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Recommended Items
Runes: Garen meta scaling
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Flash
Ghost
Chilling Smite
Ghost
Chilling Smite
Ignite
Items
Threats & Synergies
Aatrox
Good aatrox is very scary, can kite you and has kill pressure. If you get 6 at the same time, you can burst him (similar to darius). He is a lot easier to kill later in the game with a few items.
Ahri
Horrible to play against, can kite you forever. Flash Q and you can burst her at 6
Akali
If even, garen can very easily burst. She has outplay potential and can kill you very easily later if ahead.
Akshan
Way too much damage early for garen to handle, play safe and hope to burst him later
Alistar
Glacial is annoying to deal with, Q to cleanse alistar slow. If phase rush or aftershock, is not a problem in a team fight. W for tenacity.
Amumu
Can kill in jungle quite easily, especially with ignite. Has much more team fight presence. Invade with ignite if confident.
Anivia
If mid ban. Borderline unplayable if their keyboard is plugged in
Annie
Immobile, do not overchase due to stun + Damage potential. Easy early, can push and roam if mid.
Aphelios
If top, level 3 all in with flash ignite. Champ can be fucky at times top lane
Ashe
Kites you forever, Q can cleanse one slow and she applies it multiple times. Nightmare for a top laner. Should be ahead enough to kill entire game if you get on her. W her ult if possible.
Aurelion Sol
After rylais if the player is good he becomes a problem. Pre rylais you can kill him.
Azir
Constant high damage poke, would be ban worthy if anyone played. Better and safer team fight also.
Bard
Cant do much about you, one form of CC. W his Q and Q his slow on auto/q
Bel'Veth
This champion has ridiculous trades, have not played into it on garen but can most likely 1v1 with ignite jungle. Very scary if she gets ahead and there will be nothing you can do. Do not underestimate lane belveth.
Blitzcrank
You are often mobile enough to escape a hook / avoid it mid game, or tanky enough to escape. Watch out for level 2 gank top.
Brand
Out of lane brand is much scarier but in lane you can flash combo him quite easily.
Braum
Braum + Lucian will kill you unless very far ahead.
Caitlyn
Caitlyn is much better at kiting than people realise and she will ruin your game.
Camille
Good ban top lane, your full combo will not go through camille shield. Still go conq and attempt to survive lane. Kills with jungler are possible but a good camille will hold E. If they are bad you have kill potential with a few hundred gold lead + ignite R.
Cassiopeia
Another ban if mid or top. Borderline unplayable. Fleet + Mr runes if needed. Very killable with CC jungler. Take TP.
Cho'Gath
Chogath is a stronger laner than garen and will out trade you with grasp + his E. Killable with jungler / if he over extends. Chogath will often out sustain you due to his passive.
Corki
Killable due to his long cd escape. If he plays safe during his CD's he will be very hard to kill. You are able to burst him after level 6 with flash. Massively outscales.
Darius
You are unable to walk at the wave. Do not build tank as darius is naturally strong into tanks due to his passive stacking. IF you are completely even at level 6 with darius you can burst him with ignite and ult due to darius taking ghost instead of ignite. Your ult is much stronger than his at 6. His ult does not get much stronger until level 11 as it doesnt get stronger 6-10 unlike your ult.
Diana
Conq default build and you should be fine. Much scarier team fight. Do not underestimate early damage. Proper use of W should make fights easy.
Dr. Mundo
Mundo is harder now than he used to be in lane but should not be too much of a problem. Q to cleanse his Q slow if needed.
Draven
Draven top shits on garen if played well. Sacrifice minions if need be and kill him at 6 with flash.
Ekko
Scary if fed, otherwise eat him.
Elise
Silence her and kill her. Wary of stun + Follow up. If playing top be careful of dives although you are naturally good against them due to W damage reduction and tenacity.
Evelynn
Evelynn has perm map pressure due to invis, put down control wards or deep ward her camps if possible. against an evelynn you are able to burst her if playing jungle. Do not allow her to get into late game.
Ezreal
Ezreal top is miserable for garen and mid is very similar. A good ezreal will never let you get close to killing him and will poke you out of lane. Very killable if you catch him out and if he falls behind will be useless until 2-3 items.
Fiddlesticks
Terrifying team fight, quite weak early. Bring ignite jungle.
Gnar
Dogshit lane for garen. Good gnar always kites you. Overextending means you lose. Bring fleet if need be.
Gragas
Focus on farming and not killing him should be fine. Has good roam potential and teamfight. Killable at 6 if not ahead.
Graves
Bad graves will push lane with Q, Very killable if you dont get kited. Ignite R level 6. Make sure he does not get ahead as he scales very hard. Do not underestimate.
Gwen
Pretty simple until 6, Can kite you quite easily if decent. Q to get rid of slow avoid middle of her snip.
Hecarim
Does nothing into you, kill him. If ahead he can still dome you. He has much more gank and map pressure early also so be weary.
Heimerdinger
If top you can run past turrets and kill him quite easily. Play safe until he overextends. Give up farm if you need to. If mid it is somewhat harder as he has a turret to run to. With jungler you can easily kill as he has to overextend top to assert lane pressure.
Illaoi
Avoid E, quite easy to kill pre 6 if you do. Post 6 she is much scarier. Kill tentacles if they spawn while trying to bait her E. Do not fight in wave or around multiple tentacles
Fiora
Matchup is very 50/50 depending on if fiora is good. A good fiora will always beat you these days. If she parries your Q, you will die. Save q for cleansing slow if behind from her E, or bait the parry and then silence her. Ignite her ult and rush bramble vest in lane.
Fizz
Q E R, dies. Very scary if ahead
Galio
Gallio does a surprising amount of damage but you out duel him. Be wary of his map rotations. Punish his roams with your E max wave clear + decent tower damage.
Gangplank
Killable if plays badly. Fleet if you struggle with the matchup. A good gangplank is wildly different to a bad one.
Irelia
If you blow your combo into her W you die, make sure to W her W or engage. Pretty easy if you are on par with her. Can be very scary if ahead and she plays team fights well. Ignite + R easy kill. If she has stacks play off wave. Try not to let her freeze.
Ivern
Not vey scary champ. can be dangerous early with his roams.
Janna
Can provide escape for their team, predator garen mid with ghostblade doesnt care and runs past. Other builds, be wary of kiting.
Jarvan IV
Be careful of early levels high damage with grasp + passive but you should be able to out damage and all in him level 3. If jungle, run at him and kill him with ignite.
Jax
Level 1 you can E his counter strike and if he oversteps, kill him with ignite. With the new lethal tempo i think this is no longer optimal. Play safe. Be wary of his 6 + 3rd hits
Jayce
50/50. Jayce feels a lot weaker these days but can wipe you if ahead. Be wary of poke and give up wave if you need to. In order to bully you early he needs to use a lot of mana
Jhin
Immobile, galeforce + Flash mid game makes him avoid you "enough". Burstable. Gankable also, but be weary of his W and make sure to W it in response.
Jinx
Jinx will shred you late game but is a very easy early gank/roam target. Watch out for traps + W slow. Do not let her scale up.
Kai'Sa
Kites you with invis and can 1v1 you later in game if she plays well. Evolved q does a lot of damage, try to W it if possible.
Kalista
Kites you forever, a good kalista player is very scary. Very burstable.
Karma
Very hard top matchup, perma kites you. Swap with mid if possible.
Karthus
Harder than it would first seem. All inning is risky due to his E damage. Play safe if you can not play vs. For jungle, he usually brings exhaust so be weary. Try to not trade kills.
Kassadin
Quite killable pre 6, not easy to burst after 6 before he ults away. Silence ruins his kit in team fights -> try to silence him. Very scary late game.
Katarina
If playing vs mid, be weary of electrocute damage. At 6 she is very easy to all in if you silence her.
Kayle
Very unfun lane. Requires minimal kiting skills from kayle. IF she uses q, Q cleanse her slow and all in her. Pre 6 very easy. If ahead continue to dunk her the entire game. 2-3 Items or level 16 she becomes very scary. Do not trade level 1 (especially if she has lethal). 3 points in E then Q max recommended.
Kayn
If top, do not trade level 1 into kayn as he will win. Level 2 onwards you win 1v1 until red form. You one shot blue kayn if you engage first. Against kayn jungle bring ignite and all in him river.
Kennen
Kennen players vastly vary. A good kennen player is hell to lane against due to poke. He is very squishy and killable with flash combo. Bring sustain.
Kha'Zix
Killable jungle with ignite advantage after a few points in E + R.
Kindred
Kites you like crazy, Q + R after ult to instantly kill her if she doesnt kill you first. Silence cripples her in team fights but she should space well v you. Beware of invades if jungle, will kite you without ghost jungle.
Kled
Pretty easy matchup for garen, esp after kled changes. Be weary of kled level 2/3 powerspikes and wait until 6 if you do not know the matchup well. Garen ult is very effective v kled.
Kog'Maw
Kogmaw shreds you but is immobile. Very hard to play against in team fights. If top, call jungler and camp ranged.
LeBlanc
Will kite you forever.
Lee Sin
If v top, very close matchup but he wins overall. You will outscale at 6 if you have not given him kills. If jungle he is still very scary, especially with early item spikes. Also has more jungle pressure than you
Leona
Careful for level 2 roams, watch for leona at bot scuttle, enemy jungler will 1v2 you.
Lillia
You can parry the sleep. Horrible champion to play against and has a lot of all in potential. Try to farm
Lissandra
Weirdly hard to lane against a good lissandra. Be weary, hard to all in champ.
Lucian
Will kill you top. Sustain runes
Lulu
Lulu top can kill you if you underestimate it. Shouldnt in general.
Lux
Should struggle to kill you but has self peel. Very squishy if caught out
Malphite
Not the best lane for malphite. He wants to play into attack speed / champs with 0 sustain. Play smart and farm. If he goes arcane comet watch for his poke. If he goes tank, your e shreds his armour.
Malzahar
I have trouble with malzahar top but typically the matchup isnt too bad apparently. Mid you have little kill pressure on him solo.
Maokai
Maokai tends to out sustain you with his passive and has very good gank setup for his jungler. Play smart and farm in this lane.
Master Yi
You can easily burst yi early mid game with Q E R and ignite. After an item or two he becomes very scary unless you are big.
Miss Fortune
E reapplies slow while you are in it so you get kited pretty hard. Can't kill you for awhile. Very burstable.
Mordekaiser
Unplayable if he has a keyboard. Bring TP and try to farm. Otherwise you can go grasp and try to outpoke him pre6. Another potential ban as he is a common garen counterpick.
Morgana
Annoying, you have kill potential on her mid but the fun will be drained from you.
Nami
High damage support, watch for damage + cc if you gank bot.
Nasus
You stomp nasus early and can snowball over him the entire game if you keep him in check. If he E's the wave, let it push to you. If you push the first wave you instantly lose the matchup as he can freeze. Minor threat if kept in check, Major if not. Make sure to get mortal reminder + black cleaver.
Nautilus
Multiple forms of CC are a weakness of garen as his tenacity only lasts for a very short time, to be used on a single piece. Nautilus is a very scary support.
Neeko
Can kite you and does a lot of damage. Do not underestimate and watch for her ult.
Nidalee
Nidalee top is a joke, nidalee jungle is scary if she is ahead. Otherwise should be fine unless nid is a smurf.
Nilah
Champion is wildy overtuned in current patch, Can probably parry garen Q much like jax or fiora. Be weary of this champ.
Nocturne
Can 1v1 you top and jungle if he spell shields your silence. Try to not proc his shield to give him extra attack speed. I believe noc top was nerfed but do not underestimate.
Nunu & Willump
Out ganks you the entire game, team will flame you. Has better objective taking also. Can 1v1 fairly easily if you dont get kited.
Olaf
Garens kit is perfect into olaf, he loves being low hp and garen loves hp targets. Ult him in team fights and survive lane if top to win game. If jungle be very careful and watch for invades
Orianna
Do not trade autos, has a lot of poke and team fight potential. Do not try to all in as you will likely get kited.
Ornn
If ornn freezes you will have a miserable game. He has a lot of damage potential so do not underestimate him. His team fight is wildy better than yours also. He is killable but only if he is very bad.
Pantheon
Pantheon will full combo you and shield away. A good pantheon is horrible for a garen to play into. Post 6 you outscale him if you can survive his initial combo. Do not give him kills and respect his stacks, similar to renekton.
Poppy
Typically a very easy matchup but one trick poppy players that can fully utilise grasp are very scary. Watch out for electrocute early damage and buy some cloth armour if she goes lethality. Otherwise very easy.
Pyke
Pyke can not build hp, he is very killable especially as your E shreds his naturally high armour
Qiyana
Very easy to kill unless she has a lead. Scary with an item or two but silence destroys her kit.
Quinn
Unplayable, you can't interrupt her E with your Q. dodge/ play safe under tower all game. Hopefully she roams instead of making your life miserable. Kites you the entire game, especially if she goes phase rush.
Rakan
I hate this champ.
Rammus
You help shred him with your E but you struggle to kill him solo without a lead.
Rek'Sai
One of the few characters i have not played. Strong early so be careful i guess. Has a lot more jungle presence than you early game.
Rell
Does this champ still exist? She can remove your 80 hp shield with her q.
Renata Glasc
Doesnt affect you that much as you are more ability focused/tanky
Renekton
Winnable if renek is bad, play around his fury. Very hard matchup early if renek knows what hes doing. IF he has W empower level 2-3 he can all in you and kill you. If enemy is stacking AD, this is a matchup i would take steelcaps into. Killable after 6 if he misplays. You outscale.
Rengar
Be careful of one tricks playing this top. Very hard champ to play against if the player is good. take ignite vs this jungle.
Riven
Very easy if riven is bad. You outscale riven at 6ish if she isnt ahead you can 1v1 her. Be careful of her early levels. If she gets a lead you will lose. Bring ignite top.
Rumble
Terrible lane, bring fleet. He will constantly poke and pressure you and has good team fight.
Ryze
A good ryze will kite you forever top and a mid ryze will outscale. He will prob not engage with you and instead focus on farming. Much scarier if anyone actually played ryze.
Samira
Silence her in a team fight and burst her to shut her down. Can kill you mid-late in a TF. Often gets fed w/ naut support etc.
Sejuani
Constant CC - High damage. Can be scary with short trades top lane and can kill you +1 jungle.
Senna
Senna will kite you forever. Mid-Late she will chunk you. If people decide to play this top you can burst them with flash.
Seraphine
Seraphine top is rarely played but you can easily outplay it. Sera mid is a lot of poke, try to farm and scale up to solo kill her at 6 with flash.
Sett
Not difficult matchup if he doesnt go lethal + bork. Avoid his W with E ghosting if possible or use Q when he is low so he can not shield and then R. Matchup more complicated if he brings ignite also but plays the same.
Shaco
Shaco top is terrible into garen, you can burst him. Against him jungle, he can outplay you but your burst is much higher. Care for his invade.
Shen
A good shen is ass to lane into. If he backs up in lane, walk at him to stop his ult with your Q. Avoid E and Q. You can pnish shens rotations and bad wave clear by pushing him in, forcing him to stay or fall behind; Failing this will allow shen to freeze ruining your lane.
Shyvana
Early top lane is weak as is her early jungle. Respect her level 1.
Singed
You eat singed, don't get kited and you will be fine. You have enough wave clear and sustain to stay in lane while he proxies if you need to.
Sion
A good sion is moreso even but a typical sion can be easily killed by garen. Your E naturally shreds his armour and your Q stops his Q from charging. Grasp is viable here also.
Sivir
A lot more damaging mid/late vs you and can still kite somewhat.
Skarner
Barely played skarner, is a very strong top laner if played well and has a lot of impact with his ult. Be weary
Sona
Not much of a problem.
Soraka
Very hard for garen to burst targets if soraka is good. Ignite advised.
Swain
A lot of poke and damage in lane, If he gets ahead he is very hard to burst and can kite/kill you very easily
Sylas
If even garen can burst/out trade sylas with ignite + r. If sylas gets ahead garen will start to struggle if sylas builds correctly
Syndra
High damage long range control mage. Will never kill her if she plays safely. High poke mid.
Tahm Kench
Tahm kench is still a menace for garen top lane. Support can peel well for adc.
Taliyah
Should be able to kite you + High poke. Can catch her out and kill her with full combo
Talon
Easily 1v1 jungle if you both have ignite unless you get outplayed somehow. Scarier in lane if you misplay you will get punished.
Taric
Hard to burst, game changing team fight. Great peel.
Teemo
Matchup is harder after teemo buffs, dorans shield + fleet + second wind + revitalise and try to farm until 6 / stridebreaker then you can solo kill Engage with stridebreaker -> E -> q to avoid the q being blinded. Not worth banning vs other top laners. If mid, you will struggle to kill him.
Thresh
Annoying but killable.
Tristana
Can actually kite you fairly easily with W + R. Only catchable with mid predator build. Can burst you with long range mid/late game.
Trundle
Can 1v1 you the entire game, can kill him level 6 with ignite + R if are even on farm. DO NOT Fight him level 1 or he will three shot you.
Tryndamere
Go tank and he will struggle to kill you unless he has 2-3 items. Plated Bramble + randuins
Twisted Fate
Pretty squishy and low damage
Twitch
Can burst you out of invis mid/late. Very squishy early. If jungle, invade him repeatedly as he has a low hp clear, watch for his level 2 buff into gank.
Udyr
Udyr is very strong in 1v1s, respect his level 1.
Urgot
Very hard matchup if you do not rush wardens mail + plated steelcaps. Becomes very easy if you have wardens mail until he has 2-3 items.
Varus
Can kill you late, weak early to all ins.
Vayne
Good vayne player will always kite you and make your life hell. After lethal changes, vayne top is much scarier. Worth a ban if you can not play against it. Fleet advice with Q max. If she leaves lane level E to push.
Veigar
Harder to all in than other champs due to your melee range. If you get on him and he wastes E, you can easily kill him.
Vel'Koz
Will shred you in team fights mid / late game. Borderline unplayable. I tend to ban this or azir mid.
Vex
A squishy mage jumping you is fine out of team fights for garen. Make sure to W her engage to stop the fear + damage. If she gets ahead she still stomp your team.
Vi
Vi + 1 will kill you. You should be able to burst her if you have the jump jungle. Vi lane has decent poke with E max but sacrifices all in. You win all in vs vi. if top.
Viego
Burstable early game. If fed he will easily 1v1 you with his Q passive damage. He does not need a huge lead to 1v1 you.
Viktor
Horrible to play against and will poke you out of mid. Ban worthy.
Vladimir
Pretty easy matchup with flash ghost if mid. Burstable if top also. Respect his Q2 and the bonus move speed he gets from it. Late game he is much scarier.
Volibear
You outscale level 4-7 (ish) with pta voli. Lethal volibear with full AP massively outscales you and will splitpush the entire game with rift/nash/hull. All in level 6 with ignite + greaves and you can not lose as long as he is not fed. If jungle he has much more early jungle presence.
Warwick
Very scary top lane, do not try and duel. If jungle he has much more presence. Bring ignite.
Wukong
One of garens easiest top lane matchups due to double conq stacking. If jungle he has more pressure and better team fight. He scales very hard. Make sure to not ult the clone. if electrocute, be careful of early top trades.Do not fight level 1
Xayah
Can outplay you in team fights.
Xerath
If fed will do damage. He can not roam without risk. If he tries, either follow his roam or push in his wave with E max.
Xin Zhao
You can 1v1 xin with ignite fairly easily. Will kill you if ahead
Yasuo
Do not fight yasuo pre6, he can outplay you easily and kill you. At level 6 all in him with ignite and you will kill him before he can cast Q3 due to your silence. If you take too long he will ult you and kill you. If he gets ahead you can not 1v1 him.
Yone
Easier to deal with due to the lack of shield, however if you start losing he will snowball harder. Punish him trying to all in and burst him.
Yorick
Horrible matchup, a good yorick will kill you and take your tower repeatedly. Do not try and trade without grasp as you will lose. With +1 you can kill yorick due to your ult. Jungle gank every time he has ult up to put it on a 2min cd
Yuumi
Garen struggles to kill anyone with a yuumi on.
Zac
Multiple instances of CC are disliked by garen. %Hp damage also shreds garen fairly fast. If top, you can run him down repeatedly.
Zed
If he gets ahead this is unplayable. If even or ahead of him, when he jumps on you burst him with silence. Rush plated / armour
Zeri
avoid W and she isnt a champion. If fed she will kite you and kill you
Ziggs
A lot of poke, if you dodge his first lane's worth of poke you should be fine. If you start dying he will take all your towers. Be careful engaging him due to his 2 forms of peel.
Zilean
If he revives anyone you ult, you lose a lot of power in team fights. Currently very strong right now also.
Zoe
Never had a problem with zoe however, a good zoe is very scary.
Zyra
Horrific to play against, will kite you forever and has very good team fight and damage
Karma
Speed up + Added Survivability
Zilean
Very good with speedup and revive, especially if you are fed
Yuumi
Makes garen unkillable if ahead.
Ashe
ADC with catch/slow helps for picks
Morgana
Catch
Pyke
Pyke top roams lead to free kills for garen
Elise
Top ganking jungler, when elise is strong, good duo
Blitzcrank
Catch
Amumu
Amumu sup / jung, more catch for garen
Thresh
Catch and peel
Twisted Fate
Gank setup for garen in lane
Sejuani
Good teamfight + ganks
Alistar
Good CC setup for garen + catch potential.
Aurelion Sol
Good top roamer. (Will be reworked soon)
Karma
Speed up + Added Survivability
Zilean
Very good with speedup and revive, especially if you are fed
Yuumi
Makes garen unkillable if ahead.
Ashe
ADC with catch/slow helps for picks
Morgana
Catch
Pyke
Pyke top roams lead to free kills for garen
Elise
Top ganking jungler, when elise is strong, good duo
Blitzcrank
Catch
Amumu
Amumu sup / jung, more catch for garen
Thresh
Catch and peel
Twisted Fate
Gank setup for garen in lane
Sejuani
Good teamfight + ganks
Alistar
Good CC setup for garen + catch potential.
Aurelion Sol
Good top roamer. (Will be reworked soon)
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