How to win lane as Ryze against Gnar · 43.97% win rate over 257 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27
| Stage | Favoured | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Gnar | Mini-Gnar's Boomerang (Q) outranges your Q and W before you have a root to threaten him — there is no safe trade pattern at level 1. |
| Level 2 | Gnar | Even with Rune Prison (W) online at level 2, his Hyper (W) third-hit movespeed lets him back out before your empowered Q connects after the root. |
| Level 3 | Gnar | His Hop (E) at level 3 lets Gnar dodge your follow-up Q after E-Flux lands, so a full Flux rotation almost never completes when he plays around the cooldown. |
| Levels 4-5 | Gnar | Pre-item Gnar freely bullies with autos and boomerangs while your mana costs prevent you from throwing full rotations without going dry — he wins the attrition war. |
| Level 6 | Gnar | Rage at level 6 means GNAR! (R) is available on demand; any time you try to step up to engage he can wall-slam you for 1.5 seconds, erasing every advantage you built. |
| First item | Gnar | Gnar's ranged poke and Hop still outpace your first-item spike — Seraph's gives you loop speed but not the range or mobility to reliably land W on a kiting target. |
| Two+ items | Ryze | At two items your Flux combo loops near-permanently and your teamfight damage finally matters, but Gnar still wins the 1v1 — shift to Realm Warp flanks and accept that this lane was never yours to win. |
Mini-Gnar's Boomerang (Q) outranges every ability you own at levels 1 and 2, and he auto-attacks from a range that makes Rune Prison (W) impossible to land without eating two autos in return. Do not attempt a W-root trade: stand at the absolute back of your creep wave, use Q to secure last-hits at max range, and accept that the lane opener belongs entirely to him. If he throws his Boomerang into the wave you can step toward the landing spot to make him miss the return arc — that is your only free window to walk up and land an E before retreating.
The full Ryze 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 Ryze guide →
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