Garens a pretty BS AD Top Laner, that is really easy, and really hard to deal with. Truth hurts, doesn't it? It's pretty complicated to deal with someone that can build AD, and still be tanky, or build tanky and still do damage. In this guide I will teach tips and tricks to being the best, and most annoying player to lane against using the champion Garen.

To combo as Garen, you usually want to initiate with your Q. Right after you catch up with them and smack them with your sword, use your E to spin in their face. If you haven't done enough damage yet, try to repeat the two steps whenever applicable, until your able to execute them with your R. Remember, your Ult does more damage the lower health they are, so try and get them as low as possible before ulting, within reason, without letting them escape.

You should also remember that your W reduces a lot of damage, and also reduces crowd control effects. If you see, for instance, a Cho'Gath Q spawned right under you, use your W right before it strikes so it doesn't keep you airborne for as long. You can also use it to escape when you are slowed.

Another thing to note is that since Garen uses no mana, you can use his Q to get to places faster, as it speeds you up. (NOTE: It doesn't speed you up for the full duration of the Q until Level 5, but I still max it second, as your E can do much more damage)

When playing as early game Garen, your matchup decides how you play. If your enemy is squishy, and/or doesn't have too many escapes, you are able to play more aggressive. If your enemy is a bruiser like normal, try to play a bit more passive, fighting back whenever they attempt to initiate. Remember that mixed with Dorans Shield, your passive gives you tons of health regen. When also combined with a potion, your health regen is unreal, since you are able to make trades with someone, and recover easily. This puts you in a very good position to zone and attack your enemy. Try to keep them from the wave, and get them scared to go in since they are so low. Don't go all in on an enemy where you could easily die. You could just keep your advantage and go back to base to buy items, teleporting right back. (I do not buy a second Doran's Shield as Garen because of his passive)

After you have a lot of items to try out, you should be more free to move in. Use AD Garen to execute enemies quickly, using your Q+E+R combo. If you are using Tank Garen, you should be able to do tons of damage to people running away from you, and even in some cases dive under tower, using your ult to chase, your e to do damage while chasing (if your q is off cooldown) and your ult to finish the job. Usually by then your Q is right back up, providing a quick and easy escape.

Garen can be considered an assassin in some cases because of how he preforms in teamfights. Garen is able to Q to quickly initiate a tower dive. After silencing, his E can preform quick damage, and an R to finish them very quickly. They can also use W so that no CC gets in his way, exiting or initiating. (It's important to remember that you can't do this that well to targets that are tanky or at at a high amount of health. Targets that are at low health after surviving are very vulnerable.

Otherwise, in teamfights his CC is very good. Using your E to hit as many targets as possible, and letting your team do the rest. You can also use your Q to initiate, as well as silencing key targets the the APC. Along with this, your W can keep you alive because of all the damage reduction. If any targets become low enough, you can easily execute them to remove them from the fight.

Garen is also an exceptional split pusher, since you are able to wave clear with your E.

Remember to use your Q to prock towers. Autoattack the tower, and right when the damage hits, activate your Q. This creates a [Smash]-[SMASH] that creates lots of damage in a small amount of time. He is also able to tank turret for his team, and for himself if need be.