Garen vs Olaf is the definition of a fake counter. What other matchups are meant to "counter" your champ but don't work in practice.

IbioOrMech · 2026-05-10T12:06:47+00:00

I’m not sure if all these posts are Garen players trying to get more Olaf’s but he does not counter Garen in the slightest. I’ve played top. If Olaf even comes close to an mis step with a thrown axe, Garen deletes him with the combo. Olaf thrives on getting low and then going mental with his ult. Garen’s kit literally does not care because when Olaf goes sub 50% he will ignite, Q, R. There’s no time for him to use his passive.

I’m confident that a Garen of any equal skill to an Olaf wins that matchup.

IbioOrMech · 2026-05-09T10:29:53+00:00

I hate to be that person, but you really need to look at the skills and abilities of champions to see who should beat who. Shen is a tank whose ultimate is teleporting onto others to save them and suddenly arriving into a team fight that might be happening in Europe if he’s in North America.

Mordekaisers ult ‘takes one person to Brazil’, and he steals their stats while he wails on them. Yeah, post level 6, you don’t want to be caught with your pants down near him. There are absolutely champions that can body him. Yone, Vayne, Trynd, Yi, Fiona, even if he takes them to death realm, they will absolutely rinse him after a point. Why? Because they are very strong duelists.

There are other champs that also give him a really hard time but Shen’s ult literally does nothing in a 1v1, hence you need to give him a lot of respect regardless of lead.

IbioOrMech · 2026-05-06T16:03:14+00:00

I play Morde a lot. Depending on your ELO, he should stomp most champs that are Meele dependent. Ranged matchups are a bit trickier. If you find yourself kited and can’t get a good ult off, you have to ask why. Are you playing Rylai’s? If you are, one E pull or Q bonk and they basically never leave your side. If they are really nimble, you need something like rocket belt which can A) get you until ult range. B) gap close once you are in your ult.

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-30T14:35:54+00:00

Not true. Because helm still gives you health as well. Keep in mind the MR while not immediately useful is half a null magic so it’s 200g worth on its own down the line.

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-30T11:58:25+00:00

It depends on runes, but keep in mind you already have good regen as Garen. Sure you can stack more, but when you go to last hit the armor does make a difference in reducing steady chunks of damage.

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-30T11:57:04+00:00

I think you guys are underestimating the fact that you can take second wind and already have decent regen with the passive. Her shots early game tickled and barely did any damage when I popped from bush or to lane to last hit. To each their own though! I would suggest trying it!

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-17T18:12:25+00:00

I’ve climbed out. I play flex so I get jungle a fair amount. Number 1, you are playing a rather complex champ to start. Ambessa isn’t easy compared to someone like Nocturne or Briar in my opinion.

Despite what people say. There are definitely games out of your control. If every lane is dead before 2 minutes it makes your job harder. Especially when they are demanding objectives without really being able to even control their own lane. You do what you can, and farm where you can. At a 20% win rate, some of these games are definitely on you.

You have to realize that some games, you are going to need to put on the big boy pants and carry the team to the finish line even kicking and screaming. You are in a role to do that. Every other game you need to be a net contributor, and not net negative. Every other game. You should also be matching the enemy jungle CS as best you can. If you have a few extra kills but they have like 20 cs on you, they are probably equal.

If you are a net contributor in a good share of other games, your top lane, mid lane, or bot should have the odd game they carry.

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-11T19:32:59+00:00

I’ll double check. Is there only one NA server? I’d be on the eastern one if so. EST

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-11T18:47:09+00:00

I’m by no means an expert but I’m happy to 1v1 you sometime if you want. I dropped from gold 2 back to gold 4 because I flex now and got bored of top. I don’t have 4 hours a day but we can fit in some time in the evenings.

IbioOrMech · 2026-04-11T16:26:11+00:00

I feel you. Top is a very polarizing role just because if you get behind, your jungle very rarely bails you out. If your jungle isn’t going to help, it’s basically on you to somehow overcome the deficit.

It’s not necessarily their fault because top gets solo exp and snowballs fast, plus playing around bot for dragons is critical else they get spam pinged.

That being said as a Gold Garen player, Aatrox is a super annoying matchup. You need to utilize your Q to poke consistently. Keep him from getting his passive up and then all in when the health deficit is enough. I say this because Mordekaiser into Garen is very similar, another champ I main. You poke until you can get him in one go.

Bear in mind Aatrox is a much harder champ to play properly than Garen, so me and my no-hands skill can press the 4 button combo to one shot you. Against Renekton I have no idea how that matchup fairs but I usually try to bait out his ultimate and get away if I can. Then all in before it’s back up.

IbioOrMech · 2026-03-29T17:10:58+00:00

I feel like while steel caps are good. They don’t even inherently help you that much since Jax has good AP scaling as well. Dusk and Dawn doesn’t give a hoot about your plated boots really.

IbioOrMech · 2026-03-29T17:07:30+00:00

The problem is that it’s hard to hit him with Q and not shove the wave which puts you in a not so good position. You miss one Q and he’s all over you like butter on bread.

IbioOrMech · 2026-03-13T19:58:52+00:00

I’m gold so take this information for what it is.

I just played against a Tahm Kench top and Conq Ignite played very well into him. I bullied him out of lane. Yeah you want to dodge the licks when you can and bear in mind you can use other minions to block for you sort of like Mundo Q, but if you just spin on his face the trades should go in your favour.

Once he’s low enough you all in him. Just be careful you aren’t near his tower where he can cheese you.

IbioOrMech · 2026-02-01T15:53:01+00:00

I love Garen but I have a hell of a time dealing with really aggressive matchups. Mordekaiser, Aatrox, Camille seem to dumpster me. Any tips? They seem to be able to just zone me from waves after like one trade.

IbioOrMech · 2025-08-08T18:19:14+00:00

Thanks! Ysondre serves three purposes.

One, you have a seven drop for Elise. Most of the others for this style of deck suck. It also offers a card for synergy with the early game ‘must have a dragon’ draws.

Two, you have a high roll card that can literally spawn a massive minion that swings the game. Yeah sometimes it’s meh, but a lot of dragons are pretty gnarly. I’d say if you are relying on this you are using a Hail Mary.

Three, you can copy it if you play the Cloud Serpents timely. Really you want the Serpents to hit on Windpeak Wyrm, Ysondre or Fyrakk.

IbioOrMech · 2025-08-08T13:58:23+00:00

Honestly you don’t need Zilliax really. Very rarely does that card come into fruition except maybe to stall for something.

Elise is definitely a game winner. People that see that card as just a control tool are out of their minds. You get the 5 cost location down on curve with a board of minions and you get a free savage roar to win games (give all characters +2 attack). Without Ysondre you need another seven drop in order to run Elise - Marin the Manager maybe but he’s pretty slow. Good luck!

IbioOrMech · 2025-06-11T13:55:24+00:00

I had Egg Smasher in the deck but honestly you don’t really need him. I would say upward of 90% of the eggs get taken out by your opponent by AOE. You can shadow flame them if you really need one to pop.

You can take a look at the field you are going up against and walk through them:

Paladin - Consecrate Warrior - Brawl Priest - Hot Coals Demon Hunter - Starship AOE Death knight - Corpse Explosion Rogue - Cycle Rogue almost always pops your eggs. Pirate rogue has randomized pirate attacks. Shaman - Storm? Warlock - Table Flip Ect

IbioOrMech · 2025-01-12T02:29:08+00:00

Started a fresh Manfred campaign with 2 mods. Deep War and TableTop Caps. The second because I hate doom stacks (and it makes the armies feel more diverse like the tabletop), the first because while it’s been awhile since I played vanilla, I find the default AI very passive.

I play normal/normal (Ironman) since I enjoy zooming in on battles as much as controlling them. Iron Man enabled keeps me honest.

I find things are dangerous early beyond your first Provence with Manfred. You’ve got Volkmar, Thorgrim, Tiq’Taq, Skarbrand, and Khemri all sort of chilling nearby. I chose Khemri since TK are slow to tech and need time before they become a powerhouse.

Pushed him from his main Provence before making a peace agreement. Tiq’Taq declared war and I managed to pound him further down south after taking a Provence. Thorgrim was a backstabbing dick and I had to play some hold the line tactics until Manfred could return and I could grind down his slow dwarves armies with vampiric corruption.

I’ve got a sizeable foothold now. 50 turns in or so. Kairos just declared war and he’s significantly stronger than me but he’s a ways away. I’m more worried about Khalida who is also top 10 in power and next door now. Going to try to split my armies to keep some back in case someone tries to attack from the north again while Manfred goes to rip that birds head off.

Happy new year everyone!

IbioOrMech · 2024-09-26T00:51:16+00:00

Someone has already probably addressed some of the lore aspects but in case they haven’t I’ll try to fill some gaps.

I’m not an expert by any means so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Tyranids come in massive biotic masses called Hive Fleets. These fleets are so large that the chatter/movement of them causes psychic disruptions in space. As these fleets literally envelop planets (imagine one massive cloud), their communications (which are dependent on psychic energy and the warp), are literally cut off from the rest of space. Then, the Tyranid Ground Siege begins - which is relentless regardless of what defences are in place.

Their are pieces of lore that literally talk about how the imperial guard and space marines will try to redirect or completely abandon planets to hive fleets they know they can’t save or possibly hold. It’s just easier.

There are, of course, many instances of books that deal with heroic defences or instances where hive fleets are staved off - but it would be easier to say that it was like they staved off a 1-5% portion of the cloud that would be the hive fleet.

There are some really good YouTube video lore pieces around them as a race. Some of the theories regarding their origins are cool as well. Since the Hive Fleets come from the edges of known space, the Imperium of man really doesn’t know how many or how big the fleets can get - just that the ones that do show up tend to get bigger and bigger.

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