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Second, why Sunfire Aegis and not Frozen Mallet? It gives more health and 20 more AD. An off-tank should use as many items that grant mixed bonuses as possible, and this one is awesome. Many say that it doesn't work because Garen doesn't auto-attack, but that's false cause every good Garen starts with Decisive Strike and it's an auto-attack. Wouldn't it be awesome if it would slow you opponents as well as silence them? Of course it would. Sunfire Aegis's passive is irrelevant, as the 35 magic damage it does pales to the extra 25 AD you gain from FM. Lastly, you don't need this much armor, Atma's Impaler is usually enough. Don't forget that over 130 both on armor and magic resistance the relation between them and the actual damage reduction dwindles hard. Garen has naturally more armor than magic resistance and he has the bonus from Courage. Trust me, it's enough for most games, get more health.
However, as PsiGuard said before, Garen will definitely not beat every champion on solo top, at least as an offtank. Garen has an extreme early game damage output, but the AD ratios on his skills do not scale high enough to give him sufficient late game damage to remain a constant threat, unless you build him Spin to Crit.
Now, let's think about Irelia (which I have actually been playing much more than Garen these days). Irelia is the exact opposite of offtank Garen, especially if played with a long-term build (GP/10, Mercury's Treads, rush Trinity Force, then defensive items): her threat curve is flat early game and then goes up as time passes. She has good sustain and can defend her turret very well using her ultimate. Good Irelia players play safe and wait for their threat curve and yours to cross before going for a fight. Therefore, I would not consider her as an easy matchup (otherwise, you can add "bad player" as an easy matchup :) ).
More generally, when facing a long-term champion on solo top ( Nasus and Gangplank are other examples), you need to analyze their strategy. If your opponent is dumb (ie. hasn't realized that you'll 1shot him if he puts himself at risks), go get kills and spank his ***. If your opponent is smart, you won't have the occasion (that's what I personally do when I play Irelia, for instance). Therefore, the only thing you have left is to farm carefully and try to maintain your threat level high enough so that if he attempts to attack you, you kill him. And unfortunately, this is difficult to achieve with an offtank build. Try to duel a good Irelia or Shyvana by the 30 min mark and you will see what I am talking about: you deal unsufficient damage, the ***** tanks everything and she tears you appart with Trinity Force or Wit's End. So, what is the solution? Build Spin to Crit instead of offtank or keep in mind that the only people you can threaten are squishy carries.
Shortly said:
That being said, I wish you good luck with our Demacian fighter!
Not true, but at least you're open to item suggestions. Building gold/10 like that is far from core, but it may be useful in some situations. You could include the option in your guide if you wish, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.
Don't deceive yourself into believing that Garen is superior to all other solo tops though. He can be shut down by the right champion and build fairly easily even if the players are of equal skill. Armor runes hurt Garen HARD. I know DuffTime runs a ton of armor in his rune page when he sees he's up against a garen. If you can win the damage trade when he spins, it's really hard for garen to win the lane.
But he's not a bad champion or anything. Just remember that he has his weaknesses like every other solo top.
Thanks for commenting, maybe it's just that I haven't met anyone better I guess. Yeah, armor is a huge decline on Garen's overall damage output, in that case, armor pen is more important than flat damage. I usually don't run Last Whisper, but when the situation calls for it then I have no choice but to switch out one item for it, but just not that worth it.
True.. Garen may not be as godlike as I said he would be, but he's just that good in my opinion, played several solo tops in ranked, met people like irelia, gangplank, olaf, nasus. They just couldn't outdamage Garen. That's my observation. If I ever meet someone better, I'll try to counter and put in some more tips/tricks to outskill the opponent. Thanks for your time :)
I feel Garen has an easy laning phase and can almost dominate any other champions solo.
Not true, but at least you're open to item suggestions. Building gold/10 like that is far from core, but it may be useful in some situations. You could include the option in your guide if you wish, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.
Don't deceive yourself into believing that Garen is superior to all other solo tops though. He can be shut down by the right champion and build fairly easily even if the players are of equal skill. Armor runes hurt Garen HARD. I know DuffTime runs a ton of armor in his rune page when he sees he's up against a garen. If you can win the damage trade when he spins, it's really hard for garen to win the lane.
But he's not a bad champion or anything. Just remember that he has his weaknesses like every other solo top.
Good job and hope to see more champion guides from you :D