NERFPLZ.LOL
Garen champion portrait

Garen Build

Jungle Tier 3

Patch 26.21 · Silver+ · 2,112 gamesUpdated

43.6%win rate0.1%pick6.1%ban

Who counters Garen

How to build Garen

Berserker's Greaves→Stridebreaker→Phantom Dancer→Mortal Reminder

Berserker's Greaves → Stridebreaker → Phantom Dancer → Mortal Reminder

36.7% win rate 13% of games 196 games
RunesPrecisionConquerorTriumphLegend: HasteLast StandSorceryAxiom ArcanistCelerity40% of games
SpellsFlashSmiteFlash + Smite91%
Skills
123456789101112131415161718
Decisive Strike
2891012
Courage
1314151718
Judgment
13457
Demacian Justice
61116
StartHealth PotionGustwalker HatchlingHealth Potion, Gustwalker Hatchling
Full Garen build →
43.6%win rate
Patch 26.20: 41.9% over 4,820 gamesPatch 26.21: 43.6% over 2,112 gameswin rate, 26.20 to 26.21
38.0%at Emerald+
0.1%pick rate
6.1%ban rate
Holdingsame as last patch
37.1%under 22 min
48.9%over 32 min

Garen Jungle gets worse as the elo rises. 43.6% across Silver and above, but 38.0% once you look at Emerald and up. Sites that only sample high elo will show you the second number. Both are real; which one applies depends on the games you are actually playing.

Want the written version? Our Counter Series breaks down how to actually play against champions like this, not just who wins on paper.

Recent games

Taken from as high up the ladder as this pick gets played. 9 from Master and above, then down the ladder as far as Diamond — Garen Jungle is not played often enough at the top to fill 10 games on its own.

Loss 30–35m
MASTER+
Garen champion portraitJ GarenvsKha'Zix champion portraitJ Kha'Zix
4 / 6 / 5

Build

Gustwalker HatchlingBoots of Swiftness|Stridebreaker→Phantom Dancer→Youmuu's Ghostblade

Spells & runes

SmiteGhost|

Skills

EQWEEREQEQRQQWWR
Win 25–30m
MASTER+
Garen champion portraitJ GarenvsGraves champion portraitJ Graves
5 / 3 / 7

Build

Gustwalker HatchlingBoots of Swiftness|Stridebreaker→Youmuu's Ghostblade→Voltaic Cyclosword

Spells & runes

SmiteFlash|

Skills

EQEWEREQEQRQQW
Loss 20–25m
MASTER+
Garen champion portraitJ GarenvsKha'Zix champion portraitJ Kha'Zix
5 / 7 / 1

Build

Gustwalker HatchlingBerserker's Greaves|Stridebreaker→Phantom Dancer

Spells & runes

SmiteFlash|

Skills

EQWEQREEEQRQQ

Runes

The full page most players run, not just the keystone.

Most popular 42.5% win rate · 40% of games · 701 games
PrecisionConquerorTriumphLegend: HasteLast Stand
SorceryAxiom ArcanistCelerity
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling
Runner up 46.7% win rate · 30% of games · 529 games
SorceryStormraider's SurgeAxiom ArcanistCelerityGathering Storm
ResolveOvergrowthSecond Wind
Shards Adaptive Force · Adaptive Force · Health Scaling

Summoner spells and early items

What people bring, and which ability they max first.

Summoner spells
pickwin
  • FlashSmiteFlash + Smite91%42.6%2,033 games
  • GhostSmiteGhost + Smite8%49.2%189 games

Boots and the other slot items that do not count as finished items in the full build below.

Boots
Berserker's Greaves59%Boots of Swiftness31%Mercury's Treads6%
Berserker's Greaves most often · 43.5% win rate
Jungle pet
Gustwalker Hatchling89%
8 of 9 recent games started Gustwalker Hatchling

Garen build

The items players finish, in the order they end up in the inventory.

  1. Phantom Dancer1st
  2. Stridebreaker2nd
  3. Mortal Reminder3rd
9% of games that reach a third item take this path40.7% win rate140 games
Every slot, boots and full build for Garen →

Every slot, boots and full builds

Patch 26.21 · 2,187 games with a finished item

Slot by slot

Boots

Berserker's GreavesBerserker's Greaves
56% · 43.7% win rate
Boots of SwiftnessBoots of Swiftness
29% · 42.6% win rate
Mercury's TreadsMercury's Treads
6% · 44.5% win rate
Plated SteelcapsPlated Steelcaps
5% · 43.5% win rate
No bootsNo boots
2% · 50.0% win rate
BootsBoots
2% · 50.0% win rate

Most common full builds

  1. Phantom Dancer›Stridebreaker+Berserker's Greaves4% of games · 35.9% win rate · 92 games
  2. Stridebreaker+Berserker's Greaves4% of games · 25.8% win rate · 89 games
  3. Stridebreaker›Phantom Dancer+Berserker's Greaves4% of games · 35.4% win rate · 82 games
  4. Phantom Dancer›Stridebreaker›Mortal Reminder+Berserker's Greaves3% of games · 26.8% win rate · 56 games
  5. Stridebreaker+Boots of Swiftness2% of games · 31.9% win rate · 47 games
Where these numbers come from

We read finished ranked solo queue games directly from Riot and keep a running tally. Nothing is copied from another site.

Matchups compare Garen against the enemy champion in the same lane, counting only games where both were actually there. The counters list pulls each matchup toward Garen's own win rate by 180 games' worth of it, then keeps the ones still under 50%. A matchup seen thirty times barely moves off the champion's average, and one seen a thousand times keeps close to its own number.

Every number here is followed by the games behind it, because that's what tells you how much to trust it. A win rate over a few hundred games is worth reading. The same number over thirty is mostly luck.

Recent games show what was built and who won. They never show who played. Rank is grouped (Master and up is one band), game length is rounded to five minutes, and there's no region or date on a card.

Every ranked game we read this patch adds its finished items here, boots aside. Items are listed in the order they sit in the inventory, which isn't always the order they were bought: a finished item takes the slot its first part was in.

Compare a win rate only with the other picks in its own slot. A fifth item mostly shows up in long games, and those skew toward the team that was already ahead, so late slots run hot whatever sits in them. A row needs 30 games before it shows up at all.

Built from real ranked games this patch. We keep the running totals, never the games themselves.

Read More About Garen