Garen vs Illaoi
Skill matchup
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
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Illaoi's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
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
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10s | 4s | 16s | – |
| 6 | 8s | 4s | 16s | 2m |
| 9 | 6s | 4s | 16s | 2m |
| 11 | 6s | 4s | 16s | 1m35 |
| 16 | 6s | 4s | 14s | 1m10 |
| 18 | 6s | 4s | 12s | 1m10 |
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 Illaoi
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Other Garen matchups
Patch 16.21.1