Thinking of picking the little guy back up for a bit, curious about which keystone people like best on him. Fervor seems better for constant poking, but Thunderlords would add significantly to the spike damage of Hyper's proc.
Akenero1 votesIt's a preference thing, I like fervor for constant damage, thunderlord's is for burst.
Hyperiön1 votesNeither. Take Grasp.
I only Take Fervor if I absolutely positively need to shut down lane, Like an Irelia or something.
Other than that, Grasp.
Restless Slumber2 votesGrasp has reduced effects for ranged champions. Also, every single pro that plays him runs fervor. And, every single pro plays him.
Strawberrycocoa1 votesInteresting, why Grasp? Gnar feels like he needs the damage trees more than the durability tree, to me.
Hyperiön1 votesWhen I play Gnar, I play him for the utility, I don't go for the 1v2 out plays. So chunking someone for 3% max hp makes up for fervor.
If I have an easy matchup that I know I will win, I will go Fervor, and Mallet into BC.
But standard, I got Mallet into full tank.
Restless Slumber1 votesI think fervor is better, adds a lot more damage in sustained fights, which are pretty much every fight for Gnar unless he gets mega fed.
Killstrado1 votesThunder is still effective while mega whereas fervor doesn't do much. I would have to agree more with taking grasp though
Tychusfindlay9191 votesthunderlords is more oppressive in lane but falls off EXTREMELY fast since gnar builds more tank than damage. Fervor is definitively better overall.
Desolas Arterius1 votesFervor is by far the best. Thunderlords is good, but more so for burst champions. Gnar isn't burst, so he does much better with Fervor. Also helps him output more damage early game, and when he rages. Thunderlords falls off way too quickly once you reach mid game or if the enemy top builds a tank item first. Best to stick with Fervor.
I run 9 Marks of Armor Pen, 9 seals of flat armor, 9 seals of flat magic resist, and 3 quints of AS. It's pretty standard but helps him poke hard at level 2 once you have his W available.
I got 18/0/12 for him on masteries. Damage focused is great because if you're doing poorly in lane, you can rush tank but still output damage, or if you're ahead you can rush damage and grab tank later.
I usually build a Black Cleaver, Frozen Mallet, Sunfire, Spirit Visage or Banshee depending on team, Merc or Tabi depending on team, and the last item is usually flexible of being Youmus or another tank item if needed.
Hope that helps :) He's one of my favorite top laners outside of Malphite!
Strawberrycocoa1 votesI rushed 
, something in the back of my head seemed to recall Gnar needs that first then full tank afterward. Before the enemy team surrendered, buid plan was 
Thoughts on that?
Desolas Arterius1 votes is good but it's still very situational for Gnar. Only using when going against HP heavy tanks. It used to be a must buy when Gnar was first released, but for now I always see him rush Cleaver into Mallet with tank.
It's not that great to rush anymore since exists. The CD, movespeed, and armor pen are too good to give up on Gnar. Also makes you hit hard in Rage form and slippery when in mini.
I would suggest rushing if you desperately need more sustain. But going against Mundo or another drain tank I'd actually rush 
to prevent them from trading with you. That or take ignite ;) Easiest way to counter while rushing a cleaver.
You could use a bork as his sixth item. That would work well especially if you had to build spirit visage.
But I definitely recommend not rushing it first.
Luxs Destiny1 votesNeither, man. Take Grasp of the Undying. Abuse the fact that you're constantly autoing the wave, therefore in combat, therefore have Grasp of the Undying up pretty consistently. Casually autoing twice with a boomerang hit to proc Hyper allows you to get off not only the Hyper proc, but the Grasp of the Undying proc. Five ticks of damage. You'll have multiple Grasp of the Undying procs in extended trades, as well as when going in with Mega Gnar, in which the Grasp of the Undying proc isn't gimped (regular for melee, halved for ranged.) As well as being doubled in power when in Mega form, the extra maximum health stacks with the Grasp of the Undying heal & damage, if I remember correctly. Not to mention Grasp of the Undying is p h e n o m e n a l for extended level one trades; the minion aggro that may be taken is negated through the sustain that Grasp of the Undying gives.
Kaioko1 votesIt's Fervor or Grasp depending on if you want a more damage oriented build that takes advantage of mini gnar or a more team fight bruiser oriented build.
Darkslayer851 votesGrasp