A lot of people play Skarner as an AD champion (sometimes hybrid, what ever) because:
1 - Skarner has very high base damage
2 - provides amazing attack speed and running speed
3 - can slow people and it is highly spammable
4 - can drag a champion around and kill it with *AD* easily

However I play him as an AP tank because:
1 - Skarner has very high base HP
2 - this will only affect your status if the shield is available, if it is destroyed, it is gone
3 - It deals a certain amount of damage plus 20% *BONUS* attack damage, which is not so great early game. However, the 40% AP damage is nice.
4 - deals AP damage ... and it is useful to drag the squishies (eg. ) from team fights, and kill them using your epicness.
5 - also deals AP damage ... and it lets you regenerate hp equal to 90 + 30% AP, which is very nice in team battles if you can fracture all enemies =O. This is also a strong nuking skill for me to kill pretty much anything.
6 - Energize This allows you to spam you skills like a mad man/lady. It is crucial for tanks because tanks needs the ability to spam their skills in order to break down their enemies

Ok, so if you think you like the AD side better, go and look for some more epic AD builds because I like them too. However, if you like the AP side better, you can continue and read some more if you want =].

Greater Quintessence of Vitality & Greater Seal of Vitality

These all for the pure sake of more HP. This will help alot when you are low in HP and you really need some fast regeneration. You can do so by going into the jungle (or find a big mob), then Fracture as many minions as you can. After that, go in and use . You can treat this like a refill service... the bigger the glass, the more you can refill.



This is for some more damage against the squishies. Nothing more =]



I can't go anywhere without these babies. Think of the massive spamming of and !~ If you don't want to be a fast ticking machine (boring), always have high cool down so you can use your beautiful skills!!

My masteries are 0/21/9.


This is an amazing mastery to have for all Champions with spammable skills. It adds 1% of your Maximum Mana into your HP/5. It just comes together naturally with my item build.

The rest you can see from the mastery tree. I take all the defensive points because I am a tank ... what more do you want?

Now, having 9 points in magic is for the sake of higher EXP and some gold.

The Item I listed with this build is the order I would get these items. The reason that I always get a when I get back to base is that it gives 200 more mana, and +2 hp/5. This allows me to stay in lane for longer and spam my skills more often. This is why this build can really work if you are playing smart because it balances out the need for Health and Mana.

Here, I will explain some more about my choices of item. I will list the pros of these items and maybe some cons.

Pros:
- Makes you run very fast
- Good for covering lanes
- Good for engaging and escaping
- Gives you the extra speed you need for most jobs
Cons:
- Loses all the good passives from other boots for some extra speed


Pros:
- Gives you a lot of Mana and Armor for very little cost
- Special passive that allows you to solo pretty much anyone
- Epic 20% cool down
- Makes you tank like
Cons:
- Lose an item slot? lol?


Pros:
- Super high amount of Health and Mana
- High AP
- Makes you tanky and AP-licious
Cons:
- Takes 20 minute to completely evolve/grow up.


Pros:
- High AP
- High Mana
- Epic Passive allows you to be a great DPS
Cons:
- Not a tank item
Debate (new section for Pros and Cons >:D):
- A tank's job is to consume all negative and deadly skills but this item doesn't help you with that
- A tank is attractive, and the most common way to be attractive is to be dangerous, this item makes you dangerous


Pros:
- Super High AP
- Out of the World's High Mana
- Works well with your spell and
Cons:
- Not a tank's item if you ask me
Debate:
- It gives a lot of mana, allowing you to use your skills non-stop, which is good for a tank
- It has pretty much no tankine ability
- Crytalline Exoskeleton transforms 60% AP into the shield, which is nice for tank


Pros:
- Purely Epic AP Domination
Cons:
- Can't really Tank ...


You might wonder why I don't take .
1 - I don't need the slow since my can slow my enemies every 3 seconds.
2 - Death Cap gives me a much higher AP ratio than Rylai's.
3 - The 500 extra HP is only optional since my can clearly regenerate more HP with the high AP I have.
4 - Having Death Cap allows me to solo all non-fed champions

Mana Usage: Very Low
Damage: Low
Cool Down: Very Fast

Early Game: level 1: Combine with to regenerate HP
Mid Game: level 2-4: Rapid damage and slow for ganking
Late Game: Level 5: Your main damage source comes from this

When (to use):
- Use this as often as possible
- Use this to farm and jungle with
- Try to slow enemies with this


Mana Usage: High
Damage: N/A
Cool Down: Slow

Early Game: level 2: Ensures my ability to return to and cover lanes
Mid Game: level 3-4: Ensures chasing, fleeing, and ganking successfully
Late Game: Level 5: Use this with ULT to drag victims and rush to team fights

When (to use):
- Use this as often as possible when jungling
- Use this to chase and harass wounded enemies
- Treat this as an escape tool unless you are jungling/farming


Mana Usage: Low
Damage: High
Cool Down: Fast

Early Game: level 4: Combine with to regenerate HP
Mid Game: level 5: Harass and kill enemies
Late Game: Level 5: Provides tanking ability with faster cool down

When (to use):
- Use this as often as possible
- Use this to farm and jungle with
- Try to aim/predict and kill enemies with this nuke


Mana Usage: High
Damage: High
Cool Down: Very Slow

Early Game: level 1: Use this to help teammates get a kill
Mid Game: level 3: Drag squishies away from enemy team
Late Game: Level 5: Kill any loners farming alone in the jungle or lane

When (to use):
- Use this in team fights or in situations where your team mate can kill it
- If you are 1v1 against some not super fed enemy, use this when is on cool down

Energize
This is what makes Skarner so powerful as a caster. Every basic attack against a champion reduces *ALL* skills' cool down by 1 second (1/2 against minion)!! Right after a team fight, even with very little health (you will always have sufficient mana after you have ), you can find mobs to immediately regenerate your health and reduce your cool down. This makes Skarner an unstoppable beast!

- chasing your victims
- going back to lane to cover tower
- running away
- works nice with your ult (demonstrated by Grasshyren: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEE7bFDYAoM&feature=feedu)


- Can do some pretty nice ult with this
- always needs it to escape
- it is the most epic spell... ever

You can use other spells but hey, I like a caster that is equipped with survival spells.

Now I shall talk about Pros and Cons of this build

PROS:
- Hard core early game laning
- Very effective at ganking
- Very powerful against all enemies
- Can stay in the map for a lot longer than other champions
- Squishies % Casters are great meals for you (especially when you mean them in the jungle)
- Easy to play (kinda)

---

CONS:
- No attack damage
- Fed carries will eat you a live
- Easy to counter at early game
- Makes you think you are god but not really, you will die if you start acting like a god

Here is a section on killing monsters and minions.


Staying in lane:
1 - use now and then to harass but don't over use it until you have

2 - When HP is low, walk into a safe position that can hit most/all minions with , then walk into the middle of the mod and use to regenerate hp. Even at level one, you can regenerate 30hp/minion. So, hitting 6 minions allows you to regenerate 180hp. So, put a lot of point into will allow you to regenerate a lot of hp for very little mana.

3 - If you want to last hit minions easier, you can put some points into . Follow the same thing as step 2 and you will be having a lot of gold in a very short time.

4 - It is the same for jungling. Just do what you do at step 2. Also, spam your skills as often as possible in the jungle because it will help you get than 1000 mana a lot quicker. I think I was able to gather up all 1000 at around 20:00.

Now lets talk about 1v1.

For man champions, 1v1 is ideal when they are in a jungle or somewhere without any minions because minions will deal a lot of damage to them. However, it is different if you are Skarner. You want to have a few enemy minions close by when you are fighting and here is how and why:

- You start off by engaging (obviously) when the enemy is pushing a lane.
- He/she will think that he can take you down easily since you are building tank and he/she has tons of minions near by
- Start with then spam all your normal skills on your prey
- If you see that you are low in health, walk to the minions and use what you see in *Farming/Jungling* step #2. This will allow you to regenrate like a monster.
- If your prey is trying to run, Pull him back with your ULT then start spaming Q and E on him. This will ensure an easy kill (save up if he tries to run)
- If he is still owning you, use to chase him down

This method will be a lot more effective once you have and .

Well that is about it. Hope this was not too much writing... Anyways, enjoy Skarner and destroy those who think Skarner is weak.