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Playing Against Garen
TopPatch 16.2.1
What They Do
Manaless juggernaut who excels at short trades and executing low-health targets. He uses to gap-close and silence, to ignore burst, and to shred armor. If you don't poke him, heals him to full.
Abilities (What to Watch For)
| Ability | What You'll See | What It Means For You |
|---|---|---|
| Green healing particles around his body | He regenerates 1.5%-10.1% max HP every 5 seconds. This is disabled for 8 seconds if he takes damage from champions or epic monsters | |
| Garen's sword glows and he runs faster | He cleanses all slows on cast and his next auto silences you for 1.5s. Do not use your slows until AFTER he presses this | |
| A golden shield and aura appear around him | He gains a shield and 60% Tenacity/Damage Reduction for the first 0.75s, then lesser damage reduction for the remaining 4s. Never dump your combo into this | |
| He spins rapidly with his sword | Deals physical damage and shreds 25% of your armor if hit by 6 spins. It deals 25% more damage to the closest enemy, so stay near minions if you must tank it | |
| A massive sword falls from the sky | A point-and-click True Damage execute. It deals base damage plus 25/30/35% of your missing health. If you are under 25% HP, you are likely dead |
Respect
- !Flash + + →This is his primary kill pattern. He silences you so you can't Flash or use defensive spells, then executes you with True Damage.
- !Active timing→If he times this against your main burst, he negates almost all your damage and gains massive Tenacity to walk away.
- !Armor Shred from →If you stay in the spin for the full duration, your armor is reduced by 25%, making his follow-up or significantly more lethal.
- !The 'Vanish' into Bush→Garen will often duck into bushes to reset his . If you lose vision, he's basically resetting his health bar for free.
Punish
- +is on cooldown (23-15s)→This is his only defensive tool. Without it, he is surprisingly squishy. Force an all-in or heavy trade immediately.
- +has been used to move→If he uses to last hit or close a gap without hitting you, he has no way to cleanse your slows. This is the time to kite him.
- +Early Game (Levels 1-3)→Garen is quite weak before he gets all three abilities and some levels. Bully him off the wave to delay his passive stacks.
- +Post-Trade →After a trade, land a single auto or ranged spell every 7-8 seconds. Keeping his passive on cooldown is the only way to win the lane via attrition.
Laning Tips
- •Never use your slow (like Nasus W or Olaf Q) until he has already activated , otherwise he cleanses it for free.
- •Stand inside your minion wave when he uses to ensure he doesn't get the 25% 'nearest target' bonus damage on you.
- •If you are playing a caster, take Bone Plating to mitigate the burst from his engage.
- •Keep the wave on your side. Garen is very susceptible to ganks if he has to use to run all the way back to his tower.
- •Building health is slightly better than pure armor against him because deals True Damage and shreds armor.
- •If you see him activate , stop your combo and wait 0.75s for the initial shield and massive damage reduction to fade.
Teamfight Warning
- ⚠Ward your flanks; a Garen running at your ADC from a bush with Flash is a guaranteed kill.
- ⚠Do not stack on top of each other. His can shred the armor of your entire frontline at once.
- ⚠If your health drops below 30%, get out. His is point-and-click and cannot be dodged once the animation starts.
- ⚠Peel for your carries. Garen has no dash; if you land CC after he uses , he can be kited indefinitely.
- ⚠Be careful near jungle chokepoints where his AOE damage is impossible to avoid.
AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.2.1 • Cached