Hi guys

I have played 4 games with the new Garen so far. The first 3 ended just before 30 minutes with my team surrendering, so I never got the chance to fully test out the new Garen. The fourth game we managed to win, but I was unable to take full advantage of Garen's scaling due to confusion in itemizing. Here are some of my thoughts.

Dorans Blade: I tried two games with it as the starting item and it didn't go well. Garen is no longer the early game beast it used to be and attacking enemy early on seems to be the best way to die soon. Buying this item early on no longer makes any sense.

Dorans Shield: The fourth game I played, I used this as the starting item and it helped me immensely. I was up against Nasus and Lee Sin with Heimerdinger as my partner and we were able to keep them at bay, though at some points when they managed to break free from our harassment, Heimerdinger got the raw end and I was unable to save him ... twice. But we managed to kill Nasus and Lee Sin at least once, so I guess that was a fair trade.

Shoes and pots: I tried one game with these and the starting was just ok. Nothing to be proud of, I guess it was good enough to survive but not good enough to make an impact on the Top Lane.

Ghostblade: I think this item has now become essential for Garen. I was able to take great benefit from Brutalizer's armour penetration as well as Critical Hits from Avarice Blade. The extra gp10 benefit also came handy and since farming has improved with Judgement, getting Ghostblade early on is definitely paying off.

Warmogs: I am slightly doubtful if Warmogs is the best defensive item for Garen or should Randuin or Guardian Angel be the primary choice. The old Garen benefited immensely with Warmogs and I definitely enjoyed some great defense with this item, just don't know if it is maximizing Garen's potential or not.

Atmas Impaler: I had great success with this item in the old Garen's build but never got the chance to finish this item on the new one. Anyone who has experimented with this item can you share your experience?

Now how about the rest of the build? Which ones of the following (or other items than these) do the gamers believe will help the new Garen?

Last Whisper
Infinity Edge
Frozen Mallet
Void Staff
Cleaver

Hope to get a good response from all those who have thoroughly tested the new Garen.

No offense but you should almost always start with pots n boots/cloth. Also being level 12 means your masteries will be meh and you wont have runes making things a lot worse.. I'm going to assume you're going top.

I've ran him as support for fun and i have a similar playstyle top. (I'll tell you top.) I run AD Marks, Armor Seals, MR Glyph and Movement speed Quints with a AD mastery page dipping into def for armor and health. (21/9/0) I start with boots/pots and Q..

I play him similar to the way I do Jax. Jax has his jump and stun combo for trades while Garen runs in with Q, silences and i spin as im getting away. I wont trade unless i know I'm going to win it. If you're far enough ahead and expect a jungler coming top and you can trade without using your Q, it enables you to get away safely if he does show up.

I like maxing R,Q,E,W and item wise it really depends. If I'm somewhat tied in my lane, I'll grab a few dorans on my first b. If im winning trades already and gotten a kill or a good lead in farm, I'll grab a ruby/sword (i like phage first, if you can only get one..I'd say ruby just for the extra health incase you get in a sticky situation) and get pots/wards. Then w/ phage, I get boots of swiftness and kinda gauge how the game is going.

If the enemy team is lacking armor I tend to prefer Brutalizer and if they're getting a ton of it I prefer to go with a LW. LW seems like an odd choice to finish first but it does allow you to clear a creep wave extremely fast and I start to roam when I get it. From there I turn Phage into a Frozen mallet and start going tanky from there. You can throw in an I.E. for more damage but I like being a tank from this point on.

I've tested new garen. Doran's Shield is a great pick for his sustain, Zeke's Fervor works really well on him so he can build his health up for his passive and get some nice sustain. Hexdrinker is really good on him too since it gives him more survivability against mages which is his main enemy. Wriggles Lantern and Wits End works really good on him since his W now scales with items better. Atmas/Warmog or FM works ok as well.

That is what I always did but the rework on Garen had put me on the defense and I experimented with the beginning items. I still try to do that, though for some reason I like taking Doran's Shield first. So far all the victories I had with the new Garen, Dorans Shield was the starting item.

Runes and masteries are also helping, but since I am level 12 there isn't much strength to gain but it is better than nothing.

You prefer tanky playstyle which is not odd at all as far as Garen is concerned. In fact, a lot of people have started choosing Garen as a support rather than fighter as it used to be and been successful at it. I still prefer to keep it fighter and not support, meaning I have to build damage early on. Phage is a good idea because Frozen Mallet seems to be an essential item for Garen. I prefer to finish Avarice Blade and Boots of Swiftness to take advantage of speed and crits, then finishing Ghostblade before deciding on getting tanky (Warmogs or Sunfire Cap), AD (IE), Flat Damage (LW) or speedy crit damage (PD). So far I have only tested getting Tanky or going for Flat Damage. Never once I managed to finish IE or gotten the chance to acquire PD since the game ends through surrender. I do hope I get to such a point to finally test out the new Garen to its max.

I have been facing trouble from mages. Apparently I am able to hold off strong melee opponents in the top lane and not letting getting farmed or fed as strongly as they would like ... but nearly each time one of the mages would get fed and make my life hell later on. Countering the melee opponents is tough enough, facing off the mages later on is another headache since it is harder now for Garen to decide on a build. He has to focus on defense (both physical and magical), attack damage, armour penetration and magical penetration to be effective in team fights and it sucks when you are doing so well against melee fighters and supports but end up dead when one mage decides you are the real threat. I get targeted so often now in team fights, it feels like 1 v 5 with the rest of my teammates wondering on the sideline why aren't they being attacked :s

I guess it is time to get Hexdrinker rather than going for armor when I see mages getting fed. Never tried Wriggles Lantern or Wits End, should try that as well and see where I land. My most used items so far are Boots of Swiftness, Ghostblade, Sunfire Cape and Dorans Shield.