AP Skarner is an amazing champion that can be played in many ways. Skarner can jungle extremely well but that doesn't mean he is any less good in mid lane. He can be played in many different ways and still be very effective.

Why does AP Skarner work? Because he has 5 AP scalings on his spells and 3 of those AP ratios are for damage. He also scales very well with levels and he can roam better than most mids. Skarner can also dominate his lane against some champions.

One might say that Skarner will get destroyed in the Mid lane but that is absolutely wrong because Skarner has various ways to be able to win his lane (explained in the guide). He can set up ganks for guaranteed kills and he is much tankier than people expect even if he builds Glass Cannon.

Pros of AP Skarner: High sustained damage AND Heavy crowd control Outstanding sustain Incredible pushing/farming/jungle clearing capability High roaming potential

Cons of AP Skarner: Very mana hungry bastard Enemy laners with Blinks/Dashes will be safe from Skarner Can be focused hard in teamfights Has no family left :'(

This will improve Skarner's mid-late game as enemies will tend to build MR.

This will help Skarner in the lane and in the late game since they scale so well. I recomend these over flat mana regeneration because if you are receiving blue mana shouldn't be too much of an issue unless you lack the ability to conserve mana.

You could even build 9 of these, when you harass the minions will damage you, and AA from champs play a huge part early levels. This improves lane phase as well as late game tankiness.

Gives you more tankiness in lane so that your heal and the MR makes you virtually unkillable in lane.

Scales better into late game than flat AP does.

Classic Skarner Mastery page

Ap Off-Tank Skarner

I use this setup for most matchups in mid which are opponents that have ranged attacks. They can poke you but you cannot use Shattered Earth to harass them back. Solution? Max Ixtal's Impact for poke and heal, the healing is incredibly strong and can be spammed fairly well.

I use this setup for uncommon matches in which the opponent has melee attacks and/or abilities. You will want to max Shattered Earth for more poke and CC over Ixtal's Impact since you can trade damage better between Auto attacks and Shattered Earth and reduce damage with Seismic Bastion and the minor heal from Ixtal's Impact at low levels. I also use this setup when I get countered for roaming as Ixtal's Impact is a skill shot and you won't want to rely on it for a kill. Rather max Shattered Earth and Seismic Bastion for CC and Movement. AP skarner also makes Seismic Bastion a move that can take 1-3 tower shots...so diving is a huge possibility.

Ghost should almost always be taken as with his W he becomes supper mobile and can drag away champion further back. Ms allows him to cover more ground meaning drag will be slightly further back and make champion way out of position.

I get Flash with Ghost so that I can suprise grab a champion or initiate team fights.

Ignite provides that little damage to finish an opponent. Flash & Ghost are preferred because mobility but Ignite should be taken against Swain or Vladimir.

Start With...

Boots + x2 Health Potion + x1 Mana Potion is a standard start for AP Skarner as it provides movement speed and 300 healing as well as 100 mana to poke and gain health through Ixtal's Impact

Doran's Ring is another standard start for AP champions as it provides constant mana, and AP Skarner already has a built in sustain through Seismic Bastion & Ixtal's Impact.

Crystalline Flask + Faerie Charm + x2 Health Potion provides amazing sustain in lane against those tough lanes.

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RUSH!!!

Nashor's Tooth Nashor's Tooth + Blue Golem buff Skarner has 40% CDR or MAX. On top of that energize has synergy with Nashor's Tooth because it further decreases CD's and is done so more quickly with Attack Speed.

Rod of Ages Health is needed on him because he is melee, mana is needed because he is a mana thirsty bastard. And the AP is of course needed for AP Skarner.

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+3 of these

Hextech Gunblade Although I do not recommend it it does provide sustain and damage all in the same bundle. I used this as a core item in S2 but have gone away from it since then. I will say if you are heavily fed early and can afford it you cannot go wrong with buying it.

OR

Will of the Ancients Will of the Ancients is a highly recomended item. It provides incredible sustain, and damage, but most of all the aura is good. I'd take this if you have another high ap caster on the team, otherwise other items are better.

Lich Bane

Lich Bane is a wonderful item on AP skaner as you can proc it's passive every 2 seconds because of the highly spammable moves. The Movement speed it provides is just the cherry on top.
Rabadon's Deathcap

Highly recommended item as it increases damage by an incredible match.
Abyssal Scepter

(AP Off-Tank) An amazing choice for AP Skarner. Provides AP, MR, and reduces MR of nearby enemies.
Liandry's Torment

(AP Off-Tank) Liandry's Torment seems to be made for AP Skarner as it provides health, Magic penetration, and AP. But the passive is what makes the item for him. Most other casters need Rylai's Crystal Scepter to proc the added damage. Skarner already has a perma-slow that is Aoe. So this Item can proc to all 5 opponents for max damage if you move around enough.

Zhonya's Hourglass

(AP Off-Tank) Zhonya's Hourglass is good on Skarner for a few reasons. It provides armor and AP. But more used for it's active, Skarner's Shattered Earth has to charge, so you can Flash Then Impale use Shattered Earth to allow it to charge, Ghost & Seismic Bastion and drag them back extremely far. If you are in the middle of their team you can use Zhonya's Hourglass and come back with Shattered Earth charged.


Malady

Malady is extremely useful on Skarner in S3. It provides AS for energize, minor AP for his abilities, Magic resistance shredding to the person he attacks, and does a % of his AP on each Auto attack!

Void Staff

Void Staff is possibly the best item for the late game in S3 as it now ignores 35% Mr of enemies. It is commonly taken and highly advised to be taken.

IceBorn Gauntlet

(AP Off-Tank) Iceborn Gauntlet Can be taken instead of Nashor's for an Off-Tank build. It provides AP, Armor that he needs, and replaces the CDR that Nashor's Tooth provided. The active will further enhance the CC you have, and there will be multiple little slow mists all over the place.

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BOOTS!

Mercury's Treads

A good choice against teams with high CC because if Skarner can't move his damage goes splat and so does his sustain in fights.
Sorcerer's Shoes

Extra Magic penetration for those pesty tanks, but be aware that when you play AP Skarnerthe other team will not expect you to do much damage, the will most likely not build the much MR.

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Final AP Build

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Final AP Off-Tank Build

To come soon

Those Who work well with AP Skarner.

Any champion that builds WOTA:
Swain, Katarina, Vlad, mordekaiser, etc.

Any champion that increases your mobility:
Janna, Zilean, etc.

Any champion that can shield you:
Janna, Lulu, etc.

The key thing AP Skarner needs is a tank that can initiate for him, AP Skarner cannot be the one to initiate:
Malph, Leona, amumu, etc.

Roaming, Counter-Roaming, & Stealing Blue Buffs.

Purple Circles: These are areas to put Vision Wards for defense against Rengar & Twitch and to watch for Evelynn roaming to lanes.
Green Circles: These are areas to put sight wards to watch for blue or to protect yourself against a non-stealth jungler, or if you aren't against an Evelynn. It will save you a little money to spend on pots.
Notes: The Green dot within the Purple dot is saying that either a Vision Ward or a sight ward can be placed here.
Blues lines: Are roaming paths and paths to steal the blue golem buff for the blue side.
Purple lines: Are roaming paths and path to steal the blue golem buff for the purple side.

Roaming and What it can get you!

In this Particular game I went 13/2/9. My friend DarkPercy wasn't doing so hot against an Elise so I decided to roam top all game since my lane opponent Cho'Gath wouldn't leave tower for me to kill him. I got 7 of my kills from roaming.

A Sample of Skarner's Damage

This is from the previous match where I roamed a lot. The Cho'Gath was level 8 and had 2 stacks of ultimate as well as catalyst the protector and Negatron Cloak. I assumed he was scared of me and rushing RoA/Abyssal. At this point in the game I had gotten my first kill on Shyvana and taken her red buff.

Thanks goes out to:
DarkPercy for helping me through my first guide and helping the beginning coding of it.
JhoiJhoi, and her wonderful guide about how to make guides, especially the coding part of it.

Recently my guide became expired...nothing has changed...it is still relevant.