For Demacia! Garen is a real fighting machine on the toplane. As a tanky bruiser, he charges at his opponents in the front row, is good at taking damage and equally good at dishing it out with his mighty sword.

With his skill set, Garen is a good choice against top laners who build up a lot of armor, such as Malphite. This is because he can use his E and the “Black Axe” item to melt away the armor of opponents in no time at all. This is particularly helpful later in the game when you crash into a group of enemies with your E. You yourself will deal a manageable amount of damage against the frontline, but you will have massively reduced the armor of all enemies that you have hit at least 4 times in the turn. This is an invitation for your ADC in particular to fire at your opponents.

But Garen is not only strong against tanks, he is a strong laner in general. He dominates other melee fighters who can withstand less, such as Irelia and Yasuo.

Later in the game, Garen can also be really annoying for the opposing team as a split-pushing Sidelaner. He can chop up towers relatively quickly and use his Q to run away from opponents. When Garen is well in play, it always takes several opponents to get him down. If this happens, it opens up freedom for his team on the rest of the map.

If you’re looking for an easy-to-play top laner with lots of good lane matchups and high carry potential, Garen is the one for you!