Garen shouldn't be a thing

And I don't just mean this mini-rework, I mean Garen **himself ** shouldn't be a thing. I know people will be quick to tell me to "git' gud," then to point out how weak a champion he is and all his downsides, which are true, but still. From the biased perspective of a top lane Ekko one trick, all I've experienced with Garen would lead to him being described as such:

• Unkillable in any 1v1 after around level 12.
• Capable of killing any squishy within a handful of seconds if he can get atop of them.
• Mobile despite claims of him being immobile. He **can **catch up to you if you only have a single dash.
• Extremely stat-y.
• Incredibly hard to push out of lane.
• Foolproof.

Obviously, a different reality appears when he's faced against a dominating champion built for the top lane, but that's the issue. Not every champion is built for the top lane. In regards to other lanes, the thing with Garen is that his counterplay dwindles into nothing more than the fact that he's melee. There's nothing to dodge, too much tenacity, no way to burst him down, and no answer to be given when he and his silence are atop of you. What I mean to say is, Garen has a ton of strong points meant for him to keep pace with other top laners, but it's too much for midlaners. He's the epitome of a statcheck and I'd argue a bigger one than Tryndamere.

https://lolalytics.com/lol/garen/?lane=top&patch=9.19 Prior to his rework, midlane was arguably his best lane and there's a reason for that and it's the points I've listed. It's very telling that a champion has too many stats when they're an "immobile" melee yet still find success against ranged mages. Especially so because many of these mages(Veigar & his cage, Neeko & her snare, Viktor and his gravity field, etc) should counter Garen on paper, but his numbers just don't allow it.** To have numbers high enough to invalidate his counterplay to this extent is NOT healthy. **

The only reason midlane is currently not his best role is that his spin is stronger and top lane gives him more opportunities to spin atop his enemies, and shaving off a bit of his innate tankyness has made him a bit more susceptible to burst.