FULL AD GAREN OR FULL TANKY GAREN??

crossps1·Sep 9, 2018·1 votes·2,925 views

Hey guys i just started playing league and i want to know does Garen better as full damage or full tanky? Thanks in advance! :)

7 Comments

Sona PingSep 9, 20181 votes

Neither. A damage item then the appropriate defensive items is the normal route for his kind of champion.

Joe 2ndSep 9, 20181 votes

DFG Garen is the best build

[poppy-wink]

GabresolSep 9, 20181 votes

I mean... If you want to play him the most effective way possible, you will be trying to get item 3071 first. From there you got straight tank, but include item 3053 All tank items are good that don't give mana, for obvious reasons.

Need Gold 4 TentSep 9, 20181 votes

Triforce+one of the LW items into tank used to be decent but idk about after the Q nerfs.

KarangSep 9, 20181 votes

[{quoted}](name= crossps1,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=iB4WW1Ew,comment-id=,timestamp=2018-09-09T07:05:11.700+0000)

Hey guys i just started playing league and i want to know does Garen better as full damage or full tanky? Thanks in advance! :)

The "cheese" build right now is where you take Grasp of Undying as keystone, build first item trinity force and then you max Q first and proceed to take free wins left and right, your Q with a grasp proc and trinity force is like half of someones health bar and you can walk away and they can do absolutely nothing because of Q silence.

The CD reduction from Trinity Force first item plus maxing Q first makes it so you can literally use this constantly and there's almost no counter play because his Q gives him a speed boost so when they step up to CS you Q auto them and the silence makes trading back impossible so you literally just run back to safety unscathed.

Honestly after Trinity Force is complete you can basically build however you want. I personally like the health on hit damage build. Steraks Gage, Titanic Hydra which makes you so damn tanky and then the rest tank items like Spirit Visage, Deadmans Plate and Righteous Glory is incredible for the double speed boost since you can Righteous Glory into your Q and you not only get a silence but a slow it makes for nuts Flash Q engages, or you can throw in a Guardian Angel if you are feeling fresh and of course boots are always situational but you can run Swift Boots if you are getting kited too hard. After the nerf I'm not a big fan of Ninja Tabi and Merc Treads give you that yummy tenacity but my issue with that is your W gives you 60% tenacity for the first .75 seconds (also damage reduction) so you should never be bursted down nor CC'd to death if you time that W like a pro. Which is why I personally think Swiftness Boots are the way to go just to give you that little oomph of speed.

So to recap - Max Q first, Trinity Force first item and make sure you at least just take Grasp of the Undying. Examples of builds - Trinity Force, Righteous Glory, Steraks Gage, Titanic Hydra, Spirit Visage, Boots of Swiftness -Trinity Force, Steraks Gage, Titanic Hydra, Warmogs Armor, Spirit Visage, Boots of Swiftness -Trinity Force, Deadmans Plate, Spirit Visage, Warmogs Armor, Steraks Gage, Swiftness Boots

There is also the really risky all damage Garen if you are feeling frisky, I don't recommend it but you can build stuff like Stormsurge, Infinity Edge, Duskblade, Youmuus Ghostblade, Guardian Angel and just try to one shot pewpew people. Plus you still have a nice amount of tankiness from W and gathering a little bonus health from grasp and overgrowth.

As for summoners I hate hate hate teleport on anyone in the top lane unless you are in high elo where team play is really organized and having that TP is essential. For the most part the CD is so long and opportunities to utilize it properly are very rare I suggest avoiding it overall and just going ham with ignite, most people underestimate the level 1 and 2 damage of Grasp Garen, after your 3rd or 4th grasp Q they shouldn't have any potions left and will most likely still stick around to soak up XP go for the flash Q ignite E first blood surprise, if you have to tank a turret shot or two, hold onto your W for the second turret shot don't activate it immediately, save that clutch W for the instant the turret auto will hit you and it will be reduced by 60% you should walk away clean and free even if you gotta tank a turret shot or two but yeah I definitely recommend ignite, I mean something more utility like ghost or exhaust CAN work but its a little meh since Garen already has a sprint in his Q and reduces damage taken from his W so exhaust and ghost seem a little wasted to me.

NOW, weaknesses and what to watch out for. GAREN DIES HARD TO KITE and he can fail miserably against ranged and poke champions, any mastery 7 Teemo, Jayce, Kenen or just any ranged top laner that knows what they are doing and has experience playing Garen will know how to abuse you and kite you hard and there is nothing you can do, farm best you can and try to stay relevant until team fights and find a good roam (this is the only time I may suggest taking teleport so you can try to find a great teleport play somewhere on the map) also be weary of sustainy bruisers like Mundo, Darius or Yorick as they have nasty trade backs and can tank Garens bursty style of play and will most likely go for the kill if you try to all in. One of my favorite champs vs Garen is Darius both sides of this matchup have tons of outplay potential and same with Yorick.

Now with all that being said, I don't play the Trinity Force Grasp Garen lol. I play the more old school max E first rush Black Cleaver and spin to win. I get Black Cleaver and then Spirit Visage or Righteous Glory depending on their comp (those are my core items tho, Cleaver, SV and RG) then I will, according to situation, build either Steraks Gage(if they have a lot of burst), Warmogs Armor if they aren't gonna kill me too easily and I can walk away alive to regen and get back in the fight after a bit, Titanic Hydra if I am really well ahead and want more damage, Adaptive Helm if they have an annoyingly fed mage with a lot of spam like Cassiopeia or Katarina or Teemo and I like Guardian Angel for that last item slot just to take an almost impossible to kill monster and make it so they have to kill me twice.

All in all Garen is extremely versatile and you should adapt him to your playstyle. All of the stuff I recommended are just suggestions for you to use as a vague outline. I hope the tips and pointers I shared help you out, I wish you the best in the rift my friend. Send me a message in game if you ever have any questions, need help or just want some 1 on 1 practice.

-Straight up Edge

Need Gold 4 TentSep 9, 20181 votes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8zkpb-0CHw

Top Garen in NA, and he doesn't use grasp. This video was specifically about the Aatrox matchup top lane, which is no longer really relevant because they gutted Aatrox but he did explain the different setups he ran on Garen.