When you can afford it, build your Phage into a Black Cleaver. This will be Garen's ideal first essential item because of the extra health and cooldown reduction it provides. For your selection of proper boots, go with either Mercury's Treads or the Ninja Tabi. If the enemy team has a lot of crowd control abilities that can slow Garen down, the Tenacity from both Mercury's Treads and Courage will greatly lessen those effects. If the enemy team relies on dealing damage with basic attacks, go with...

When you can afford it, build your Phage into a Black Cleaver. This will be Garen's ideal first essential item because of the extra health and cooldown reduction it provides. For your selection of proper boots, go with either Mercury's Treads or the Ninja Tabi. If the enemy team has a lot of crowd control abilities that can slow Garen down, the Tenacity from both Mercury's Treads and Courage will greatly lessen those effects. If the enemy team relies on dealing damage with basic attacks, go with...