Gnar
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Poor (3/10)
Epic Relics
Paid Relics
Gnar is considered one of the most challenging champions to pilot in higher-difficulty adventures. His reliance on slow Impact stacking and a lack of inherent stat-scaling for his units necessitates high investment and specific relic combinations to overcome modern adventure power creep.
The Vanguard Plunderer
Utilizes the Plunder effect to reduce Gnar's cost by 2, enabling a faster deployment. The bonus stats granted for each round the Nexus is damaged allow Gnar to scale into a legitimate threat.
Guarantees a turn-one Plunder trigger by draining 5 health from the enemy Nexus at Game Start. This ensures Gnar can be played for a significantly reduced cost immediately.
Provides board-wide Overwhelm, which is critical for Gnar's Mini-form. The additional stats for units with subtypes synergize with the Yordle and Fae units in the deck.
Strategy
This build focuses on bypassing Gnar's naturally slow curve. By using Plunder triggers to deploy Gnar early, you can begin generating Wallop spells sooner and stacking Impact before the enemy board becomes insurmountable. Overwhelm ensures that the accumulated Impact damage actually reaches the enemy Nexus.
The Defensive Spellslinger
Once 6 mana gems are reached, this relic copies every spell played. This effectively doubles the utility of the generated Wallop stuns and Poke Sticks.
Refills spell mana upon playing or leveling up Gnar. Since Gnar levels up at Round End and can level down, this provides consistent mana for defensive spells and stuns.
Grants +2|+2 whenever Gnar survives damage. This is essential for keeping Gnar on the board against high-stat enemies while he scales his Impact stacks.
Strategy
A control-oriented approach that prioritizes survival and stalling. This build relies on reaching the 6-mana threshold to double-cast stuns, allowing you to neutralize the strongest enemy threats while slowly chipping away at the Nexus with Impact.
Other Relic Options
Summons Lux, Garen, or Galio upon leveling up. This provides much-needed board presence for a deck that otherwise struggles to maintain a wide board of units.
Generates a 0-cost copy of Wallop upon leveling up, facilitating immediate mid-combat stuns to protect units or push damage.
Stuns all enemies on level up. Because Gnar can level up multiple times throughout a match, this acts as a repeatable board-wide defensive tool.
Black Shield is also a highly recommended defensive option to ensure Gnar is not removed by enemy spells, as his presence is required to generate his primary utility tools.
Constellation
The current star powers are heavily focused on Impact generation. While this provides a clear win condition, it offers very little in terms of survivability or board-wide stat growth, making Gnar highly susceptible to 'Deadly' mutators and high-stat aggressive encounters.
Outrage
Round End: If you've damaged the enemy Nexus this round, grant your allies Impact.Review
Provides a baseline for Impact stacking. While useful for long-term Nexus pressure, it does not assist in winning combat trades or surviving early-game pressure.
Beast Within
+1 Starting Mana. Round Start: Create a 2 cost Wallop in hand. If you already have one, reduce its cost by 1.
Outrage II
Round End: If you've damaged the enemy Nexus this round, grant your allies Impact twice.Review
Doubles the Impact generation. This significantly speeds up the clock against the enemy Nexus but remains ineffective if the opponent has a 'Tough' Nexus or enough board pressure to end the game before Impact becomes lethal.
Gameplay Tips
- Master the Stall
Gnar's primary strength is the generation of Wallop. Use this stun defensively to stop the opponent's strongest attacker and preserve your Nexus health, rather than using it aggressively in the early turns.
- Draft for Board Presence
Gnar's starting deck consists of frail units that struggle to trade. Prioritize drafting high-health units or stat-boosting powers to ensure you have a board to receive the Impact stacks generated by your star powers.
- Leverage Re-leveling Synergy
Gnar is one of the few champions who can level up multiple times per game by transforming back into his Mini-form. This makes relics that trigger 'On Level Up' significantly more valuable, as their effects can be activated repeatedly.
- Mind the Tough Keyword
Impact damage is countered by the Tough keyword on the enemy Nexus. If facing an adventure with inherent Toughness, focus on drafting alternative win conditions or massive stat-buffs, as Impact alone will be insufficient.
- Optimal Trading
Avoid trading units whenever possible unless it is to prevent lethal damage. Gnar scales better the longer his units stay on the board, so utilizing stuns and frostbites is generally superior to sacrifice-trading.