Talk:Garen/@comment-11045621-20140129002728/@comment-15244341-20140205155538

Note that Garen gets an extra 20% Armor and MR from his tank items. This is pretty much enough to cover for his mediocre stats at level 18.

His actual strength is in his trading (silence, 30% Damage Reduction and extra tankyness from items) and out of combat healing. Since most popular top laners (Mundo, Renek and Riven) use skills for trades, silence gives Garen the upperhand.