resist by 30% after 5 seconds of champion combat. Five seconds of combat is a short ask on a map where combat never really ends. If the enemy team is all attackers, Dead Man’s Plate instead: 350 Health, 55 Armor and up to 20 bonus Move Speed while moving, which a Mini Gnar who lives on Move Speed will not complain about. Boots are Plated Steelcaps against attacks or Mercury’s Treads against mages, nothing clever.

How do you play Gnar on the Howling Abyss?

• Watch the Rage bar, not the fight. Rage Gene transforms him on his next ability at maximum Rage, so a Boomerang Throw at full Rage is a transformation at range, far from the people Wallop wants to stun.
• Hop before the bar fills. The leap is Mini Gnar’s only, and bouncing off a minion’s head carries him into the clump just as Mega Gnar arrives.
• Aim GNAR! at the wall. Everything thrown into a wall is stunned and takes bonus damage, and the Abyss lane has a wall on each side.
• Catch the boomerang. Catching Boomerang Throw reduces its cooldown, which at rank 1 is 16 seconds, and a Mini Gnar without his Q has no poke.
• Use Boulder Toss on the front unit. It stops on the first unit hit and slows everything nearby, so the tank in front is the right target, not the carry behind.

How do shopping and Mark change the game on the Howling Abyss?

You buy at the fountain at the start and after each death, and never in between, which for Gnar means planning around a Rage bar you can’t see from the shop. Buy the Health piece of Black Cleaver before the damage piece. A Mini Gnar with extra Health survives a surprise transformation at the wrong moment, and a Mini Gnar with extra damage and no Health does not. Then the full Cleaver, then Stridebreaker’s Health component. To be fair, the healing relics along the lane matter less for him than for most, since Mini Gnar pokes from 175 range and only bleeds Health when the transformation drags him forward.

Mark is the snowball spell only ARAM has: hit a champion and you can dash to them. On Gnar it’s a second Hop, and the timing question is whether to throw it as Mini or Mega. Mega. A Mega Gnar who snowballs into the back line lands Crunch, Wallop and GNAR! in sequence, and the stun chain starts before anyone has turned around. As Mini it’s a way to die quickly (funny enough, people keep trying it anyway).

Is Gnar good in ARAM?

Yes, with a condition. The 105% damage dealt, 95% damage taken and 102.5% Attack Speed all push him up, the single lane keeps Rage Gene fed, and the two walls turn GNAR! into a stun you can count on rather than hope for. The condition is the player. Gnar is good on the Abyss for anyone who watches the Rage bar, and a liability for anyone who doesn’t, because the map gives the enemy five sets of eyes on every transformation.

The top laners who exploit a badly timed Mega Gnar are in the Gnar counters guide. Our guide to LoL roles explains the lane he usually calls home. Every item named here has its own page in the item database, and his skins are on the Gnar skins page.

Put simply: Cleaver first, Hop in before the bar fills, throw them at the wall. That’s the Gnar ARAM build, or close to it. The rest is a Rage bar and your attention.

FAQ

Is Gnar buffed in ARAM?

Yes. The League of Legends Wiki’s champion data for patch 26.21 lists 105% damage dealt, 95% damage taken and 102.5% Attack Speed for him on the Howling Abyss.

What items does the Gnar ARAM build use?

Black Cleaver, Stridebreaker, Sterak’s Gage and Jak’Sho, The Protean, or Dead Man’s Plate against attack-heavy teams, with Plated Steelcaps or Mercury’s Treads.

Can you control when Gnar transforms?

Only partly. Rage Gene generates Rage while in combat and transforms him on his next ability at maximum Rage, so the choice is which ability you cast and where, not whether the transformation happens.

Why Black Cleaver first on Gnar?

Carve reduces a champion’s Armor by 6% per instance of physical damage, up to 5 stacks, and Mini Gnar’s fast attacks with Hyper stack it quickly, while the 400 Health helps Mega Gnar survive.

Does this build come from win rates?

No. It comes from Gnar’s patch 26.21 ability text and the item data, with no statistics involved.