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Runes: Phase Rush
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
+65 Base Health
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
+65 Base Health
Spells:
Flash
Ghost
Items
Ability Order Default
Perseverance (PASSIVE)
Garen Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Aatrox
Farm safely while staying inside of your minion wave until at least level 3. If he does try to Q you, just walk back and he'll end up pushing wave faster which is good for you. Aatrox is stronger when going into the enemy instead of having to kite back due to how stiff his skillshots are. Don't let him trade into you with his passive up. W if any of his Qs are going to hit you. Once you are level 3, you can run inside of his first Q, spin on that boy, and Phase Rush out. Matchup becomes really free after you have Stridebreaker. Your Ult makes him very sad because he can't be the drain tank that he dreams of.
Akali
Try to tether her Qs. W to block the damage if you can't. If done well, you avoid taking damage and she pushes the wave faster. Stay behind your minions to avoid her E. However, if she does land her E and starts the second cast, respond with W, Q, E before she can go invis. You likely won't be able to kill her until level 6+. You'll likely need to take multiple short trades before being able to kill her since her burst is much higher than yours. Of course, if she's low energy, that's also a good window to go in. Keep in mind that her invis cancels your ultimate so try to stick as close to her (if your E hits her, it shows where she is) as you can so she can't get out of range once her W ends.
Akshan
He has really high mana costs so if he burns too much or he wastes he E, you can look for an all-in. Otherwise, farm up until Stridebreaker and tier 2 boots. W any poke you have to take, especially his passive. Dodge his Qs but bait him into pushing the wave with it. Once you have Stridebreaker and Ghost ready, you can maybe stick to him (I really hate his E). Don't forget that his ult can be blocked by minions and turrets.
Camille
She wins trades early, especially after she has Sheen. Use W on her W and don't let her get free Grasp procs. Don't trade when she has her second Q and/or passive coming up. If she misses E or wastes her passive, that's usually a good window to go in. If she is leaping towards you with her E, start your E and W the stun. Your Ult goes through her passive but it's tough to get to that point. Once you get Stridebreaker, it's much easier to take short trades into her.
Cassiopeia
As long as you don't let her land a bunch of Qs, it's manageable. W any poke that you have to take and farm up until level 6. Once you have ult, you can all-in with Ghost. You either need to dodge her Ult or W through it to reduce the stun duration. Post Stridebreaker it's really straight-forward.
Cho'Gath
Don't stand directly behind your minions unless you want him to push with his abilities. Dodge his Qs. Save your W for his W if possible. If you get into melee range, you can W and start your E. Even if his Q hits, you'll still be spinning on him. Save your Q to dodge his Q and/or remove his E slow. Once you have ironspike/stridebreaker, you can use phase rush to ignore the slow instead.
Darius
Avoid the outer part of his Q because it does extra damage and applies a bleed stack. Using your Q helps to get inside of the Q or walk out of the range. You generally want to avoid using your Q on him unless you can Proc Phase AND his pull is down. Of course, this only applies if you can't win the all-in. Avoid getting into his hook range if possible. If you can't, respond with E and W before it connects. Afterwards, auto, Q to proc Phase Rush and hopefully remove his W slow. Try to keep the wave on your side as much as possible or he will all-in you with his Ghost. After level 6, you can look for short trades before going for an all-in. Just make sure he doesn't have to time to get 5 stacks and dunk you before you get your Ult off. Worst case scenario, you can look to Flash his Q so it doesn't get the bleed stack. Once you have Stridebreaker, the matchup becomes much easier.
Dr. Mundo
Dr. Mundo is Garen's easiest matchup. Level 1 you want to play around his Grasp of the Undying cooldown and stay behind your minions to avoid his Qs. When you are full HP, his Q does more damage than yours. If you are already in melee range, start with your E and use your Q to break his Q slow. If you are level 3, you can also block its damage with your W. Afterwards you have Ironspike Whip, you can stat check him and Phase Rush away to deal with his Q slow if he hits it. As long as you keep the trades fairly short, he doesn't get to build up his W and heal from hitting you with it. His ult doesn't matter because you can just execute him before he gets to heal a ton, especially if he doesn't use it before you silence him.
Fiora
Walk out of range to reset the vital level 1 if it's in a bad position. Hug walls to avoid letting her land free vital procs. Trading Qs is fine level 1 but you have to be careful after she gets her Reposte. You can Q her and walk to the side if you are close to your turret and know she can't properly retaliate. Mostly just want to farm until Ironspike. Once you have it, you can Q, E, Ironspike and it doesn't matter if she uses W because you still proc Phase Rush. Post level 6, avoid fighting her unless you can easily back off or kill her before she heals back up from her ult. Once you have Stridebreaker, it's much harder for her to stick to you to land the vital procs.
Gangplank
Treat him like a ranged champion even though he is technically melee. Avoid letting him get free Qs/Es on you. Staying in brushes unless you need to last hit can help with this. Don't forget that he has a passive and try to avoid trading when it's up. When he has a barrel placed near you, try to bait him into killing it without letting it hit you. Unless he has used his W, make sure you have enough damage to overkill when going for an all-in. Once he has level 6, try to maintain enough pressure on him to dissuade him from using his ult on your teammates.
Gnar
If you can, pulling the wave level 1 helps but you won't always have the opportunity to do it. Avoid fighting him early while he is in mini Gnar form, especially if his W is active. Stay behind your minions to make him push with his Q and avoid getting poked too much. When he is in mega Gnar form, break his ankles. If you can't, W any ability that is going to land. If you do a good job avoiding his damage, you should win the trades as long as you don't let him swap back to mini Gnar and kite you. Once you are level 6, you can start to look for all-ins with Ghost, just make sure he can't dodge hop to get out. Avoid letting him ult you into a wall.
Gragas
His E cancels your Q from connecting, keep that in mind when going for a trade. You mostly want to have him be the one engaging. Pay attention to his Qs and don't let him E or ult you into one, especially if it's fully charged. Farm up until 6 and then you can look for all-ins with Ghost. Try not to use your Q until after he uses his E to make it easier to stick.
Graves
Stay behind your minions to block his auto attack damage. Avoid fighting him when his passive is stacked. Until level 3, you want to avoid trades. After 3, you can traede if he has no ammo and/or if your W is up. Look to bait out his E with your Q and punish the cooldown difference. When looking for an all-in post-6, keep in mind that he can cancel your ult with his smokescreen.
Gwen
Avoid trades until level 3. Then you can look to trade around your W cooldown and her W stacks. Post -6 you can short trade repeatedly until she is low enough to all-in since she has no sustain outside of her ult. You just need to ult before she can heal back up from her ult spam. Her W doesn't matter because you are entirely melee and your ult does true damage.
Heimerdinger
He'll push by default, chill and let it happen. Stay as healthy as you can and W either of his skillshots if they are going to land. Only kill his turrets if it won't put you in a vulnerable position. Post-6 you can brute force with Ghost all-in. Always check if he has Stopwatch/Zhonya's Hourglass before going in.
Illaoi
Keeping the wave in the middle of the lane helps significantly against Illaoi. This stops the tentacles from being able to clump in a tight space. Until level 3, unless she wastes an ability, you just want to farm up and clear tentacles. Once you are level 3, you can win trades as long as you dodge her Q and tentacles well. If she lands her E and you are healthy, do NOT run away. If you play well, you can force her off of killing the soul. However, if you are at risk of dying, use your Q to break her E soul after you walk out of range. If she has her ultimate up, you trade whenever your Phase Rush is up and use your W if she decides to use her ult. You want to short trade enough times until you can burst her before she can start healing from her ultimate.
Irelia
She runs you over in any trades early so don't. Once you hit 3, you can look for short trades if she doesn't have her passive stacked. When looking for this opportunity, wait for one of your minions to get low and stand by it. If she decides to Q that minion, you can give her the Demacian punishment that every disgusting, filthy, vile, repulsive Irelia player deserves. If you can't dodge her E, W to reduce the stun. Post-6 she wins the all-in really hard so you have to be very careful with your engages.
Jax
Your E range is 25 higher than Jax's E range but that doesn't really matter because Jax can just take Corrupting Potion and Time Warp Tonic. Do NOT ego Q into him while his E is not on cooldown. It's not a "mind game", you just are being lazy. Any competent Jax will respond with E as soon as they see you start the leap. Avoid trades early, especially if he has more than 2 stacks on his passive. An easy way to avoid dealing with his passive is to look to fight him when you are slow pushing the wave and avoid trading when he is pushing into you. Use your E when he starts his E and block the stun with your W. He has 1 second to use his stun and your W tenacity lasts .75 seconds. Wait just a tiny bit after he can recast with E and then use your W. If you use it too early and he holds the recast, you lose the trade hard. Once you are both level 6, you win trades as long as he doesn't have his passive stacked. If you wait for him to waste his Ult passive, it's even more favorable for you. Your Ult goes through his Ult resistances so it's pretty straight forward. Once you have Stridebreaker, you can start trades with Q because it still counts towards Phase Rush. You just Q, E, Stridebreaker and run away before he can do anything to you.
Jayce
How the Quinn matchup should be. Unlike Quinn's E, Jayce's knockback does NOT cancel your Q from connecting. This interaction makes the matchup for more playable. Level 1 and 2 you just want to farm safely. Stand behind your minions to avoid his Q damage. If you don't have minions to hide behind and you can't break his ankles, W any of his Qs that would land. Once you get your W, you can look for short trades with your Q. If he's ever dumb enough to jump onto you, you can use your E but that usually doesn't happen.
Karma
Prepare for suffering. Remove all desires to have fun from your mind because it won't happen anyway. Stay behind your minions and farm safely until you have Stridebreaker. If she rushes Spirit Visage, just shove and roam. If she's enchanter focused, you can look for all-ins with Ghost. Just make sure to W the second part of her W.
Kayle
Look to crash the second wave by using your Es on the first two waves and play safe while the third wave is bouncing back to you. If she lands her slow on you, Q to cleanse it. Avoid fighting her while her passive is stacked, if possible. Kayle is very vulnerable to ganks if you can hold the wave on your side. If your jungler isn't looking to gank, you just want to farm up until level 6. Try to bait out her Q and/or E before engaging. If you have ult, silence her and wait to see if she ults. If she didn't ult during your Q leap, then you can ult. Otherwise, wait out her ult and use yours after.
Kennen
Stay behind your minions and farm safely until you have level 6. W if he is ever about to stun you. If ult is up, you have to bait out his E with Q and then you can look for an all-in once your Q and Ghost are up. Stridebreaker spike helps significantly.
Kled
Avoid his Qs level 1. If you suck at dodging, run away with Q before it yoinks you. Don't be near him when his W is up, wait for him to have to last hit. Once his W is down, take any trade you can if your W is up. Avoid fights if his near his remount, however. Post-6 make sure he doesn't get any free roaming opportunities with his ult. Hold ult after his dismount if you are looking to all-in. Placing a ward deep in the lane can help with this. After Stridebreaker it's very hard for him to stick to you.
Malphite
Use your W whenever he tries to Q you. His mana cost is really high on his Q so he can't do it too much. Mostly look to farm up the first couple levels and on level 3 you can look to start taking trades. His passive is better than yours in the short term so you either want to wait a long time in between extended trades or look for very short trades to break his passive. After level 6, you run him over as long as you don't let him poke you down a ton. If he starts to ult onto you respond with W and E.
Mordekaiser
Starting Ruby Crystal with 2 Health Potions is better than Doran's Shield in this matchup. You shouldn't be benefitting much from Doran's Shield in this matchup because your goal is to avoid early trades as much as possible. Level 1, stay behind minions and use your W to block his Q damage (if you can't dodge it) when you step up to last hit. His Q does more damage if it hits only one target so you will be avoiding that and it will cause him to push faster than he wants to when his Q aoe hits the minion(s). Level 2, same thing but you also want to try to side-step his E (assuming he takes it level 2). If the E is going to land, W and start your E to block the damage from his E into Q and your spin will keep hitting him while you are CC'd. After that you can auto, Q to proc Phase Rush and run away. All you want to do is stay as healthy as possible while trying to stay as close to even in farm as you can. After level 6, you generally want the wave on your side of the lane because without that you are at risking of getting ulted and you would not be able to hide behind your turret. The only chance you will likely get to kill Morde is if you get him to waste his W by going for a short trade with Phase Rush. Do NOT go for all-ins against Morde with his W up unless you know you have a very big stat advantage. Don't buy QSS to get out of his ult, just play well and you do not have to compensate your early Stridebreaker purchase.
Nasus
Your Q does more damage than his level 1 as long as you don't let him stack Grasp of the Undying first. Force him to overstay in lane when he's near 700 gold to delay his spike. Make sure to use your Q to cleanse the slow from his W. This should be easy to prevent if you use your early advantage properly. He has no escape in his kit so he's really easy to set up ganks onto. The only way the matchup goes badly is if you let him set up a freeze with his ult up.
Ornn
Respect his Grasp and W early. Avoid standing next to walls. Avoid trades until you have W and don't stand next to his pillars unless his E is down. However, if he is going to land his E, start your E before his E connects with the wall. When he starts his W, use your W to block the enhanced auto. After level 6, the all-in eavily favors you. If he looks to use the second part of his ult, you can stop by silencing him with your Q.
Pantheon
He falls off really hard so just farm safely and outscale him. Try to dodge his Qs if you can and stand in your minions so the aoe hits them. If he starts to W onto you, respond with W and E while he is in the air. Until 6 he's pretty tough to kill but after that you just have to make sure he can't block your Ult with his E. If he has Ult up, look to keep the wave pushed or have a ward deep enough to show if he tries to roam. You have the advantage as long as he can't get any roams off.
Poppy
Treat her like a ranged champion while her passive is up. Don't let her get the shield after she uses it on you unless you don't plan to trade with her shortly after. When she uses her Q, use your Q to cleanse the slow and avoid the second part of her Q. Avoid walls but if she is going to use her E, start your E so you continue to do damage while stunned. Post-6 your all-ins are far better than hers, just have to make sure to dodge her ult. Your Q doesn't stop her Ult from hitting you away.
Quinn
Quinn is Garen's hardest matchup. The primary reason that the matchup is so Quinn favored is the interaction between her E and Garen's Q. If Quinn uses her E and Garen attempts to respond with his Q, the Q does not go through and the Quinn is then too far away to reach. Her nearsight can also force Garen's ult to be cancelled. Your goal in this lane should be to farm as safely as possible. Until you get Stridebreaker, you likely won't have an opportunity to kill her since you can't ever get in range to trade. If she isn't willling to waste her E, you either have to wait for a gank or play for Stridebreaker. Once you have Stridebreaker, you can look to all-in with Ghost because you will be fast enough to catch her after she uses her E. In desperate situations, you can also look to Flash behind her to force her away from her turret when she uses her E.
Renekton
Level 1 you can Q for Q but yours needs to go second. Doing that causes him to miss out on the heal (assuming he was full HP at the start of the trade). Try to tether his Qs when you can and E, W whenever he looks to W you. Avoid trades whenever he has close to 50 fury unless you are very confident that you win it. The easiest way to deal with him building fury is to let him push the wave and while you are clearing under turret his passive will go back down. Post-6 your goal is to force him to ult and then run away with your Phase Rush (unless you have lethal anyway). Afterwards, the all-in is simple since you should have ult advantage.
Rengar
Respect his early burst. Stay as far away from the brushes as you can early and just let him push. Post-3 you can combo him every time he jumps out of a brush while you have W up. Keep the trades very short, if possible, to avoid letting him jump again. After Stridebreaker, you can stat check him.
Riven
Trading Q for her third Q is fine level 1. Unless she starts Q and burns two of them, avoid trading. After level 3 you can trade when your W is up or her E is down. W as soon as you get in melee rnage to reduce her W stun duration. Don't forget that Riven can easily stick even if you proc Phase Rush. Post-6 you have to play around your sustain advantage, because she hard wins the all-in. Keeping the wave on your side of the lane can help with this.
Rumble
Stay behind your minions and avoid trades until level 3. Continue to avoid trades unless your W is up or Rumble is not in the Danger Zone of his passive. When he has low heat, there's no issue. The same rule applies to when his overheat is close to ending which is the ideal time to go in. Post-6 you win the all-in assuming you don't dance in his ult. Keep in mind that he can't Q you and run away at the same time.
Ryze
Stay away from your wave once he has E so it doesn't splash onto you. You likely won't get a good window to trade until level 6. Until then just look to farm up safely and W his W and Q to cleanse the slow if his W is not enhanced. At that point, you win the all-in if you have Ghost up, because his ult doesn't do damage.
Sett
Don't look for trades until level 3. When you do trade, keep them very short and try to W his EW combo. If you try to take a long trade, his W damage will be massive. Rushing tier 2 boots helps significantly in this matchup. After Stridebreaker, you can Q, E, Stridebreaker and run out of the range of his W without him being able to retaliate.
Shen
If you can, stop him from setting his passive on your side of the lane at the start of the game. Don't trade until level 3 and avoid letting him pull his sword through you with his Q. Once you have your W, you win trades if he engages onto you AND his passive is down or one of his abilities is on cooldown. If you engage he'll just block your Q with his W and E to avoid your E damage. If he starts his E towards you, E and W to blcok the damage and pretend like you weren't taunted. Post-6 you win the all-in but you have to stop him from getting good ult opportunities. This can be done by crashing large waves under his turret whenever your teammates are in vulnerable positions.
Singed
If he wants to proxy, let him proxy. Just farm up and vibe. If he is laning, avoid his poison gas to hold onto your passive/avoid damage. Start your E before he flips you.
Sion
Avoid fighting him level 1 unless he shows that he didn't start W. After level 2, you have enough damage to get through his shield. If he charges his Q, walk to the side and spin on him. If you are inside of it, W and look to either Q him or walk away depending on how close you are to him. Keep in mind that when you cancel his Q with your Q, his Q isn't set to its full cooldown. After level 6 he is really easy to kill, worst case scenario you can Flash his Ult. Ideally you look to dodge it or block the damage with W however. Once you have Stridebreaker, it's really hard for Sion to do anything to you.
Sylas
You win level 1 as long as you Q to cleanse his Q slow so you don't take both parts of the damage. Then, you want to trade when he doesn't have passive stacks and your W is up. E if his E is ever going to lane. Post-6 you win unless he has already grabbed your ult. You either have to wait out or execute him after many short trades.
Tahm Kench
Stay behind your minions and farm up. You shouldn't get a kill opportunity for a while but he also has a hard time sticking to you, because you can cleanse his Q slow and/or W his passive stun. Scale up and you'll be more useful by default. The only way you can solo kill him realistically is if you bait out his W and then all-in once his shield runs out.
Teemo
Leash or fake leash. If you don't, he's going to cheese you with his passive. Let him push the wave into you as much as possible, because you can't do anything until at least level 6. Post-6 you can all-in with Ghost as long as you track where his shrooms are. Hold the auto attack part of your Q until his blind is down. Even if he goes invisible, you can still damage him with your E.
Trundle
Trundle Q does more than yours level 1 so instead look to play around the very edge of your spin because it has a higher range. When trading against Trundle, avoid letting him stack Lethal Tempo and/or land multiple Qs. Any kind of long trade will likely end up with you hard losing the trade, especially if he has ult. You want to proc Phase Rush as soon as you can and use your W to block his Q damage. If you don't have Ironspike Whip yet, the best way typically to proc Phase Rush into him is to start with your E then auto and Q. There are two reasons for this. 1) The range advantage as mentioned earlier. 2) Using Q last helps to deal with the slow from his pillar.
Tryndamere
He slaughters you during the first few waves regardless of how much fury he has. After level 3, you can go for short trades if the wave is on your side of the lane AND he doesn't have much fury. If the wave ever gets stuck on his side of the lane, good luck. Post 6 you get slapped unless his R key finger malfunctions. You can finally think about killing him when you have Stridebreaker to stick to him/run away with Phase Rush.
Urgot
Avoid trading until level 3. After 3, you can only win trades if he misses his E. If his E is going to land, respond with EW before it connects. Avoid letting him shred you with multiple shotgun legs. At level 6 you can look to solo kill but it's not easy to set up. He either has to miss an ability or you do a ton of short trades and use your sustain advantage. Flashing his ult can help but if he's good and E Flashes, there's no way for you to avoid the ult landing.
Vayne
If you can, pulling the wave level 1 helps but you won't always have the opportunity to do it. Try to stay as healthy as you can, only last hit if you won't get chunked super hard. Mainly looking to use W on her W passive proc or when she uses E on you while you are near a wall. If you don't have jungle assistance, you have to either bait out her E or all-in with Ghost. If you can, getting behind her when she condemns also helps. Once she ults, stay as close to her as you can while spinning since she still takes damage from it while invisible.
Viktor
Farm up safely until level 6 and then you can look for all-in with Ghost. Standing inside your minions is a good way to force him to push or not poke you. When he stands inside his circle, E and W before the stun lands.
Vladimir
Look to crash the second wave by using your Es on the entire wave and play safe while the wave is bouncing back to you. Stay out of his Q range, especially if it's an enhanced one. W his Q if you have to walk into his range. Mostly just want to farm up in this lane. Once you have tier 2 boots, it's much easier to trade onto him.
Volibear
Don't stand next to your minions while his passive is up unless you want him to push faster. His passive draws minion aggro when it hits you. You shouldn't take trades until level 3. Use your E and W when he is about to stun you and use your Q movement speed to dodge his E. Post-6 you have to be really careful about his dives. Try to keep your Phase Rush available for when he does ult and avoid letting him crash a really large wave with his ult up unless you are healthy enough to survive it.
Warwick
This matchup is very similar to the Tahm Kench matchup in a way. Your goal is NOT to kill him. You are far more valuable than him outside of laning phase, prioritize farming up first. Warwick top relies on the opponent being really greedy and look for a perceived lethal that doesn't actually exist due to Warwick's healing and Barrier (assuming he takes it). Rushing Grievous Wounds can help a little bit. If he is looking to ult you, start your E before it lands. You also can cancel his ultimate with your Q, but it's not reliable. He has to be in melee range at the start of his ult for it to work.
Wukong
Wait until level 3 to start trading. You also don't want to start a trade while he has stacks on his passive. For the same reason, your trades need to be kept short. W his Q and E when he dashes into you. When he goes invisible, if you E is still running, stick to him and Q after he exits invis. Post-6 he wins the all-in really hard. Play around your sustain advantage and try not to walk up to deep into the lane. If you are close to your turret, it's much harder for him to get a trade long enough for both ults.
Yasuo
You can look to Q him level 1 if you dodge his Q. You typically want to start your trades with your E to proc his passive and Q him as he begins to E away. As long as you have hands and don't let the wave get stuck on his side, it's really straight forward. W any Q that you can't dodge and run him over. Yasuo really doesn't like to run away, he much prefers to chase because of his access to minions for his E. Post-6 you hard win as long as you respect his passive and it's unplayable for him after you get Stridebreaker.
Yone
You can look to Q him level 1 if you dodge his Q. As long as you keep the wave on your side, the matchup is favorable for you. If he sets up a freeze, good luck. He'll just get disgusting strong trades and then return to his E soul. W as you go in and apply Phase Rush as soon as possible. If he uses his E and you aren't low HP, try to stand in between him and his soul that you hit him with your E regardless of what he does. Post-6, he wins the all-in if he is givin enough space so play it careful. If he is ever going to land his third Q or ult, respond with E and W before it connects.
Yorick
You win Q for Q level 1 unless he has Grasp up. Once you have W, you can just block his Q damage with it. Pay attention to how many graves he has and avoid fighting him until he gets rid of them. You don't want to fight him too much unless he misses his E. Post-6 it is very hard to solo kill him because of his Maiden. You can try to go for a bunch of short trades but you have to be really careful about his wall because it's very hard for Garen to deal with. Technically, you can leap over his wall with your Q. I don't recommend relying on it, however, because it can be quite difficult to pull off. You need to be at the edge of the circle and then Q a nearby target just outside of the circle. Once you have Stridebreaker, Yorick becomes a little more manageable since it is much harder for him to stick to you.
Ivern
Karma
Morgana
Orianna
Sivir
Taric
Yuumi
Zilean
Zoe
Ivern
Karma
Morgana
Orianna
Sivir
Taric
Yuumi
Zilean
Zoe
Champion Build Guide
Aberrant Demon's Garen Top Matchups Guide
By Aberrant DemonIf you have any questions, feel welcome to ask me in my discord server - https://discord.gg/pJhwGpe or on my twitch stream - https://www.twitch.tv/aberrantdemon. :D
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