How to win lane as Maokai against Gnar · 51.95% win rate over 77 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gnar | Gnar's boomerang (Q) outranges everything you have and at Level 1 you own only one ability with no combo to answer it. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | He keeps hopping (E) and throwing boomerang (Q) while your W (Twisted Advance) still can't reach the gap he opens — he chips you for free. |
| Level 3 | Gnar | His mini-form kite range still beats your step-up; you have W+Q now but he resets the trade distance before you can commit. |
| Levels 4-5 | Even / skill | Even — your W-root into Q with Sap Magic healing finally matches his poke, but he can still hop away between your cooldowns. |
| Level 6 | Even / skill | Even — your R adds gank threat, but his Mega-Gnar transform brings an AOE stun (W) and Wallop that can cancel your W all-in outright. |
| First item | Maokai | Your Bami/sustain durability plus repeated Sap Magic heals win the attrition war once you're tanky and can survive his poke. |
| Two+ items | Maokai | You out-grind him in the prolonged fight — your root chains and healing beat his mini-form kiting before his boomerang scaling matters. |
Gnar owns the first three levels here and you have to respect it. His mini-form boomerang (Q) and hop (E) both outrange your W (Twisted Advance), so he chips you for free while you have nothing to answer with — at Level 1 you only have one ability and no combo. Don't walk into his Q range trying to last-hit with melee swings; eat the minor CS loss and wait. Your one real opening is once you complete W+Q+E around Levels 2-3: if he hops in or stands still to throw, W onto him, Q-knockback, and immediately proc Sap Magic on your follow-up attack to heal the trade back. Never W into him while his Rage bar is near full.
The full Maokai 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 Maokai guide →
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