Sion vs Gnar — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Sion against Gnar · 50.98% win rate over 2,136 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Winnable despite the lane — Gnar owns 3 of the 7 game windows to Sion's 1, yet the win rate favours Sion: survive their windows and the game is yours. Sion wins 50.98% of games vs Gnar in top lane (2,136 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1Even / skillLevel 1 Sion charged-Q damage is real but mini-Gnar can simply walk out of the telegraph — trade only if you catch him standing still at the boomerang's return path.
Level 2GnarMini-Gnar's boomerang (Q) hits percent-max-HP on both the throw and the return — he wins short trades at level 2 because you can't W-shield both hits cleanly.
Level 3GnarAt level 3 he can combo boomerang into hop (E) into follow-up auto, filling his Rage bar fast; his transform all-in outpowers your W-shield before it stacks up.
Levels 4-5Even / skillBoth of you are waiting: he wants to fill Rage, you want him without a hop — it's a read-the-bar standoff where neither side has a decisive edge.
Level 6Even / skillYour R is online but his Mega-Gnar GNAR! AOE stun is equally live; all-ins are mutual kill threats and whoever mis-times the transform window loses the fight.
First itemGnarFirst item Gnar still has percent-HP boomerang slamming into a now-larger HP pool — the ratio doesn't flip yet, and his hop keeps him out of your charged-Q range.
Two+ itemsSionAt two tank items your HP passive and zombie threat tilt the ratio: his boomerang damage doesn't scale fast enough to kill you before you land a charged Q knockup and brawl him down.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Level 1 is a coin flip — if you can get an early charged Q on him before he learns your telegraph it hurts, but mini-Gnar's boomerang (Q) returns through you on the way back, dealing percent-max-HP physical damage twice per throw. At level 2 he gets his hop (E) and can jump your charge entirely. Level 3 is his strongest window: boomerang poke plus the ability to build Rage quickly on short trades, setting up a transform all-in. Your W-shield is online but his percent-HP damage punches through it harder than a flat-damage opponent would — absorb one hit with W, then look to retaliate on the boomerang's cooldown rather than eating the return.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Sion 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 Sion guide →
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