Garen vs Gangplank
Skill matchup
Build vs Gangplank
Build adapted to this matchup
Recommended items for Garen: Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder, Berserker's Greaves, Dead Man's Plate, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Infinity Edge, Executioner's Calling.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Gangplank's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Every few seconds, Gangplank's melee strike will set his opponent on fire.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4.5s | 22s | 0s | – |
| 6 | 4.5s | 22s | 0s | 2m40 |
| 9 | 4.5s | 20s | 0s | 2m40 |
| 11 | 4.5s | 18s | 0s | 2m20 |
| 16 | 4.5s | 14s | 0s | 2m |
| 18 | 4.5s | 14s | 0s | 2m |
Playing as Garen
Tips to maximize your impact
- Silence, spin, back off
Trade with Decisive Strike (Q), then Judgment (E), and back off: the Decisive Strike silence stops your opponent from answering with spells.
- Stay closest to your opponent
During Judgment (E), stay closer to your opponent than to their minions: the nearest enemy takes extra damage.
- Back off to regenerate
After a trade, back off until Perseverance (passive) kicks in: without recent damage taken, you regenerate part of your health every second.
- Courage just before impact
Activate Courage (W) just before the bulk of the damage: you first gain a shield and tenacity, then a longer damage reduction.
- Save your R to finish
Save Demacian Justice (R) to finish: its true damage grows with the target's missing health.
Playing against Gangplank
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Pop his kegs before he does
Destroy his kegs before he does: a Powder Keg (E) destroyed by an enemy is defused, and each keg loses health over time.
- All-in, he has no dash
If you can engage, go all-in: his kit has no dash to escape.
- Save a CC for after his W
If your team has several CCs, don't use them all at once: Remove Scurvy (W) cleanses all his CC, then has a 22 to 14 second cooldown.
- Get out of his keg zone
In teamfights, get out of his kegs' area: each Powder Keg (E) explosion deals the damage of the attack that set it off, ignores part of your armor and slows you.
Other Garen matchups
Patch 16.21.1