Gnar

Playstyle Profile

Gnar is an initiator — excels at engaging grouped enemies with impactful openings

Teamfight Role

Vanguard Initiator

Power Spike

Mid game

Split Threat

None

Backline Access

Low

Gnar's Strengths

• Starts fights on your terms — Gnar's engage forces enemies to react, giving your team the initiative

How to Play Gnar

Champion-specific pre-match tips

Lane Phase

Trigger your W passive by weaving an auto-attack before and after your Q to maximize short trades while maintaining your attack range.

Lane Phase

Fast push the wave when your rage bar hits 80% to force the enemy to interact with your Mega form while they last hit under their tower.

Lane Phase

Hold your E until the enemy commits an engage tool, or bounce off a minion at 100 rage to instantly close the gap and transform.

Mid Game

Keep your rage hovering around 70% by attacking jungle camps or minions 30 seconds before an objective spawns to ensure you transform exactly as the teamfight breaks out.

Mid Game

Chain your Mega form crowd control by casting your R to knock targets into a wall, then immediately casting your W before the first stun expires.

Mid Game

Shove side waves in Mini form using Q to clear safely, then rotate through the river to flank mid lane right as your rage bar caps.

Late Game

Flank from the fog of war when your rage is completely full to cast E over a wall and surprise the enemy backline with your R.

Late Game

Kite backward immediately after reverting to Mini form, using your Q slow and W movement speed to peel enemy frontline threats away from your carries.

Late Game

Delay 5v5 engagements when you have the tired debuff after leaving Mega form, as your teamfight impact is drastically lower without access to your R.

For matchup-tailored tips, use Baron Buff's AI Coach during champion select.

How to Counter Gnar

Counter strategies and draft context

kite with range, burst before they sustain, or outscale with team-oriented compositions

• Weak to disengage and spread comps — Gnar's engage loses value when enemies aren't grouped
• Ranged champions that maintain distance in trades
• Burst-heavy picks that kill before sustain matters
• Team compositions with strong peel for carries

Gnar's Weaknesses

• Heavy disengage compositions — Gnar's engages get peeled off before the team can follow up

Best Synergies with Gnar

Team synergies and draft context

• Follow-up damage dealers who capitalize on Gnar's engage — burst mages and ADCs with range
• Engage supports that set up skirmishes in your favor
• Champions with follow-up CC after your initial dive
• Split-push compositions that let you 1v1 in a side lane

Draft Context

• Pairs another engage champion with no follow-up damage to capitalize on Gnar's initiation

Learning Curve

Based on hundreds of thousands of high-elo matches — how Gnar's win rate changes with mastery level

Gnar has exceptional depth — there is always something new to learn, and the learning curve is among the steepest in the game. Expect a long stretch of low win rates before meaningful improvement — mastering this champion demands serious commitment.

Skill Cap

Very High

Cost of Learning

Extremely High