I traded out BT for sword of occult when I realize how bad I was going to wreck the other team. When you go 6-0 at 13 minutes, get a sword of the occult.

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The goal of these runes is to keep you alive, so you can F**K **** up. With his "Courage" you have plenty of early game damage-blocking power, and the runes make it even more powerful the longer the game drags on. Throw some armor pen in there for early game harass/damage and you are all set.

The masteries complement the runes/skill set for Garen.

PROS:
Tanky as all hell.
If you utilize his passive you should never die in laning phase.
He has some of the best harass in the game.
Due to his no mana, any champion you lane against with mana will have problems.
Lots of CS.
KS ult of doom.


CONS:
Most ranged champions will mess him up.
His spells all require you to get in close.

Use your "Decisive Strike" to last hit if you are going to miss some CS. It has a relatively low cooldown, and you don't use mana, so who cares about spamming it.

His "Courage" is realllllly good for farming, you should be able to take out all of the caster minions when it is level 3+. And the rest will get messed up too.

Don't be afraid to harass, last hit minions, then run over with Decisive Strike, and run away.

Seriously, Garen is over powered if you have the slightest idea how to play him. Harass, and CS go hand in hand while laning, make sure you harass as much as you can. If you are a little low on HP, back off for a bit, let your passive kick in and heal you up. Minions don't shut it off, but everything else will.

Best thing in the world with Garen is to run up with Decisive Strike and use Courage as soon as it lands. If done right you will silence then, and have enough speed boost to get through most of the spin, while they are silenced the whole time. It is ridiculous.