How to win lane as Malphite against Gnar · 58.74% win rate over 1,687 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Even / skill | Mini-Gnar's boomerang and hop out-range your entire kit and chip your Granite Shield, but his poke can't kill you and you have no trade pattern yet — pure soak. |
| Level 2 | Even / skill | He keeps poking with boomerang (Q) and hops at Level 2 while you still have no combo; last-hit at Q range and let the shield refresh — neither of you can commit. |
| Level 3 | Malphite | Your W armor and empowered autos come online — Granite Shield plus Thunderclap let you farm through his poke and stop bleeding the lane. |
| Levels 4-5 | Malphite | Ground Slam (E) and W sustain mean you out-trade a kiting mini-Gnar; punish any window where his Rage bar is low and there's no mega stun banked. |
| Level 6 | Malphite | Unstoppable Force is your spike — R through minions while he's stuck in mini form, knock him up and Q-slow him so the hops can't escape. |
| First item | Malphite | Frozen Heart and armor stacking turn E and W into real damage, and your durability lets you walk through boomerangs to land Q and run him down. |
| Two+ items | Malphite | With armor stacked you out-trade him 1v1 and amplify your team off a clean R — just fight him when his bar is empty and he can't answer with mega-Gnar's stun. |
Gnar's whole early game is range — his boomerang (Q) and hop poke (E) chip your Granite Shield before it can tick back, and you have no answer at Levels 1-2 except to soak it. Don't walk up to throw a Seismic Shard you can't follow up; last-hit at the edge of your Q range and let the shield refresh whenever you back off. The one thing in your favor: his mini-form poke can't actually kill you, and every point of damage he deals builds his Rage bar toward a transform you'd rather not face on his terms.
The full Malphite vs Gnar 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? Gnar vs Malphite guide →
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