How to win lane as Gnar against Ryze · 53.52% win rate over 497 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gnar | Mini's ranged autos plus one Boomerang win the first trade before Ryze has the levels to chain E into a long W root. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | Your level-2 W Hyper third-hit proc plus a Boomerang is a free chunk he can't answer until his E-W root combo is online. |
| Level 3 | Gnar | You kite him with Boomerang's slow and Hyper's third-hit move speed; his E-W root is his only stick and it's easy to sidestep in lane. |
| Levels 4-5 | Gnar | If Rage is up, a Mega Wallop stun lands clean because Ryze has no dash or blink to dodge it — only Flash. |
| Level 6 | Gnar | At 6 it's purely Mega availability: with it you GNAR! wall-combo a dash-less Ryze for a kill before his items, since Realm Warp can't peel mid-fight. |
| First item | Gnar | Your first-item Mega bruiser spike still beats his pre-Archangel's poke; force the all-in while he's mid-build and short on mana items. |
| Two+ items | Ryze | Two items in, his stacked Tear and Archangel's give Q resets and E-W root chains that out-range and outscale your form-dependent burst. |
Mini Gnar owns these levels — your ranged autos plus a single Boomerang (Q) out-trade Ryze's Overload (Q) before he has the levels to chain E into a long W root. At level 2 your W Hyper third-hit proc is a huge free chunk; hit it plus a Boomerang and shove him under tower. The thing to respect is his E-W: if his Spell Flux (E) lands and he follows with Rune Prison (W), you eat an extended root in your squishy Mini body, so weave your autos and don't stand still in his Q line. Keep poking from max range and last-hit with the tip of Boomerang.
The full Gnar vs Ryze 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? Ryze vs Gnar guide →
All Gnar top lane matchups →