Hello, hello, I am known as, "BeefJerkyHunter", and I like playing as Garen often. This guide is intended to help you get started with Garen, and to let you know that you too can reach Diamond 5 with him.

The build described in this guide has fit about 95% of the games that I've played. Rarely do I ever need to deviate from the intended build path. Don't be bound by this guide though, do experiment, and you may find something that will suit your style better.

This is not a guide that will lead you to an 80% win rate. Expect to lose games. Aim for a more humble 60% win rate (which is still really good) upon reaching Diamond in which you should even out to 50%.

If you are to get anything out of this guide, it's this: Courage is what will get you to Diamond. Skip down for further explanation.

Why Glacial Augment?

Glacial Augment brings in some badly need crowd control for Garen. For a long time it has been too easy for opponents to just simply run away from Garen. This meant that harassing in lane was difficult to achieve, and also less successful ganks were performed. Glacial Augment now allows Garen to slow down an enemy allowing for his teammates to catch up (or escape), and also allows him to stick to the enemy while spinning. This keystone rune has been game changing for Garen, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy its power as much as I have.

Biscuit Delivery grants some free healing for the laning phase. Use these when at lower health to bounce back into good condition. Paired with Garen's Perseverance, you should be able to heal a fair amount.

This is debatable as you can't buy boots, and these will arrive in 10 minutes at the latest. Opponents that buy boots first may put your in a sticky situation when being chased. Glacial Augment should at least allow you to still strike them down. In the end, you do save 300 gold, and gain +10 movement speed. You also get these while in lane which is always nice. You may be able to surprise your opponent with the sudden burst of speed.

Approach Velocity is an attractive alternative however, I think that Cosmic Insight beats them out in utility. It's just a simple stat up. My choice used to be approach velocity, and you may find it more valid.
Approach Velocity is nice when upon activating Glacial Augment, the enemy may be very tempted to Flash, or use another displacement ability. Approach Velocity allows Garen to close the distance quickly again and stick to the target. It's also always nice to be able to approach an ally in need more quickly.

Why Sorcery?

Certainly many players would be looking to Resolve, or Precision as their secondary. Those two rune trees have abilities that improve Tenacity significantly. Sorcery as a secondary grants +13 attack damage from the start. This is great as Garen's base damage is fairly unimpressive. Aside from the bonus attack damage, the main reason for choosing Sorcery is for Celerity, the replacement for the 3x 1.5% move-speed runes.

Celerity gives Garen the bonus movement speed needed for the awkward phase he can't have boots because of Magical Footwear. An added bonus is the 4.8% bonus movement speed is converted into damage. This means that his Decisive Strike is a little bit more powerful than before. Garen also gains movement speed upon killing enemies with Phage which is easily achieved spinning in a minion wave. Approach Velocity will also have an affect. Lastly, Magical Footwear does provide the +10 movement speed. So Garen gets to enjoy his move speed, and profit a little bit from it too.

I used to be torn on what to pick as the second sorcery rune. Gathering Storm has turned out to be a the simplest, and yet most effective choice. You won't see any benefits until 10 minutes in, however, it gives Garen a way to scale later in the game. No longer will you feel that Garen drops off in power.

Teleport is just the top lane meta right now, and it works. Ignite is an option but, I really like the utility that Teleport brings to the table. Just be sure to actually use it.

Flash is too good to pass up. Always take it.

Why the Sunfire?

I was a bit surprised to see when Riot had first removed Sunfire Cape from Garen's recommended items list. Despite the other guides leaning more towards Thornmail, I will stick to Sunfire Cape. Bami's Cinder is an incredibly nice item to have in lane, and it splits Garen's damage making it more difficult for enemies to build resistances. Sunfire's passive allows for quick minion clearing which is useful when you are forced under the turret.

This isn't to discount the usefulness of Thornmail at all. Inflicting grievous wounds on your attacker is incredibly useful. You may have to choose between the two at some point. In the games I've played though, Sunfire Cape has never let me down.

The Black Cleaver doesn't need much explanation. It's just really good to have on Garen. Health, attack damage, cooldown reduction, movement speed boost, and armor shredding. Garen can use all of these stats meaningfully.

More tenacity, and some magic resist. These kickers are essential to keeping Garen on top of his foes.

Now why build this before more magic resist (which only Mercury's Treads are giving)? You should be able to enjoy a little boost from Courage's passive bonus to hold you over as you build Sterak's Gage. The Lifeline shield on Sterak's is significant, and is what will keep you alive when the burst is just too much. I personally find the shield to be far more beneficial than getting another 40 magic resist right away.

An item that gives both magic resist, and armor. Can't go wrong with that really. Its active effect is nice when defending your base from super minions. It also is a good supplement to your team's advances into the enemy base.

It's late in the game, and it's time for you to get your last item. Garen's suppose to be tanky, and you've already built two attack damage items already. Why a third? In my experience, more resistances just don't deliver enough in the late game.

Death's Dance does grant some tankiness in a unique way though. Death's Dance delays 15% of the damage you take over three seconds. Stack this with Courage, and you can really negate the alpha damage (burst) in late game team fights. Courage will also further reduce the damage taken from Death's Dance over the three seconds. In the meantime, Garen can just heal while spinning in the middle of their team.

Guardian Angel may be more effective than Death's Dance in some cases. The only real issue I have with this item is its build path. You can either have a cloth armor sit around for a while, or you need to dump in some serious initial investment into a BF sword. Guardian Angel still gives a respectable amount of attack damage, and its revive may be game changing.

You had best be buying these.

Compared to most guides, you may have noticed that I have put a lot more emphasis on leveling Courage than the others. That's because Courage is literally the single ability that will determine high how up in Ranked you can go.

Courage grants a 60% damage reduction, and 60% boost in Tenacity for the first 3/4 seconds. Afterwards it has a nice 30% damage reduction for the rest of the duration.

Activating Courage right before the enemy strikes will massively reduce the damage Garen takes, and also allows you to bounce back and punish the enemy. In team fights, Courage can leave enemies miffed as you're down only 50% health instead of being dead. Since you're likely to be the one going headlong into the enemy team, being able to have them blow their abilities, and come out still swinging means a lot.

Courage can also allow Garen to escape ganks as a root/stun won't be able to lock him down as well. Decisive Strike can then be used to complete the getaway.

Well, since the first 3/4 seconds is what matters most, why keep leveling it before the other abilities? The 30% damage reduction is still really nice, and you'll find that in the early game, many players will still keep attacking even after their burst is finished. Having a longer duration also gives you some leeway if you completely whiff the critical moment (you'll take more damage than before but, it's still 30% less).

Keep the headphone jack though. Ooooo, outdated tech jokes!

Slow Down

Glacial Augment now gives Garen the ability to really harass his opponents in lane. Use this to your advantage to when the enemy tries to get too close.

Simply use Decisive Strike, and then Judgment only for a few spins. Do not over commit with Judgment, and allow the enemy to strike back when silence, and slow wears off. Scorch will also be helping you deal more damage. You can also just double tap with an auto-attack plus Decisive Strike (leaving not much room for counter attacks) if Judgment is on cooldown.

Get the split damage

It is advised to be a bit more reserved until the completion of Bami's Cinder. The split damage in the early game will have a major impact on your duels.

If you decide to use Scorch, it pairs nicely with using Judgment. Many players won't care about taking one spin if it gets them some minion gold. You can surprise them with a little bit more damage even if you only hit them once.

Minions

Win minion favor. Make sure that your minions outnumbers theirs. In the early game, minion damage can really ruin any player if they stay in it for too long. It's generally much more favorable if the opponent dives you in the middle of all of your minions.

If you do chase the enemy in their minion line, use Judgment, and Bami's Cinder to clean up those minions instead of chasing (unless if a kill is guaranteed).

Ward lots

This isn't exactly a laning phase only deal but, it's important to keep in mind. Always use your warding trinket. Never let the number "2" appear on its counter. Also buy control wards; try to aim for 3-4 control wards each game.

Try to prioritize the Villain for bonus true damage. Each auto attack, and Judgment spin will deal 1% of their max health, and Demacian Justice will deal true damage.

You can destroy most carries with a single Decisive Strike, Judgment, and Demacian Justice if they're the villain. It's also really nice if the enemy tank is a villain as you will deal relatively more true damage, and also be able to execute a high health target with ease. However, if you've got the opportunity to shut down a carry, that's not a villain, take that target over the tank.

If you're about to fall in combat, and the villain is next to you, just blow Demacian Justice on the villain. Even if they're no where close to being executed by it, they can't ignore the amount of true damage inflicted. The enemy may either bow out of the fight, or the damage dealt may even lead to a kill for your team.

Be humble. You are not going to win every single game. Don't be flaming others, and go be on full tilt either. Keep cool, and enjoy your time playing a video game. That's right, it's just a video game. You're not participating at Worlds right now; no one is going to murder your family pet if you lose. Losing doesn't matter.

If you really feel heated after a game, stand up, and walk away for a bit. Taking a break can be just as important as honing in your skills. You can also just play a bot game, and get a confidence boost after having a 40/0 score. Then you take a break after leaving on a good note (ah-ha, you thought you should play a ranked game right after that? No, sir).

All-in-all, enjoy your time playing as Garen!