MacroMind matchup data: real ranked games, not opinions
Garen vs Darius
How often does Garen beat Darius in Top?
Garen into Darius in Top: 48% observed win rate across 5,492 ranked games.
Global ranked sample: games from every region and every rank pooled together, not one server's stats. Data runs through patch 26.12; curves updated 2026-08-07.
By 15 minutes the median game has Garen behind by 705 gold.
Garen at 15:00
- Gold: -705
- CS: -18
- XP: -491
Typical gap to Darius, from 5,459 games that reached 15:00.
Does Garen counter Darius?
The count says no. Darius holds 52% of 5,492 ranked Top games here. The lane is still winnable. Garen wins it back from the spots below, so learn which ones swing it before you lock in Garen against Darius, and play for those first.
Beating Darius: the Garen game plan
A gold lead at 10:00 puts Garen at 62% across 1,773 games. Flip the lead and Garen falls to 42% across 3,718.
| The spot | Win rate | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Ahead in gold at 10:00 | 62% | 1,773 |
| Behind in gold at 10:00 | 42% | 3,718 |
| First blood | 56% | 2,513 |
| +kills at 10:00 | 61% | 1,713 |
| +CS at 10:00 | 60% | 1,289 |
| 0 deaths at 10:00 | 61% | 916 |
| 0 deaths at 15:00 | 67% | 478 |
Someone usually dies here around 4:45 in the median game, and level 6 lands near 5:40. Until your spike is online, respect the all-in.
Garen's Top build, with receipts
Into Darius specifically, Garen finishes Stridebreaker first most often: 49.5% over 2,604 games of this matchup.
The most-finished core in this exact matchup is Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder: 55.1% across 574 games.
The most-finished Garen core is Stridebreaker, Phantom Dancer, Mortal Reminder: 55.8% across 11,163 games when all three got done. All matchups, patches 26.1-26.12.
Most games start Doran's Shield + Health Potion; the first finished item is usually Stridebreaker (53,134 games).
Skill plan: Garen players max E first and take E at level 1.