How to win lane as Gnar against Riven · 49.9% win rate over 477 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gnar | In Mini form your ranged autos and Boomerang out-range Riven, and she has no dash at level 1 to punish the poke. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | Hyper-empowered autos plus a Boomerang land a chunky free trade before Riven's Q-dash combo and W stun come online. |
| Level 3 | Riven | At 3-5 Riven gets all three Q dashes, her E shield-dash and W stun, and all-ins your squishy Mini body whenever your Rage is empty. |
| Levels 4-5 | Riven | If you're caught in Mini with Rage down, her Q-dash burst into W stun deletes you and you have no dash to escape it. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | It's a coinflip on your Rage timer: transform to Mega and Wallop or wall-ult wins, but stuck in Mini you lose the all-in. |
| First item | Even / skill | A bridge bruiser item lets Mega Gnar trade harder, yet she still dashes onto you the moment you're back in fragile Mini form. |
| Two+ items | Even / skill | The duel stays even and form-dependent, but your GNAR! engage outvalues Riven's solo carry pattern in teamfights. |
Levels 1-2 are yours: in Mini form your ranged autos plus Boomerang out-range Riven, who has no dash early to punish the poke. Lead with the Boomerang, catch the return for the partial cooldown refund, and weave in Hyper-empowered autos rather than walking into melee range. By level 3 she has all three Q dashes plus her E shield-dash and W stun, so stop trading on the ground and respect that she can dash three times onto your squishy body the moment you mistime a step-up.
The full Gnar vs Riven 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? Riven vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →