Hi im Thunderous Analyst ***itant Coach & JGL i been playing skarner before rework and today im gonna try to help you to grasp Skarner

Skarner is dominating the meta thanks to his early power and the threat he poses in team fights, so here I will try to guide you as best as possible so that you can dominate on the Rift.

Skarner benefits of buying defensive stats as Health, Armor and Magic Resist but also works with Attack Damage

1ST ITEM

Skarner generally go build Heartsteel this item rewards fighting and searching action but you can also chose Stridebreaker as you 1st item since stats and active helps, with Stridebreaker you want to engange and use it near to carry so the slow + extra movement speed help you to reach enemies and create perfect ultimate set-up

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PROS

Good taking resources

There is no problem if you take the kill as you need a lot of gold to get your core items

Good synergies

Skarner works with a lot of diffent champs this make him have a lot of synergies

Good at mid and early game

His kit is designed to make presure in all map if you dont have info of his location also the high base damage make im strong in early statements

Flex pick can go TOP and Support

R Impale still usefull if Skarner its behind and can win game with it

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CONS

Outscaled at lategame

Remeber Skarner get outscalated this is because tank items get outscaled easily

One-direction engage

If you miss E Ixtal's Impact and missposition you can be easily killed

Meatball if E Ixtal's Impact its on CD

Because of your build staking mostly Health maybe you can lack off Armor and Magic Resist and be weak to hp% dmg

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SOME ADVICE

Remember to poke with Q Shattered Earth and W Seismic Bastion not for the damage at all but the slow helps teammates to hit skillshots and poke more

Menance with your position, if the enemy have no vision or info about your localitation the will be pressed to back off or risk to be engage with E Ixtal's Impact

Your R Impale can be use to kidnap enemy frontalane so their backlane will be exposed

RUNES

Grasp of the Undying its your best rune by far you stack it easily during early and mid game. Other options like Aftershock are situationaly good usually when you need extra resist after engaging with Ixtal's Impact or Impale

But for me the most important rune for Skarner its Approach Velocity, having 2 slows + smite helps to proc this rune easily also with Stridebreaker helps you to reach enemies without using Ixtal's Impact.

Press the Attack its better than Conqueror because Skarner can only use 1 rotation of abilities on early game so Press the Attack its more efficient on early game but Conqueror its still viable in some situations

I DO NOT RECOMEND ANY OTHER RUNE FOR JUNGLE

Maybe Phase Rush its viable but i still need to test it and be more efficient than Grasp of the Undying or Aftershock and obiously Arcane Comet its OP on Toplane

MATCHUPS

I RECOMMEND TO BAN KAYN IF HE IS GOOD IN THE PATCH, SHYVANA IF JGL POWERFARM ITS BUFFED OR LILLIA

OLAF:

Olaf is one of your biggest counters, basically if you CC with Ixtal's Impact its also your only way to scape without using flash so basically if he Ults right before you use Ixtal's Impact you will become a meatball than cant escape from him. I recommed to dodge if you face Olaf fortunately its not popular and less on jungle role.

LILLIA:

Lillia as the rest of Ap porwerfarmers counters Skarner basically as you know Skarner gets outscaled at lategame so you need to wait Lillia troll or get CC by a ally so you can easily use Impale on her.

SHYVANA:

Shyvana worst than Lillia because with Dragon's Descent she become unstoppable also its more tankier than lillia and have hybrid damage. Cant contest objetives because Shyvana rush objetives fast af.

KAYN:

Kayn well Red Kayn counters you HP% dmg and a lot of movility+CC make him one of the most difficult match ups to face.

MORGANA:

Morgana hard match up, as you are a One Direction Engage its easy to get hitted with her Q Dark Binding and you are predictable who you are going to hit with Ixtal's Impact so she is going to use Black Shield

JAX:

Jax weird match up as you win it easily on toplane in jungle its kinda different because when you engage him with Ixtal's Impact he is going to use Counter Strike so if you stun him he will dodge your empowered AA or stun you so the trade will be negative

SYNERGIES

TIERLIST MID DUO WITH Skarner

Twitter: https://x.com/Thunder0us___

Team i work with: https://x.com/WaloESP