He's never been popular in our mortal domain but he used to be super popular in pro play as a versatile generalist lane bully who doubles as a tank for teamfights.even riot said in a patch notes that gnar is kinda the check b balance for tanks in top lane, this meta seems perfect for him aside from Camille whose banned every game anyways
Where's gnar?
TheFallenShaw3 votesuseually top lane with a Win Rate 48.05%
Accf3 votesI made a post asking about Gnar on Reddit and one answer I got perfectly explains your question. While the meta conditions are perfectly fine for him, no lane swaps, tank meta and etc. The issue is mostly the nerfs he recieved. His keystones were nerfed (fervor and grasp), kit nerfs (E CD increased), his items were nerfed and he can't abuse the COC keystone like the current meta tanks. Overall he's just fallen out because of these. If you're looking for a auto attacking split pusher that bullies tanks AD Kennen is your best bet atm.
Veraska1 votesthis was my favorite response to my question as it made the most sense, thank you have an upvote
Omen462 votes
gnar main who got sick of always fighting:
every game. as a single person can't ban them all, if not one then one of the others, it got annoying.
[slayer-jinx-catface]
love love LOVE gnar
Chembaron Yamada1 votesWait, Illaoi is a problem for Gnar? Her big weakness is getting kited and isn't exactly that Gnar's thing? ô.o I was really glad that they introduced Camille into the game since I finally have a way to lock down that little speedster.
Omen461 votesplease read the other reply. ;3
Meep Man1 votesI can understand Fiora and Camille somewhat, but Illaoi? Gnar counters the hell out of her with his CC AND Range.
Omen462 voteswhen both use black cleaver, the slightest mistake from playing gnar instantly kills him. 1 q does a quarter of his health and there was that ONE game that was so tilting, 1 minion died, just as she cast her spirit test, and it brought me down to half health before i can escape. 1 mistake. 1 error. and illoia can and will feed off gnar. As for fighting with mega gnar, getting that cc off is hard as it is, but ever illoia ults right at the end and it almost instantly causes insane damage and heals her tremendously. It's not some walk in the park, No game is, but to say that gnar counters illoia is like saying tahm counters darius in lane.
KoggyStyle2 votesGnars around.... peeps prolly dont take him cuase of 10 dmg getting cut from w, but i do still love that +3 ad buff.
McFatal2 voteswaiting for fiora camille and pantheon to get the tune downs they deserve.
till then auto win champions will be auto win champions.
Tychusfindlay9191 votesNope. The biggest check on top lane tanks has bren a position reserved for darius since the dawn of time. He got nerfed.
Veraska1 votes"Gnar's underperforming when the majority of his opposing top laners are the very tanks he's intended to bully. Gnar's always been an important 'release-valve' pick teams can fall on when tanks get out of line-" league of legends patch 6.5
Darius is a counter to tanks in solo Q because his dmg is crazy in lane phase, but for pro play gnar has been the anti tank top laner in tank metas (trundle too)
KoggyStyle1 votesrageblade for even more tank popping, ussually can get em to go armor by picking up vamp sceptar recurve bow and pickaxe. altho i need some fkin tankiness too :/ mabye ruby crystal null magic mantle for ap or cloth ruby ad? hmmmm.
welp back to the grind.
Meep Man1 votesThis is not really correct. Darius is not really a "check" for anything. In fact, Tanks can somewhat ignore Darius in lane if played correctly. Darius isn't a check, but something that HAS checks. Jayce, Kennen, and the like are Juggernaut checks (although Jayce is a little bit out of hand right now). Gnar, Trundle, and Fiora are Tank checks.
Tychusfindlay9191 votes[{quoted}](name=Chicken Dynasty,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=bAKrEu7z,comment-id=00040001,timestamp=2017-02-05T02:05:40.242+0000)
This is not really correct. Darius is not really a "check" for anything. In fact, Tanks can somewhat ignore Darius in lane if played correctly. Darius isn't a check, but something that HAS checks. Jayce, Kennen, and the like are Juggernaut checks (although Jayce is a little bit out of hand right now). Gnar, Trundle, and Fiora are Tank checks.
Tanks ignoring darius is usually fatal. Although the moronic nerfs did take a little bit of thunder out of him, it still stands true.
Meep Man1 votesHe can't abuse a Keystone all that well so he isn't played over others who get that big boost from the innate power. However, I would still recommend playing him right now if you want to win. He is underrated currently and is one of the few champions that can farm against a Camille with his long range Q and giant E dash. In Mega Gnar he just has to be careful of the Camille ultimate and not be in extended fights (use W, Q, and then E out).
KoggyStyle1 votesstormraiders thunderlords all 3 of feriocity trees keystones... all thee of resolves.... you really dont play gnar much do you?
Edit: sorry jumped the gun on your first sentence and insta replied XD
SaltyKracka1 votesBecause it's not a tank meta.
It's not the tanks you're seeing permabanned, after all...
KoggyStyle1 votesgnars a bruiser bro.
Sukishoo2 votesNope.
http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/developer-corner/3A5uuBw7-champion-subclass-list
Mega Gnar is a Vanguard, subclass of Tank Mini Gnar is a Marksmen
Veraska1 votesi mean maybe not like the TOTAL tank seasons of old, but for top lane pro play, the most frequently played top laners by far are nautlus, maokai, shen, and poppy, it's very much a tank meta for top laners
SaltyKracka1 votesThey're getting played the most often, yes.
But they're not the ones getting banned.