A new champion is breaking its way to Summoner’s Rift. Gnar is an ancient Yordle who protected his Yordle village against a big threat (creature from the Void?) by transforming into a big beast.
Time marches on for most, but not Gnar. A yordle born millennia ago, Gnar was captured and trapped in true ice, frozen – quite literally – in time. Civilizations formed and fell as the prehistoric yordle vacantly stared on, but nothing – not even true ice – could confine Gnar forever. After breaking free, he wandered Runeterra until he found himself taken in by his yordle descendants. But, as they would soon discover, there’s a beast behind the boy.
Lore
“The jungle does not forgive blindness. Every broken branch tells a story.I’ve hunted every creature this jungle has to offer. I was certain there were no challenges left here, but now there is something new. Each track is the size of a tusklord; its claws like scimitars. It could rend a man in half. Finally, worthy prey.
As I stalk my prize through the jungle, I begin to see the damage this thing has wrought. I step into a misshapen circle of splintered trees. These giant wooden sentinels have stood over this land for countless ages, their iron-like hides untouched by the flimsy axes of anyone foolish enough to attempt to cut them down. This thing brushed them aside like they were twigs.
How can a creature with this level of strength disappear so easily? And yet, even though it has left this unmistakable trail of destruction, I have been unable to lay my eye upon it. How can it appear like a hurricane then fade into the jungle like the morning mist?
I thrill in anticipation of finally standing before this creature. It will make a tremendous trophy.
Passing through the clearing, I follow the sound of a stream to get my bearings once more. There I see a small shock of orange fur, crouching, waiting. I spy on it from a distance. A tiny fish splashes out of the stream and the creature scrambles for it, diving gleefully into the rushing water. To my joy, I realize it’s a yordle. And a hunter, at that!
This is a good omen. The beast will be found. Nothing will escape me.
The yordle’s large ears perk up and face towards me. He runs on all fours with a bone boomerang in hand, quickly stopping in front of me. He babbles.
I nod in appreciation at the young yordle and venture onwards. I traverse the difficult terrain with ease, trying to pick up any sign of my quarry. As I try to pick up his scent, a distraction. I’m startled by strange chittering. The yordle followed me. I cannot allow him to disrupt my hunt. I face him and point into the distance. He looks at me quizzically. I need to be more insistent, good omen or no.
I rear back and let out a roar, the wind whipping the yordle’s fur and the ground rumbling beneath us. After a few short seconds, he turns his head and, with what I think could be a smile, he holds up his small boomerang. There can be no further delay. I snatch the weapon out of his hand and expertly throw it into a tree, impaling it high amongst the branches. He turns and scrambles for it, jumping frantically.
I barely get ten paces when a roar shakes me to my very spine. The deafening crack of stone and wood echoes all around. Ahead, a giant tree crashes across my path. The bone weapon of the yordle juts out from its trunk.
An unearthly growl rises behind me.
I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
According to Meddler’s Q&A two weeks ago, Gnar should be a top laner (he’s shown as Marksman/Tank). Head on over to the full preview of Gnar HERE.
# = Amount Changes At Different Levels
PASSIVE: RAGE GENE
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Gnar builds up rage in combat. Once he fills his rage bar, Gnar’s next ability transforms him into Mega Gnar, giving him bonus armor, magic resist, health and attack damage at the expense of movement speed, attack speed and attack range. If Mini Gnar doesn’t use an ability, he transforms into Mega Gnar after a few seconds anyway. While in Mega Gnar form, his rage slowly runs down, and once it’s exhausted, he turns back into Mini Gnar. After transforming back, Mini Gnar briefly becomes tired and can’t gain rage for a few seconds.
Small Gnar: +18 Movement Speed, +298 Range, +45% Attack Speed
Big Gnar: +390 Health, +18 Magic Resistance & Armor, +27 Health Regen Per 5 seconds, +22 Base Attack Damage
Q – MINI GNAR – BOOMERANG THROW
- Small Gnar: Throws a boomerang that deals 10/45/80/115/150 (+Total Attack Dmg) physical damage and slows movement speed by % for 2 seconds before returning towards Gnar. Enemies hit beyond the first take 50% damage.
If Gnar catches his boomerang or picks up his boulder, its cooldown is reduced by 60% .
Q – MEGA GNAR – BOULDER TOSS
- Big Gnar: Throws a boulder that stops when it hits an enemy, slowing all nearby enemies and dealing 10/50/90/130/170 (+Total Attack Dmg) physical damage.
W – MINI GNAR – HYPER (PASSIVE)
- Small Gnar: Every 3rd attack or spell on the same target deals an additional 25/30/35/40/45 (+AP) [+6/8/10/12/14% of the target’s max health] as magic damage and grants Gnar (%) movement speed that decays over 3 seconds (Max # damage vs monsters).
Gnar gains Hyper’s speed bonus whenever he turns from Big to Small.
W – MEGA GNAR – WALLOP
- Stuns enemies in an area for 1.25 seconds, dealing # (+AD) physical damage.
E – MINI GNAR – HOP
- Small Gnar: Leaps to a location, gaining 20/30/40/50/60% attack speed for 3 seconds. If Gnar lands on an enemy or ally, he will bounce off it, traveling further. Deals 20/60/100/140/180 [+6% of Gnar’s Max Health] physical damage and slows briefly if the unit landed on was an enemy.
E – MEGA GNAR – CRUNCH
- Big Gnar: Leaps to a location and deals 20/60/100/140/180 (+#) [+6% of Gnar’s Max Health] physical damage to all nearby enemies on landing. Enemies Gnar lands directly on top of are slowed briefly.
R (ULT) – MEGA GNAR – GNAR!
- Small Gnar – Passive: Increases Hyper’s Movement Speed bonus to #%
- Big Gnar: Knocks all nearby enemies in the specified direction, dealing 200/300/400 physical damage and slowing them by 60% for 1.5/1.75/2 seconds. Any enemy that hits a wall takes 150% damage and is stunned instead of slowed.
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Gnar throws a tantrum, tossing all enemies around him in a target direction. All enemies thrown are slowed and damaged, while enemies thrown into walls, including turrets and base structures, suffer extra damage and are stunned.
Top Lane
Gnar’s rage meter fills slowest at the start of the game, so mastering his Mini form is key to a successful early game. Fortunately, Mini Gnar has plenty of tricks up his furry sleeves to keep his more fragile form safe from enemy aggression. Boomerang Throw deals decent damage to his lane opponent, and its slow helps Gnar maintain distance and avoid retaliation. Once unlocked, Hyper applies further damage, helping Gnar gain lane dominance with timely basic attacks and repeated Boomerang Throws. Mini Gnar is best off saving Hop as an escape: it’s a solid disengage ability that he can use on lane opponents or junglers as they come in to take him out.
And then there’s Mega Gnar. A brutal beast with significant crowd control and surprising burst, Mega Gnar brings a completely different playstyle to bear complete with inherent strengths and weaknesses. He’s a juggernaut: slow, strong and resilient, and while he delivers a punishing burst of damage, he has little to follow up with. While Mini Gnar is nimble enough to dart around the edges of combat, Mega Gnar thrives in the heart of the fight. After Crunching in to face his enemy top laner, quick casts of Boulder Toss and Wallop should see all but the most defensive of enemies pummeled effectively. He has considerable vulnerabilities, though, particular when being ganked. Mega Gnar has no effective means of escape, and has to rely on raw health and resistances to keep him alive as he lumbers back to the safety of his tower. Things change meaningfully once Gnar hits six and gains access to GNAR! While it hits hard enough, the utility is strong enough to save Gnar’s life – and end his enemy’s – particularly when they’ve strayed close to walls. Bait your opponent into the brush as Mini Gnar, then transform and use GNAR! to smash them into the wall, stunning them as you burst them down with the rest of your abilities. If your enemy’s particularly confident and tower dives, use the ability to stun them against your turret. When trying to survive a gank, simply throwing them away should give you the time you need to escape.Teamfights
Gnar has three distinct phases during teamfights, each oriented around timing his forms. First, he needs to avoid engaging for a while as Mini Gnar builds up rage, kiting with basic attacks, Boomerang Throw and Hyper’s passive to put a dent in the enemy frontline. Once Gnar’s about to pop, he’s best suited Bouncing in towards the enemy team. Whenever Mini Gnar’s activates an ability with full Rage, he transforms into Mega Gnar while using it, so while the gathered targets might see a small ball of fluff leaping towards them, something very different will land in their midst.
Once Mega Gnar’s landed, his role is to disrupt as much as possible, using Boulder Toss and Wallop to damage and crowd control all nearby enemies. Gnar works best as his team’s tank here, blocking skillshots with his considerable frame and forcing the enemy damage dealers to focus on him. Knowing when to use GNAR! is critical: smart timing can interrupt several enemy abilities simultaneously, while smart positioning can send the entire enemy team crashing into a structure, stunning them all and giving his allies the chance to secure kills.
As Mega Gnar’s Rage meter starts to fade, Mini Gnar’s strengths become an amazing asset in clean-up. He’s fast, he can close gaps with Hop and his basic attacks, which, when numerous enough, trigger Hyper and give Mini Gnar a huge movement speed boost. Add in Boomerang Throw, and Gnar has all the tools he needs to catch and finish off his targets.
