For marks, I have armor penetration. Because it adds so much damage for Judgement early game and also scales to late game.

For Seals, I have flat armor because it gives so much extra defense early game. Even though Garen's W is considered OP by many people because you can max it at 25 armor and magic resist by only needing to level it once, Garen is still vulnerable early game. He's a melee champion thats not very tanky unless he starts to farm his W and his CDs are too high to be able to constantly harass. His Q is his only form of CC at lvl 1 (which is why you take it first) but it only hits one target. This is why you get armor seals to help him take some extra hits.

For Glyphs, I put MR per level because it's the probably the only good glyph for someone like Garen. Even though he benefits from CDR, he's made to be a tanky DPS. Flat Magic Resist is also an option here but normally champions have lower armor at level 1 than magic resist. Also, late game, I do not include any magic resist item here because he can touch 100 MR with the magic resist passive from his W and the scaling MR runes.


For quintessences, you have 1 Quintessence for Movement speed. It adds so much utility since you do not have the movement speed bonus from the Utility Tree. Then you have 2 Armor Penetration Quintessences for all around better damage output. Health Quintessences can also be substituted for the 2 Armor Pen quins. However, the movement quint is a MUST!

Now, first item to take is Boots and 3 Health Potions. Alternative starting items are Dorans Shield/ Dorans Blade/ Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions. These are probably your best items to start with because of the sustainability.
In case of you having to 1v2 lane, Dorans Shield is definitely the better choice here.

What to get after boots? Well if you haven't purchased them, take level 1 boots.

Building Avarice Blade next is very situational. You want to keep it with you as long as possible to get the benefit of the gold from it.

Ghostblade is picked as one of the last items because you want to be able to pick an item late game that counters the other team. The Brutalizer is used as an early game AD item that gives armor penetration.

HOWEVER~~~~~~If the other team composition is revolved around 2 ap carries or just has a large source of magic damage, you can build Force of Nature instead of Ghostblade. In that case, to substitute for the loss of Avarice Blade and The Brutalizer, get a Last Whisper first. Why? It's a cheap item that gives pretty good AD and it scales into late game VERY well.

Randuin's active is perfect in a fight. Garen has the ability to run in a fight, silence a champion, and spin around with E while taking reduced damage with Courage. While spinning, you can activate Randuins and slow and reduce everyone's AS who was in range. This can probably counter their melee DPS champions.


FoN is just a godly item on Garen. It gives him a bunch of health regen, extra movement speed for utility, and 76 MR to soak up ultimates from the enemy AP carry.

Alternative items to get:

Exhaust is helpful for support and chasing enemies with Judgement and Demacian Justice.
Garen has very little CC and cannot chase very well without Demacian Justice. The fact he's melee range and his CDs are very high is why you should grab exhaust.
Exhausting a fed champion can shut down most of their damage in fights. Or you can exhaust someone to slow them and prevent them from killing you.
Ignite is another spell to substitute for exhaust if you'd like. Ignite is mainly used to whittle health low enough to use the finishing blow with Demacian Justice.

Let's move on to Garen's skills.



Garen will regenerate 0.5% of his maximum health per second after not taking damage for 7 seconds. The regenerative state will stop if Garen receives damage.


Perseverance, the skill that makes Garen so sustained in a lane. Just stay back and wait 7 seconds to start regenerating fast.



Garen gains movement speed for 4 seconds. His next melee attack within 6 seconds will deal physical damage and silence its target for 2.5 seconds
Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 seconds
Total Physical Damage: 30 / 45 / 60 / 75 / 90 (+1.5 per attack damage)
Bonus Movement Speed: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 %

A great skill and the only skill that has CC. Speed boost, bonus damage and a silence. The 1st skill to put a point on. It's not something to max first but still a great skill to run away or chase after any enemy. If you hit the AP carry OR tank (to stop an intiation) and silence them, it can turn the tables in a team fight.



(Passive): Garen's armor and magic resistance are permanently increased by 0.5 every time he kills an enemy unit. Garen can gain a maximum of 25 armor and magic resistance.
(Active): Garen places a defensive shield on himself, decreasing all damage taken by a percentage for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 30 / 27 / 24 / 21 / 18 seconds
Damage Reduced: 20 / 24 / 28 / 32 / 36 %

The is the third skill you max because by leveling it, it only decreases the cooldown and increases damage reduction. Helpful in situations but in a nutshell, it's cooldown is too long to really utilize. But use it when you run into the middle of a creep waving to farm with Judgement to avoid harassment from the enemy champion. Tower dive with this with Demacian Justice to get away.



Garen rapidly spins his sword around his body for 3 seconds, removing all existing slows and reducing the duration of new slows by 50%, plus dealing physical damage to nearby enemies every half second. Minions only take half damage from this ability. Garen can deactivate Judgement early by activating the ability again after 0.5 seconds. Garen cannot use Decisive Strike or Demacian Justice while Judgement is in effect.
Cooldown: 13 / 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 seconds
Physical Damage Per Second: 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+1.2 per bonus attack damage)

This is your main damaging skill. The scaling and base damage on this skill is VERY strong. Many consider it OP even without any AD items. But with AD items, Garen's a spinning Torture Machine. You can use this to escape slows and reduce any incoming slows while spinning. Only downfall is that it deals half damage to minions and it's cooldown is a bit high.



Garen brings down Demacian Justice on his opponent, dealing magic damage, plus additional magic damage per amount of health his opponent has already lost.
Cooldown: 140 / 120 / 100 seconds
Magic Damage: 175 / 350 / 525
Additional Damage: 1 per 3.5 / 3 / 2.5 health missing

Demacian Justice is your finishing blow skill. You don't want to kill steal with this spell unless you've gotten the kill yourself. It guarantees most champions dead under 30% of their health. Learn how to use this skill in team fights. DO NOT use it when your team is focusing on someone that is guaranteed to be dead. If they survive and run, THEN you should ulti them.

Now, first item to take is boots and 3 hp pots. Alternative starting items are Dorans Shield/Dorans Blade. These are probably your best items to start with because of the sustainability.
In case of you having to 1v2 lane, Dorans Shield is definitely the better choice here.

What to get after boots? Well if you haven't purchased them, take level 1 boots.

Building Avarice Blade next is very situational. You want to keep it with you as long as possible to get the benefit of the gold from it.

Ghostblade is picked as one of the last items because you want to be able to pick an item late game that counters the other team. The Brutalizer is used as an early game AD item that gives armor penetration.

HOWEVER~~~~~~If the other team composition is revolved around 2 ap carries or just has a large source of magic damage, you can build Force of Nature instead of Ghostblade. In that case, to substitute for the loss of Avarice Blade and The Brutalizer, get a Last Whisper first. Why? It's a cheap item that gives pretty good AD and it scales into late game VERY well.

Randuin's active is perfect in a fight. Garen has the ability to run in a fight, silence a champion, and spin around with E while taking reduced damage with Courage. While spinning, you can activate Randuins and slow and reduce everyone's AS who was in range. This can probably counter their melee DPS champions.

FoN is just a godly item on Garen. It gives him a bunch of health regen, extra movement speed for utility, and 76 MR to soak up ultimates from the enemy AP carry.

Alternative items to get:

Tips and Notes to take on when playing tank Garen.
-Buffs aren't necessary, let your other teammates take it, not you.
-Basic combo= Decisive Strike--->Courage + Judgement + Exhaust (If available)----> Demacian Justice only to finish off the target at low health.
-Tank the tower shots for your team, with Courage, you take 36% reduced damage at rank 5.
-It's better that you die than your carry to die. Try to soak up damage for your team.
-Learn how to use Demacian Justice at the right times.
-You can easily check brushes by running in using Judgement, it scares off the other squishy champions.

Thanks for reading guys. Vote up, comment and ask any questions in the comments below. Critcal criticism helps!