Best Garen counters in League of Legends: Strategy, tips, and how to come out on top

Garen is one of the more annoying champions to go up against in League of Legends. Players can fight consistently in the lane due to his passive, which heals him when not in combat, and also the fact that you can use a variety of builds on him and still carry the game. You can play him as a bruiser, in which he is nigh impossible to kill, or a glass cannon, that will one-shot you before you can even get an ability off. But, as with all champions, some counter him. Below, you’ll find a list of the best Garen counters in LoL!

Best Garen counters: How to counter Garen

If you want to master the art of countering Garen in League of Legends, you need to understand the strengths he possesses. Garen loves to fight from close range as he is a melee champion. He jumps in, deals a ton of damage thanks to his Q, which silences champions hit, and his E, which many players call ‘spin to win’ (he spins for a few seconds, dealing constant damage and can proc crits!).

To counter Garen, you need melee champions that can out-sustain him or ranged champions that will never allow him to get close. Historically, many ADCs, such as Vayne, Quinn, or even for a brief period, Tristana, were viable in the top lane; these are the type of champions that can poke Garen out and keep him from healing up due to his passive. Now, let’s look at the current five best Garen counters in League of Legends.

Tryndamere

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Tryndamere counters Garen in many ways, with the first being sustainability. Although Garen enjoys quick bursts and healing through his passive, Tryndamere can take much longer trades, and heal up with his Q if he needs. If the rage bar is fully stacked, Tryndamere will shred through Garen’s health bar. On top of that, Tryndamere can negate Garen’s ultimate through his own undying ultimate.

As the game progresses, Tryndamere turns into a split pushing monster, meaning someone, if not Garen, has to go and deal with him; otherwise, he is going to take your towers and inhibitors for free. In an isolated one-versus-one in the late game, Tryndamere has too much health for Garen to burst through.

• Read Also: Who are the best Jinx counters in LoL?

Darius

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When you think about the type of champion Garen is in League of Legends, you normally will have Darius in the same conversation. If you’re looking for another meatball to take down Garen, then Darius is your pick. For starters, his bleed passive completely shreds through Garen’s healing, so even if he disengages, he won’t heal up as the bleed will mean he is still technically in combat.

If Garen wants to try and go in with his Q and E combo, Darius can simply pull him in with his own E and turn that fight around. It will cancel the abilities of Garen, and then Darius completely owns the one-versus-one. While Garen prefers to run Ignite over Teleport, Darius players use Ghost, as this Summoner Spell will come in handy for the scenario we just described.

Teemo

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This is where the range problems come in for Garen, and it comes from the ‘most toxic’ champion in League of Legends history. Teemo divides the community, perhaps for his innocent yet small appearance, but in reality, he is a menace to any melee champion looking to dominate the top lane in LoL. Teemo is the ultimate poke champion. He has a long-range auto attack that applies poison, meaning you’re not only being auto-attacked to death, but your health bar is consistently decreasing in the process.

And once Teemo can get some items under his belt, Garen doesn’t stand a chance. Like Garen, Teemo also runs Ignite. Meaning if they get into a longer trade, Teemo is going to win out on that one. Also, even if Garen can close the gap on Teemo, Teemo’s Blinding Dart blinds Garen, meaning he can’t auto-attack for an extended period, the worst feeling possible for a melee champion.

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Kayle

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If you were to imagine Tryndamere as a ranged champion, they would be Kayle. Everyone fears the level 16 Kayle powerspike, and for good reason. At that point in the game, she completely wipes the field with her range and attack speed. Even in the lane, she can slow Garen down to a point where his all-in potential has been completely eradicated.

On top of that, she has an ultimate that stops her from dying, normally just after Garen presses his ultimate, which can execute from a certain health. Kayle also heals, which means any healing Garen can do is matched by Kayle. In the split push game, Kayle can clear the waves faster and take down turrets at a much quicker rate than Garen can, meaning he will have to match whatever lane she shows up in.

Gangplank

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Gangplank is another champion that scales very well in LoL, so much so that he earns more gold than Garen even if the lane is 50/50. His Q passive provides extra gold, meaning he will get to his core items faster than Garen. GP can also poke with his Q, which deals a lot of damage once you can get some items under your belt. Gangplank’s barrels are a great zoning tool to stop Garen from doing any burst damage.

Furthermore, they do an incredible amount of damage if you can chain explode multiple of them. And if Garen is going the glass-cannon AD build, he is going to be chunked out and potentially killed if Gangplank has his ultimate available. In the teamfights, GP can also use the ultimate to slow Garen down while also providing good damage to lower his health before he can do anything to GP’s teammates.

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