Garen vs Zaahen
Skill matchup
Build vs Zaahen
Build adapted to this matchup
Recommended items for Garen: Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder, Berserker's Greaves, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Dead Man's Plate, Executioner's Calling, Infinity Edge.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Zaahen's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Zaahen's attacks and abilities against enemy champions grant him stacks of Determination, gaining bonus Attack Damage per stack. When filled with Determination, Zaahen gains increased Attack Damage and can revive.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 10s | 14s | 10s | – |
| 6 | 8s | 14s | 10s | 1m50 |
| 9 | 6s | 13.5s | 10s | 1m50 |
| 11 | 6s | 13s | 10s | 1m35 |
| 16 | 6s | 12s | 9s | 1m20 |
| 18 | 6s | 12s | 8s | 1m20 |
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 Zaahen
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Get out of his stab's line
Get out of the line of Dreaded Return (W): the stab damages you, then pulls you toward him for a second hit.
- Back off after his first Glaive
Back off once he has cast The Darkin Glaive (Q): if he recasts the spell, his next auto knocks you into the air.
- Avoid the edge of his slice
Avoid the edge of the Aureate Rush (E) slice: at the tip, you take bonus damage based on your max health.
- Plan to kill him twice
Save spells to finish him a second time: at max Determination stacks, Cultivation of War (passive) can bring him back to life.
Other Garen matchups
Patch 16.21.1