
Garen: All the Basics and Possibilities S11 [Matchup and Mac
By FABFAN | Updated on March 4, 2021
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Runes: Conq + Sorcery
1
2
3

Precision





Sorcery






+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
Spells:
1
2
The only summoner spells you need


Flash

Ignite
Items
Ability Order Classic
1
2
Champion Build Guide
Who am I?
Hi everyone, I’m FABFAN on the EUW Server I start League of Legends in season 3 and I’m a

If you want more info about me on league this is my OP.GG:
FABFAN's OP.GG
Youtube
I mainly make Garen Montages on my Youtube channel but I'm thinking about making other type of video on him, my most popular Montage was the one on the Demacia Vice Skin.
I also got the opportunity to make a montage for Fsat, a big thanks to him it was a honor.
If you want to see my youtube channel here it is, I’m French but I do my best to have a decent English.
Visit FABFAN's Youtube channel
Why did I become a Garen Main?
When I start to play a new game I always want to play a character with a heroic visual, I like to incarnate a hero who want to protect the others, I also always play a warrior class character and Swords are my favorite weapon.
League wasn’t a exception and when I start the tutorial the game proposed me


I didn’t even know what his kit was I already locked him.
I also discover

Some weeks later after a lot of games with



Why did I make this guide?
You probably know Fsat's Guide the best Garen one in all Mobafire and some of you know that Riste is working on his one aswell.
Sadly Fsat guide (for now) start to be a little bit outdated because I know he got less time at the moment and Riste has a lot of thing to deal with before to finish is own guide.
I also noticed that a lot of Garen's players (especially the newer) on the Discord and Reddit are lost with

My goal is to make a guide who can help newer Garen's player by giving them a good base but also to help people who already play him for a fair amount of time and struggle to improve.
I know I'm not a diamond player but I have 7 years of


Discord
You can found me on the Garen Mains Discord, I highly recommend you to joining it, it a really great server and everyone is here to help when someone want to improve on Garen.
Join Garen Mains Discord Server
You can also found me on reddit I mostly only talk on the Garen one, I made the banner of it btw^^
Visit Garen Mains Reddit
Visit FABFAN's Reddit Profile
Garen, The Might Of Demacia Garen is a Juggernaut, a subclass made to deal a lot of damage while having a natural tankyness but lack in mobility and utility in exchange, Kitting and Chain CC are their main threat but if they managed to be in melee range they become a big problem for their enemy. Juggernaut deal constant damage over the time, but Garen is a exception here, indeed he is the only Bursty Juggernaut in the game which make him different from all his cammarades. Garen is also designed to be a beginner champion which make him a good choice if you want to learn the other aspects on the game than just managed to hit your spells correctly but in exchange you become very limited in options the higher you climb in soloQ so be perfect in macro and decision making is crucial. Garen got a lot of variation in his builds that depend mostly on your preference so I will share you all the possibility that I learn. |
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PERSEVERANCE (Passive): After 8 second of not taking damage from enemy champions, turrets or epic monsters ![]() |

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DECISIVE STRIKE (Q): Decisive Strike is ![]() When activated he will cleansed all the slow on himself and gain 30% bonus Movement Speed for a short time and his next Auto Attack will deal Bonus Physical Damage and silenced the Target, he will also lunges forwards it. |

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COURAGE (W): Garen’s defense ability, it very powerful if you got good reaction timing. Passively when ![]() ![]() ![]() When you actived it ![]() For the first 0.75 sec he will gain a Shield and 60% tenacity which is the main reason why you want to use that spell, you can disable reduced a hard CC or nullified a burst which can be game changer at all state of the game. |

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JUDGMENT (E):![]() When activated ![]() ![]() Every 25% attack speed he will spin 1 more time than usual (the duration is still 3 sec no matter what). ![]() |

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DEMACIAN JUSTICE (R):![]() When activated ![]() The damage scale with enemy missing %HP it can totally nuke someone in the enemy team if they are low enough, It become more powerful every time you rank it up. |

+ Manaless + A strong Executer + Can get a lot of resistances in Midgame + Good Waveclear + Very versatile in his builds + Can Split and Teamfight + Very good agaisnt melee squishy champions. |
- No Hard CC - Kitable to the death - No Range ability - No healing in combat - Very low utility - Struggle against Tank - Be manaless make some items not gold efficient on him - Very limited compared to the other champions. |
Garen’s Powerspikes depend on his Levels and Items like a lot of champions but also on the
![]() ![]() -
|
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RECOMMENDED KEYSTONES:
✦ ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() NOTE: The healing is not reduced for AoE Ability which mean the healing from ![]() |
✦ ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
OTHER KEYSTONES USABLE BY GAREN:
Fleet Footwork |
![]() |
![]() |
Predator |
![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Electrocute |
![]() |
Like ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Grasp Of The Undying |
![]() |
Personnaly I don't really like this keystone, because pass the laning phase it become very hard (to not say impossible) to proc it, however the damage and the bonus HP it give in early are noticable and if you like maxing ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Glacial Augment |
![]() |
If you want to play a more Teamfight oriented playstyle or ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Unsealed Spellbook |
![]() |
I tried to make this rune work after ![]() - You fight like you had no keystone in lane compare to your opponent - On short game you will have the chance to change your summoners 1-2 times per game - You have some restriction before switching like to not be in combat and you must swap to 3 summoner spells before returning to one you used before. |


Precision doesn't give a lot of choice for


The only rune usable for garen in the first row of that tree but also the best one in my opinion. After getting a kill or a assist, you will restore a part of your missing health (and some bonus gold on top of that), it will save you in a lot of scenario, when you are in 1v2, if you are towerdiving, if you are in teamfight, if you got a DoT on you etc., when you are going ![]() |
Since ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
A lot of Garen player do the mistake to take ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |




Most of the time when you run that tree you will choose ![]() ![]() That mean Silence count so Garen combo ![]() ![]() |
I don't really use it personally because ![]() |
A part of every damage you deal against enemy champion will heal you,combine <ith ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
If you are a roamer player, you will like this rune combine with ![]() |
If you prefer to have ![]() ![]() |



That the reason why when you are playing with


![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |





If you like the splitpush playstyle and want to optimized it let me introduce you to ![]() If you are confident to not need the stat from ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
If you really want to optimized ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
It's a very underestimate rune, since ![]() ![]() ![]() |
If you are running ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |




Add a ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Against an hard matchup it can make a big difference or allowing you to stay in lane after a bad trade, also you can combine it with ![]() |
Add a gimmick to ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
STARTER
Doran's Shield![]() ![]() |
OTHER POSSIBLE STARTER
Ruby Crystal Ruby crystal into 2 ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
WARD CHOICE:
|
![]() |
Oracle Lens If you prefer flank with ![]() ![]() If you are against a stealth or a champion who land traps like ![]() |
|
![]() |
Farsight Alteration If you don't want to face check and prefer stay on a safe distance you can go for this one, unlike the ![]() |
BOOTS CHOICE:
![]() |
Berserker's Greaves > More Spins ![]() Mercury's Treads > Tenacity I rarely build it theses days because since now we can use ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Plated Steelcaps > Damage Reduction Against Auto Attacks Vs a Heavy AD team who relly a lot on Auto Attacks, ![]() Boots of swiftness > Slow resist Sometime ![]() |
Mythic Item Choice
With the Preseason 11 change, we now got a new Tier of Item called "Mythic", you can only build 1 of them per game and they are the core of your build, also you had to adapt your choice depend on the game that mean you will rarely build the same mythic everygame.
Mythic are supposed to be your First Item but it can also be delayed if needed, so for example you can sit on an component/another Item to get a specific powerspike and then build your mythic Item.
|
![]() ![]() It give a lot of good stat for ![]() ![]() ![]() Finally this item got a active, it will make you perform a mini dash and a AoE Slow who deal damage, so that mean you can use it to add the third damage instance needed for ![]() ![]() ![]() The active also got a REALLY short cooldown (20 sec) and you can reduced it with Ability Haste on top of reducing it with runes like ![]() | ||
|
This season we finally got a anti tank item that ![]() It will amplified ![]() Even if it didn't give any Attack Speed, the build path is still really comfy you got a lot of HP so you are pretty safe. | ||
|
If you planned to teamfight a lot, ![]() This item got a active who work like ![]() ![]() When you use it against 1 enemy champion the heal is not crazy but if you hit 2 or more your survivability will drasticly increase. Like ![]() ![]() ![]() Like ![]() ![]() ![]() Be careful if you play against someone who got Grevious Wound it can nullified it pretty hard. | ||
|
I recommend to build ![]() It a active Item who give you a targeted dash (with a decent range) and will amplified the damage you deal to the target you have chosen. It can seem weird to use it at the start but with the time you will start to really like it, once you get it against any squishy ranged champion you will be able to one burst them with the amplified damage. The only cons of that mythic is the buildpath who is really risky, It mostly give you AD, Lethality, Ability Haste and more Lethality for every legendary Item you build which are good offensive stats for ![]() Compare to ![]() ![]() | ||
|
From all mythic dash Item ![]() ![]() The build path is also risky like ![]() ![]() | ||
|
I recommend it when you need/want to be a engager for your team in teamfight or you need it because you are against a AP Ranged Matchup (hey ![]() ![]() ![]() It will also give you Ability Haste per legendary Item you build, It got the ![]() ![]() For the stats part, it give a bunch of ![]() ![]() | ||
|
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It also the ![]() ![]() once you reach the maximum ammount your auto attack will create a explosion which give you some AoE + some bonus damage. |
IMPORTANT COMPONENT
This section is to list you every important component you can build and which one of them are good in specific situations.
Sheen With the Item change ![]() If you like having burst you will like it since it can amplified your ![]() You can choose to upgrade it into ![]() ![]() |
Phage Phage now is a really strong component compare to before. Every time you will trade it will heal you like if you have a ![]() ![]() You want to prioritize that component when you build ![]() ![]() In fact that component is so powerful that you can buy it early even if it's not in the buildpath of the mythic you choose and sit on it, then later in the game you can upgrade it into ![]() |
Ironspike Whip![]() ![]() ![]() It also deal more damage to minion/jungle monster who are low life which combine with ![]() You will run it when you planned to build ![]() ![]() IMPORTANT: It a mythic component Item, that mean if another Mythic (component/Item) is builded you can't take it. |
Bami's cinder If you planned to build a mythic Tank Item you will always take ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() IMPORTANT: It a mythic component Item, that mean if another Mythic (component/Item) is builded you can't take it. |
Zeal With the Preseason Change ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Executioner's Calling Right now in the game a lot of new/reworked champ got a healing in combat in their kit so you need to consider ![]() ![]() |
Quicksilver Sash![]() ![]() ![]() It very situational but if you are against a champion who can lock you down like ![]() |
Winged Moonplate A HP Item who also give movespeed, obviously a good choice for ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spectre's cowl If you struggle against a AP Matchup who poke you a lot, you can time your first back on it if you are okay to delay your first item combine with ![]() |
Sterak's Gage![]() |
Death's Dance With the change of preseason ![]() |
Black Cleaver I wasn't loving ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Wit's end Wit's end give a lot of AD and Attack Speed at the same time on top of a good amount of ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Youmuu's Ghostblade Combine with ![]() However I don't recommend to build it if your main target is a frontliner because the lethality will not be efficient. |
The Collector Tired of seeing your target survive to your ![]() Let me introduce you to ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Edge of night HP, Lethality and a ![]() |
Guardian Angel If you are against a heavy AD Comp and you know you will be the main target or you want to avoid any reset for a specific champ ( ![]() ![]() ![]() When you got ![]() |
Rapid Firecanon Since ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Serylda's Grudge If the frontline is the main problem ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Chempunk Chainsword Against heavy healing champ ( ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mortal reminder Compare to ![]() ![]() ![]() Actually you can take it as a second item if you build a bruiser/tank mythic item the HP they give allow you to build a full damage item second (you can still try with a full damage mythic item but you will take a lot of risk). ![]() |
![]() |
Silvermere dawn / Mercurial Scimitar We can now upgrade ![]() ![]() ![]() In ![]() In ![]() |
Dead Man's Plate![]() ![]() ![]() |
Randuin's Omen Against heavy crit comp ( ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spirit Visage It amplified ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Force of Nature It a Version of ![]() ![]() |
Gargoyle Stoneplate![]() ![]() I recommand to build it after you had builded a HP Item since the Item scale with your Bonus health so it not a great choice as a second Item unless you build a tank mythic. |
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FLASH![]() ![]() |
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IGNITE![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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EXHAUST![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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GHOST![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Q: Where is

A:



GET A LEAD OR SURVIVED THE LANE
Your goal as any other toplaner is to gain a lead in lane or survived if you are against a hard matchup of course getting a lead is better since it give you a chance to carry the game.
I let you check the Matchup section for more detail but to give you a idea, Wave Management is the key since

I’m going to assume you already know the concept of slow pushing, freezing, minions rules etc.
If not I recommend you to check some videos like SkillCapped on Youtube if you want to learn these concepts.
LAST HITTING
Last hitting as




Don't use

However if your goal is to thin the wave or you want to push it,

TRADING
You want to trade for 3 reasons:
- To zoned your opponent and outfarming him
- To kill him of course
- To force your opponent to recall and having free control on the wave or get his tower.


Also you have to be carefull about the

For trading you want your wave to be bigger than the ennemy one, so you had to know how to do a slow push, with a minion advantage your enemy had to take a lot of risk to fight back.
Classic









After you land


With


As you can see

ROAMING AS A TOPLANER
Even if top is an Island our Role as the purpose to control all the topside of the map and the Midlane can be kind of be included.
To allow you to roam you need to gain what we called “Tempo” it the time who let you do whatever you want (recall and back on the lane, put some vision, and Roaming) meanwhile your opponent can’t contest you.
Q: How do we do that?
A: To gain that tempo all you need to do is crashing your minion wave under the enemy tower, then think about 3 possibility in order of priority.
- Can I ward?
Yes: Ward the river/enemy jungle (see the vision section for more details)
No: Then go to the second option.
- Did I need to recall?
Yes: Recall then
No: then DO to the next option
- Can I roam?
Yes: Then you can gank midlane if the enemy one is pushing, or steal a jungle camp from the enemy side then back to your lane, it doesn't matter if you didn't kill the midlaner because atleast you are putting some pressure on the map or if they are no camp to steal because you are giving extra information for your team on the jungler position.
Meanwhile you are doing all that, your opponent had to stay to last hit under tower or he will miss a bunch of gold and exp.
The bigger the wave you crash is, the more time you have.
Doing that is not only for helping mid it can also be used to help your jungler aswell to get the


In mid game as
Garen you can Splitpush or Group with your team which allow you to change your way to play depend on the game compare to champion like
Yorick for example who HAD to splitpush to be useful and can’t really Teamfight.
Q: Should I split push or Teamfight with Garen?
A: As a toplaner you had to do both of them since there are the only tools you have to impact the game.
Still I think Garen is better at Splitpushing than Teamfighting.
Your Role in mid and late game are played on the Sidelane (Toplane and Botlane) you will only going mid when both lanes are pushed in the enemy territory otherwise it too dangerous and you risk to get caught for free, of course that doesn’t mean you will never teamfight it had to happen at some point.
It exist 2 concepts that allow you to do both, theses concepts are called “Splitpushing” and “Split to group” (these concepts can be applied to every champ but since
Garen can only apply the basic of the game I detailed it here).
If you didn’t know already for Sidelaning we use 3 zones.
Collection Zone (when a enemy wave is near to your tower it when you can go to collect the wave)
Neutral Zone (Between the Collection and Pressure Zone)
Pressure Zone (It when your wave is in the enemy territory)

Of course theses zones are reversed for your enemy.
Your collection zone is their pressure zone and you pressure zone is their collection zone.
The most easier to understand, the goal of that is to push as much as you can to get towers it put a lot of pressure and force the enemy team to send more people on you and let your team do whatever they want (in the best case getting objectives).
First its better to start a splitpush or a split to group when there are a wave nearby one of your Sidelanes Towers (the collection zone).
Then you have to answer 2 questions:
If yes to both then it the best time to Splitpush and get some towers if the enemy team doesn’t respond they will lost a lot, meanwhile your team will be ahead in Gold (a fair amount), and if they try to stop you, your allies have free time to do whatever they want to impact the map.
If you have no vision on the enemy team or If you are not strong enough to 1v1 because of a hard matchup (a fed
Fiora for example or because it the 10/0 adc who match you) or you can just not get a tower because there are playing to safe under it then it just better to apply the “Split To Group”.
It a kind of splitpushing but more focused on helping you team and be there for them at the right time, you can apply this strategy whenever you want in the game and it a good solution if you can’t go really far in the enemy territory without getting caught (and lose all your pressure).
To do a Split to group your goal is to send your wave in the enemy territory (The pressure zone) and then group with your team.
If you can’t 1v1 the enemy toplaner (the fed
Fiora in our example) just push the wave into the neutral zone you will still gain some time and stay safe).
By applying this strategy 2 scenario can occur in the enemy team:
By sending someone to collect a wave on a sidelane and you grouping with your team, you will get a number advantage and can try to contest anything (tower,
drake
,
baron nashor
, Jungle's camp etc.), by roaming it can happen you pick someone alone in the river who just ask to get killed for free, and the best of that, if a Teamfight had to appear it will not be a 5v5 but a 5v4 in your favor since you force someone on the enemy team to collect their wave.
Just remember, Teamfight in SoloQ are coinflip the only way to win them is to control as many factors as possible to make them unfair, vision and number advantage are kings for that.


Q: Should I split push or Teamfight with Garen?
A: As a toplaner you had to do both of them since there are the only tools you have to impact the game.
Still I think Garen is better at Splitpushing than Teamfighting.
SPLITPUSH FOR THE WIN
Your Role in mid and late game are played on the Sidelane (Toplane and Botlane) you will only going mid when both lanes are pushed in the enemy territory otherwise it too dangerous and you risk to get caught for free, of course that doesn’t mean you will never teamfight it had to happen at some point.
It exist 2 concepts that allow you to do both, theses concepts are called “Splitpushing” and “Split to group” (these concepts can be applied to every champ but since

HOW DID SIDELANING WORK?
If you didn’t know already for Sidelaning we use 3 zones.
Collection Zone (when a enemy wave is near to your tower it when you can go to collect the wave)
Neutral Zone (Between the Collection and Pressure Zone)
Pressure Zone (It when your wave is in the enemy territory)

Of course theses zones are reversed for your enemy.
Your collection zone is their pressure zone and you pressure zone is their collection zone.
The most easier to understand, the goal of that is to push as much as you can to get towers it put a lot of pressure and force the enemy team to send more people on you and let your team do whatever they want (in the best case getting objectives).
When to splitpushing?
First its better to start a splitpush or a split to group when there are a wave nearby one of your Sidelanes Towers (the collection zone).
Then you have to answer 2 questions:
- I am strong enough to 1v1 the toplaner opponent or even 1v2 (toplaner + jungler)?
- Did I know where the rest of the enemy team is?
If yes to both then it the best time to Splitpush and get some towers if the enemy team doesn’t respond they will lost a lot, meanwhile your team will be ahead in Gold (a fair amount), and if they try to stop you, your allies have free time to do whatever they want to impact the map.
If you have no vision on the enemy team or If you are not strong enough to 1v1 because of a hard matchup (a fed

It a kind of splitpushing but more focused on helping you team and be there for them at the right time, you can apply this strategy whenever you want in the game and it a good solution if you can’t go really far in the enemy territory without getting caught (and lose all your pressure).
To do a Split to group your goal is to send your wave in the enemy territory (The pressure zone) and then group with your team.
If you can’t 1v1 the enemy toplaner (the fed

By applying this strategy 2 scenario can occur in the enemy team:
- They send nobody to collect the wave and lose gold and exp and get outscaled in the long run.
- They send someone to collect the wave.
By sending someone to collect a wave on a sidelane and you grouping with your team, you will get a number advantage and can try to contest anything (tower,


Just remember, Teamfight in SoloQ are coinflip the only way to win them is to control as many factors as possible to make them unfair, vision and number advantage are kings for that.
As Garen your goal is to remove the main threat of your team,
Demacian Justice will be your main tool for that.
Of course if it the Adc/AP Carry they are a big chance they are getting peeled by their frontline and support, when you play
Garen in teamfight you play like a assassin (without having the tools, it like a Hard mode difficulty), the best way to catch the backline is by flanking them you can buy
Oracle Lens to remove any visions and make your flank less predictable.
You can play Garen like a frontliner if you prefer but your actions will be very limited since you will rely on having an ally who can engage like
Zac in your team.
Garen can also peel for his team but he is clearly not the best at it since his only CC is a Silence, if you are fighting a champ with a cast who can be interrupted like
Katarina's
Death Lotus it can be a good solution to stay near your carry and wait for her trying to engage and then silenced her to deny her Ultimate for example.

Of course if it the Adc/AP Carry they are a big chance they are getting peeled by their frontline and support, when you play


You can play Garen like a frontliner if you prefer but your actions will be very limited since you will rely on having an ally who can engage like

Garen can also peel for his team but he is clearly not the best at it since his only CC is a Silence, if you are fighting a champ with a cast who can be interrupted like


Vision is one of the most powerful and very underestimate mechanic in League of Legends and as a toplaner it what help you to not get ganked by the jungler but it also a crucial tool in sidelane to track the enemy team.
Remember the Game start when YOU spawn not when the minions collapse on your lane, you can choose to use your
Stealth Ward really early to get extra information who can be game changer, this extra vision can be used to help you but also your team and prevent them from dying for free.
As a Toplaner here is the spots you can ward just before the minions collapse on your lane (around 1:25 or 1:30):
If you are Blue Side:
If you are Red Side:
The classic spot is in the river between the simple bush and the tribush the reason why is it give you vision on both path if the jungler came from the tribush or from the river.
If you know the enemy jungler is not starting topside you can ward the opposite buff to know when he will do it, don't try if they are champs who can cheese you like
Darius or
Olaf these kind of champ tend to wait you near the buff and they are far better than
Garen level 1.
If a jungler who like to invade early like
Shaco,
Lee Sin,
Evelynn etc. is in the game it better to ward you own buff, like that your jungler know it and you know you can get ganked aswell.
Q: When should I/not use this first Ward?
A: If you are vs a jungler who tend to gank lvl 2/3 using this ward is always good since they want to gank to be useful.
If you are vs a Powerfarming jungler (
Master Yi,
Shyvana), that kind of jungler most of the time prefer to farm until they are 6 to try a gank, keeping your ward to use it later can be better.
Of course in SoloQ everything can happend a ganker who don’t want to gank until 6-7 a powerfarmer who gank right after their red etc. and a lot of SoloQ player tend to play a jungler who can gank than powerfarming, so I recommend to always use this first ward.
Remember when I was talking about “Tempo” and all the possibility it give?
When you gain that tempo you can ward the river or even the enemy jungle to give more information to you and your team and make the future gank more predictable.
If you are Blue Side:
If you are Red Side:
Warding the river for the
rift herald
/
baron nashor
is mandatory, then you can ward the enemy jungle, you got more spots while being blue side since they are more jungles path.
On red side however you got more spots for
Control Ward.
For both side the
Control Ward in the pixel bush is normally put by the midlaner but since it soloQ you never know if they will ward it, so it better to be safe than sorry and ward it yourself this bush give a lot of information.
This is where it start to be a lot more complex.
Your ward’s position will change depend on the game situation, I also include wards on botside since you will be playing on sidelanes at this state of the game.
Blue Side:
Red Side:
The goal of theses wards is to give you information when you are splitpushing or start to take control of the enemy's jungle to avoid to get caugth and throw your lead.
The spots for the
Control Ward are surprisingly rarely found by the enemy team since they don't expect to find it in these spots
Blue Side:
Red Side:
The goal of theses ward is to keep vision on jungle entrance to stop being picked by the enemy team, especially your jungler who tend to came back in his jungle on auto-pilot and dying for free.
If you are fighting for a objective like
drake
,
Baron Nashor
,
Rift Herald
, I recommend to always put a
Control Ward in the pit to deny potential enemy vision to secure it.
Remember the Game start when YOU spawn not when the minions collapse on your lane, you can choose to use your

As a Toplaner here is the spots you can ward just before the minions collapse on your lane (around 1:25 or 1:30):
If you are Blue Side:

If you are Red Side:

The classic spot is in the river between the simple bush and the tribush the reason why is it give you vision on both path if the jungler came from the tribush or from the river.
If you know the enemy jungler is not starting topside you can ward the opposite buff to know when he will do it, don't try if they are champs who can cheese you like



If a jungler who like to invade early like



Q: When should I/not use this first Ward?
A: If you are vs a jungler who tend to gank lvl 2/3 using this ward is always good since they want to gank to be useful.
If you are vs a Powerfarming jungler (


Of course in SoloQ everything can happend a ganker who don’t want to gank until 6-7 a powerfarmer who gank right after their red etc. and a lot of SoloQ player tend to play a jungler who can gank than powerfarming, so I recommend to always use this first ward.
AFTER CRASHING A WAVE
Remember when I was talking about “Tempo” and all the possibility it give?
When you gain that tempo you can ward the river or even the enemy jungle to give more information to you and your team and make the future gank more predictable.
If you are Blue Side:

If you are Red Side:

Warding the river for the


On red side however you got more spots for

For both side the

VISION AFTER THE LANING PHASE
This is where it start to be a lot more complex.
Your ward’s position will change depend on the game situation, I also include wards on botside since you will be playing on sidelanes at this state of the game.
IF YOU ARE AHEAD
Blue Side:

Red Side:

The goal of theses wards is to give you information when you are splitpushing or start to take control of the enemy's jungle to avoid to get caugth and throw your lead.
The spots for the

IF YOU ARE BEHIND
Blue Side:

Red Side:

The goal of theses ward is to keep vision on jungle entrance to stop being picked by the enemy team, especially your jungler who tend to came back in his jungle on auto-pilot and dying for free.
WHEN FIGHTING FOR EPIC MONSTER
If you are fighting for a objective like




This section will contain how to deal vs some matchup, around what ability you have to play around, what kind of wave management is efficient against them etc.
Q: Why some matchups are hyper detailed and some are not?
A: Because I didn't fight them in this season or didn't find a good strategy yet but I can still give you some tips against them, I will do my best to give you the most accurate advices to help you.
This section will be updated over the time, if you had any suggestions feel free.
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup

Tips Against This Matchup

Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Tips Against This Matchup
Q: Why some matchups are hyper detailed and some are not?
A: Because I didn't fight them in this season or didn't find a good strategy yet but I can still give you some tips against them, I will do my best to give you the most accurate advices to help you.
This section will be updated over the time, if you had any suggestions feel free.

AATROX


AKALI


CAMILLE


CHO'GATH


DARIUS


DR. MUNDO


FIORA


GANGPLANK


GNAR


GRAGAS


ILLAOI


IRELIA


JAX


JAYCE


KAYLE


KENNEN


KLED


MALPHITE


MAOKAI


MORDEKAISER


NASUS


ORNN


POPPY


QUINN


RENEKTON


RIVEN


RUMBLE


SETT


SHEN


SINGED


SION


SYLAS


TEEMO


TRUNDLE


TRYNDAMERE


URGOT


VAYNE


VLADIMIR


VOLIBEAR


WUKONG


YASUO


YONE


YORICK


First a big thanks to you for your reading I really appreciate, I hope it help you even if it just a little.
I will keep this guide updated as much as possible and find a viable strategy against each matchup.
Also if a new playstyle / build had to appear I will add it.
Of course If you had any comments or suggestion to improve this guide, feel free I want to make it the more accurate as possible.
It's far from being completed but I will do my best.
Thanks you again and never forget why we fight fellow demacian!
I will keep this guide updated as much as possible and find a viable strategy against each matchup.
Also if a new playstyle / build had to appear I will add it.
Of course If you had any comments or suggestion to improve this guide, feel free I want to make it the more accurate as possible.
It's far from being completed but I will do my best.
Thanks you again and never forget why we fight fellow demacian!

28 January 2021
That incredible, this guide win the Mobafire Season 11 Guide Contest, Thanks you to everyone it would not have been possible without you, the season 11 just start but I'm looking forward to improve the guide (and myself) to help as many Garen player (new and veterent) as possible.
Thanks you again :)
30 January 2021
Update on the Matchup Section
- Some details or Item recommendation have been added for theses matchups






- The Item


- Some typo and mistakes has been fixed (there are probably still a lot so I keep searching them)
16 February 2021
- Minor update on

5 March 2021
- Update on the Mythic bonus stat given by



- Minor change on [Stridebreaker] for more clarity on when to build it.
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Garen: All the Basics and Possibilities S11 [Matchup and Mac
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