Gnar: turn-one Raven Army and Packed Powder

Swain's Raven Army damages the enemy Nexus at Game Start, activating Packed Powder before your first action. That lets two-star Gnar come down for two mana on round one. The Beast Within gives the board Overwhelm and helps your subtype units survive their first trades.

This is the highest-scoring trio in his collected player builds. His spell-control guide reserves slots for spell mana and team Challenger; this version spends them on an earlier champion and immediate Nexus damage. Keep dealing Nexus damage on later rounds so Impact and Packed Powder continue growing.

Swain's Raven Army

Game Start Drain five from the enemy Nexus, providing the damage needed for Plunder and the round-end Impact condition. This Power works on other champions too. Its spell-mana refill is restricted to playing Swain, so it does not refill spell mana for this build. Enemy Nexus immunity can prevent the opening damage and spoil the two-mana deployment.

Packed Powder

Plunder reduces the champion's cost by two for the round in which the foe's Nexus has taken damage. The relic also grants +1|+1 for each different round you damage that Nexus. Multiple pings in one round still count as one round of stat growth.

The Beast Within

All allies gain Overwhelm; those with a subtype also gain +1|+1. Both effects are active without drawing the champion. It turns your growing board into a way to finish through small blockers instead of relying entirely on Impact. All three slots need epic upgrades after the third Rare slot unlocks at level 30.

Mulligan for Gnar and affordable units that can keep the board occupied. If the opening Drain succeeds, play him for two mana and develop pressure immediately. If it is prevented, use Pokey Stick or Tusk Speaker to damage the Nexus when affordable before expecting the Plunder discount.

Keep Teenydactyl alive when you can: repeated Nexus damage turns on its transformation and supports the rest of your engine. On attacking rounds, Impact can maintain the damage condition; on defending rounds, save a ping rather than relying on Impact from blocking.

Use the generated Wallop to stop a lethal attacker or remove a blocker from an Overwhelm attack. Do not spend every copy on minor damage if the enemy has a large attack coming. Your early tempo matters, but a board wipe can erase the Impact you spent several rounds building.

Sorcery frees unit mana for development while helping you cast the recurring Stun. Round-start Stun or Frostbite can preserve the board long enough for repeated Nexus damage to matter. Affordable draw and larger unit stats help when the first attack cannot finish the fight.

Chosen by the Stars can replace the team relic when you want a single champion to carry, at the cost of the unconditional team Overwhelm. If you lack the opening Drain relic, the existing control build offers recurring spell mana; budget Plunder plans need a separate Nexus-damage action before their discount works.

Beast Within at two stars supplies the second starting mana and recurring two-cost Wallop, enabling the round-one deployment. At three stars, Outrage II grants two Impact stacks at Round End after you damage the enemy Nexus. The opening Drain can satisfy that condition, but later rounds require fresh damage.

• How do you make Gnar work? by u/Wolfum, 2024-07-16, 1 point (observed 14 Oct 2026).
• Raven Army users, including Gnar by u/ChocolateTacoFilms, 2026-08-17, 46 points (observed 14 Oct 2026).
• Player-voted builds, local snapshot collected 13 Oct 2026.
• Champion guide builds and recorded clears, local snapshot collected 13 Oct 2026.
• Champion mechanics and level rewards, local data checked 14 Oct 2026.