How to win lane as Gnar against Malphite · 41.26% win rate (1,687 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
His armor stat-checks your poke and the R catches your hop. Poke mini-form and never all-in into the ult.
Track: Malphite's R — Unstoppable Force (130–100s cooldown). Un-dodgeable burst. Respect it.
Read from Gnar's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Malphite.
| 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 a 130-second launch that knocks up on arrival — 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 armour blunts your Boomerang and autos, and Ground Slam turns that same armour into magic damage while cutting the attack speed Hyper needs. |
| 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 you feast on immobile bruisers, but Malphite is the wrong target. Most of your Mini damage is physical Boomerang and autos and he stacks armour — though the Hyper third-hit proc is MAGIC, so it still chips once Granite Shield's 10%-max-HP layer is broken. Win the level 1-2 trade by landing Boomerang plus the Hyper proc while that shield is down and his armour is bare, then shove. The moment he buys armour your physical chip falls off, and Ground Slam's attack-speed cut, up every 7 seconds, is aimed straight at the Hyper procs you rely on.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Gnar's side, sampled July 2026.
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.
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Malphite — Gnar wins only 41.26% of 1,687 games, so Gnar plays this as the disadvantaged side.
Not really — Malphite holds a real statistical advantage (58.74% win rate), so Gnar is the one working uphill.
No — Malphite counters Gnar (Gnar wins only 41.26% of games). Play it as the disadvantaged side and lean on the windows in the plan.
Gnar takes Grasp of the Undying on the Precision tree with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Last Stand, and Resolve secondary (Bone Plating and Unflinching) vs Malphite.
Start Doran's Blade + Health Potion and back for Core component + boots (≈1300g). Build Stridebreaker (stick + waveclear) first, then Sterak's Gage, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Malphite vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →
More Gnar top lane matchups: vs Lillia · vs Locke · vs Lucian · vs Maokai · vs Master Yi · vs Mel