How to win lane as Gnar against Kennen · 48.41% win rate (345 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Build MR — boomerang-poke, Mega-CC his combo.
Track: Kennen's E — Lightning Rush (10–6s cooldown). His escape. All-in when it’s down.
Read from Gnar's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Kennen.
This is Gnar's own plan; across 345 pooled games the lane is leaning Kennen.
| 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 | Slicing Maelstrom is a flat 120s AoE chain-stun and your CC lives in Mega, so this stage is simply whether Mega is loaded — bait the ult 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 out-chunk him. Thundering Shuriken, Electrical Surge and Lightning Rush each apply one Mark and the third one stuns, so the stun only exists when all three are up — count them. Through level 3 kite with Q's slow and Hyper's move speed, and the first time Mega comes up, walk him down with a Wallop stun.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Gnar's side, sampled July 2026.
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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Kennen, slightly — Gnar wins 48.41% of 345 games; winnable with the right plan.
Mostly — Kennen has a small statistical edge (51.59% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
No — if anything Kennen has the slight edge (Gnar wins 48.41%), though it stays close.
Gnar takes Grasp of the Undying on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, and Resolve secondary (Second Wind and Bone Plating) vs Kennen.
Start Doran's Shield + Health Potion (vs his poke) and back for Core component + boots (≈1300g). Build Stridebreaker (stick + waveclear) first, then Sterak's Gage, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Kennen vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →
More Gnar top lane matchups: vs Karma · vs Kassadin · vs Kayle · vs Kled · vs Lillia · vs Locke