So... why Garen? Not only is he a freaking badass, but he rapes throughout early, mid and late game if you play him well. :)

You don't see a lot of Garens right? Well maybe because whenever someone plays with Garen, they build him wrong and they say that he sucks... Well you know what... YOU ****ING SUCK. Maybe you should learn to build him the right way. Want to know how? Read below :)

P.S. This is my first build, don't judge me plawks. -.-

Pros:
-No mana!
-Skills do not cost anything.
-Pretty Tanky.
-CC: Silence
-Strong early game and the rest of the game as well.
-Great team player!

Cons:
-Melee character.
-Gets weaker late game, but still more useful than other tanks.
-Needs to rely on teammates later in the game.

Don't think this will work? Think again.

Here is the summary for those who don't want to read my guide :(

SKILL PRIORITY:
1.
2.
3.
4.

ITEMS:
-
-
-
-
-
-
- ORRR

MASTERIES AND RUNES:
9-21-0 Masteries w/ Improved Exhaust.

-9 Greater Mark of Desolation
-9
-9 OR 9
-3

SUMMONER SPELLS:
AND
OR
AND
OR
AND

Passive: Perseverance = Garen will regenerate .5% of his maximum health per second after not receiving damage for 7 seconds.

Pros:
-One of the best passives in my opinion.
-Who wouldn't want that, it's better than a Force of Nature and it stacks with it, too! :)
-Very good synergy early game with a Health Potion.
-Very good synergy late game with Force of Nature. (Over 100 health in around 3 seconds!)
-Easy regeneration after getting harassed a bit.

Cons:
-Lose it if you get easily harassed.
-Lose it if something stupid like a minion hits you.
-Takes a while to get the passive.


Q Skill: Decisive Strike = Garen gains 15/20/25/30/35% Movement Speed for 3 seconds. His next melee attack deals 30/45/60/75/90 (+) physical damage and silences his target for 2.5 seconds.

Pros:
-Increased movement speed -> More mobility!
-Silences for a pretty long duration.
-Easily able to catch up to enemies.
-Increases the damage on your normal attack.
-Doesn't cost anything.
-Very strong early game.
-Silence+Speed+Harassing = Decent Spell.
-Applies to turrets/buildings.

Cons:
-Pretty long cooldown.
-Very weak late game.
-Cannot help that much if getting chased.


W Skill: Courage = Passive: Garen's armor and magic resist are permanently increased by 0.5 every time he kills an enemy unit. This bonus is maxed at 5/10/15/20/25.
- Active: Garen places a defensive shield on himself for the next 3 seconds, decreasing all damage taken by 10/15/20/25/30%.

Pros:
-Increased armor and magic resistance by 25.
-Helps to become a better tank :).
-Makes you an unstoppable machine!
-Helps reduce nuking damage.
-Decreases 10-30% damage... (no comment here).
-Costs absolutely nothing.

Cons:
-Can be easily countered by armor and magic penetration.
-Insanely long cooldown.
-Only lasts for 3 seconds.


E Skill: Judgement = Garen rapidly spins his sword around his body for 3 seconds, reducing the duration of slows by 50% and dealing 60/100/140/180/220 (+) physical damage to nearby enemies every second. Garen removes any slow effects on him when casting Judgment.

Pros:
-Great damage early game.
-Decent Harass.
-Reduces the duration of slows!
-Takes off slows that are on you as of now.
-AOE.
-Hits plenty of times.
-Still does damage when stunned.
-A decent running away skill.

Cons:
-Is not as good as Olaf's ult, remove scurvy.
-Easily countered by Ashe.
-Does not block stuns, supresses, etc.
-Decently long cooldown.


R Skill(Ultimate): Garen calls upon the might of Demacia to attempt to execute an enemy champion, dealing 175/350/525 magic damage plus 1 damage for every 3.5/3/2.5 health they are missing.

Pros:
-Finishing move.
-Can kill a tank with 4k hp when they have around 1/4 HP remaining.
-Easy KSing move (For those of you people who enjoy ksing so much -.-)
-More damage for the amount of HP they don't have :D
-Awesome synergy with Archaic Knowledge .

Cons:
-Short Range
-Can be reduced in damage by Magic Resistance
-Blocked by Banshee's Veil and other Shield spells (Sivir's Spell Shield, Nocturne's Shroud of Darkness)

I personally play Garen as 9-21-0. Defense masteries ARE NECESSARY!!!!!! Veteran's Scars + Greater Quintessence of Health + Doran's Shield + Perseverance = BEST EARLY GAME POSSIBLE :).
Most needed Masteries:
Veteran's Scars = 48 Health
Archaic Knowledge = 15% Magic Penetration
Tenacity = 4% decrease damage -> Stacks with Courage
Nimbleness = Great increase in speed with Dodge change from Runes
Cripple = Just in case there's a change you can't catch up.

Runes:
Greater Mark of Desolation -> 15 Armor Pen.
Greater Seal of Evasion -> 6.75% Dodge + 2% Evasion Mastery
Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction (Flat) -> 5.85% Flat + 2% Sorcery Mastery = 7.85% CD
OR Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction (PerLevel) -> OR, 8.1% at/18 + 2% Sorcery Mastery = 10.1% CD
-> 78 Health + 48 Health from Veteran's Scars

Best Summoner Skills:
->
-Great help in the laning phases and late game too.
-Gives the finishing touch if your ult leaves them at 1 bar.

->
-Great synergy with Decisive Strike
-Fast moving, spinning Garen!
-Helps get away from those pesky chasers and helps you catch up too.

->
-Helps you get out of those pesky situations.
-Helps you to get closer to your enemies without obviously running in.

->
-This is why I got the mastery point.
-Slows down your opponent so you can shove your sword in their face :)
-Helps you live and kill in many situations.

Ehh... Decent on Garen Summoner Spells:
->
-A great tank spell, but you aren't THE tank, the tanking job should be for someone else.
-Best if used if you don't want to get a stun in the face once in a while.
-If you need Cleanse that bad, get Quicksilver Sash.

->
-This is better for the carrys.
-Unless you really cannot count on anyone, get this.
-Can be usefull from time to time.

Just don't talk to me... Why the HELL would you get these:
->
-Most definitely... Kill some minions in your lane... Yeah... Never mind.

->
-Man this is for freaking Sona... Let her do her job.

Okay... Now you're just simply ******ed:
->
-I never even knew this existed...

->
-Garen dying in the first place... HAHAHA!

->
-Are you somewhat mental? If you get this, you'd rather off stacking Sapphire Crystal.

Every game you start out with a Doran's Shield 475g. Why? Because I explained before how your masteries + runes + passive and "this" leads to total early game domination. Health, Armor and Health Regen... Pretty nice huh?

You should be able to lane well, Garen is not the best farmer early game, so just last hit the minions as best to your ability. After farming up a bit, maybe some kills on your way, recall and get Boots and Heart of Gold (1325g), if you farmed bad and died, your best bet is to get Boots, parts of Heart of Gold and maybe some potions too.

Summary of the rest of your Items:
Shoes-> All Depends on what the other Team has.
(850g)-> Great for if the team has a lot of DPS Characters. Also helps with your Runes and Masteries.

(1250g) -> Great for if the team has more than 2 major CC's.
1 Suppress OR 2 Stuns/Snares OR 3-4 Slows OR a combination of the rest.

(1000g)-> If the enemy team has nothing major like an average team (2 AD, 2 AP and 1 Tank) You should get this. Helps greatly with speed and stuff like that.

(2925g)-> The best freaking Tank Item known to man. If you get hit, they have a chance of being slowed. CD Reduction, Health, Health Regen, Armor and a delicious Active that slows movement and attack speed! I think I just ****ed...

(2610g)-> Another great item for Garen. AOE Damage that stacks with Judgment! Mass Armor and Health which helps greatly! However, a recent patch made them unstackable. :(

(2610g)-> Just wow... A mini-passive that doesn't get lost if you get hit! :) Magic Resistance, Movement Speed and Bonus Health Regen... HUZZAH~!

(2405g)-> With all the tank items you have, you should have around 3000 HP which gives you around 60-70 AD! Helps a bit with your late game damage.

Other Great Items:
(2600g)-> Helps reduce the amount of deaths you get, Armor, Magic Resistance. Helps you be a better tanky killer! :)

(2715g)-> Blocks one negative spell every 45 seconds. Recent nerf increased the time and lowered the amount of health that you get :(. Who cares that it gives mana! Its freaking useful!

(1800g)-> Surprisingly good item early game, just don't get it late game where it's completely useless.

(1550g)-> Way too much regeneration... Consider this if you want to stay in the lane a long while.

List of pretty unnecessary items:
(3250g)-> Not necessarily the best since you can just the lizard buff or Randuin's Omen. You don't need to auto attack and the price is just way too high.

(3000g)-> This is just a complete tank item. You're here to kill not have the most HP. This doesn't even give the things you really need, there are plenty of other things that can replace this.

(1275g)-> Just because you get a lot of kills, doesn't mean anything if all you're going to get is Health.