r/GarenMains

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Big achievement for me! Played almost exclusively with Stromraider's and the full assassin build (Stride - Ghostblade - Cyclosword - LDR)

Also spammed some Nasus mid and top towards the end of the climb after his buffs, with 75% wr on the champ, it's absolutely broken rn :D

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Hi Garen fellows!

Let's talk about boots. These are my assumptions, so please let me know your thoughts:

1. Generally, Garen buys either Swifties or Jonian boots. Swifties when 3+ range and/or against slows. Jonian for 3+ melees. 
2. Most of OTPs seem to agree that Berserkers are not worth it, not even after the recent buff. Is there any scenario where Berserkers are recommended?
3. 1st buy. I never prioritize boots over other items like long sword, ruby crystal, cloth armor. If I have exactly 300g, then I will buy boots. Should I prioritize a dagger instead?
4. If I have more gold (e.g. 650g), I typically buy long sword + boots. I like having tier 1 boots early so it tooks me less time to go back to lane. Should I skip them with another item?
5. Unless specific matchups (see below), I always prioritize Stridebreaker over tier 2 boots. Is this correct or are boots so critical for Garen that I should prioritize them in most scenarios?
6. MUs where I do prioritize tier 2 boots:
   1. Plated Steelcaps: Vayne, Tryndamere. Sett, Ambessa, Jax, Trundle?
   2. Swifties: Teemo, Kayle. Nasus, Darius, Mordekaiser?
   3. Mercs: Syndra, Anivia. Morgana, Zilean, ...?
7. Is there any scenario where tier 1 boots should be skipped until SB?
8. Any tips are welcome! :-)

Thanks for your help!

I have been browsing the League of Legends Universe pages of Demacia champions, moving alphabetically. Reading Garen's short stories I mentioned in the thread title really helped me understand him better as a character in the League lore. Needless to say I liked Garen before, but like him even more now. :)

I hope you can take some time and read them as well. You won't be disappointed.

Here are the links to both stories:

The Soldier and the Hag - Universe of League of Legends

For Demacia - Universe of League of Legends

Note: For Demacia is a bit of a longer read, but well worth it.

For me the way i judge Garen's ults is by how hefty the sword feels.

For that reason his most expensive skins are actually my least favorite when it comes to how much joy i get from dropping the sword on people's heads.

My absolute favorite is Warring Kingdoms by far the ''heaviest'' feeling sword and a fun fact about it is that it's the sword that sinks the deepest in the ground.

My second favorite is Visions of the Fallen.

And my third favorite is Battle academia.

Hi dear Garen mates!

Against which champs do you always rush grievous wounds (Executioner's Calling as 1st item)?

These are my no brainer:

• Warwick
• Aatrox
• Briar
• Fiora
• Renekton

And with these I have doubts:

• Vladimir
• Volibear
• Irelia
• Yone
• Yasuo

Special case: 

• Tryndamere: is it worth to rush it? Do you thinkt Bramble Vest is a better option than Executioner's Calling?

Which champs do you buy GW but not rush it (let's say after 1st item and boots)?

Thanks for your support!

Hello fellow garen mains ı am fairly new garen top player its been going good and ı started to win some games so far 12w - 6l i still strugle the carry the game on team fights my team usually have less then me some int some got behind and in team fights i found my self kill couple and die then we lose the game if i play more defensive mostly my team died and icant 1v5 how should ı carry games while i get good lanening phase how can ı make it to dominate game.

Got about 130 games on garen. I'm in irons Rn.
Struggling heavily with ranged tops. Feels like every game is a ranged top.

Last few games. Malphite, Teemo, Teemo, Vayne, Swain, Hiem.

Feels like all of them can just constantly poke me from way out of my range, and I can't make any trades. They also keep me pushed off minions ruining my CS since they can just start attacking me soon as I try and close any distance.

Even under tower, they can poke me if I try and just E all the minions quick to not lose CS.

Once I get stride its much easier, but theirs always so ahead by then because of keeping my CS low.

Any tips. Feels like range champs are constantly picked and this is just every game with garen.

For some context I’m a returning player that has spent the last 10 seasons in Silver-Gold divisions. After not playing for the past 2 years I’m now able to view the game differently. I’m learning things to deeper levels of understanding and implementing prior knowledge more consistently without just autopilot’ing. Now I’m about to promote to Platinum 2 after only 80 games this season.

I’m sure I’m not the only one noticing a much higher percentage of ranged top laners whether it be Teemo, Vayne, Varus, or others I’ve seen such as Jhin and Anivia.
The thing is, the gameplan when playing Garen is pretty much the same regardless of how hard a matchup is, or whether or not the opponent is ranged. Get to Stride, manipulate things in whatever way you need to in order to get ontop of your opponent, slow them, spin on them, and execute them with your Ult.

What I’m struggling with is: now that I’m progressively getting into higher and higher elo’s the Teemos I’m laning against no longer make the same spacing mistakes a bronze - gold player would. So… what am I supposed to be doing differently to over come this match up?

I truly believe I’m playing laning phase properly. Use my HP as a resource to get as much CS as possible, missing 0 exp, and often times finding a kill with ult and both summs. I still permanently have a gold disadvantage that only grows throughout the game. Down by 30 cs at 6-7 min. Down by 50 cs at 10 min, and then it normally plateaus at around a 65 cs lead once I can farm without inting for it. This also happens after he gets 3-4 tower plates up on me. I can never find a way to close this gold gap without team intervention since the only way I kill him is if I have flash and ignite up.

It just feels like there is no agency in this matchup, and there’s no way to out tempo or itemize better into it. Just hold your lane as long as possible and hope your team wins the game for you.

I plan on replying and having conversations through this thread, so any feedback at all will be very appreciated.

Just wondering what made you stick with Garen? Surely at some stage you wanted to try someone more technical ? Not the hero you start the game with ?

It was a little hard to tell because of all the spell effects going on, but I never saw it proc continuously like the description suggests. Might still be worth checking, but it doesn't look like it works.