Welcome to the in-depth Skarner guide by Yurikka



Hello everyone, I'm Yurikka and this is my in-depth and in-detail Skarner guide. ( my first one, also )
I've been playing Skarner since the day he was out, and I really like this champion. I can't say that I am the best Skarner player out there, neither can I say that this build is the best one on Mobafire. However, I would like to share my vision of Skarner with you, so I hope you'll enjoy it.
This guide is very long, but please don't immediately downvote me just because you don't like the items or masteries. Take your time to read at least a couple of chapters!

I would also greatly appreciate any constructive criticism.




Grammar and style warning
English is not my native language, so my guide will have some mistakes, or sentences that may be hard to understand. Please, don't be too striсt, I will try to get rid of those, and will appreciate any help with this. If you find some section too complicated, or filled with mistakes, please don't hesitate to pm me! I will fix it ASAP.

Oh yes, and one final note. Sometimes in the guide I'll use some moba terms , like cs / cc whatever the rest is lul ~ if you don't know them you just can hit them up @ google !

Pros + Insane jungling and ganking potential + Tanky + Very low CDs + Beast CCs + Badass laugh

SPACEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Cons - Blue buff dependant - No gap closers - Team dependant for ganks - Some early weaknesses - Has to get close to damage the enemy

These summoner spells should be your common picks because I think that they fit Skarner best. This is just my opinion and you're not forced to take them, there is other summoner spells that are/can be viable on him .







Ghost : Ghost is to escape , chase , whatever you make the use of it, not as viable as Flash because of Flashs effect of surprise, its gap closing potential .



Teleport : This spell, is awesome on Skarner . There is alot of use of it as : Ninja ganks ( teleporting in wards that are in bushes or Teemo mushrooms, defend the towers that are about to die, well alot more uses of it but too long to tell them. Very viable spell to use on skarner .

• Brute Force Bonus AD, always welcome on Skarner
• Butcher Bonus damage on jungle mobs / creeps, this is a must have on any jungler .
• Alacrity Bonus attack speed, for energize CDR
• Weapon Expertise Bonus arpen, kind of self explanatory .
  
  
  Defense
• Summoner's Resolve For the bonus gold it grants upon Smite, must have on any jungler .
• Resistance Bonus magic resistance, very good when ganking AP casters, reducing their damage .
• Hardiness Bonus armor, this mastery saves you alot of HP, must have .
• Tough Skin Reduces damage taken from jungle mobs / creeps, useful while jungling .
• Bladed Armor Returns damage to jungle mobs / creeps, a must have on any jungler .
  
  
  Utility
• Summoner's Insight Reduced CD on Flash .
• Good Hands Reduced death time useful in late game .
• Swiftness Bonus movement speed, better mobility for ganks / in the jungle .
• Scout More vision with wards, i take it because i always ward my jungle or theirs, not a forced mastery though .
• Runic Affinity Must have on any jungler, increased buff durations !

Items you're getting :
I get a Wriggle's Lantern first, because of it's special effect, it amplifies greatly your jungling speed, counting as well the lifesteal and bonus armor ( and a ward ) . After having it we're getting Boots because ganking with Skarners low base movement speed sucks . After having some nice ganks and stealing some creeps in lane, you have enough money for Mobility Boots it grants great mobility, very good for ganking with Seismic Bastion . You're now gonna try to get a Sunfire Aegis i don't even know why i always take it, but it's awesome on skarner . Now you have the core items, let's get into the thing .

At this part, all depends on what champions your opponents has, if they have too much ap burst/cc, you can go this way : and a

If you did well though, you can make the and an

After these items, you can get a for the HP that synergises well with Atma's Impaler and the movement speed burst (?) for engages with Impale

We're finally there, the jungle.

Here's the route, more details under the image !

This is my Skarner jungle route,

1. I start by the blue buff, ask your team for a pull/leash and ask for the top or the bot to put a few hit on it (not forced but it make your jungle kinda faster !) use Smite when he's about 425 HP . After the last mob, you should hit level 2, use a potion and get Seismic Bastion, always use it when it's available to save most hps.

2. Kill the wolves

3. Move to the wraiths, kill them and use a pot.

4. Moving to the lizard, kill him, use pot .

5. Your jungle is done, i usually finish it at 3 minutes 10~20 seconds of the game.

6. My first gank is the mid.

7. Then i move to the nearest lane, if it's pushed tell them to stop pushing and wait a bit.

8. Back to jungle .

9. Now your next gank is the top lane, gank it and thats it for my route !

Remember : Always listen to your team needs !

Why "Climbing the ladder" ? Because i started ranked with skarner at about 1024 elo, and after a few games i managed to carry myself to 1237 elo, and i'm not stopping !


Thanks for reading my first guide, i hope it'll be useful for future Skarner users ! And please give me some constructive criticism so I can improve my guide and my future guides !

You can ask me more informations on this in game, i play EU West and my ign is Yurikka



And Thanks to jhoijhoi for the line dividers !