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Garen Counters: Who Beats Garen

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Garen counters are top laners who keep him at arm’s length, because everything he does needs him next to you. He’s a 175-range fighter with a silencing Move Speed burst, a shield that scales into resistances, a spin that deals physical damage around him, and an execute ultimate, so range, slows that outlast Decisive Strike, and a way to deny the execute beat him.

We picked these five by reading his patch 26.21 abilities against theirs. Stat sites had no say.

Garen counters: Garen, The Might of Demacia, splash art

Why is Garen hard to counter?

  • Perseverance (passive): if he hasn’t recently been struck by damage or enemy abilities, he regenerates a percentage of his total Health each second.
  • Decisive Strike (Q): a burst of Move Speed that breaks all slows on him; his next attack deals bonus damage and silences the target. Cooldown 8 seconds.
  • Courage (W): passively, killing enemies raises his Armor and Magic Resist. The active gives a shield and tenacity for a brief moment, then a lesser damage reduction for longer. Cooldown 22/19.5/17/14.5/12.
  • Judgment (E): he spins his sword around his body, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies. Cooldown 9/8.25/7.5/6.75/6.
  • Demacian Justice (R): an attempt to execute an enemy champion. Cooldown 120/100/80.

Garen is simple and that’s the problem. Decisive Strike closes the gap and silences, Judgment does the damage, Courage keeps him alive through the answer, and Demacian Justice finishes whoever is low. Lose a trade? He walks away, Perseverance regenerates a percentage of his total Health every second he isn’t struck, and he’s back to full before you are. What does he not have? Range, a dash, or any crowd control beyond the silence. He has to walk to you at 175 range, and Decisive Strike’s Move Speed is the only thing that makes the walk short, which is the opening every pick below is built around.

Which champions are the best Garen counters?

Teemo

Blinding Dart (Q) blinds the target for its duration, and Decisive Strike is an empowered attack, so a blinded Garen swings his silence at nothing. Toxic Shot (E) poisons On-Hit, dealing damage on impact and each second for 4 seconds, which is 4 seconds in which he’s being struck and Perseverance can’t start. Move Quick (W) keeps Teemo faster than a man who has to run at him, and Noxious Trap (R) leaves mushrooms that slow and poison anyone who steps on them (mushrooms are patient). Thing is, Decisive Strike breaks slows, so the mushrooms are for after it’s used, not before. 500 range against 175 does the rest. Simple as that.

Quinn

Vault (E) dashes to the target, slows it, briefly interrupts it, and lands Quinn near her maximum Attack Range away, which is a reset button against a champion who just spent Decisive Strike to reach her. Blinding Assault (Q) hinders the target’s vision and damages everyone nearby, Harrier (passive) marks targets for bonus physical damage on her first attack, and Heightened Senses (W) grants Attack Speed and Move Speed after she hits a marked target. Behind Enemy Lines (R) flies her around the map at great speed. From 525 range she pokes, he walks, she vaults, he walks again, and in practice that’s the lane until he gives up and farms (it always happens).

Kayle

Divine Judgment (R) makes an ally invulnerable. An invulnerable target can’t be executed, so the Demacian Justice meant to end the fight ends nothing. Radiant Blast (Q) pierces through enemies, slows them and reduces their resistances, which is the answer to the Armor and Magic Resist Courage stacks over a game. Celestial Blessing (W) heals and speeds up Kayle and the nearest ally, and Starfire Spellblade (E) deals bonus damage based on missing Health. The catch is Divine Ascent (passive): she only gains Attack Range, Attack Speed and the waves of fire as she levels, so the early lane is 175 range against 175 and he wins it. Survive that and the matchup flips.

Gnar

Boomerang Throw (Q) damages and slows and comes back to him, Hop (E) leaps away and bounces off anything he lands on, and Hyper (W) gives him Move Speed for hitting things, so Mini Gnar kites Garen in a lane where Garen’s only gap closer is a Move Speed buff. Rage Gene (passive) then turns him into Mega Gnar, who stuns with Wallop (W) and throws everything around him with GNAR! (R), stunning anyone who hits a wall. Funny enough, Decisive Strike breaking slows helps Gnar as much as Garen, since a Garen who used it to clear the boomerang slow has no Move Speed left when the Hop goes the other way.

Darius

Darius doesn’t kite Garen; he out-fights him (the old-fashioned way). Apprehend (E) passively ignores a percentage of the target’s Armor, which is a direct answer to the resistances Courage builds, and the active pulls Garen back in when Decisive Strike tries to take him out. Hemorrhage (passive) stacks bleeding on every attack and ability, up to 5 times over 5 seconds, so a Garen who walks away to regenerate is still being struck and Perseverance never starts. Decimate (Q) heals Darius for champions hit by the blade, and Noxian Guillotine (R) deals true damage that grows with each Hemorrhage stack and refreshes on a kill. To be fair, the first silence still lands. It just doesn’t buy Garen what it usually does.

How do you play the lane against Garen?

  • Keep hitting him. Perseverance only regenerates while he hasn’t recently been struck by damage or enemy abilities, so steady poke turns off his passive.
  • Slow him after Decisive Strike, not before. The Q breaks all slows on cast, so a slow landed early is wasted and one landed late pins him.
  • Step out of Judgment. The spin damages nearby enemies only, and anything beyond melee range isn’t nearby.
  • Don’t sit low in lane. Demacian Justice is an execute, and a half-Health top laner under his own turret is still a target.
  • Deny the Courage stacks. Killing enemies raises his Armor and Magic Resist passively, so a Garen who’s allowed to farm freely is a Garen who becomes a tank.

Which items counter Garen?

Armor handles Judgment and Decisive Strike, both of which deal physical damage. Plated Steelcaps bring 25 Armor and reduce incoming damage from attacks by 10%, which covers the silencing attack but not the spin. Frozen Heart’s 75 Armor and 400 Mana suit mages who lane into him. For attackers, Black Cleaver carries 45 Attack Damage, 400 Health and 20 Ability Haste, and Carve cuts a champion’s Armor by 6% per hit of physical damage, up to 5 stacks for 6 seconds, which is how you get through the resistances Courage keeps adding. Perseverance is a regeneration, and regeneration is what Wounds exist for: Executioner’s Calling applies 40% Wounds for 3 seconds on physical damage for 800 gold and builds into Mortal Reminder; Oblivion Orb does the same for magic damage. Dead Man’s Plate is the kiting item, 350 Health, 55 Armor and up to 20 bonus Move Speed while moving, with Unsinkable cutting slows by 15%. The silence has no item answer except Mercury’s Treads and their 30% Tenacity. Everything here has a page in our item database, and Sunfire Aegis is where tanks who plan to stand in the spin should start.

When is Garen at his weakest?

With Decisive Strike on cooldown. For 8 seconds he has no Move Speed burst, no way to break a slow and no silence, which on a 175-range champion means he can’t reach anyone who doesn’t want to be reached (which is everyone). Count the Q. Every ranged top laner’s game plan is eight seconds long and starts the moment he uses it.

And when he’s spending Courage. The active gives a shield and tenacity for a brief moment and then a lesser damage reduction, and at rank 1 it’s on a 22 second cooldown, so a Garen who shielded through your last poke is a Garen without a shield for the next trade. Honestly, most of the matchup is bookkeeping. Q down, W down, go.

If the top lane itself is still a mystery to you, our guide to LoL roles lays out what the position asks for and why. The Garen ARAM guide covers the Abyss. His cosmetics live on the Garen skins page. Put simply, the best Garen counters never let the walk end, and a Garen who never arrives is a Garen who never spins.

FAQ

Who counters Garen the most?

Top laners who kite him or deny the execute: Teemo, Quinn, Kayle, Gnar and Darius.

Can you stop Demacian Justice?

Kayle’s Divine Judgment makes the target invulnerable, which stops the execute entirely. Otherwise the answer is not being low enough to execute when his ultimate is up; its cooldown is 120 seconds at rank 1.

Does Grievous Wounds work on Garen?

Perseverance is a regeneration, and Wounds reduce healing, so Executioner’s Calling, Mortal Reminder or Oblivion Orb slow his recovery between trades. Keeping him in combat stops it outright.

Does Darius counter Garen?

Yes. Apprehend ignores part of his Armor and pulls him back when Decisive Strike tries to leave, Hemorrhage keeps him in combat so Perseverance can’t regenerate, and Noxian Guillotine deals true damage.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. Each pick comes from reading Garen’s patch 26.21 ability text against the other champion’s kit, without any statistics.