Skip to content

Gnar Counters: Who Beats Gnar

Updated for patch 26.22. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Gnar counters are top laners who can reach a kiting Mini Gnar and then survive the Mega Gnar that follows. He’s a fighter who swaps between a small ranged form with a boomerang, a hop and Move Speed, and a large melee form with a stun, a boulder and an ultimate that throws everyone into a wall, so dashes through the wave, resistances and patience beat him.

We read his patch 26.22 ability text against theirs to pick these five; no tier list involved.

Gnar counters: Gnar, the Missing Link, splash art

Why is Gnar hard to counter?

  • Rage Gene (passive): he builds Rage in combat, and at maximum Rage his next ability turns him into Mega Gnar, with more survivability and a new set of spells.
  • Boomerang Throw / Boulder Toss (Q): Mini Gnar throws a boomerang that damages and slows and returns to him, with a shorter cooldown if he catches it; Mega Gnar throws a boulder that stops on the first unit, damaging and slowing everything nearby, and can pick it up for the same discount. Cooldown 16/14.5/13/11.5/10 seconds.
  • Hyper / Wallop (W): Mini Gnar’s attacks and spells hype him up for bonus damage and Move Speed; Mega Gnar instead rears up and smashes the area in front of him, stunning enemies. Cooldown 7.
  • Hop / Crunch (E): Mini Gnar leaps to a location and bounces off any unit he lands on, travelling further; Mega Gnar lands with force and damages the 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. Cooldown 90/60/30.

Gnar is two lanes in one. Mini Gnar pokes with a boomerang that comes back, gains Move Speed from Hyper every time he hits you, and hops away over a minion when you try to answer, so the melee top laner spends the first minutes eating damage he can’t return. Then the Rage bar fills. The yordle who was running away is suddenly a Mega Gnar with a stun, an area slam and an ultimate that puts your whole team into a wall. What’s the weakness? The bar itself. He doesn’t choose when the transformation happens (he can’t speed it up or slow it down), Mini Gnar has no resistances to speak of, and the hop is on a 22 second cooldown at rank 1, which is honestly a long time to be a small ranged thing with no escape.

Which champions are the best Gnar counters?

Irelia

Bladesurge (Q) dashes to a target and refreshes its cooldown when the target dies or carries a Mark, so Irelia crosses the minion wave in two or three dashes and arrives on a Mini Gnar who thought the wave was a wall. Flawless Duet (E) sends two blades that converge, stunning and Marking whoever stands between them, and a Marked Gnar is another free Bladesurge. Defiant Dance (W) reduces the physical damage she takes while she charges it, which covers the boomerang poke. Vanguard’s Edge (R) leaves a wall of blades that damages and slows enemies walking through it, which closes the lane behind a hopping Gnar. Ionian Fervor (passive) stacks Attack Speed on spell hits. Thing is, she has to time the dive before the Rage bar fills, or she arrives at a Mega Gnar instead.

Jax

Counter Strike (E) makes Jax dodge all incoming attacks for a short duration and then counterattacks, stunning everything around him, and Mini Gnar’s poke is attacks. Hyper’s bonus damage rides on those attacks too, so a well-timed Counter Strike turns a trade into nothing followed by a stun. Leap Strike (Q) leaps to any unit, including a minion standing next to the yordle (the minion will do), which is the gap closer the matchup needs. Grandmaster-at-Arms (R) adds magic damage every third attack and, activated, raises his Armor and Magic Resist for the Mega Gnar phase. Relentless Assault (passive) stacks Attack Speed with consecutive attacks. In practice Jax loses the first few trades and wins everything after the second item.

Renekton

Slice and Dice (E) is a dash that deals damage along the way and, empowered, reduces the Armor of what it hits, and the second cast is the way back out. Ruthless Predator (W) stuns for 0.75 seconds, or for 1.5 seconds with more than 50 Fury, when it also destroys damage shields on the target. Cull the Meek (Q) damages everyone around him and heals him, more with Fury. Dash in, stun, Q, dash out, and the Mini Gnar who was poking has taken a full combo and given back one boomerang. Dominus (R) grants bonus Health and area damage for the Mega Gnar fight. Reign of Anger (passive) builds Fury faster when he’s low, which is when Gnar thinks he’s winning (he isn’t).

Camille

Hookshot (E) pulls Camille to a wall and leaps off it, knocking up enemy champions on landing, and the top lane has walls on both sides. The Hextech Ultimatum (R) dashes to a champion and anchors them to an area, which is the direct answer to a Mini Gnar whose entire defence is leaving. Inside the Ultimatum, Hop goes nowhere. Precision Protocol (Q) empowers her attacks and grants Move Speed, Tactical Sweep (W) slows and heals off the outer half of its cone, and Adaptive Defenses (passive) shields her against the damage type of the champion she attacks, which against Gnar means physical. The catch is Mega Gnar, who doesn’t mind the anchor next to a 125-range fighter at all.

Malphite

Seismic Shard (Q) steals Move Speed from its target for 3 seconds, and Move Speed is what Hyper gives Mini Gnar and what he kites with. Granite Shield (passive) absorbs damage up to 10% of his maximum Health and recharges when nothing has hit him for a few seconds, which is exactly the rhythm of boomerang poke. Ground Slam (E) deals magic damage based on his Armor and reduces the Attack Speed of enemies hit, and Mini Gnar’s damage is attacks. Unstoppable Force (R) launches him at a location and knocks up everything there, Mega or Mini (the rock doesn’t check). Funny enough, the champion who stacks Armor is the champion Gnar’s physical damage least wants to meet, and Malphite’s Armor also feeds his own damage.

How do you play the lane against Gnar?

  • Watch the Rage bar. Rage Gene transforms him on his next ability at maximum Rage, so trade when the bar is low and back off when it’s about to fill.
  • Dash when the hop is down. Hop is on a 22 second cooldown at rank 1, and a Mini Gnar without it is a ranged champion with no escape.
  • Stay off the walls against Mega Gnar. GNAR! stuns anyone thrown into a wall and adds bonus damage, so fight him in the open or not at all.
  • Step out of Wallop’s cone. Mega Gnar’s stun hits the area in front of him, and the rear-up gives you the moment to move.
  • Let him come back small. The transformation doesn’t last, and the Mini Gnar that follows has an empty Rage bar and the same missing resistances.

Which items counter Gnar?

Armor early, Health later. Mini Gnar’s damage is attacks and a boomerang; the Mega Gnar phase is where the stuns land. Plated Steelcaps bring 25 Armor and Plating, which cuts incoming damage from attacks by 10%, and that covers most of the poke for 1,200 gold. Frozen Heart’s 75 Armor and 400 Mana come with Winter’s Caress, which reduces the Attack Speed of nearby champions by 20%, and Attack Speed is most of what Mini Gnar brings to a trade. Thornmail answers attacks with magic damage back at the attacker and 40% Wounds for 3 seconds. For attackers, Black Cleaver gives 45 Attack Damage, 400 Health and 20 Ability Haste and strips a champion’s Armor by 6% per hit of physical damage, up to 5 stacks, which is how you take apart the survivability Mega Gnar gains. Mercury’s Treads and their 30% Tenacity shorten the Wallop stun and the wall stun from GNAR!. Everything above has a page in our item database, and Sunfire Aegis is where tanks who intend to stand in the boulder’s splash should look.

When is Gnar at his weakest?

Mini Gnar with Hop on cooldown. For 22 seconds at rank 1 he is a small ranged champion whose only defence is the Move Speed from Hyper, and Hyper needs him to keep hitting you to keep it up. That’s the dive window, and it’s wide, provided the Rage bar isn’t about to turn the dive sour.

And in the seconds after Mega Gnar ends. The transformation doesn’t last, and the Mini Gnar who returns has an empty Rage bar, the same missing resistances, and probably a Hop he spent on the way in. Did he just use GNAR! into open ground? Then the ultimate is gone for 90 seconds at rank 1 and the next Mega Gnar is a large yordle with a stun and nothing to throw you into.

If the top lane is still unfamiliar, our guide to LoL roles explains what the position wants from you. The Gnar skins page has the cosmetics; the Gnar ARAM guide covers the Howling Abyss, where his modifiers favour him. To be fair, the best Gnar counters all read the same bar: they dive when it’s empty and walk away when it’s full.

FAQ

Who counters Gnar the most?

Top laners who can reach Mini Gnar through the wave and take a Mega Gnar fight: Irelia, Jax, Renekton, Camille and Malphite.

Can Gnar choose when to become Mega Gnar?

No. Rage Gene builds Rage in combat, and at maximum Rage his next ability transforms him, so the timing follows the fighting, not a button.

Does Malphite counter Gnar?

Yes. Seismic Shard steals the Move Speed Mini Gnar kites with, Ground Slam reduces the Attack Speed his poke relies on, and Granite Shield recharges between boomerangs.

How do you avoid the GNAR! stun?

Stay away from walls when Mega Gnar is up. GNAR! throws everything around him in a direction, and only enemies who hit a wall are stunned and take the bonus damage.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. Gnar’s patch 26.22 ability text next to each champion’s kit is the whole method; statistics had no role.