Malphite vs Gnar Counter Pick

With 2,023 games logged on patch 16.13.1, the 56.8% figure for Malphite carries real weight rather than small-sample noise. Mini Gnar holds 540 base health, among the lowest of any solo laner in the game, and reaches only 1,883 at level 18 while Malphite climbs to 2,433. That gap at full build is most of the matchup in one number.

Gnar’s plan is to poke with Boomerang Throw from 175 range and never let a 125-range tank touch him, and it works while Rage is low. Rage Gene is also the flaw: he cannot choose when he transforms, and Mega Gnar has to commit in melee. Malphite plays around that meter. Ground Slam scales its magic damage off his armor, so 40 base rising to 124.2 feeds his defence and his output at once, and Thunderclap punishes anything that stands still.

Seismic Shard steals move speed for three seconds, which matters because both champions run 335 base and neither has a real escape. A slowed Gnar cannot restore the spacing he needs, and Unstoppable Force lands on a target with no dash in Mega form. Rage also decays when he is not fighting, so a Gnar who avoids every exchange arrives at the important ones in the wrong body. Difficulty 8 against difficulty 2 is the honest summary: one side has to time a resource bar perfectly, the other presses buttons in order.