IMPORTANT!!! This build description is IN CONSTRUCTION. I will work on it gradually to find the pros and cons, spell orders, etc. on Garen. Please be patient and try out my build in the meantime.

Welcome to Garen.

Hello, my name is CaptainFap, and I am here to show you my build to Garen, the Might of Demacia. With this build you will be able to bully your solo top lane, no problem. You will have over 4k health, while dealing 300 damage, depending on your items. Your ELO will go up in no time. But please take the time to rate fairly and give criticism where needed.

Pros

• Overall powerful champion.
• Great person to have in ranked.
• Sustainable in lane with his passive.
• All around tank with his Courage's passive
• Very good intiator with Decisive Strike and Judgement.
• Counters Olaf very well.
• Fun to play.
• Easy to catch up if you fall behind.

Cons

• Difficult to master.
• Can be countered and bullied rather easily.
• Really good decision making required.
• Only strong against AP with runes and masteries.
• Played with too much bravado by many.

My Garen build doesn't have ANY Magic Resist. Why? Because my runes & masteries are scaled towards Magic Resist, Garen's Courage makes him effective against nukes, and garen can easily silence most AP. Garen's armor is plentiful, between the Atma's and Sunfire Cape. So, most of the time, I get a little MR, and some more armor to make me even more invincible.

Glyphs

Possible glyphs (in order of preference) are:

• Any Magic Resist Glyphs
• Armor per level Glyphs
• Flat Attack Damage Glyphs

The Magic Resist Glyphs are good for AP nukes, Armor per level for a greater increase late game, and flat AD Glyphs if you need that extra buff in the beginning.

Do NOT get:

• Any Health Glyphs (you already have enough health.)
• Any AP related Glyphs (why would you do this?)
• Any regen, mana, energy, etc. Glyphs
• Any ArP Glyphs (just get AD Glyphs if you need a boost.)
• Any Crit runes (Crit Glyphs are just a no-no.)

Marks
Possible Marks for Garen (in order of preference) are:

• Flat AD runes
• Any Armor Runes
• Any Magic Resist Runes (preferably flat)
• Cooldown runes (possible, but I don't like it out of personal preference.)

I like Flat AD runes for more power in the beginning. Armor and MR runes are good for more of your tank focus. Cooldown runes CAN be good if you're having trouble with your cooldowns, but ONLY if you really want to spam your spells.

Do NOT get:

• ArP marks (flat AD's there for a reason)
• Health marks (plenty already {and health marks aren't that good})
• Regen or other mana, energy, etc. marks (just no)
• AP runes of any sort.

Quintessences
Possible Quintessences for Garen (in order of preference):

• Flat MR quints.
• Flat Armor quints (per level works as well.)
• Flat AD quints.
• Gold per 5 quints (hard to farm as Garen, although if you really have a problem get Heart of Gold.)

MR quints help against their mid, however, if you're having a problem with their carry, get Armor quints (per level, in this case.) AD quints if you need more damage, and gold per 5 if you really want more gold.

Do NOT get:

• Movement Speed quints (you already have Decisive Strike and Swiftness, so no.)
• Any of the other runes on the not to buy list previously.

Seals
Possible Seals (in order of preference) for Garen are:

• Any Armor Seals
• Any MR Seals
• Any Health Seals (these give a decent amount of health, so think about it.

All of these are good Seals for your rune page, very defensive and practical. I like per level, however, because those are ESPECIALLY strong.

Do NOT get:

• Everything that's not on the above list.

I like going 21/9/0 for multiple reasons...

Brute Force: Nice AD boost in the beginning.
Butcher: Helpful damage boost against minions (works well with Judgment.)
Sorcery: Useful CDR towards spamming Garen's abilities.
Vampirism: Small but useful amount of LS
Veteran Scars: Really nice health boost.
Deadliness: Very good AD boost throughout the game.
Lethality: Useful for your Judgment (and the off-chance that you crit)
Sunder: More ArP.
Executioner: Even more rape from your ult :D.
Resistance: More free MR.
One point of Hardiness: Might as well tack on more armor.
Durability: Free health (although consider getting 1 point of this and maxing Vigor instead.)

The offense masteries are mandatory, however, play around with the extra 8 points you have; those are just my preference.

Other possibilities are:
Good Hands: Useful for recovering if you get ganked/die.
More Hardiness points: Useful for your fight in solo top.
Summoner's Wrath: Make your exhaust more powerful for ganks.

Doran's Shield is really useful in the beginning because you won't be recalling a lot. Helpful to stay in lane, and make your job easier against most other AD carries. I pretty much ALWAYS start out with this item.

Boots

Boots that you SHOULD get:



These boots work REALLY well in sync of your Decisive Strike. They're also generally good for escaping and getting away (especially since you'll be targeted with all of the CC :p.)



Good boots if you're having trouble fighting their solo top in a 1v1, and just laning in general.

Other possible boots are:



Also really good against their team in teamfights that you want to stick in. However, you forfeit your ability to chase, possibly costing your team a kill.



CAN be good, but the boots take time to kick into action, plus they're garbage for running away, unless your champ can stealth, so take time to think about these.



Also good boots, useful for spamming your skills. However, NO chasing capabilities and NO extra tanking, so if you buy these, replace them later.

Make sure to NOT get:



Just no...



You're not building attack speed Garen, you're building tanky AD, so these are out.

CORE




Other items are adjustable and expendable, but my preference is,

Sunfire Cape

Really good item, decent armor and early game power for farming and durability. However, this item drops out late game, and the item itself is too expensive just for the passive and an extra 20 health, so think about selling it later for other item's I'll mention later.

Infinity Edge

Very good damage output, makes you useful in teamfights throughout the game. Also good for your Judgement, with the crit you can get from it. Although if your team needs a pure tank, replace this item for one of the others mentioned later.

This build's really good because it maxes a lot of your armor, health, and damage, allowing you to initiate and get out whilst living. Their are other possible items, such as:

Maw of Malmortius

Good item if your having trouble against their AP if they nuke you down to fast, and allows you to keep some AD capabilities.

Thornmail

Awesome item against any AD carry, also viable to get instead of Sunfire Cape early, as the armor's useful against solo top if you're having a long laning phase.

Banshee's Veil

Great item in general, especially against champions like Karthus (he ults, you live.) However, the mana is entirely useless, so, think about this item before you buy.

Force of Nature

Insanely good health regen, great MR, and the movement boost is awesome. The item's really expensive though, so don't focus on building it early on.

Guardian Angel

Pro as heck 1v1 item. But seriously, this item is just really good, not only the item itself, but the fact that your cooldowns still lower while you're reviving is also really good, so this is a very good alternative to Sunfire Cape.