Hello there! I am FamishedPants, and this guide will (hopefully) provide you with the information necessary to ensure your Garen will not die. By the end of the guide, you should learn not to underestimate his passive, as well as how to fully utilize each and every ability and strength Garen has to offer. If this guide ends up helping you win, I would appreciate an upvote. If not, or if you have any complaints, constructive criticism is welcome. Just before we start, I would like to say that this is a solo top-lane build, because Garen doesn't do better anywhere else. Combined with the right way to play, and takes at your opponents, you should NEVER be forced out of lane unless the majority of the enemy team pushes. I find it to be extremely effective against two enemies as you're by yourself. It should enable you to outlast and outlevel them, to the point where you may even get a double kill. Now, please enjoy.

Pros + Hard to push out of lane + Works even better against two opponents + Great health total makes him hard to kill by AD and AP champions. + Farms pretty good. + Cooldowns are the only thing that restrict him, since he uses no mana. + Can use Decisive Strike as both a way to engage and to disengage.

Cons - Almost unable to save teammates with low CC. - No ranged moves. - Lower damage late-game. - Damage-over-time such as Teemo's Toxic Shot make his health regen less effective. - Percentile damage is very effective against him. - Spinning does not produce as much win.

Now, here's something I cannot really elaborately explain because my runes aren't up to par. Currently, I am working on my AP runes for my other main, Twisted Fate. Because of this, I don't really have good runes for Garen. I have a horrible AD runepage I use for him that involves some attack speed and AD, but that about sums it up. If you have health runes and health regenation runes, then I would suggest using those. For now, this part will be lacking depth until I finish Garen's runes, at which point I shall update this.

Flash: This is my favored tool when getting the eff out of dodge. You can teleport through certain walls and escape with your life in otherwise doomed situations. You may also use this to surprise-attack your enemy, or to get your ult off on a suitable target. I DO NOT leave the character selection screen without this.

Ignite: As with most anyone who isn't playing the role of support or jungler, I choose this spell. It has great potential, and can even save you or kill an enemy with very low health. Some people don't realize this, but it lessens the effects of healing. Try popping this spell on Master Yi while he's using Meditate and he'll be displeased.

Heal: Quite honestly, I don't use this or any other spell with Garen usually. This exception is only made when playing on the proving grounds , because health is an important factor in that level. Otherwise, I don't really recommend any spell aside from the prior two mentioned.

• Perseverance: As you might be able to tell, this is the reason you shouldn't be able be pushed out of your lane. It gives you .05 (half a percent) of your maximum health in regeneration. Thusly, the more health you have, the more health you regenerate. In combination with Warmog's Armor, your health regen will be spectacular.
• Decisive Strike (Q): This is your initiator, and your best means of escape. It's my first ability I put a point into as well. Decisive Strike gives you a speed increase, as well as adding extra damage and a silence to your basic attack. Most people (myself included) use this to silence, then use Judgment to deal damage. I believe this move also has a hidden passive, which is to scare most foes away when being hit. All you have to do is activate it and most of the time, your foe will run away unless they believe they can kill you. It is very important to also note that this move removes any slows you may have, so waiting for someone to slow you before you use it to escape is wise.
  
• Courage (W): This ability gives Garen an instant stat increase in both armor and magic resistence passively. When activated, it provides you with a shield that reduces damage received by 30%. Basically, it's a one-hit wonder because of the stats received, but until later on, most think it is useless. In truth, as a tank, it's great. It makes you even harder to kill, and should always be used when engaging in a fight you want to keep engaged until the end. Otherwise, refrain from wasting it pointlessly. It can save you from a gank due to the fact it reduces CC by 30% as well. Also recommended for tower diving. The most important thing about this ability, is that contrary to popular belief, Garen does not shout "Demacia" when using Demacian Justice but when he uses Courage.
  
• judgment (E): The move everyone knows. Garen's spin is an AOE attack damage move. It will be your main source of damage, and what you farm with. I max this ability first. Judgment allows you to pass through minions as well, though at a 20% reduced speed. Everyone should know to spin to win!
  
• Demacian Justice (R): Many compare Garen's ultimate ability with Darius'. They are both execution moves, and though similar, they do differ. Demacian Justice deals out magic damage, instead of true damage or attack damage. It also deals more damage on enemies with lower health. Because of this, lower-health enemies who have built armor to combat Garen will be surprised when the sword from the sky ignores that damage. Now, comparing this move to Darius' Noxian Guillotine, you'll find that it loses in most categories, since it does not auto-refresh upon kill, and it does not do true damage. HOWEVER, Garen can say that in a battle where both he and at the point of death by ult, and they both used their ults simultaneously, he would win. Why? Because Garen's ult is insta-cast, whereas Darius's isn't. Why did I bring that up? Just because.

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Starting off, we'll take Decisive Strike for that hidden passive I mentioned earlier. Simply activating that will scare off pretty much anyone when starting out. As soon as you hit level 2, you'll take Judgment and farm. Courage comes after, and you'll get a nice bonus to magic resist and armor. Now you'll focus on maxing Judgment, but put one more point into courage so that it lasts a second longer. You're free to finish with your spin and focus on your Q. And of course, your ultimate takes priority, so always put a point into it when it's available.

Not only is this an armor that gives you no armor rating whatsoever, it also gives you 1000hp and 1.5% of your maximum health in health regeneration! I make sure that I have this before anything else, because it will allow me to sustain more than any other item will. A must-have for my Garen build, and I would never swap it out.

Here we have some more health, which means more health regen, but it also gives you some attack damage, and a pretty neat passive. Slowed enemies are easy to spin on.

I like to compare this item with the Frozen Mallet. Whereas the mallet gives you lots of health and a little attack damage, the Cleaver gives you lots of damage and a little health. It also grants you some armor penetration and some cooldown reduction, meaning your spinning should most definitely be winning.

Even more health, some armor, and a fun effect. The passive on this thing slows an attacker's AS and movement speed when they use a basic attack against you. It's funny when Ashe tries to kite you while you have this.

Of course this is going to be in my Garen build! Why not, really? It provides some magic damage to the units around you, and gives you some health and armor too. Plus, it gives you a godlike glow. If you want, replace this with a Guardian Angel.

Now, this choice is always presented to me at the peak of a really long game. I ask myself if I want to do more damage, or if I want to make it even harder to kill me (of course, it's hard to do so at that point). Thusly, it's always my teammates that influence this choice. If my team's squishy, or we're not doing too well, I'll go for the Runic Bulwark. If not, I'll go for Atma's Impaler. Really, it's just down to either preference or what the situation demands. Either way, you should be golden.

As a tank, you're going to be absorbing what the enemies have to throw out at you. Thusly, you'll want to make sure aggro is on you and not on your squishier teammates. Make sure that you engage as well. Decisive Strike is a way to literally shut an opponent up, so you should use it to cover a fleeing teammate's retreat. An example would be to silence a blitzcrank who is drawing nearer to your budy. If the enemy is grouped up, spin to win! Make them regret their foolish decisions! Finally, you should realize that all enemies with low health are yours. You can't deal damage too much damage to weaken someone, but you most definitely can finish someone off! If someone's on their last legs, apologize to your teammate after finishing the foe off with Demacian Justice

Garen is an easy, yet reliable champion to play as. He is very viable as both an AD powerhouse and a Tank, so definitely try him differently every now and then. If something sounds odd, you have anyway you think I should improve this guide, or you just want to thank me for the ownage my guide provided you (lol I wish), then leave a comment. Upvote if you like it, downvote if you don't, but if you do downvote, tell me what sounded odd, or what you hated and I'll try my best to improve! With this, I hope you fair well. And I've been playing Garen for a while now, so no, I didn't just buy him because of freeweek -_-. Enjoy. c: // SPECIAL THANKS: Credits to jhoijhoi for the template, which you can find here.