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Recommended Items
Runes: Main bruiser runepage
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+15-140 HP (lvls 1-18)
Spells:
Flash
Gustwalker Smite
Items
Threats & Synergies
Kayn
Literally THE #1 permaban champion on Skarner. While there are some counter-measures, I recommend that you either ban him or dodge the game if the enemy jungler picks him. It is simply unplayable until he gets a proper nerf.
Lissandra
When you Impale a target, bring it close to Lissandra so she can follow up with her W and later with her own R. This makes for a deadly chain CC combo.
Lissandra
When you Impale a target, bring it close to Lissandra so she can follow up with her W and later with her own R. This makes for a deadly chain CC combo.
Champion Build Guide

At the end of the guide I will drop a few recordings from my own games that I have saved, to help highlight the capabilities that my proposed build and playstyle have. I'm also leaving you my numbers after season 12 and my peak as LAN's rank 1 Skarner for credibility purposes:



Pros
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+ Able to abuse meta items + Rewarding to play and master + Disrusptive and anti-carry + Incredibly high itemization diversity + No downtime during fights + Great, underrated scaling |
Being naturally tanky, ![]() |
Cons
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- Weak before level 6 - Low base values on all abilities - Reliant on items to do any considerable damage - Very low mobility - Hard to pick up - Ability rotations can feel clunky |
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All of this with




Alternatively, for your secondary tree you can go with













Take








As bruiser, you will prioritize Q





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After your first clear, in almost every game you should have gathered at least 1100 gold to purchase ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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If you are going to start with ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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And if you have 300 gold to spare for any reason after these purchases, and if you don't mind delaying the first powerspike for the sake moving around the map faster and feel less sluggish in skirmishes, ![]() |
First item options
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Tier 2 boots options
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If you don't have much need for extra resistances and the Ability Haste is proving too useful to let go of it, sticking with ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Second item options
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Third item options
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Fourth item options
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As a 400 gold-cheaper alternative to ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Situational items
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Pick up a ![]() ![]() |
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Following the same line of thought, if you have stacked your ![]() ![]() |
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In games where you are ahead, picking up ![]() ![]() |
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WHEN TO GANK:

WHOM TO GANK: I really advice you to not waste any time ganking any laner that has died before 4 minutes, or that by the 10 minutes mark has at least 3 deaths; that's all the proof you need that they don't know how to lane properly and that they're not worth trusting with any resources. You're better off focusing on lanes near live objectives who are also even or not losing by too much, and especially in volatile matchups (melee vs melee, etc).
JUNGLE TRACKING: In this season, tracking the enemy jungler properly is more important than ever due to how much priority objectives have at all stages of the game, and with

A full clear of your jungle (6 camps) is the most generally advisable strategy for your initial clear, and with the recent jungle changes you are more than okay going leashless so ping your teammates away and give them an optimal start to the game instead of wasting time leashing you. Be wary of possible enemy invades or counterjungling, and also plan your route optimally. The best way is to do Buff -> Krugs -> Raptors, or Buff -> Gromp -> Wolves, then move on to the other side of the map.
This is an example of a normal first clear when you're playing on blue side. Remember: you start with Q


Below is how it's done when you prefer to start from topside, with the biggest variation from last season being that you won't have to skip krugs anymore before contesting the bottom side scuttle, so this route becomes the safest option when there is a realistic threat of leve 2 invade from the enemy jungler (



From red side, starting bot without a leash will make it possible for you to full clear before the 3:30 mark with ease, so you can proceed as follows:

When on the red side, starting top without a leash is at its most optimal as you will have the red buff during all of your clearing, and by finishing bot side you can be ready to gank, countergank or aid in any way the most important lane to snowball before the first drake spawns.

Analyze the state of your lanes during your first 3-4 camp clears. If none looks easy to gank, move on to the other side of the map to keep farming. Skarner has weak pre-6 ganks so it is wise to focus on farming as much as possible before the first scuttle crabs spawn, but at level 4 you are still capable of impacting a lane if needed.
Post level 6 you can become more proactive with your ganks as your ultimate is great for locking down a target. Also, be on the lookout for your winning lanes about to crash waves into the enemy tower and setting you up for a dive, which are somewhat simple to pull off as Skarner.
If you are at a disavantage and your team lost all of the Tier 1 towers, go into your own jungle more carefully from there on. You can keep track of the state of your spires to identify when the enemy has snuck into your jungle, so you can avoid ambushes and react to counterjungling. Nevertheless, it is really important that you do your best to keep your CS numbers as high as possible as this is the stage of the game where you can begin outscaling most other champions, if itemized properly.
Check the enemy team's itemization regularly as at this stage of the game, it is likely that one of them built a Quicksilver Sash to counter you and knowing whom not to Impale will save you from a misuse of your ultimate.
Outside of that, Skarner is good for sieging towers as long as he has his ultimate available to punish any enemies overextending. If your ult is not available and your team is grouping up near an enemy turret, it is a good idea to either enter the jungle to farm or prepare an ambush, or go to a side lane to push the wave and help apply pressure.
In late game teamfights, it is vital that you save all of your main resources (


My first pentakill with this build:
Showcasing the 1 vs 1 potential of rushing


Just an example of what you can achieve with a Black Cleaver rush:
Zombie Wards that you place may help you set up important ambushes that would otherwise not have been possible:
My build will make you tanky AND bursty at the same time. Don't believe me? Ask this

Your top laner is a brainless

Watch out for the enemy's "body language" while a turret drag is possible, it will almost certainly catch them off guard for an easy kill:
Tip on how to effectively gank Fiora: juke her parry by cancelling an auto attack while she's tagged with

My build and playstyle allow you to solo-triple kill even against fed enemy hard counters, such as

If you have hit your Black Cleaver powerspike, you are more than capable of fending off enemy tower sieges:


#1: Battlecast Alpha Skarner
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Simply perfect. For a legendary skin made in 2015 it has really aged well and it's what turns Skarner into a playable character for me. All animations feel soother and more powerful, the splash art gives off "big death machine" vibes, the SFX are exactly what you'd expect from this skinline, and the voicelines never get old. 10/10 would pay for it again. |
#2: Cosmic Sting Skarner
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Cosmic Sting is his most recent skin to date and outside of the legendary it is my most liked, since the SFX are really cool, the chromas are all delightful to own and the Cosmic theme really fits the champion in my opinion. Despite that, I feel like it is a bit overrated by the community but I am confident that after the rework it will be a really fine epic skin to play with. Besides, with the pink chroma you can pretend to be cosplaying a Star Guardian. AYAYA |
#3: Guardian of the Sands Skarner
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Skarner feels like a great fit for this skinline and the skin itself changes almost everything from abilities VFX, SFX and the look of the spires. I wish Riot would expand into this skinline's universe, and I'm glad that Skarner made it in time into it. |
#4: Earth Rune Skarner
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This skin is fairly okay considering its cost, the SFX feel pleasant to play and the character model is an upgrade from the original in all senses. The color scheme matches the abilities' so all in all it's a great skin to play with when you're picking up Skarner, as was my case in the past. |
#5: Sandscourge Skarner
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His release skin follows a good concept and while it's not one I'm going to miss in particular after the rework, I still consider it a good one to play with and it's cool that it's within the High Noon universe. |
#6: Base Skarner
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Let's face it: our poor crystal scorpion's base skin has aged terribly since its release in 2011. Somebody once told me that it looks like a jungle camp and I haven't been able to unsee that since then. The rework can't come soon enough for it... even though I'm certain that I will miss it once it's gone from live servers. |
Not to mention... the best chapter is yet to come 😉

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