How to win lane as Gnar against Malphite · 44.56% win rate over 1,609 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | His Granite Shield passive and stacked armor blunt physical autos, but he's bare-armored early and your Hyper third-hit is magic — land Boomerang first and the level-1 trade is genuinely even. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | Your level-2 Hyper proc plus Boomerang is your one real poke window before his armor scales, and that magic chip cancels out his Seismic Shard Q poke — call it a wash. |
| Level 3 | Malphite | His first armor item plus Thunderclap kills your physical chip and his Q-slow stops you kiting, so the immobile-bruiser plan you rely on stops working. |
| Levels 4-5 | Malphite | Unstoppable Force is point-and-click and undodgeable — it catches your fragile Mini body whenever Rage is down, with no Mega bulk to absorb it. |
| Level 6 | Malphite | His Q-slow plus Thunderclap-empowered autos let him walk you down in Mini form, and if Rage isn't up you have no Wallop or wall-combo answer to his commit. |
| First item | Malphite | Stacked armor makes your Boomerang and physical autos do almost nothing while his bonus-armor autos out-trade you the moment you step into range. |
| Two+ items | Malphite | He scales as a pure-armor tank whose R-into-your-Mini-body bursts you before GNAR! lands, and the straight 1v1 belongs to him. |
Normally I feast on immobile bruisers, but Malphite is the wrong target. Most of my Mini damage is physical Boomerang and autos, and he stacks armor — though my Hyper third-hit proc is MAGIC, so it still chips through his Granite Shield passive when it regenerates. I can win the level 1-2 trade by landing Boomerang plus the Hyper proc while his shield is down and his armor is bare, so do that and shove. But the moment he buys his first armor item my physical chip falls off, and his Seismic Shard Q-slow stops me kiting the way I want.
The full Gnar vs Malphite 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.
Become a Founding Member — $1.99/month →🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee · ✋ Cancel anytime
Early Access price — $3.99/month for new members after launch.
Playing the other side? Malphite vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →