Changes A Garen Player Would Like To See

Hello, it is my intention with this post to have a discussion with other players as well as some Riot developers to see what changes should and can be done to Garen. I will first start out with what I feel are the issues currently with Garen, then move on to what I like with Garen, and then finally state what I feel should be done to improve on him. BUT before all of that, a little bit about myself as well as why I love Garen so much.

I am Alloni Lionward, currently in my promos for Silver 3 (one win in) and consider myself a Top Laner who is pretty awesome at Support, but struggles with the other roles in the game. My most played champion is Garen in ranked. If you look at my lolskill, I am quite a bit better than the average person with Garen. When I first started with this game, I was drawn toward him as soon as I seen him. Why? Because I play the same type of character in every game given the chance. When I play WoW, I play a Warrior or a Paladin. What about Diablo? Barb. So when I first started playing League, I was drawn to Garen. I loved how powerful he feels with his large sword, and his Lawful Good identity. Being able to charge into the team and, if the don't respect me, I will be able to crush any one of them.

1. What I think is wrong about Garen's current state: A. Garen's skillfloor-skillcap difference: I know Riot has said Garen has a very easy skillfloor and it makes him a good champion for learning, but it is really hard to distinguish a good Garen from a great one. There is much to be desired for someone who mains him to really show just how much better he is at Garen than the average player. I also understand that it is hard to make a "easy to pick up, hard to master" that is balanced, but I do not feel very satisfied with the current state. As I mentioned, I am better than the average Garen player, but besides the "You have slain a champion" how do my allies as well as my opponents get to gauge my skill? Garen doesn't exactly have a lot of potential for #outplay moments so those fighting me don't understand my skill level. I am just doing what Garen does more effectively than others, but it is not very impressive. There is a clear difference between fighting an okay Zed and a great Zed. You can see this in the way he uses his shadows, his preparation and timing, etc.

       B. Garen's mobility. This is not just an issue with Garen but all immobile champs in the game. It just isn't easy being very slow when facing a lot champions you just can't catch.  Yes, you can cleanse a slow and increase your movement speed with your "Q" but when there are ADC's who can run away far better than most bruisers can chase, you cannot do a whole lot.  Caitlyn can jump away. Jinx can self peel. Tristana can knock back and leap away, etc. It also does not help that your "E" slows you down if you happen to run into a minion. I won't waste any more time on this because we all know this one is bigger than just Garen.
   
      C. Garen's scaling into teamfights. I love how strong Garen is in lane, and I love the playstyle of Garen, but what does he exactly bring to a teamfight that another bruiser can't? The new passive buff does give him this relentless feel that is something unique and increases a reason to pick Garen over another champion, but what else can be done?
   

2. What I like about Garen:

       A. Garen's lane presence is fantastic. He is arguably the best lane bully against ad casters, and can completely shut down those he counters. For example, Garen can destroy Raven (someone who can scale extremely well into late game) as well as Renekton (someone who is a lane bully, and strong in the early game). 
   
      B. Even with all this strength in lane, Garen is not overbearing. He has clear weakness that allow other players to be able to work around his strength. For example, Garen does do well against melee casters, but he struggles against ranged champions. He can be kited easily and beat down if he is not very careful.  This gives your opponent a very clear idea one what to play if you first pick Garen.
   
     C. Garen's scaling, while I think needs fixing, is not all bad. Even if you lose lane and don't get kills, you are still effective later in the game. Some champions fall off the face of the earth if they don't snowball. Fiora is a good example of this. Unless she gets fed, she isn't someone to really fear. So, when playing as Fiora, you are constantly looking to get kills and snowball because if you do not, you become useless. Garen however, even when he doesn't do well in lane, he can still kill the enemy ADC/APC. 
   
   D. I love Garen's playstyle. I love the feeling of charging into the enemy team and absorbing all their damage, but never stop coming. I love the feeling of smashing my sword into the ADC/APC and spinning into he team, dealing a lot of damage and finish off the high priority target with my ultimate.  To me, it is the most satisfying playstyle and something I don't want to change.
   
   E. Garen has a very versatile itemization. He can use crit, armor pen, armor shred, damage, tackiness, and health all to great effect. I can build him so many ways that I always have something to try. 
   

3. Changes I would like to see done.

   A. I think one change that should happen is to give his "W" a higher skillcap. Allow it to extend the duration with the amount of damage he is taking, or extend the amount of damage reduced by the amount of damage he is taking (both?!). This would allow him to still be tanky and allow new players a way of defending, but give more experienced players a greater tool for survivability.

   B. I think Garen's "E" should no longer reduce his movement speed. He is already immobile compared to most people, he can use a little bit of extra help in the movement department. I also think his spin should have its cool down stat when used, and not when the ability ends. This will make it scale better with cool down reduction.

   C. Garen's Ult should have a little something extra. Garen has an ult that is an execute but it doesn't have a reset ability, or the ability to kill more than one person like other execute ultimates. Giving it something that incentives his ultimate over other ultimates of the same kind would be a healthy change (as long as the change is not overbearing). An example would be that; when he uses is ultimate, it lands with so much force that it causes a massive discharge of force that knocks enemy champions away from the blast and slows them as well as stuns the person hit if they lived (maybe too much like Leona?)

In conclusion, I love Garen but there is a lot to be desired in my mind. I would love to hear other players ideas as well in a similar fashion as I have (what you feel is wrong, right, and what you think should be done) I would also love to hear some Red's on the current state of Garen and what they think should be done with him and his kit.