How to win lane as Gnar against Illaoi · 50.97% win rate over 359 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gnar | Mini autos plus one Boomerang win the level-1 trade outright — Illaoi has no tentacles up yet and no answer to ranged harass. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Her E (Test of Spirit) coming online turns the lane into a dodge check — whoever wins the bait-or-land on that one skillshot swings the window, so it's genuinely even. |
| Level 3 | Illaoi | With tentacles up and E ready she spawns your vessel and slams it near her field; stuck in fragile Mini you can't fight in the forest, so she owns this stretch. |
| Levels 4-5 | Illaoi | Your Rage form decides the fight — caught in Mini with Rage down you're a squishy ranged target standing in her tentacles and she punishes it hard. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | If Mega is up you Wallop-stun her R or GNAR! her off the field, but if you're in Mini you concede the window — it's a coinflip on your form, so it's even. |
| First item | Illaoi | Inside a full tentacle field with R active her sustain and AoE crush your Mini poke and out-trade your first-item spike. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | She's immobile once pulled off her field and GNAR! displaces her out of it — solo dueling settles into a teamfight skill matchup. |
Levels 1-2 are mine: Mini's ranged autos plus a single Boomerang (Q) chip her down before her tentacles matter, and she has zero answer to range. The instant her E (Test of Spirit) is up, that's the whole lane — if it lands while you're near her tentacles it spawns your spirit vessel and her tentacles slam it for free, so you have to peel away from her tentacle field the moment she casts. Poke from max range, never walk into her tentacles to throw a Boomerang, and treat a dodged E as a free trade window on its long cooldown.
The full Gnar vs Illaoi report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.
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Playing the other side? Illaoi vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →