Garen vs Zoe
Build vs Zoe
Build adapted to this matchup
Recommended items for Garen: Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder, Berserker's Greaves, Force of Nature, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Dead Man's Plate, Black Cleaver.
Starting items
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Zoe's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
Zoe's next basic attack after casting a spell deals bonus magic damage.
Cooldowns
Cooldowns by spell rank
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8.5s | 0.25s | 18s | – |
| 6 | 7.5s | 0.25s | 18s | 11s |
| 9 | 6.5s | 0.25s | 18s | 11s |
| 11 | 6.5s | 0.25s | 18s | 8s |
| 16 | 6.5s | 0.25s | 16s | 5s |
| 18 | 6.5s | 0.25s | 14s | 5s |
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 Zoe
How to counter and exploit weaknesses
- Dodge her bubble
Dodge Sleepy Trouble Bubble (E): asleep, you take double damage from the hit that wakes you, often her Paddle Star! (Q).
- Aim at her return point
During Portal Jump (R), aim at her starting position: she returns there after 1 second, and can't move in the meantime.
- Don't step on her bubbles
Don't walk onto a bubble left on the ground: a Sleepy Trouble Bubble (E) that hits nothing turns into a trap.
- Ward behind the walls
Ward the hidden spots behind walls near your lane: Sleepy Trouble Bubble (E) reaches farther over a wall, and Zoe hides there to set it up.
Other Garen matchups
Patch 16.21.1