How to win lane as Gnar against Locke · 49.12% win rate over 678 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Level 1 is even — both of you poke with basics and neither has an engage tool online. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Level 2 stays skill — Mini Gnar's Q boomerang return damage offsets his passive chip cleanly. |
| Level 3 | Even / skill | Level 3 is even: Hyper (E) kiting matches his E gap-close, so good spacing means no clean trade for either side. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Levels 4-5 remain a poke war where neither of you can afford to commit — keep the rage bar working in your favor. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Level 6 stays even — his ult threat arrives, but without item damage he cannot reliably chunk you to threshold, so it is still a spacing war. |
| First item | Locke | First item is Locke's window — Purgatory plus his burst spike executes a squishy Mini Gnar caught under threshold; play this stretch in Mega or behind minions. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | 2+ items returns to skill — Mega Gnar's stun and bulk let you survive his full burst, so it comes down to who hits their window first. |
Through level 5 it is an honest poke war: Boomerang return damage answers his chip, Hyper kiting matches his gap-close, and neither side has a commit button. Play the rage bar like a resource — poke in Mini, and when Mega comes up either force a Wallop trade or bank the form as insurance, because his level 6 changes what being caught low costs you.
The full Gnar vs Locke 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? Locke vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →