Garen vs Darius

Nam Tsedom Tsom·2/7/2016, 8:21:40 AM·1 votes·833 views

As a G2 player (as of end of last season) I find that these match ups never go even. One player will usually annihilate the other (usually based on the Darius's skill level and how well he can time his Qs and Es) through kills or at least CS and positioning (positioning as in to stop the other player from CSing). Anyone find it any different? Have you ever really came up in a draw against a Darius/Garen as Garen/Darius? Both players having the same experience (approximately) and gold?

Any thoughts anyone would like to share on this match up?

P.S. I find the same thing happens, more or less, against Rivens as well. Not complaining, just something I've noticed!

2 Comments

redniwediS2/7/2016, 9:57:45 AM2 votes

As a Garen main I find that matchup very challenging. The goal is to either snowball with the help of ganks, or survive until mid game where the goal changes to being more useful to your team than Darius is to his team. Even in that latter case Darius usually pulls ahead in lane, but falls behind afterward far enough that I can safely fight him one on one.

The big problem is the raw power Darius has early on. Later in the game, with both being equal, it's actually a close fight, but Darius has that early advantage and can easily snowball on his own.

Just end the lane phase as soon as possible, get your allies into a better position by roaming and giving them kills (you're Garen, all you need out of the ganks is a little experience and no deaths), and you should be good to go. If your team does well Darius will be forced out of top lane by his own team needing him. If your team doesn't pressure objectives he may very well stay up there for long periods of time throughout the mid game when he still has the 1v1 advantage on you.

Make sure to time these roaming ganks well so you don't miss out on too much farm from your own lane, otherwise Darius will become a menace you will never be able to fight. If these ganks fail your allies will not be in a better spot and you'll be forced to return top where you are at a disadvantage and can be easily zoned. Remember that the reason Garen does anything in team fights is because his damage makes him a threat to the enemy team. If you fall behind you are not a threat, and you will do literally nothing besides secure kills with your ult.

TLDR: Assuming equal skill and knowledge Darius has the innate advantage, but Garen can scale harder. Who is winning only flip flops, there is never a middle ground at any stage of the game where they are equal.

EDIT: I've not really felt the same thing with Riven though. It does feel fairly one sided for a while, but if you play safe early the middle stage of the game always feels incredibly even, with fights being decided based on who makes a mistake rather than who has hit what power spike. That's just my experience of course.

Nam Tsedom Tsom2/7/2016, 5:46:23 PM1 votes

Certainly a very apt explanation. I wouldn't say I main Garen per se, but I definitely do have a lot of games played with him (150K mastery level hello) and that was really well said.

Edit: I would say that about Riven merely due to the snow balling capabilities. With both champions needing to play melee style to do anything (such as CS or harass) it usually leads to an aggressive game in the early game which I find leads to snow balling and someone having clearly won the laning phase (whether it be by a 30 cs advantage or 2-3 kill lead). At least in the elo I play in anyhow!