Talk:Garen/@comment-5414313-20120913190014

Okay, guys, I want to share this with you all, since you're all a lot more experienced than I am.

Garen's my favorite champion, like ever, and he's the one I hope to one day be known for. I've been doing a lot of theorycraft over the past few months, and like all good theorycrafters, I've been trying to temper this with what limited experience I have.

I want to detail my strategy and build for Garen and see what you guys think. So here goes.

The general philosophy of Garen in lane since the update is to out-sustain your opponent.

Garen is no longer about doing damage in lane, rather, he's now incredibly good at shrugging off damage and lodging his sword in the enemy's face in return. It's through negating enemy damage that Garen outdamages his enemy.

Skill order is R>Q>E>W. Decisive Strike is your main harassment tool, escape, gap closer, source of damage - it's amazing.

9/21/0 is the mastery setup I run, maxing Hardiness, Tough Skin, Vigor, Indomitable and putting 2 points in Resistance. I don't personally use Enlightenment, but I feel this is personal preference more than anything.

For runes, I run flat armor reds, yellows and quints, with flat MR or Shielding blues. I prefer flat MR because, in theory, it should help Garen's early game more. If you need more MR than this, you'll likely be building a FoN or Maw, either of which should be more than enough late-game.

The flat armor allows Garen to spawn with 61 armor. Combine this with a Doran's Shield, and Garen is sitting at +11 Health Regen, 71 armor, and +120 HP without a single point in Courage at level 1. With a point in Courage at level 2, this is roughly 85 armor, effectively turning Garen into an immovable wall.

What this does is allow you to build an early Warmog's because your armor/MR will be so high already.

I typically rush Youmuu's Ghostblade, since Brutalizer is still a great choice for him and Garen just spirals out of control with it. Then I go for Mercury Treads and Warmog's.

After Warmog's, I might build a Last Whisper, grabbing either a Null Magic Mantle or a Chain Vest, or both, maybe before completing it.

The thing about Infinity Edge is that it just doesn't do enough for Garen to justify its high price. Whenever I build it, I notice it, but I always think to myself, "I could do without it. Last Whisper is probably better." And I honestly believe it is.

The reason I believe this is simple. You -need- armor penetration, even with runes (which is why I don't bother anymore). You don't -need- anything the Infinity Edge can give you. I just feel Atma's combined with a Last Whisper will yield more DPS. Maybe I'm wrong on this.

That Chain Vest eventually becomes an Atma's, and that Null Magic Mantle a Maw. Items like Force of Nature and Quicksilver Sash are also very good here for specific situations.

And that's how I'd run Garen. I'm curious as to what I did wrong here, if anything.