Hey guys! I'm ansgot and this is the first build I've ever done on this site. Now you might be wondering: why Garen? He's already OP! This is true, but against certain champions it can be a real tough challenge. Now just for those of you that love to break the meta (like i have a few times with Garen), this build also works with Mid-lane!!! Thats right! Garen mid works with this build! So, without further ado, here we go with the guide!

For your summoners i would recommend taking Teleport and Flash. Use your teleport to either save your tower from the enemy laner after you've recalled, use a ward behind enemy lines to your advantage to turn the tide of a teamfight, or to take out enemy towers/inhibitors/the nexus while the enemy team is pushing. Flash would obviously be used for either the gap closes or the getaways, but i recommend saving it for getaways unless you REALLY need someone dead. That is for top lane, though. If you wish to break the meta and go mid lane, take ignite instead of teleport. Garen has a lot of early kill potention if you know how to outplay your lane opponent. At level two, if you are against a squishy champ like Zed or Katarina, you can Q into then, silence, ride out your E for the full duration, and ignite them if you think they are low enough. I would recommend taking flash for mid as well.

The masteries i use as Garen are geared more towards his tanky side, though you can still use them if you decide to go Crit Chance Garen. They give you that extra tankiness while going crit chance, but yoiu still do enough damage. Don't worry, it DOES work, for those of you already questioning this build.

You will obviously need all AD runes for Garen, but my recommendation is to use armor, health, cooldown reduction, mag resist, and maybe a bit of movement speed, depending on what you prefer. The runes themselves are all up to you and your playstyle, but that is what i recommend. Again, runes are entirely up to you, the player.

Garen's abilities are fairly basic to learn. His Q gives you a temporary speed boost, and attacking an enemy champion while it is active silences them. You'll want to max this second. Your W gives you more armor and mag resist for a short time. Max this last. Your E is the damage dealer of Garen's abilities. Thats why i say to max it first, no matter what. Everyone calls it the "spin-to-win", and you will see why. Your ult if basically an execution. I would say that you should use it only when the champion you are aiming to kill is under 40% health. In lane, your kill combo is basically Q-E-W-basicattacks-R = "an enemy has been slain". It is very effective early game, and if you get fed off of using this combo then you can be a tank AND STILL DEAL tons of damage.

Honestly, let's face it. Garen isn't really a top pick for ranked games. So i wouldnt worry too much about counterpicking or getting counterpicked. The only people i would say to look out for is champions like Tryndamere, that can heal themselves with an ability or make a 1v1 last even longer than it should have. If you know that the enemy champion has an ult/passive that can keep them alive or revive them, i would say that you MUST save your ult until you know for an absolute fact that you can get the kill. I laned against a Tryndamere once and it was not pretty. Early game i kept him in line, but i couldnt get any kills off of him because their jungler ganked a lot. Once we hit level 6 it was almost nonstop brawls between us. I did more damage thanks to my Q and E, but i stupidly ulted him when he was low health while he was running with my Q on cooldown. My ult hit, but his ult saved him. making the trade all the more worth for him. if i had just waited an extra three seconds to ult, i would have had a kill. So just dont worry about who counters you and destroy them all.