Volibear vs Gnar — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Volibear against Gnar · 49.22% win rate over 829 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: A genuine skill matchup — the favour swings window to window (3 apiece of the 7 stages). Volibear wins 49.22% of games vs Gnar in top lane (829 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1Even / skillNo bar to manage on your side and Gnar's early range cancels out — a genuine skill lane at Levels 1-2.
Level 2GnarMini Gnar's boomerang (Q) and hyper-autos out-poke your melee range at Level 2-3.
Level 3GnarLevel 3-5 Mini Gnar kites your dive with Q slow and double-strike W before your sustain lands.
Levels 4-5VolibearYour Level 3+ Q-stun into W heal and E lets you finally punch through Mini Gnar.
Level 6VolibearWith R and sustain online you leap on him and burst before Mega comes up.
First itemGnarA near-full Rage bar means Gnar flips to Mega and answers your R with GNAR! knock-up.
Two+ itemsVolibearLate, your tank-diver scaling outlives Gnar's falling damage once you catch him in Mini.

Early game (levels 1–5)

At Levels 1-2 it's a coin flip: Gnar's boomerang (Q) and range let him poke, but you have no bar to manage and can trade back with Passive-empowered autos if he steps up. Neither of you kills the other, so it comes down to who respects the transform.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Volibear 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 Volibear guide →
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