Garen has a 45.1% winrate in diamond
Please listen to what I have to say. I mained Garen since level 5 and I took him to diamond. I grew very attached to him. When riot announced the juggernaut update I was really excited. However, I don't think he deserves to currently be at a 45.1% win rate in diamond. He's not like Gnar who brings a lot of tools to a team fight. He rarely even fits into pro play, so why should he be so weak in solo queue? He doesn't have Azir's or Xerath's range. He doesn't have Maokai's cc and ability to protect his team. The champions I've listed also have below 50% win rates in diamond based on current data from leagueofgraphs (if they are an unworthy source I'm just bad. Please forget my post). However, I can see how they could be really strong in pro play. What I don't see is how riot justifies keeping Garen so weak with the nerfs he has had (move speed, q duration, w cc reduction removal, early judgement damage diminished, base armor and armor per level). At level 18, 2 thirds of the "bonus" armor he gets from his w go to matching his base armor with Darius's. What's worse is that he only gets to be a juggernaut against one fifth of his opposing team. Darius gets to be a juggernaut on anyone he wants if he gets 5 stacks, or more often, if his team feeds his ult a kill.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I have a guess as to why riot makes him so weak. It's because of who he counters. "Riven?" you all ask. No. He counters bad players. Now I'm not saying this a some sort of pride parade to show off. I'm saying this because I have a point to make. Once again referencing lolgraphs, we can just go from bronze to silver to gold to platinum to diamond. Garen's win rate steadily decreases from 52.5% until we hit 45.1%. As an additional note that you guys will have to trust me on, I played Garen when the juggernaut patch came out. During the time I only remember his win rate in diamond which was around 52%. For a champion who had just been buffed, that was really good on Riot for balancing him the way they did. I mean they were right on the money. However, I checked his win rate in bronze at that time, and although I don't remember it exactly, it was horrendous. I mean nnndjustessaa was raining down from the sky. This in my opinion, is why Garen got nerfed. Garen was to easy for people to pick up and beat people at lower levels of play (THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING WHATEVER YOUR DIVISION IS). and so they dropped the nerf hammer on him. Unfortunately, from a balancing the game perspective, this justification is unfair.
The one thing we all walk onto the rift with, is our champion's potential. Everyone has this. You, me and every challenger player who has ever lived. When I play against people, I take into account what my opponent can do before I engage him not what they might do. I plan on that summoner to do everything his or her champion can do to win. Therefore, when I decide to engage on someone, I do so by sizing myself up against his or her potential, not how well I expect them to play. An example would be never trying to decisive strike Fiora as Garen when she has parry up (unless she is mid lunge). Because I know my q is telegraphed even if I wait until I'm on top of her to attack. I know she has the time it takes for Garen to jump in the air and the POTENTIAL to parry. Even if she isn't fast enough, I don't know until I try and by then it's too late. This is why riot needs to balance around champion potential especially with juggernauts who don't have many escapes. If we make a bad decision we can't hop over a wall. We're dead. I personally believe that with a champion with Garen's kit and a win rate of 45.1%, there aren't enough good decisions to make. We're simply waiting for our opponents to make a mistake. The problem is Garen doesn't have the tools to force that mistake, and at higher levels of play they're too much of a rarity for Garen to be viable. Please do something to balance Garen. He really needs it. Thanks for reading what I had to say. I really appreciate it.
