Ladies and Gentleman Cho'Gaths, Allow me to introduce to you Skarner, The Crystal Vanguard!

Now, Most of you just want to look at my masteries and items. Possibly the summoner spells aswell. If not, Great! Prepare yourself for a Crystallized Victory!

-A few words of Introduction:
That's where you are now, Mate.

-Runific Tips!
Here you'll find out why I'd pick those runes!

-Masteries of Choice:
Here I'll tell you a bit about my Masteries and why I use them.

-The might of the Summoner!
These are the Summoner Spells I chose and why I did.

-Economy Troubles? You bet!
Here I'll tell you a bit about why I'd use such an expensive build.

-Items and Artifacts + Gameplay:
I will explain a bit why I build them like this here.

-Abilities and You!
This is why I build them like I do and how I use them.

-General Gibberish and Helpful Banter + Pros / Cons.
Ah, Here you will basically get a couple of tips from me, Some of my thoughts of this guide and other stuff I wish to tell the community. Oh yeah, And the Pros / Cons!

Happy Reading Everyone!

Now, I'm not going to say that these are the best runes, I highly doubt this will be the best guide for very long, But these have worked out fine for me.

The Greater Mark of Magic Penetration I find to be quite so-so but I use it anyhow, That or another couple of damage runes so that I end up with 200 Damage flat at level 18, Not really because it makes a great difference but because I find it neat.

The AP/Level Runes are quite overlooked and I'd say I find it bad but I really don't. See, Whilst some champions like Swain or Vladimir might gain a lot from having alot of early AP, Hybrids doesn't because your damage output will be so low in the beginning that you could just as well try to throw pebbles at a Malphite.

With this build you don't even have to be very fed to be good, I can see how alot of my items are expensive but even if it takes you long to get them your AP/Level will get you there safely with the help of some Spellvamp from the Hextech Revolver.

Well, I do recommend both 9/0/21 and 9/21/0 , I usually go with 9/0/21 because I find the mana come in handy, If you prefer 9/21/0 you should get some Greater Glyph of Replenishment aswell, I havn't tried it though, Since I usually just keep struggling until I get that Sheen.

For summoner spells I recommend Exhaust and Flash, Ghost works aswell but I find that Seismic Bastion does the trick.

Exhaust is really great for either slowing down running foes to land your Impale but just as good for using after Impale is over to keep them put. It is almost impossible to escape from that.

Flash is very viable aswell, I mainly use it when I towerdive to Flash in, Impale and Seismic Bastion my way out of there.

The worst part about Hybrid Skarner's item build is that it is expensive, So very very expensive. You basically have to play defensive the whole game unless you have some teamwork in the game.

As rare as teamplay is, Most teammates will attack when they see you Impale an enemy foolish enough to get into the turrets reach and drag her closer to the statue of death.

I'd recommend you to follow the build, All the way until the last item. I usually try to "wing it" there depending on the enemy team. I don't usually go for armor or magic resist items because not many will have time to deal damage to you when you've used Impale.

But if the enemy team is full of Spellcasters I get Force of Nature. AD Carries? Thornmail! And if not I get Abyssal Mask or Rod of Ages. ( Void Staff works aswell.)

Oh, And don't forget to use Hextech Gunblade's active as much as possible!

I'm actually going to go through everything step by step here to make it as graspable as possible.

Step One:
I start off by fetching the Amplifying Tome and a Mana Potion for the sake of some extra damage with my Ixtal's Impact in lower levels so that I can harass and the some extra mana to Harass some more, Since I can heal myself with Ixtal's Impact I don't feel any need for a Health Potion.

Step Two:
I try to stay in lane for as long as possible until I can afford the Hextech Revolver. If I can stay longer or get a couple of kills I usually end up with more than 765 gold so I buy some boots of speed aswell.

Step Three:
I try to lane some more, If the possibility arrives I will try to gank mid aswell. I return to the shop to buy Mercury's Threads and if it's possible I'll buy Pickaxe aswell. I don't buy the Vamparic Scepter Because I can just farm for the Pickaxe or the complete item instead.

Step Four:
There isn't really a step four, I don't even usually get this far into the game before we've won. I can usually stay away from losing until I've gotten Lichbane but if we are doomed to lose, It's not much more I can do than protect the base and try to score a couple of kills.

I will now explain the rest of the items;
I find Rylai's Crystal Scepter to be a great item, I like it because it allows me to decide whether or not I need more Health or AP. Usually if I need AP I just skip right to Lichbane. Also the slow is just lovely, You will be able to use Ixtal's Impact to slow them, get close and keep a constant Slow-Flow with Shattered Earth.

Then I get Lichbane because I find it to stack very well with my gameplay, Especially with my Energize and Shattered Earth, Plus I enjoy the movement speed bonus.

I get Rabadon's Deathcap pretty late because as a Hybrid it is not as important as a constant flow of damage as your spellvamp will heal you.

The last item I get depends on my opponents, If I find myself getting focused a lot by both Physical and Magical damage I fetch myself Rod of Ages since the HP makes me look slightly more intimidating and tanky plus I get mana aswell.

If not I normally get the Abyssal Mask or Void Staff. It too depends on who I'm up against, If most in the enemy team has over 100 Magic resist I get Void Staff since it scales off in precent and not a flat amount like the Abyssal Mask.

1. Shattered Earth

This is your ONLY skill that deals AD damage! And it is till not the reason why I build
Skarner as a hybrid. I build him as a hybrid because of his passive.

Just remember that this skill deals not much damage at all, The only way to actually deal damage with it is to spam it, Since that will activate its slow.
Oh, And remember that the second use of it after hitting with the first one will add additional damage, Not exchange it. It's a common mistake.

It has a relatively short cooldown, Especially if you use Energize properly.
Remember to keep spamming this while using Impale because your second strike with Shattered Earth Will slow aswell.

I don't max this skill first because it hardly deals damage unless you repeatedly use it, and that requires you to actually hit with it!

2. Seismic Bastion

This is a great skill, It shields you for damage, Gives you movement speed and attack speed plus that you get a kick *** crystal shell!

This is a great tool for escaping enemies if you have too, I usually am the last to leave a teambattle because I can heal with Spellvamp and Ixtal's Impact and if a teammate is getting killed whilst trying to run, I peel them off with Impale and then use Flash and Seismic Bastion get away.

3. Ixtal's Impact

I find Fracture to be a great starting ability. It has a pretty strong damage and leaves consumable marks that will heal you! How great isn't that?

I try to max it first since the heal doesn't heal depending on how much damage you deal but rather on how many minions you hit. Try using Crystal Slash to heal as much as possible before the minions or enemy team manage to deal too much/any damage to you.

I've scored so many kills with it on people whom tried to get away when Impale was on cooldown.

4. Impale

I love it. First time I played Skarner it was in a bot game with my mate, He said "That skill would only be useful in ganks, man!" and I think he was partially correct there.

It is a great skill for ganks, Even if it's in a lane and both your opponents are there. Nothing is quite as rewarding as running away with another champion and then kill her.

The only thing that is missing is that Cho'Gath doesn't automatically joins the game, Insta-ports to you and Feasts upon your target.

Aside from that, Impale works as a booster for your other skills aswell, Making the slow from Shattered Earth impossible to miss unless you run out of mana. I just love how helpful I feel when someone is about to die and I Impale the enemy and run away with them then slowing them, Hence saving my teammate.

5. Energize

This is the core of Hybrid Skarner Every time after I've played Skarner and have switched to another Hybrid like Akali I keep hitting mobs thinking that it will reduce my cooldowns, Of course it doesn't but I still for some reason try.

Anyhow, This passive will help you stay at a healthy HP level whilst you are taking your opponents lives away. It will also allow you to have an almost constant slow ready aslong as you've got mana.

I hope you've enjoyed the guide so far, I got some more things to say though so just Blazing Stampede with me for awhile longer.

Now, I'd like to remind you all that this guide won't cover you for every situation that is out there, Nor should any guide on this site. You will in the end have to adept yourself to your teammates, Opponents and Enviroment aswell.

I did add 5v5 in the tags, Though I think this build should work on 3v3 aswell but it is slightly too expensive for that.

Another thing I'd like to add is that I am aware that most people add the "Pros and Cons" higher up, But I feel that you'll understand it slightly better after reading my guide.

Oh, I will also add a simple Skill building guide down here for those who actually bothered to scroll their way down here. It will be abit easier to remember on the Fields of Justice, Also It's a way for me to get back at those who only take a look at my item build.

Anyhow, Here are the Pros and Cons!

Pros:
-Great teammate, Believe it or not a carry in his own discrete way.
-Strong Survivability.
-Decreases his own Cooldown with his passive Energize.
-Hard to counter with Armor / Magic Resist.
-Has a Slow, Suppress, heal, Shield and can easily escape.
-Pretty good harasser with Ixtal's Impact.

Cons:
-Not very strong alone or outnumbered
- Cleanse, Remove Scurvy and Tenacity is really a bother.
-Easily killed if constantly stunned or focused since he cannot heal himself.
-A bit slow in the beginning.

I don't really know if it should be in Pros or Cons that you usually never manage to finish your build. Usually they surrender as soon as I've gotten my Hextech Gunblade.

And here I'll get you that Ability Guide that will make it alot easier to remember how to build with him. Small mistakes might be made but none will be that lethal.

Priorities:
Impale -> Ixtal's Impact -> Shattered Earth -> Seismic Bastion
-> -> ->

If you have any questions or something you'd think I should change, Please add it in the comments below and I'll answer your questions and I'm always open for new ideas and improvements.

Thank you for reading and Good Hunting to you all!

-Asrlohz