Hii! I'm Lusimus, I started playing league last year! I main Skarner, Ryze and Pantheon.
I decided to make this Skarner guide for the fun of it, as I dont enjoy playing him as a Tank or a speedster with only the purpose of Impale ulting the enemy and then running away. (Although do note that this guide covers such things as well. I want to be helpful too x3)

If you're looking for Fun! And more silly than serious builds (this is an off meta guide xd) then you're at the right place!

It's come to my notice that this is the only regularly updated Skarner guide, I will do my very best to keep it viable and up to date- so all Skarner players alike can enjoy it!

So I started to play Skarner just because I was told he sucks as a champion, thanks to plenty advice, I've had great success with him! And now I seek to create my own unique guide and gameplay- since whats more fun than playing an off meta champ with an off meta build?

(13.10) With the new patch I've been loving Skarner!

With the new Skarner gameplay update being sneaked and finally brought up by riot.
Do expect this guide to change a lot- as it seems they've removed his Threads of Vibration passive which stores most of his dueling potential.

Well seems like the update to him got postponed again, so that means I can still enjoy the current skarner, hence the updates to this guide!

FYI AGAIN!
AP SKARNER IS SO BACK, WE ARE MAKIN THIS GUIDE WORKIN AGAIN!

Skarner is a statcheck champion, he's been untouched and seriously can use any build!
Of course the conqueror bruiser build works like a charm, but this guide is for those Skarner players that want to learn a whole new scorpion! Or those who want a bit of a change in their matches!

Pros!

Very fun to play!
-Easy to pick up and get the basic idea.
-Surprisingly good, stat-checks A LOT
-Plenty of outwitting to do, once you know the champ- you are unstoppable!
-Can invade a lot!
-can use effectively any build, from tank to lethality!
-Very high dueling and even 2v1 potential with proper targeting

Cons!

easy to pick up, very hard to master.
-requires a lot of predicting, which is just randomised in such a game.
-team may not understand your passive.
-ganks need a bit of setup from the targeted lane.
-shines in 1v1, terrible at teamfights without an initiator
-If an enemy understands your dependancy on the crystals and keeps them in check- you are effectively forced to play Skarner on nightmare mode

So! Lethal tempo is my current favourite as its almost guaranteed to proc during a 1v1 due to your CC and attack speed in your own AREA!
It is also excellent with your Shattered Earth Q, as the faster you AA, the faster you spam Shattered Earth Q
--Conqueror is the go-to if you feel like playing a bit safer, tag it with Revitalize and Shield Bash for some serious durability and offence! I use it time to time, and I can't deny it's effectiveness!
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Okay, so there is one scenario in which this is good, when you have Turbo Chemtank and Dead Man's Plate and want to excel in frontloaded burst damage. Still there are better options...

Good old Waterwalking! It works since you spend most of your time in the jungle/river.
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It's simple and works, gives more MS which a Skarner in its natural habitat loves!
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Ability haste = faster Q spam!
Also very good for E since it lets you get CC a lot more!

Aftershock, easy to proc with your ult or Ixtal's Impact E stun. And it scales with HP, as well as gives some buffs. It is the best of the Resolve tree, as guardian is useless and grasp hard to proc as jg.
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Boneplating- its good since it has the word "bone" in it. In seriousness it helps with those duels against the enemy jungle!
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A very viable option if you're going for a long game, especially if you go Jak'Sho, The Protean and high resistance build.

You rely on trickery, most players will know what you're planning if your just waddling at them with R ready to be used- so let's go over some things you can do!

Ixtal's Impact + Flash + AA. Is a high value target hanging just out of your effective range? Try to get them to follow you even for a few steps, so you can shoot out Ixtal's Impact and flash onto them with it so that they have no time to react!
Now you've gotten them stunned and can wait out the stun to ult them to your team! Yay!

Ixtal's Impact + Flash with terrain. Have a ward at the drake and the enemy jungle is taking it? Just fire out Ixtal's Impact and Flash over the wall, you'll start the duel with the advantage!

Ixtal's Impact buffering. You can do this when your team doesn't have cc to hold the target after you've dragged them. Just fire out Ixtal's Impact but AA, instead ult them to a favorable spot to AA them, as the Fracture effect lingers for 5 seconds, you've got plenty of time!

This needs a slot of its own. Skarner can be affected by displacements when ulting, as long as the ult target stays in leash range.

So for example things like Taliyah Seismic Shove or Tristana Buster Shot will send you flying- and your target alonside you.

For friendlies, Thresh can use his lantern to give you an escape route.
Blitzcrank can actually grab your suppress target and you'll be pulled along with it!

Note that with AP SKARNER you can often get enough CD to do Ixtal's Impact + AA to proc Fracture stun, then when that ends immediately ult! After your Impale is over, you have your E up for another fracture stun.
This is incredibly powerful considering all this time (except during ult) you can AA them- as well as just being incredible lockdown other champs can just dream of.

They match so well! Especially if you build steraks gage, you can get a hefty shield with his Seismic Bastion W! And that certainly helps since this build gives up tankiness for sheer DPS

With the new Youmuu's going rampant, I seriously recommend these runes even more, as you can at least mitigate some damage with the hefty shield- to handle the frontloaded burst that most adc and assasins now wield even better.

You thrive in a long fight, no matter what build you go for, so if you can get over the first bursts, you should be in the clear.

Mythical items!

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Perfect for skarner, good stats, sheen built in, passive ability haste- gives MS when used! With the new 13.10update, this item is so amazing on skarner, I can't recommend it enough!!

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Heartsteel, to get the most of this you've got to understand enemy jungle rotations, as you want to go invade- land your Ixtal's Impact E and wait for hearsteel to charge, and during the stun you get- just waddle away!!!

This works well since Skarner by nature can just walk into enemy jungle and capture the area for himself- becoming a monsterous statchecker even before level 6.

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Objectively the best tank item on skarner, in duels or even 1v2-3 this item shines! It gives very useful stats and resistances, I've found success with rushing this first before even Boots

You may be slow, but the enemy cant leave you unchecked since once you get near, you stay near. So either they engage or just run away as you waddle menacingly after them.

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These last two are for the more Wild builds, guinsoos rageblade is a very very strong tool for Lethal Tempo Skarner, as it gives hybrid damage and high penetration at full build.

But do not build this unless you are going full on hit build- which makes your playstyle depend even more heavily to landing your Ixtal's Impact to abuse that small stun to frontload a lot of damage.

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Blade of the Ruined King is very good in its current state, and like many others, skarner can make use of it with fast attack speed and naturally strong duel lockdown abilities! + bonus is the slow on the target and MS boost for you!

This can be built without tempo as well, but may have varying results..

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a Very good replacement for Sterak's Gage as this doens't rely on hp to be good. It gives your squishier build more room to breathe in fights and can save your bum many times! Of course raw damage and armor as stats are very useful too.

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Enemy has mixed damage? You want a giant shield to indimitate the enemy? Actually need the shield to survive some nasty burst? Then Gargoyle Stoneplate is your best friend, this item by its stats is very good! and the active shield even better!

Pair this with Jak'Sho, The Protean to get some really high resistances during fights, making you harder to deal with as the fight gets longer!

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a Bit of an oddball item nowadays. But it works when you want to help your AP dmg teammate to shred enemies- also offers very good MR and HP! I recommend this if you cant think of else to build!

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Gives a nice last stand for you- and adds on to the already high AD that Skarner has, I really recommend this for any build.

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You've probably heard it already, but this item is soooooo good for Skarner bruiser builds- it lets you tear armor so rapidly, and if you are in the middle of the enemy team, your Q shreds their armor as well! Do buy this after your mythic if you are going for a bruiser build!

Nope.

Before I said It was on the edge of being a troll build-
But with the new Youmuus Ghostblade I cant stress enough how good a lethality Skarner works! But you have to adapt a bit when it comes to playstyle! Understand that you are far squishier than with a bruiser or tank build!

It is hard to use, you have to really understand when to fire out Ixtal's Impact and if its worth it to go and try proc the stun on it.

If you can ambush someone with the Ixtal's Impact stun, you can eat them in seconds with an On-Hit build! Use your E first to get the stun off, then when that stun is over use your R to keep them locked so that your E ticks off of CD in the process!

Yes, absolute yes.
I love it, and ya oughta try it too! With the new items its really fun and actually really good!

I could keep talking about what a BEAST Skarner is in duels, but it's important to understand that he is not a carry- not by any means.

You should focus on ganks, due to the speed of your first clear you can get to the scuttle crabs far before they spawn (around 10-15s before they appear).

IF your opponent is something like Master Yi, Nidalee or Evelynn- you should absolutely sneak to their jungle and capture the crystal- usually you can catch them by the gromp or blue sentinel on the blue side.
On the red side you can usually catch them by the krug

If you find yourself in this situation. Try to look at few key things.
[*] Are they at range to be surprised with Ixtal's Impact?
[*] Can they kill you? (Your HP relative to theirs)
[*] Are laners still in lane? Is it a 1v1?

If it indeed is a 1v1 and you know all others are on lane- absolutely go for the fight! You are a monster in enemy jungles as well!

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Now, to ganking. As said you are usually blessed with 15s or so with time to do something before scuttles appear. Prioritise midlane, it opens space for the later game- But do not force it, if your laner has shoved wave under the enemy tower, then focus on toplane.

Bottomlane is harder for skarner due to the size and heavy warding- I don't recommend trying a gank before level 6, BUT! absolutely go for it if you are confident that your bottomlane duo can help and push along!

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Ganking becomes much easier as you can MS items such as the Gustwalker Hatchling
Dead Man's Plate Turbo Chemtank Force of Nature and so on and so forth.

The important thing is to understand that a Fed midlaner or bottomlane duo and even a toplaner are a better option than a fed Skarner. You can play it slow- because you know you will scale eventually.

At the end of the day. Skarner is so unique with what he can build- so take this guide more as a way to explore the character a bit!

Go have fun! Try out silly things and see what lands! Or use the strong builds already known and see what you can do with them! It's all about having fun <3