Garen vs Illaoi

Garen
vs
52.3%

over 549 games

Illaoi

Skill matchup

Heavy AD damageHigh sustainSplit pushSustained DPS

Build vs Illaoi

Build adapted to this matchup

Recommended items for Garen: Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder, Berserker's Greaves, Dead Man's Plate, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Executioner's Calling, Infinity Edge.

Starting items

Doran's Shield
Health Potion

Core build

Stridebreaker
1
Phantom Dancer
2
Mortal Reminder
3

Standard

Berserker's Greaves
4AS
Dead Man's Plate
5

Summoner spells

FlashDot95%
FlashTeleport3%

Anti CC

Mercury's Treads
4vs CC

Other options

Dead Man's Plate
Youmuu's Ghostblade
Executioner's Calling
Infinity Edge
Black Cleaver
Force of Nature
Sterak's Gage
Serpent's Fang
B. F. Sword
Spear of Shojin
Death's Dance
Lord Dominik's Regards
Voltaic Cyclosword
Bramble Vest
Serrated Dirk
Guardian Angel
Hullbreaker
Trinity Force
Tiamat
Thornmail
Randuin's Omen
Chempunk Chainsword
Jak'Sho, The Protean
Immortal Shieldbow
Maw of Malmortius
59.7% WR119 games
PrecisionPrecision
ConquerorConqueror
TriumphTriumph
Legend: HasteLegend: Haste
Last StandLast Stand
SorcerySorcery
Axiom ArcanistAxiom Arcanist
CelerityCelerity
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Illaoi's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Prophet of an Elder God (P)

Illaoi and the Vessels she creates spawn Tentacles on nearby impassible terrain. Tentacles swing at spirits, Vessels, and victims of Illaoi's Harsh lesson. Tentacles deal physical damage to enemies hit, and will heal Illaoi if they damage a champion.

Cooldowns

Cooldowns by spell rank

LevelQWER
310s4s16s–
68s4s16s2m
96s4s16s2m
116s4s16s1m35
166s4s14s1m10
186s4s12s1m10

Playing as Garen

Tips to maximize your impact

  1. 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.

  2. Stay closest to your opponent

    During Judgment (E), stay closer to your opponent than to their minions: the nearest enemy takes extra damage.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Save your R to finish

    Save Demacian Justice (R) to finish: its true damage grows with the target's missing health.

Playing against Illaoi

How to counter and exploit weaknesses

  1. Dodge her E

    Dodge Test of Spirit (E): if it hits, you take part of the damage dealt to your spirit, and if the spirit dies, you're slowed and marked for her tentacles.

  2. Hit her if she pulls your spirit

    If Test of Spirit (E) pulls out your spirit, attack Illaoi instead of running: damaging her shortens the spirit, and moving too far from it marks you for her tentacles.

  3. Pull her away from walls

    Take your trades away from walls: Prophet of an Elder God (passive) spawns her tentacles on nearby terrain, and each tentacle that hits you heals her.

  4. Ask for ganks

    Ask for ganks: Harsh Lesson (W) only makes her leap toward an enemy, so she has no dash to escape, and no stun.

  5. Back off during her ult

    Don't fight during Leap of Faith (R): each champion hit spawns a tentacle, and while it lasts, they're untargetable and slam faster.

Patch 16.21.1