I would like to play Garen. He's my favorite "toplaner". But he isn't viable enough for the top-lane. Can you change that please?
I don't feel like im asking too much, just please make him better. I don't see the harm in that.
Silverthane1 votesplz buff garerino pleasarino rito
GranspearZX1 votesHaving actually tried this pretty recently, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. It was only one game, and no one seemed to mind that I was top-lane Garen in champ select. I was against a Renekton, so I figured playing defensive was my best bet. Bought 
to start. Wasn't entirely too concerned about being zoned out of farm either, because I happened to be running gold quints (my rune situation is atrocious, but I digress). Even managed 1st blood because the Renekton I was laning against decided to try and dive me. It didn't become a problem until the jungler decided to help. And at that point, we were 4v5 (our poor Kog'maw didn't connect to the game at all)...
I can't really say for sure what's wrong with Garen. His viability seems like it's caught up on his lack of a real gap closer/escape, but does he really need that? I actually avoided a gank in that same game with Decisive Strike, but I'm not sure how well even that would have gone if the jungler was smart enough to bait it out and wait for me to use it on Renekton first.
I suppose what I'm really getting at is this: if you feel like Garen needs to be better, what do you think he's bad at and how would you fix it?
the Anarchit3cht1 votesNamely, I think they need to standardize the CD on his ultimate. IT does a lot of damage against tanks, but not in the early game where they don't have a lot of health. For many top laners, the early skirmishes are going to decide the whole flow of the fight. If they beat you so hard to where you cant effectively trade with them, then you won't get them at a low enough health to finish them off with your R. Apart from that, I think it'd be nice if his shield lasted a second or two longer. His Q is good, but the fact that it is tied to a basic attack and being his main damaging move hinders him greatly against champions who can block basic attacks. That is, Pantheon, Fiora... and maybe some others?
12tales1 votesNamely, I think they need to standardize the CD on his ultimate. IT does a lot of damage against tanks, but not in the early game where they don't have a lot of health. For many top laners, the early skirmishes are going to decide the whole flow of the fight. If they beat you so hard to where you cant effectively trade with them, then you won't get them at a low enough health to finish them off with your R. Apart from that, I think it'd be nice if his shield lasted a second or two longer. His Q is good, but the fact that it is tied to a basic attack and being his main damaging move hinders him greatly against champions who can block basic attacks. That is, Pantheon, Fiora... and maybe some others?
Jax is the third, although lolwiki claims that Counter Strike doesn't block Decisive Strike's damage, so I dunno. I assume that Blinds stop his Q as well, if you somehow end up playing against a Quinn.
But yeah, a better cooldown on his ult would definitely be a step up, although it wouldn't really address his core issues (as well as the core issues of every immobile melee).
the Anarchit3cht1 votesYeah, blind stops it. Quinn top doesn't see that much play... but the little bundle of satan 
does and he has an even more reliable(point and click) blind than Quinn does. Quinn's in a linear skill shot that can be dodged/body blocked etc. Teemo can just point and click aim and blind.
12tales1 votesGaren's in a kinda awkward position where he *can *do a bunch of damage, and he can be tanky as hell, but he can only really itemize for one or the other. As a tank, he's basically ignorable because he does no damage and doesn't really bring any cc to the table. As a melee carry, he's incredibly easy to kite and poke out of the fight (honestly, it's also pretty easy to do that to tank Garen, it just takes longer and there are probably better uses for your time). Also, his Ult's on a stupid long cooldown for what it does, and since it's magic damage for some bizarre reason, you can't realistically itemize penetration for it.
If you want a lane bully that falls off, pick Renekton or Lee Sin. If you need a super tank, pick Mundo or Shyvana. Garen's only real niche is his silence, and that's not really something you look for on a top laner.
HexSeal1 votesHe is a champ that is aimed towards lower level players to learn extremely basic mechanics. He was never meant to go past beginning levels. Also, "more viable top laners" as in one more viable top laner? Finally, tanks<assasins and bruisers right now in the meta so they might buff all tanks to give them a place, but I doubt garen will be a viable pick anytime soon.
Lneacx1 votesGaren is one of those low-counterplay toplaners. As in, if he catches you, he catches you - and there's nothing you can do to dodge it.
If he ever becomes strong, then he'll simply become the next Renekton. Garen, because of his low counterplay, squeezes out other options if he ever becomes strong.
DeSolu1 votesThing is, top lane isnt THAT small a champ pool. I recently saw a yasuo/oriana lane swap top. I also think we see trundle, shyvana, renekton, jax, and irelia on a regular basis in the lcs. I personally think that this is will change in worlds as pros will have time to learn new champs
12tales1 votesAatrox also saw a few games in Europe, and solo lane Kha'Zix seems to be making a bit of a resurgence. Top lane Lulu has seen some play as well.
Shyvana and Jax are still the undisputed king and queen of the lane, though. Especially in premade, a top laner who can't jungle from level one is basically asking for a 3v1 dive, which constrains the available champion pool by a fair margin.
NinjaFifer1 votesGaren is a champion that is designed to ease new players into the game. He has a low skill floor, and a low skill ceiling as well. A champion's damage and effectiveness is always based on their skill requirements, so, since Garen's is low, so is his effectiveness. What you are supposed to do is pick him up, learn the nuances of the lane, then move on to other champions.
Dax Ayrton1 votesMaybe he would be better if we shoe-horned in some CC. Garen already has to make a tough decision around his Q: "Do I want to use it for the silence and damage, or do I want it to cleanse slows and run away faster?". Maybe if we made him make that choice around his Ult: we give it the single target damage it has (maybe reduce it), but make it stun the target champion and knock away any enemies around the target, similar to a Gragas Ult. This makes sense thematically and visually, as the animation from his ultimate makes a giant sword rain down from the heavens and blast a shockwave from the ground. Maybe we can do something about this shockwave.
Dax Ayrton1 votesAlso, maybe make his Q cleanse all types of CC, rather than just the slows?
