Like remove that villain passive all together and give him something different and more interactive to work with? I mean i have no problems with Garen never had. And i actually tend to play him every now and then as a counterpick. But his vilain thing not only is toxic but it also doesnt quite reward him nor in lane nor in general.
Critmaster Garen2 votesi think garen could use some slight mechanical improvements regardless. that doesnt even mean kit changes, but just some tweaks to his animations.
however, if he is never going to be a very mechanical champion with a high mechanical skill cap in general (think yi, fiora, yasuo, riven, azir, ryze) who takes split second reaction and timing or a very long time to master certain ability combos, i think then riot should look into solidifying him as a strategic champion.
i think a really great example of a strategic champion would be the new 
who has exceptional map presence. other examples include 
whos almost entirely picked for his global ult IF hes picked. 
and 
are very strong strategic picks as splitpushers. 
is another good example as a jungler who wants to grab as many dragons as she can.
these champions are all not exceptionally mechanically difficult to play, but have a very clear strategic purpose.
for this purpose, it might even be a good idea to make garen more viable as a jungler, which is the most strategic role in the game.
the villainy passive attempted this already and i dont think the idea of making him an anti-carry against champions that are prone to snowball was a bad idea. i think it was a fantastic idea. it just needs more fleshing out and some work done on how it tries to filter for the largest carry threat on the enemy team.
i dont think they need to remove it, or even change anything about the benefits it grants. it just needs work on its targeting mechanism.
since riot is thinking about making more champions viable in a lot more roles in general, then i think jungle would be a good fit for garen as a secondary role especially because of the villainy passive. it might make it possible for him to turn struggling lanes around and just move to where the villain is, instead of being stuck in top lane, while his target gets further and further ahead on the other side of the map.
