Zaahen vs Gnar Counter Pick

Gnar runs on Rage rather than mana, which removes the pressure valve Zaahen normally leans on: there is no resource bar to drain. Rage Gene adds the second problem, since the moment that meter fills, the champion in front of him changes entirely. Zaahen manages 44.2% across 564 games on patch 16.13.1.

• Durability: Zaahen reaches 2,578 health and 121 armor at level 18 against 1,883 and 94.9, a wide gap that explains why Mega Gnar has to pick his moments.
• Reach: both sit at 175 attack range, but Boomerang Throw and Hop let Mini Gnar hold distance without surrendering damage.
• Damage type: Gnar is mixed and Zaahen purely physical, so armor purchases only work in one direction.

Zaahen’s difficulty rating of 2 against Gnar’s 8 is the honest counterweight. The Darkin Glaive heals on its double slash, Dreaded Return drags a target back into range, and Cultivation of War converts sustained contact into bonus attack damage. All of it needs Gnar to be reachable, which is precisely what a careful Mini Gnar refuses to be. The level 1 comparison flatters Zaahen too, 640 health and 63 attack damage against 540 and 60, and he holds 345 move speed to 335. Waiting out the transformation timer rather than forcing a fight into GNAR!, which stuns anything thrown into a wall, is the whole of the plan. Transformation numbers are covered on the Gnar entry.