Hello fellow Garen players!

My IGN is Patrick the Hero and I main Garen. I have lots of experience with Garen as he was the first champion I played in League of Legends. I have played him to the point where I can carry games in which all lanes but my own have lost.

Throughout Valoran, the resolve of Demacia's military is alternately celebrated or despised, but always respected. Their ''zero tolerance'' moral code is strictly upheld by civilians and soldiers alike. In combat, this means Demacian troops may not make excuses, flee, or surrender under any circumstance. These principles are espoused to their forces by unrivaled demagogues who lead by example. Garen, the valiant warrior who bears the title ''the Might of Demacia'', is the paradigm to which these leaders are compared. Thousands of great heroes have risen and fallen on the bloody battlefields between Demacia and its preeminent rival, Noxus. It was beneath their mighty banners of war that Garen first met steel with Katarina, the Sinister Blade. The infantrymen who beheld this event (and survived) commented that it seemed as though the two were locked in a mortal waltz against a symphony of clashing blades.

Garen, the pride of the Demacian military and leader of the Dauntless Vanguard, returned from this battle breathless for the first time in his career, though some speculate that this was due to reasons other than exhaustion. The plausibility of these rumors was bolstered when, in every instance thereafter, Garen seized the opportunity to encounter the Sinister Blade again. A paragon of Demacian ethic, Garen never entertained such allegations, for he knew others couldn't understand. Even simply the pursuit of a worthy opponent on the battlefield is, to a true warrior, the reason to rise each morning. The promise of one, particularly so beautifully and diametrically opposed, is the validation of his existence.

''The most effective way to kill an opponent is to slice through the man next to him.''
-- Garen, on front line strategy

Garen first of all is very easy to play. This allows you to use him to his full potential. For example. Someone playing lee sin has the potential to make many more mistakes which could result in them doing poorly overall. Garen being easy to play can take advantage of those mistakes and snowball really hard.

Garen is also very fun to play. You can dive and ult under towers, disrespect the enemy team by doing push ups with one hand in front of them, you can boogey, and many other things. My absolute favourite thing about Garen is his health regeneration. At the very late stages of a game Garen can run into the enemy team, do a ton of damage, run out, regenerate all of his HP back in 15 seconds, and repeat.

To sum it up. Garen dishes out damage, survives very well, and can carry games very easily.

Pros

Lots of Damage
Very Tanky
Great Base Stats
Good Sustain
Roam Potential
Easy to get back into the game if behind
No mana

Cons

Easily Kited
No Control
Shut Down in lane by champions with poke

Perseverance

This is one of Garen's greatest aspects. It allows you to stay in lane much longer than most champions and is greatly complemented by spirit visage. Late game this passive will regenerate you as if you were standing under your teams fountain. If you take your enemies turret early you can also gain alot of HP while roaming in between lanes. This helps you make your presence known on the map by allowing you to stay on it.

Decisive Strike

This is what you commonly start your trades with. There are some very important things you need to know about your Q. First it breaks all slows. This is important as it can get you out of many sticky situations and prevent people from kiting you. Wait for the enemy to use there slow on you and then break it with your Q to either engage or escape. You can also use the increase speed boost to help you roam around the map. Second is that it silences the enemy. Be smart on how you use the silence. Silence champions that are reliant on there skills to prevent them from using combos on you or your teammates. For example, if someone on the other team has a suppression such as Warwick or Malhazar, hold onto your Q until they use there ultimate so that you can stop it.

Judgement

This is Garen's main damage output. It is greatly complemented by Black Cleaver passive and can really help you and your teammates get through the armor of the enemy front line. It is strong against groups and solo targets since the damage is increased by 33% against single targets. Also by deactivating it early you get some of your cool down back. This spin is really great as it can do lots of damage to an enemies front or back line. Here's a pro tip for using the spin. When laning against singed. Do not spin directly behind him. Spin beside him to avoid poison damage. This will really punish him and allow you to win trades really easily.

Demacian Justice

The passive of the ultimate marks one of the enemy champions as the villain. The villain is the enemy with the highest killing spree on the enemy team. When hitting the villain with your spin or basic attacks 1% of their missing health is done as extra true damage. This is great for when someone on your team dies in lane you can help them by doing extra damage to that champion. It also allows you to deal with really fed players on the enemy team.

This is Garen's Ultimate Ability. Once casted it will hit the target whether they flash or hit you away. It will deal a set amount of magic damage and even more depending on how much health the target is missing when casted. If this ability is casted on the Villain it will deal true damage instead of magic damage. Use this to take out great threats to your team. Avoid using it on supports or other low priority targets that aren't major threats to your team.

To Sum it Up

Break slows and silence skill based champions with your Q.
Time your E to block as much burst damage as possible.
Spin to win.
Ult threats to your team or priority targets. Never ult someone that has alot of their HP still.

Garen has great base stats and can do a lot of damage without having to build it. Black Cleaver should be the only damage item you need but infinity edge can be good to pick up in the late game if your team lacks damage. If you like to split push a lot I strongly recommend building Ohmwrecker. It allows you to shut down turrets and split push faster. It also gives you some more CDR and health regeneration. It is also a great choice if you go with Ionian boots of lucidity so that you get the full 40% CDR.

One common mistake a lot of players make on Garen is that they build frozen heart. Yes it does give you 20% CDR and 90 armor however it gives you mana which is completely useless. So you are better off buying a different item. The items included in this build are to compliment Garen's main skills such as his E and his passive. Building Hp, armor, health regeneration, and magic resistance give Garen sustainability in fights so that he can use his natural power to take down enemies. Building full damage on Garen ends in you running into the team and dieing with no one near low enough HP to use your ultimate on.

Now for which trinket you should upgrade to I recommend the Greater Stealth Totem Trinket as you will be able to play more wards when pushing your lane further out. This allows you to pressure the map with split pushing. If you want more objective control you can use the Greater Vision trinket to clear out vision at objectives such as dragon and baron.

Farming with Garen is really easy. Just basic attack and be wary of what the laner is doing. You can harass quickly with your Q and run away or you can follow up with your E and continue to trade. At around level 5 and 7 your wave clear will be insane and you will be missing next to no farm.

By reading this guide you should of learned about certain laning match ups with Garen, what items work well with different play styles ,and how certain items sync in with his skills. I hope this guide helps you climb the ladder!