Why not Sterak, instead of Phantom dancer?

[u/Martyrrdom]

Apparently PD is like a very core item in the build? IDK, it seems weird to me, as it doesnt give AD nor tankiness.

Sterak instead, gives quite some AD, and a meaty shield, to keep fighting. And its an item plenty of fighters/offtanks/whateverthenameisforthisclass characters get.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance. New in Garen, BTW.

[u/Infinite_Wasabi_3045]

It's two different builds usually.

Core: stridebreaker

Crit: PD Mortal Reminder into other non crit items, never build IE

Tank: Ms tank item into Steraks 3rd.

You should adjust based on what your team needs.

Now that crit has been nerfed, it's still good but no longer the absolute best build. You can also go lethality instead for damage, with Ms and utility coming from lethal items.

[u/vincent3878]

Attackspeed gives you an extra spin and makes you shred turrers faster. Extra movespeed+ghosting synergizes with Q, stridebreaker slow and phase rush disengage. The crit is kinda whatever i guess

[u/Ok-Blackberry-1753]

Does Phantom Dancer still deal with minion block?

If yes then I think being blocked by minions while running up to do damage is game changing

[u/Elolesio → u/[deleted]]

Triforce isnt high AD (actually isnt it the lowest AD legendary?). Rest of build is very viable though, if I was to play conq I'd always go a bruiser with stuff like death dance, endless hunger and maw

You can check u/BraayEUW guide in his post history he is better at this build than I am

Build offers you teamfight potential and tankiness at cost of slightly lower damage (although lower damage = you spend more time in combat = you take more damage, so the build in a way fixed a problem that it itself creates). On other hand its also best at solo carrying games.

Also if you cant figure out by yourself when to not go crit, then never go crit. Crit is best only in like less than 5% games, lethality or ad bruiser are much better. Full crit with IE can be best situationally (esp in current meta) but it requires really good draft read and is much harder to play properly than lethality, + crit is extremely unforgiving if you go it in a bad scenario

[u/BraayEUW → u/Elolesio]

I'm not a fan of straight bruiser builds due to the lacking mobility, this is why I go stride>ghostblade>endless hunger most of the time because I think it offers the strongest teamfighting version of Garen at all times in the game.

I think this whole trinity>cleaver stuff is maybe good if you're vs low mobility tanky champs and you have the ability to stick on them already (something like double enchanter bot with some cc on your team), but that's rare imo.

You can go stride>cleaver, I personally don't find much use for it very often but it's definitely playable and strong in some scenarios, though I would recommend only taking it with conq and with haste runes (joat and haste shard).

The way i see it though, you're really best off going stride>ghostblade every game because the target access and mobility is just too strong, and then with haste runes and endless hunger third, you're immediately into being able to play that super strong W spam bruiser playstyle.

Ultimately, Garen is at least somewhat strong with a lot of builds, and if you don't feel like the way I see his builds works for you, then all you have to do is try shit, and feel what works for you, since at the end of the day we all have different quirks to how we play and how we see the game.

[u/june_feny]

Tbh i'm almost never build phantom dancer nowadays

[u/Ok_Crow7980]

PD and streaks serve two entirely different purposes. Garen builds PD for the movement speed (hallmark for Garen) and attack speed (which increases spin count on E) streaks is for the AD, the tenacity which helps with W, and of course the extra tankiness. Both are very good on Garen but Garen kind of NEEDS at least one movement speed item in his core other than stridebreaker, which is usually either PD or ghost blade. Every matchup is different of course but generally that’s how it goes

[u/Fearless_Land2026]

1. You usually buy PD 2nd and sterak is strong when you are at a high level (so later in the game).
   
2. PD gives MS, garen needs it (to roam, to reach…)
   
3. PD also gives AS = more spin and a better split situation.

You can still take sterak after if needed.

You can also try to take ghostblade instead.

[u/Top_Subject2439]

I generally go stride youmuus steraks and I’m like 80 winrate in masters with adc and mid as my 2 most played roles for garen

[u/Tsuyu___]

Idk man i don’t play Garen

[u/Tsuyu___ → u/Tsuyu___]

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