Hello! My name is Laverenz and welcome to my Skarner guide. I stream every now and then on www.twitch.tv/laverenz
You might think "Hmmm who is this guy, who will try to learn us a thing or two". Well... Let's just say that I'm a pretty good Skarner player. I've reached rank 10 best Skarner world. I climbed from silver 2 to platinum 5 at a 95% winrate (Skarner only) and after that i climbed the way to diamond at a fairly stable winrate. I've coached a lot of low elo players on how to play him properly. I have over 400 games of Skarner in total. I basically know every single aspect of playing Skarner. Let's get to it! :)

This guide focuses on:
- Runes
- Items
- Pros / Cons on skarner
- Abilities
- Team Fights
- Early Game
- Mid Game
- Late Game

Skarner is an immense crystalline scorpion from a hidden valley in Shurima. Part of the ancient Brackern race, Skarner and his kin are known for their great wisdom and deep connection to the land, as their souls are fused with powerful life crystals which hold the living thoughts and memories of their ancestors. In an age long past, the Brackern entered hibernation to avoid untold magical destruction, but recent, threatening events have roused Skarner. As the only Brackern awake, he strives to protect his kind from those who seek to harm them.

Long before men traversed the scorched deserts of Shurima, the very sand itself shone with primal, unchained magic. In a remote valley surrounded by steep cliffs and jagged rock formations, the age-old race of Brackern unearthed raw crystals from deep within the sand. Each of these noble creatures fused with a single stone, which retained their consciousness long after their death.

The demise of a Brackern was a rare occurrence, as their worldly lives stretched across millennia, but even death did not signify an ending. When a creature’s mortal form perished, its life stone was buried in the valley for safekeeping until a new Brackern could uncover it. This practice protected the vulnerable crystals while preserving the wisdom of the ones who came before.

With a finite number of stones, the young Brackern searched for the crystal meant for them, just as the consciousness within the stone beckoned to the Brackern it had chosen to inherit its magic and memories. In a sacred rite, the rock fused with crystalline flesh, imbuing the creature’s mind with memories and knowledge and flooding them with primal magic. A Brackern without a crystal would not long survive, for they lacked the strength, longevity, and power instilled by the stones.

The young creature named Skarner spent many years searching for the crystal meant for him. Afraid he would die before finding it, he grew more persistent in his search with each passing moon. Day and night, he delved deep into the ground, digging in a methodical pattern that covered the entire valley and neighboring hills with intricate spirals.

Skarner had all but given up when he finally felt an ancient consciousness tugging at his mind. He burrowed down, venturing ever deeper until the world’s heart warmed his shell. Days passed, but the consciousness grew ever more insistent as it urged him onward. Skarner’s pincers closed on a well-worn stone, and he heard a rasping whisper at the back of his mind. Though the voice was faint, he already felt intimately connected to its awareness, and he knew he had found his stone.

The crystal was larger than any he had seen, and so timeworn that its glow had faded to a soft glimmer. Its surface was cracked in several places and dulled from eons buried under the ground. Skarner examined the rock with the tenderest touch, afraid of further damaging something so ancient. The dim glow within pulsed as though breathing in response to Skarner’s presence.

Skarner began the bonding ritual, burying himself deep underground with the crystal for weeks without sustenance. Though he ached with fatigue and his limbs atrophied in starvation, he was not afraid, for the voice within the stone comforted him. When the crystal finally fused with his body, he was overwhelmed with emotion as ancient memories and wisdom permeated his thoughts. He witnessed moments of incredible joy and crushing sorrow from generations long deceased. He felt magic all around him, suffusing his body with a deep connection to the world through a low constant hum, and sensed his kind communicating in a wordless meeting of minds.

When the cataclysmic forces of the Rune Wars began to devastate the world, the Brackern feared the turmoil would soon mark the end of their species. They resolved to hide in hibernation until humans wiped themselves out, as it seemed certain they would. Only then would it be safe to emerge from the sands once more.

The crystalline scorpions buried themselves deep in the Shuriman desert with the youngest and most ferocious positioned closest to the surface, ready to awaken first and defend the others in case of danger. The strength Skarner gained from his ancient life stone made him more powerful than almost all of his kin, so he was one of the last of his kind to enter the long slumber.

They slept in peaceful isolation as centuries passed before Skarner awoke from his shallow burrow in a panic. Deafening explosions shattered the ground, targeting the Brackern where they lay sleeping and stunning those closest to the surface. A band of robbers had discovered the dormant creatures and were prying crystals from crystalline flesh. Skarner, protected from the brunt of the attack by his crystal, erupted from the sand in a terrible frenzy of sharp pincers and poisonous stabs. Though their numbers all but overwhelmed him, he killed many of the thieves, and the rest fled in terror. Skarner was horrified to learn he was the only one awake, and that many of his people’s crystals had already been stolen.

Skarner tried to revive his dormant companions, but the men had broken so many life stones in their thoughtless theft that several Brackern with damaged crystals died moments after Skarner woke them, while others would not wake at all. For weeks Skarner paced the sand above his sleeping brethren in sorrowful mourning. He was certain the crystals would quickly perish in the hands of men, and mourned their loss too.

Yet as the sun broke over the horizon many weeks later, Skarner heard distant echoes calling in his mind. The cries were faint, but rang clear over the land. These voices of the lost stones reached out to him in terror, imploring Skarner to reconnect them with their kind. Skarner hesitated, torn as to whether he should rescue the lost crystals or continue guarding the still-living Brackern. After weeks spent erasing all traces of the excavation, he could not stand to hear the minds of his kin suffering at the hands of the violent humans, and resolved to set out to save the missing crystals.

Skarner began the arduous task of tracking the stones, hoping no others would discover his kin beneath the sand. Though his search is lonely, he occasionally hears a lost crystal calling to him, a feeling that brings joy and anguish in equal measure. He focuses his sorrow into unshakable determination, and refuses to rest until he has recovered every last life stone.
Yeet mofo

I would always go for Conqueror as my Keystone, as it gives so much oneshot-potential, and helps outdamaging people late- and earlygame, as your attack speed will always be really high, and your Q will stack Conqueror up extremely fast. The little healing you get from Conqueror is such a big life saver, and people won't be expecting "The 1v9 Machine", Skarner, to one burst every single carry in the game. The rest of the runes are self-explanatory.

Pros + High mobility with Seismic Bastion + Threads of Vibration + Chain CC + AoE slow + Can give himself armor + Attack speed steroid + One-shot potential Skarner is a great pick in solo queue. He is an easy champion to solo carry with, as he can fight each and every champion 1v1 throughout all of the game basically. Also, Skarner is one of the "Right Click Champions", which makes him easy to play. He is great at catching carries on the enemy team with his Ixtal's Impact + Impale.

Cons - Weak without altars - Vulnerable to binds/slows - Needs good early game - Impale removeable with Quicksilver Sash - Easily falls behind when counter-jungle'd - Takes a lot of practice to master As per all champions, Skarner has his strengths, and his weaknesses. Compared to other junglers, Skarner's late game can be considered extremely strong, if ahead, but extremely weak if behind. Well it's hard to get back in the game if behind from early game. Skarner's Impale can be removed with Quicksilver Sash, which makes it easy to counter. It's interruptable, It's easy to get away from, as soon as the enemy team sees Skarner, the carries can just flash away, or use movement abilities, to escape getting caught by Impale.

As Skarner, you would always go for full jungle clear. Always start blue buff no matter which side of the map you're. Blue>Grump>Wolves>Raptors>Red>Golems. After you've done that, recall and buy Stalker's Blade non upgraded. You will then go to the Rift Scuttler close to your blue buff, kill it, and go grump. Take the route over again without buffs of course. After these two stages have been done, you're good to go. You can, from here, counterjungle, go for altar control and just take a camp whenever someone respawns.

Farming is a big part of Skarner, i almost have more CS than any of my teammates throughout the game. Keep your farm up, it's important. If your team is losing their lanes, and it's hard to gank, just keep farming up for late game. Mid/late game is Skarner's biggest strength.

You can see the ability maxing order in the top of the guide. For this chapter, I'd like to add some more important combos and tactics to use your spells. The normal combo when engaging a fight, would be E > R (without stunning them) > Basic attack after your ultimate is done (stun after ultimate) > Spam Q throughout all of the combo. Q is your filler ability.

Skarner's Passive:
Crytal Spires Skarner's presence causes crystals to spawn in set locations around the map. While near crystals his team owns, Skarner gains tremendous movement speed, attack speed, and mana regeneration.


Skarner's Q:
Crytal Slash Skarner lashes out with his claws, dealing physical damage to all nearby enemies and charging himself with Crystal Energy for several seconds if a unit is struck. If he casts Crystal Slash again while powered by Crystal Energy, he deals bonus magic damage.

Skarner deals 80% bonus Attack Damage physical damage to all nearby enemies. If a unit is struck, he charges himself with Crystal Energy for 4 seconds.While Skarner is charged, Crystal Slash deals 80% bonus Attack Damage (+30% Ability Power) bonus magic damage.Basic attacks against non-structures lower Crystal Slash's cooldown by 0.25 seconds (quadrupled against champions).


Skarner's W:
Crytalline Exoskeleton Skarner gains a shield and has increased Movement Speed while the shield persists.

Skarner is shielded for 0 (10/11/12/13/14% of his maximum health) (+80% Ability Power) damage for 6 seconds. While the shield persists, Skarner gains movement speed that ramps up to 16/20/24/28/32% over 3 seconds.


Skaner's E:
Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy which deals damage to enemies struck and slows them. Basic attacking these enemies within a short window will stun them.

Passive: Crystallizing enemies with Fracture and Impale grants Crystal Charge for the disable duration and reduces the cooldown of Fracture by the same amount.
Active: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy, dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+20% Ability Power) magic damage, slowing targets hit by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2.5 seconds and reducing the blast's speed.Enemies hit by Fracture are afflicted with Crystal Venom for 5 seconds, causing Skarner's next basic attack against them to deal 30/50/70/90/110 additional physical damage and stun the target for 1.25 second.


Skarner's R:
Skarner suppresses an enemy champion and deals damage to it. During this time, Skarner can move freely and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, the target will be dealt additional damage.

Skarner suppresses an enemy champion for {{ rduration }} seconds, dealing {{ physicaldamage }} physical damage plus {{ magicdamage }} magic damage. Skarner can move freely during this time, and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner's target will be dealt the same damage again.

If you have a "snowball-potential champion" on your team, like Pantheon, Talon, Katarina, Jax, Fizz, Zed etc. always try to get them fed early game, so they can carry, which makes the game winable fast (Before 30-35 minutes). You should always gank, when there is an easy gank obviously. Toplane is easy to gank. Midlane can be easy, if the enemy midlaner doesn't have any escape abilities. Botlane can be hard, as the enemy support most likely has CC.

In team fights you should always Impale their carries. If their carries have bought Quicksilver Sash You should never Impale them, unless you know for sure, that they already used it. Remember; Cleanse can't remove Skarner's ultimate, which the minority of League of Legends playerbase knows.

In Skarner's early-game, there is a lot of farming. Doing the route as i mentioned earlier in the Creeping / Jungling chapter. Do the same route over and over for about 10 minutes of the game, of course with a lot of easy ganks if possible, and just farm up. As i mentioned in the Farming chapter, farming is REALLY important on skarner, as you should be able to carry late game. You don't want to play too aggresive early game, unless you spot some easy kills in mid/top. I almost never gank botlane before i have my ultimate, Impale, because the support most likely has some cc. Dragon control is in your favour aswell, because of Skarner's solo-objective-potential.

In Skarner's mid-game you need to have a lot of focus on picking out carries with Impale, aswell as getting your snowball-potential-champions fed. Dragon control is also an easy objective to contain, as you should be able to 1v1 every champion at this point of the game, which makes their jungler afraid to contest it. If you're botlane/midlane is helping you with dragon, the enemy team will most likely not try to contest it. Rift herald is VERY important. If you can capture it, solo it aswell, in minute 12-17 and bring it either toplane or midlane, you should be able to get a tower or two, depending on how long your team has pushed in already.

Late game determines whether you're a good or bad Skarner player. Always look out for objectives like Dragon/Baron, aswell as catches on the enemy midlaner, adc or support, as it might win you the game. At this point of the game, if you are ahead, you can solo baron. Yes, you heard me right... SOLO baron at 22-26 minutes ingame. To solo Baron you need; Stalker's Blade - Warrior, Trinity Force, Sterak's Gage, Berserker's Greaves, Chain Vest and Giant's Belt. If you have those items, you are good to go. Bring a support with you, if you feel insecure about it.