Hello, and welcome to my guide to playing Garen solo top. In the following chapters I will tell you how I personally enjoy playing Garen. Please keep in mind that I am no professional and my play-style may or may not fit in with yours. I ask that you at least give the build a try before you leave hateful comments about how much of a noob I am. Without further ado, I introduce to you, Garen.

Pros

• Extremely good sustain due
  to his passive
• Can do ridiculous damage if
  you build him right
• He can be a valuable tank as
  part of your team composition as well.
• He yells cool things.

Cons

• Some popular played tops counter him.
• People call you mean names
  because you're too stronk.

Flash is just an all around good spell to have. You can use Garen's Q as a mini ghost.
But again, this is my preference and ghost works fine if that is yours.


I almost ALWAYS use teleport when I play solo top. There is nothing more frustrating than when you REALLY need to back, so you do, only to come back and find your tower half dead, or worse. I've said it before, it's my preference.


I don't recommend ignite with Garen due to the impressive killing power of his ult, but exhaust is always nice to have if you don't like teleport.

I went a pretty standard AD carry mastery build, but choose not to take the lifesteal for the extra 3 points to put elsewhere. Masteries can always be modified and tweaked a little, but these are the ones that I've found to work the best for me. There's not a lot to explain here, just tweak them around and find what you really like.

Garen is extremely useful in a team fight, not only can he take some damage, he can deal it. His E, or Spin to Win, is great AoE damage if you can catch a few standing close to each other. Your ult is also great for clean up OR just taking down a high priority target quickly. Always remember to use your W in team fights to keep yourself nice and safe.

IMPORTANT

If you don't read any of what I just typed above please read this. I am BEGGING you to not be that Garen that doesn't know how to silence the AP carry on the enemy team. Press Q and right click on the AP carry. It's so simple, yet so many people forget to do it. This small move can completely change the outcome of a team fight.

Item build does decent damage and is pretty tanky.
Tweak masteries, build order, skill order, and runes to your taste/situation.
Use your Q on AP carries during team fights