How to win lane as Gnar against Maokai · 48.91% win rate (276 Emerald+ games, lolalytics, sampled July 2026) · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Build MR — boomerang-poke, dodge his root.
Track: Maokai's W — Twisted Advance (14–10s cooldown). His lock-on root. Dodge it.
Read from Gnar's seat: which stage windows this plan plays for against Maokai.
This is Gnar's own plan; across 276 pooled games the lane is leaning Maokai.
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gnar | Mini's ranged autos and a single Boomerang win the first trade — immobile Maokai can't punish back without walking forward into Hyper range. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | The level-2 Hyper third-hit move-speed proc plus Boomerang is a free chunk, and his only answer is a slow Sapling he can't aim at a kiting Mini. |
| Level 3 | Gnar | You stay favoured kiting with the Q slow and Hyper move speed, but Twisted Advance is a targeted dash-root — spacing alone will not stop it. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | It's a coinflip on Rage — Mega up means a Wallop-stun wall-combo, but stuck in Mini, getting caught mid-transition can get you killed. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | You gain no level-6 spell, so it is pure form RNG: Mega threatens a wall-ult kill, Mini just pokes and concedes the all-in. |
| First item | Maokai | Sap Magic's heal cooldown drops every time your spells hit him, so your own poke funds the sustain that erases it. |
| Two+ items | Maokai | Maokai out-sustains your poke and scales into a frontline tank — your form-dependent burst can't 1v1 a fully-itemised Maokai late. |
Maokai is the melee-range body your Mini form was built to abuse — stand at Boomerang range, land the third Hyper hit for the move-speed proc, and chip him while his only reach is a Sapling he can't land on a kiting Mini. Two traps. Bramble Smash knocks you back every 5-7 seconds if a squishy Mini body sits still. And Twisted Advance is a 525-range targeted dash-root, so once it is ranked spacing alone will not save you — hold Hop for it. Throw Q to slow him before he closes and catch it on the return for the refund.
Pooled Emerald+ win rates from Gnar's side, sampled July 2026.
The full Gnar vs Maokai 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.
Read the full guide — plans from $1.99/month →🔒 Secure checkout · 💰 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · ✋ Cancel anytime
Lane Pass $1.99/mo · All Lanes $3.99/mo · Annual $24.99/yr. Renews automatically — cancel anytime.
Maokai, slightly — Gnar wins 48.91% of 276 games; winnable with the right plan.
Mostly — Maokai has a small statistical edge (51.09% win rate), but execution decides this lane far more than the pick does.
No — if anything Maokai has the slight edge (Gnar wins 48.91%), though it stays close.
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 Maokai.
Start Doran's Blade + Health Potion and back for Executioner's Calling (≈800g) — cuts his healing. Build Stridebreaker (stick + waveclear) first, then Sterak's Gage, with Mercury's Treads.
Playing the other side? Maokai vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →
More Gnar top lane matchups: vs Locke · vs Lucian · vs Malphite · vs Master Yi · vs Mel · vs Mordekaiser