League of Legends - Garen Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Garen

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Perseverance INNATE: If Garen has not recently been struck by damage or enemy abilities, he regenerates a percentage of his maximum health each second. Minion damage does not stop Perseverance.
	Decisive Strike (Cooldown: 8, Duration: 1.5/2/2.5/3/3.5, Bonus Physical Damage: 30/55/80/105/130(+40% AD)ACTIVE: Garen breaks free from all slows affecting him, and gains 30% movement speed for 1.5/2/2.5/3/3.5 seconds.His next basic attack within 4.5 seconds deals 30/55/80/105/130 (+140% Attack Damage) physical damage and silences his target for 1.5 seconds.
	Courage (Cooldown: 24/23/22/21/20, Duration: 2/3/4/5/6)PASSIVE: Killing units permanently grants 0 armor and magic resist, up to a maximum of 30.ACTIVE: Garen gains a defensive shield for 2/3/4/5/6 seconds, reducing incoming damage by 30%.
	Judgement (Effect Radius: 325, Cooldown: 9, Physical Damage Per Spin: 14/18/22/26/30(+34/35/36/37/38% AD), Enhanced Physical Damage Per Spin: 18.62/23.94/29.26/34.58/39.9(+45.22/46.55/47.88/49.21/50.54% AD), Maximum Physical Damage: 979.5849(+1240.80754% AD)ACTIVE: Garen rapidly spins his sword around his body for 3 seconds, dealing 0 physical damage to nearby enemies — 14/18/22/26/30 plus 34/35/36/37/38% of his attack damage , 0 times (increased by 1 every 3 champion levels) — over the duration.Enemy champions hit by 4 spins lose 25% of their armor for 6 seconds.Judgment deals 33% increased damage when striking only one enemy.Cancelling Judgment returns cooldown equal to the remaining duration.Judgment can critically strike for bonus damage.
	Demacian Justice (Target Range: 400, Cooldown: 120/100/80, Magic Damage: 175/350/525 (+28.6/33.3/40% of target’s missing health)PASSIVE: The enemy champion with the most recent kills is the Villain. Judgment and basic attacks against it deal an additional 1% of its maximum health as true damage.ACTIVE: Garen calls upon the might of Demacia to attempt to execute an enemy champion, dealing magic damage equal to 175/350/525 plus 28/33/40% of the target’s missing health. Deals true damage to the Villain.

Strategy

• Take note that his (Q) Decisive Strike also has a silence. Try to use (Q) Decisive Strike on casters and high burst damage mages.
• Building health items synergize well with Garen’s passive.
• Use your (R) Demacian justice on enemy carries as much as possible. A wasted ultimate on a less important enemy champion can give the enemy team a huge advantage.
• Prioritize your creep score in the laning phase so you can maximize your (W) Courage passive.
• It is more effective to use your (E) Judgement on only one enemy. It can also be used for wave clearing and farming.
• Always take note of the villain, as they will be dealt more damage from your (E) Judgement and (R) Demacian Justice. However, do not focus on them (Villain) if you think there are more important champions  you need to deal with.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Top Lane
Flash	Teleport

Flash – Flash is a good summoner spell for Garen because he lacks a gap closer. Flashing will let Garen use his (Q) Decisive Strike on nimble champions. It can also be used to flash + (R) Demacian Justice on low health carries who are too far away in your position.

Item builds

Top Lane

Starter Items 1

Starter Items 1
Doran’s  Shield	Health Potion	Warding Totem

This is the usual starter item for Garen. It gives you health and a little sustain in the laning phase. It is also advisable if your match-up is an assassin or someone who has a lot of harass early in the game.

Starter Items 2

Starter Items 2
Longsword	Health Potion x3	Warding Totem

Take Longsword if you are facing a tank matchup, or a champion who is weak in the early game. A Longsword build should give you more freedom to harass and deal more damage.

First Back Items 1

First Back 1
Bami’s Cinder	Health Potion	Control Ward

Get this in your first back if you started with a Doran’s Shield.

First Back Items 2

First Back 2
Phage	Health Potion	Control Ward

If you took a Longsword as your starting item, complete the recipe with Phage in your first back. This item direction gives you more damage and mobility when attacking and last hitting creeps.

Core Items

Core Items
Sunfire Cape	The Black Cleaver	Spirit Visage
Boots of Swiftness

Sunfire Cape – Sunfire Cape provides Garen with a lot of power in the laning phase since it can help him clear waves more easily. Other than that, it also gives him an AoE damage around him that deals constant damage to enemies near you.

The Black Cleaver – The Black Cleaver is the perfect AD item for Garen since it gives him a health and damage. Moreover, it also has a passive which shreds armor and increase your movement speed when damaging a champion, giving Garen more power as a juggernaut who likes to stay close to his enemies.

Spirit Visage – Spirit Visage complements Perseverance because Garen will heal more life when he is out combat, combine it with Spirit Visage that increases healing from all source and you have a Garen that can sustain regenerate his health back faster than anyone else.

Boots of Swiftness – Boots of Swiftness gives Garen more mobility compared to the other boots. He needs a lot of mobility so he can stick to enemy champions with (E) Judgement and (Q) Decisive Strike. 

Full Build

Full Build
Sunfire Cape	The Black Cleaver	Spirit Visage
Sterak’s Gage	Dead Man’s Plate	Boots of Swiftness

Sterak’s Gage – Sterak’s Gage grants Garen more Attack Damage and survivability in team fights. It also gives him a shield when he reaches critical health, making him last longer in fights and ganks.

Dead Man’s Plate – Aside from the health and armor that this item gives, it also increases his movement speed. This item is great when synced properly with (Q) Decisive Strike, because both the passive can stack and deal a ton of damage to the enemy champion hit.

Situational Items

Situational Items
Thornmail	Youmuu’s Ghostblade	Infinity Edge
Guardian Angel	Warmog’s Armor	Gargoyle Stoneplate

Thormail – Build this when the enemy team have a lot of heavy AD champions.

Youmuu’s Ghostblade – Youmuu’s Ghostblade gives you extra movement speed and  flat attack damage. Moreover, Youmuu’s ghostblade is a great item when you are ahead and want to catch out enemy carries, as the extra movement speed compliment your (Q) Decisive Strike and (E) Judgement.

Infinity Edge – If you plan to carry and deal a ton of damage, Infinity Edge is a good option. The crit damage of IE stacks well with Garen’s (E) Judgement crit damage, dealing as much as 200%.

Guardian Angel – Only build this if you think the passive will help your team in winning a team fight. Consider buying this at the later stages of the game when team fights are very crucial.

Warmog’s Armor – Buying Warmog’s is essential if you plan to be in the front line and build a full tank Garen. Top it all off with (W) Courage, Garen can almost dive any team fights and towers with ease.

Gargoyle Stoneplate – Get Gargoyle Stoneplate to further bolster your tankiness during team fights.

Playing Against

• Don’t engage Garen with low health, as his (R) Demacian Justice can execute you based on your missing health.
• In laning phase, try to harass and deny him creep kills for his (W) Courage passive.
• Garen doesn’t have a decent gap closer, so kiting and engaging in long range are great options against him.
• Build items with grievous wounds to counter his passive (Perseverance). Some Garen players also stack heavy armor items, so building armor penetration is also viable.
• Face checking against a team with Garen is risky because his (Q) Decisive Strike+(E) Judgement +(R) Demacian Justice can quickly decimate squishy champions in just one combo.
• Be cautious when you are the villain, as Garen might likely gank on your lane or focus on you in team fights.

Hard Counter

• Teemo – Teemo is a classic Garen counter, as he can just kite Garen with his Blinding Dart and  Noxius Trap. Teemo’s  Move Quick also makes it harder for Garen to get close to Teemo.
• Gnar – Gnar can easily harass Garen in the laning phase. Garen’s only engage is his  Decisive Strike, which is hard to use against Gnar because of Gnar’s  Hop/Crunch escape skill and  Hyper/Wallop’s passive which gives Gnar extra movement speed after the 3rd consecutive attack.
• Darius – Hemorrhage negates Garen’s passive, therefore you won’t be able to heal up using your passive. Darius’ Noxian Guillotine also has true damage. Good Darius players will will also try to trade with Garen, as he can heal on his Decimate.
• Kayle – Everything in Kayle’s kit are made to give Garen a hard time.  Kayle’s ultimate, Intervention, ignores Garen’s  Demacian Justice. Kayle’s  Righteous Fury makes her auto-attack long range, therefore making it hard for Garen to position himself near to Kayle. Furthermore, she also has a passive Holy Fervor which when Kayle attacks an enemy, the target loses armor and magic resistance briefly.

Strategy Video

COMING SOON

Related Articles