How to win lane as Gnar against Kennen · 52.61% win rate over 306 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Even at level 1 — he only has one Q to poke with, so trade autos when he steps up to last-hit and set up your level 2 Hyper spike. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | Hyper's third-hit proc plus a Boomerang out-chunks his Mark-stacking poke before he can land a 3-Mark stun — own this window. |
| Level 3 | Gnar | You kite him with Q's slow and Hyper's move speed, and any Mega Wallop stuns him while his Lightning Rush dash is on cooldown. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Pure Rage RNG — you stomp if Mega is loaded for a Wallop, but you're a liability stuck in fragile Mini when his ult chain-stun lands. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | His Slicing Maelstrom is an AoE chain-stun and your CC lives in Mega, so this stage is whether Mega is up — bait his ult or E dash first. |
| First item | Gnar | Your first-item bruiser spike lets you eat his Q-and-Mark stun combo and run him down once Mega is online — force every all-in here. |
| Two+ items | Gnar | You stay ahead in the duel into items, but you must close before a fed full-AP Kennen flanks and chain-stuns your Mini form with his ult. |
Kennen sits at range and chips you with Q shurikens and Mark-stacking autos, so don't stand still and feed his poke — fight back. At level 1 trade autos when he steps up to last-hit, since one Q is his only ranged threat. Level 2 with Hyper is your window: land a Boomerang, get the third-consecutive-hit Hyper proc, and you out-chunk him before he can land three Marks for a stun. Through level 3 keep kiting with Q's slow and Hyper's move speed, and the first time Mega comes up, walk him down with a Wallop stun — his only escape is the Lightning Rush dash, and once it's down he can't peel off your slow.
The full Gnar vs Kennen 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? Kennen vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →