This guide isnt a min-max guide, i dont claim to be the best at garen nor am i a master at lol. my highest elo was diamond 5 and i am currently plat 4. english isnt my main language and my spelling sucks in every language. this build focuses on defense and towerpushing while dealing reasonable damage and being a tough frontliner. i aim to get 45% cdr so we barely have downtime on our spells. you can take ignite instead of tp for better early kill potenial but your team will likely whine when their top tp's bot and you cant.

Passive Perseverance gives garen hp regen out of combat. its weak early but can heal you back to full in a few seconds late game.

Q Decisive Strike is your gapcloser and autoattack reset. its also very usefull thanks to its silence effect. you ca interupt channels like tp or fiddle ult. use it to return to lane faster and close in on the enemy. auto + q for a fast in and out trade, or just use q to grab a last hit and get back out if you are against a hard lane.

W Courage is your least interesting spell. it gives some resistances but takes a while to get there. activating it gives you 30% damage reduction for a few seconds. use this spell to reduce the damage of hardhitting enemy attacks. it has a long cd so dont waste it

E Judgement is your spin to win. it does bonus damage against single targets and can criticaly strike. you can still use q for the speed boost during the spin and you can use your ult while spinning to cancerl the spin and execute them.

R Demacian Justice is your nuke, but only when they are low. at lvl 6 this spell does barely any damage but executes people at low hp. if they get out of range before the startup animation ends the ult wont deal damage and doesnt go on cd but you stand there like an idiot. the passive on your ult pick the enemy with the highest killing spree and marks him as the villain, you deal bonus damage against him and your ult deals true damage, so an adc marked as the villain is an easy kill. when the villain is low enough to be killed by your ultimate a sword will appear above them and a sound will play.

These are some general tips on how to play garen, but every matchup is different. check the matchup tab for more in depth info


Early:
early game garen is pretty weak, so you should mostly work on last hitting, dont spin if you dont want to push the lane. use auto + q for short trades, or use q to get a quick cs and back off. if you get low just sit back and regen, you will still soak xp

Midgame:
once you get black cleaver your damage spikes up and you can trade more easily or go for all ins. push the lane whenever you can, use tp to help your team when needed. you should be able to take towers pretty fast with high cdr and zz'rot

Lategame:
you are the frontline but you cant stay there forever. when you get low retreat and regen all your hp back in 20 seconds. remember, just because someone is the villain doesnt mean you have to focus him.

if you loose lane you should stay near your tower and last hit, dont get greedy: if the minions are too far away just let them be. its better to loose a few cs then to die. get a deadmans plate or zz'rot before black cleaver and buy pots to stay in lane. keep your jungler as your friend and ask him for help but remember that you arent the most important member of your team so he might be busy helping mid or bot.

and spam your taunts and laugh to piss off your opponents :)