Zaahen vs Gnar Counter Pick

Gnar draws on Rage instead of mana, so Zaahen loses the resource pressure he usually relies on: there is no bar to wear down. Rage Gene creates the second issue, because once that meter fills, the champion facing him is a different fighter. Zaahen holds 44.2% over 564 games on patch 16.13.1.

• Durability: at level 18 Zaahen has 2,578 health and 121 armor, compared with Gnar’s 1,883 and 94.9. That gap is why Mega Gnar needs to choose his fights carefully.
• Reach: both champions have 175 attack range, yet Boomerang Throw and Hop allow Mini Gnar to keep his distance without giving up damage.
• Damage type: Gnar deals mixed damage while Zaahen deals pure physical, so buying armor helps against only one of them.

Zaahen’s difficulty rating of 2, set against Gnar’s 8, is the honest balance point. The Darkin Glaive restores health on its double slash, Dreaded Return pulls a target back into range, and Cultivation of War turns prolonged contact into extra attack damage. Each of these depends on Gnar being within reach, and a disciplined Mini Gnar makes sure he isn’t. The level 1 numbers favor Zaahen as well: 640 health and 63 attack damage against 540 and 60, with 345 move speed to Gnar’s 335. The plan is simple: wait out the transformation timer instead of forcing a fight, and avoid GNAR!, which stuns anything sent into a wall. Transformation details are covered on the Gnar entry.