Skarners biggest problem top lane was always the first few levels, where he wasn't tanky enough to attack people. Didn't have the mana to sustain with his E. Struggled to gain dominance and had weak escapes.
Now however with the sustain centered starts, you can simply wait out the early game relying on your E to heal you and tear to keep your mana high. You can last hit with E and grab an early ward to see and outrun any potential ganks with W.
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Late game even if you're behind you will still be hard to kill and able to lock down a single target with your ultimate. If you're fed then you can easily take on several people at once.
To not be afraid to dive into the enemy team during a teamfight if you will not be focused by more than 3 people.
Late game skarner is able to withstand any burst that isn't very heavy and can kill anyone without extreme damage items.


Currently most of Skarners lane and late game counters are never seen top.
Olaf, Irelia, Jax and Nasus are his biggest threats.
Dive champions aren't popular and its all about AD caster champions with AoE (Renekton, Kha'Zix and Zed)
He also provides strong utility and his weak early game is not a problem with the current sustain meta thanks to his E providing a strong sustain in lane. Not only that he remains a threat no matter how far behind he gets. However when fed he is extremely strong.

Pros

• Strong sustain
• Powerful 1v1er
• Constantly spammable AoE damage and slow
• Hybrid scaling
• MS/AS buff that also is a shield
• Powerful suppression ultimate that can relocate people
• Passive reduces CDs
• Hard to kill and catch
• Naturally very tanky
• Synergises with ganks INSANELY well
• Forces focus on teamfights
• Unusual laner so most people don't know how to play/pick/build against you
• Can farm in a 2v1 lane
• Can build full tank with no deteriment

Cons

• Mana dependant
• Melee range with no true gapcloser
• Weak early game
• Scales with everything, so needs a bit of everything i.e. item & level dependant
• Without exoskelton will get kited
• can totally screw you up with his ult
• Easily kited if the enemy has large slows

First off. Yes I don't level his ultimate whenever possible.

Reason? Each level lowers its CD by 10 seconds and increases its damage by 50. Thats nothing at all. Since Skarner can lower his CD with auto attacks and can use his Q during his ultimate leveling his ultimate is not as necessary as other champions. This lets you level up your other abilities quickly.

Why 3 levels in his E? Why level it at all? Why not power level it?

Your E can heal you for approx 130 if you hit 3 creeps with it and use your Q. That means you can heal for that amount or slightly higher every creep wave. But later levels the heal amount starts to become un-needed as mid-game you don't need the sustain to win the lane, as you can just jump on your opponent and kill them.
Your E also becomes a mana burden at this point, so more points into your other abilities is advised

Why Crystal Slash over Exoskeleton?

To be fair both abilities are really strong but you need the slow and added damage to actually be a threat. Skarner has naturally good stats and the runes and item build listed means you should be up in peoples faces in no time.

Generally the best for Skarner

The reason being you want to either get lots of additional CDR or Tankiness. You don't need extra damage because as long as you have mana and health you'll continue to do lots of damage. So focus on staying alive and getting your spells off CD to use more often. Gives extra movement speed as well as a massive 10% CDR reduction and lots of sustain from 4 in defensive as well as extra regen and lifesteal/spellvamp from utility. This will keep you alive in fights and lane more than you would expect.

Obviously makes you MUCH harder to kill. This build is recommended more if you have a very squishy team (i.e. Nocturne, Talon, Twitch, Janna) and need to tank up for your team. You trade your extra tankiness for less CDR and MS. So less likely to be able to stick onto targets JUST as well, but still has a place

0/21/9 is another option and I'll add a picture for this setup later. This setup lets you take a biscuit first for the early levels and is if you think you'll end up with the max 40% CDR

Basic rune set-up

- Keep you alive early, add to general tankiness
Additional options for quints:
- Lets you get onto people quicker
- More damage, spells up quicker
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- Its top lane, you're a bruiser. End of really.
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- Most people get flat blues. And I'm not sure why. Early on you lose only a couple % more resistance against spells with flat/scaling, and since most early game spells are very weak you only block an additional 5-15 damage a spell. Its better to use these Glyphs for late game as they actually outscale the flat as quickly as lvl 6
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- The quicker you attack, the more your passive goes off, the more you can use spells. The more you can spam your Q and use your W. Everything you want

So these are the generally best spells to take
- Combination of + is scary, you've ghost built in with
- Need this to kill your opponent in lane, especially mid-game
- Skarner ganks are scary. /end. No-one wants to deal with that so another good choice for applying pressure.

Possibilities

- Obvious benefit, combined with your slow and keeps you on top of anyone. Good against a team full of slows or as alternative to
- Best picked against AS dependant champions like Irelia and Jax. As they won't be able to beat you in a 1v1 with it. VERY POWERFUL.

First off. Skarner is like Kha'Zix. If you kill anyone in the early levels it will be through you outplaying your opponent or them over-commiting. You are weak early but powerspike in the mid-game so focus on getting there and making the plays past the 10-15 minute mark.
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Check to see who their jungler is and try to figure out how likely the enemy jungler is to start at a buff near you and their likeliness to gank you early. If possible try to have your team find out. The reason for this is that you want to try to avoid placing your ward in the corner of the river bush for as long as possible.
If you believe the enemy won't try to gank you in the first couple of levels wait till you hit level 2 and then IMMEDIATELY go ward.
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You must keep at least one ward in the river AT ALL TIMES. You can escape ganks easily with your but to do so you need to see the gank coming. Do not skimp out and think you don't need a ward, you always do.

EARLY GAME

Expected items

x3 x2Sight Ward

You'll get behind in CS and not kill anyone.
90% of the time this will happen.
Its expected, you don't shine early game.
Farm with your and try to hit both the enemy and creeps with it
Once you use your to hit all affected targets with your to recover a large chunk of health then back off.
Most champions will try to poke you, so hide in the bush, come forward and auto-attack and use your immediately after to last hit without your .

If you do get ganked don't hesitate to burn to escape. Thats why its there.

UNEXPECTED FIRST BACK

Expected items

Sight Ward

This is what will happen if you get bullied out of lane early or are subject to an early gank. DO NOT LEAVE OR RETURN UNTIL YOU CAN GET A .
No matter if you get bullied out or not you NEED to get a
As you are in the fountain use and then to leave. This will get you into lane faster and give you 4 free stacks on your .
On your way back to lane use your every time it is up as the will regen your mana at almost 5 mana a second whilst your costs 22 at level 1. This means when you arrive in lane you can continue as normal but with a dozen extra charges

FIRST BACK

Expected items

Sight Ward

This should be your purchases (with maybe a or 2) on your first back. You should aim to get this about level 4/5, before you hit 6. Try to push the wave to your opponents tower and return with these items.

What about an early ?
If you don't have enough for a its a decent idea to ensure you are tanky enough to progress to your powerful mid-game. It will also return mana for each minion killed and increase your healing from your combo

This from now on assumes you go either of the standard builds Set v1 or Set v2.
Set v1 /
Set v2 Set v1 /

Which items you should build first

or
You need health and CDR. Period.
Both of these stats are nearly invaluable to Skarner so the sooner you get them the more able you are to get on top of your opponent and cause some real havoc.
You ALWAYS need to get one of these two items first.

or / /
So what stats do you get first? Attack Damage and CDR or Tankinss or Movement speed.
Generally if you have more money to spend when you return the correct answer always is
But having increased movement speed will let you get on top of harder opponents so I would recommend getting boots early against champs like and

When should I finish Manamune?

When your hits about 700 stacks or so, thats when.
Once you get close to about 600 its worth picking up a long sword and keeping it in your inventory.
Remember to use your whenever you have 90% mana to fill it up

MID GAME PLAYSTYLE

At this point in the game you should NOT play defensive.
You are a crystal scorpion. Act like it. Get up in peoples faces, heal off creeps, push the waves.
I can't really be any clearer than KILL EVERYTHING
Mid-game do not be afraid of people, you have a gapcloser, good slows and sustain.
If you want to run onto someone first off use your before you go in then drop before using

To be honest... I'm not sure what else to say here. Because in the end, you just need to charge at people. Mid-game very few people can take you on.
Remember that.

Expected items

The items you get are to achieve several key things.

1. Enough mana to use spells
2. Tanky enough to tank the enemy AD carry
3. 20% CDR minimum

Everything else is supplementary.

So to achieve this you need these core items - AND
This leaves you with at least 20% CDR to pick up from other items.
There are of course exceptions to this but 95% of the time you need both these items.
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Highly Recommended
So which items are next most important?

• - Gives a wealth of awesome stats. The best thing it offers however is that it gives a shield stacking with your so it doesn't get popped as easily so you can continue your advance
• - Current favourite of mine. Gives good lane sustain, tenacity, CDR and a brick-ton of health. Its also insanely cost effective AND cheap.
• - Gives high AD, armrpen, health and CDR. It also means your abilities now apply Black Cleaver giving you more reason to get into a fight. Its a damage item that increases your damage. Its awesome.
• Spirit of the Lizard Elder - This item is all the rage at the moment and I'm actually not a huge fan of the item. But Skarner loves sustain and cheap damage. Which is what this
• - 20% CDR and tanky stats. Doesn't matter that the healing and regen passive is awesome. Because the passive is amazing, but the stats this item gives are worth the gold cost alone

Still high up on the shopping list
These items aren't always the best choice but they are all very strong choices

• - Blocks incoming CC and gives a high amount of mana and health as well as MR. Good overall item and good for preventing being CCed
• - Makes you tanky and increases your damage output with a passive and CDR. Great item.
• - 20% CDR. A total anti-AD item.
• - Not as expensive as it once was and still has its place, might consider using this more. But no CDR ;(
• - Free ghost, health and CDR. Epic.
• - For when you just need to be beefier.
• - It has damage and armourpen as well as a speed boost. Only problem is you can't really work with the crit and doesn't increase your tankiness
• - Brings you back to life. Need I say more?

First off I assume you are looking a this to find out who you destroy and who you lose to.
So I'll cover the major threats, everyone else should be no major problem.
You are only countered by two champions (BRUTAL section), everyone else you can beat in lane.
You DO struggle with the champions in the (HARD) section, and those match-ups are often VERY equal.

Before I get into who is strong and weak a few notes
Things that do well in lane against you

1. Poor early game but strong mid-late game
2. Strong 1v1 abiltiy
3. AS reduction
4. Strong sustain
5. Powerful slows

Ctrl+F to find champion match-ups you are interested in

Brutal

OLAF Early 9 - Mid 8-9 - Late 7-8 [Need more testing]
tough lane early as he can kill you, also good burst. You can win out with sustain but until you have tear you can't really out sustain his burst, and of course your ultimate can be ignored by Olaf. Luckily because of your added damage and consistent damage you can keep pressure on him and actually out damage him in fights mid-game. It will just be pinning him down to actually finish him off.
30% True Damage 70% AD
Recommend Build v2
TEEMO Early 10 - Mid 9 - Late 6
Devil in midget form. Ask for a lane swap.
They refused. Oh boy.
You can either get lucky and get a kill on him, rush and constantly get onto him and kill him.
90% of the time however he will simply kite you back and forth with and his range.
You have two options. Power level and push the lane out, heal up and hide. Rinse and repeat, just get farmed and not die.
Option 2 is so risky. Power level Crystalline and get an early and . Get onto him and kill him over and over. Problem with this is a good Teemo won't let you, and he will just plant through his bushes and just kite you through them.
Horrible lane, no fun. Late game his shrooms will drive you insane, but he will remain an easy target to kill... If you ever get to him.
Should be obvious, but make sure to pick up the slow effectiveness mastery if you got 21 in defence.
65% AP 35% AD
Recommend any build - Swift boots are NEEDED

Very Hard

JAX Early 7 - Mid 8-9 - Late 8-9
Deals different types of damage and excels 1v1 as well as having good disengage. Probably one of your hardest match-ups as he can take you on at all points of the game. When he activates his counter-strike to jump on you and do his Q+W+E combo then use your W to get out of leap range. When he he fights you 1v1 keep your W until he uses his E, then slow with Q and run back out of stun range and then back into fight him. He gets a power spike level 6.
60% AP 40% AD
Recommend - Build v1
IRELIA Early 6 - Mid 8-9 - Late 8-9
So frustrating. She can trade better than you whilst sustaining herself. She has FREE sustain and a stun to disengage with as well as her to escape.
The best way to beat her is actually to wait till she uses her and either fails or uses it to engage. Because the 1v1 battles are extremely close at all points in the game except early where she is slightly better. Really the best way to win this fight is at the loading screen. Take ignite and fight her in creeps, stick on her and fight her when her is down. In-fact fight her whenever she doesn't want you to.
15% AP 35% True Damage 60% AD
Recommend - Build v2
NASUS Early 5 - Mid 6-7 - Late 9-10
Immovable. He cannot be killed. Cannot be killed. Cannot be out-damaged. Cannot be out-sustained. You have a window mid-game to kill him. Thats it. Just try to be aggressive and kill him before he reaches God-like status.
Does 85% AD and 15% magic.
Recommend Build v2
ELISE Early 10 - Mid 8 - Late 6
I hate Elise top, just spams Nuerotoxin/Venomous Bite on you and wins. Whats worse is that she can actually do decent damage 1v1 to you because of her spiders. Just farm with and wait this one out, power level your . You won't be fighting her, you'll lose.
80% AP 20% AD
Recommend Build v1
WUKONG Early 10 - Mid 7 - Late 7
Wukong hurts. A lot.
He is all about early aggression and can almost instantly gap-close and trade over extremely large amounts of damage from very early levels. The problem is that you can't really trade with Wukong becauase he can do so much damage so quickly. His damage also increases at level 6 with his ultimate. Unless you can drag him into your tower you'll just die to him unless you play EXTREMELY passively.
Once he runs out of mana he is useless. You can also trade damage back onto him for 2-3 seconds before any of his abilities come off CD again.
Don't underestimate how much damage the Monkey can do

Hard

SHYVANA Early 8 - Mid 8 - Late 6
Shyvana is actually a major struggle for you. Her is like your + so you CANNOT beat her 1v1 with it up. So the best way to actually beat her is to kite out her . When her is down you win any fight. You also beat her out in sustain until she gets lifesteal. Remember her ultimate also gives a lot of burst. 55% AD damage and 45% magic.
55% AP 45% AD
Recommend Build v2
RENEKTONEarly 10 - Mid 5 - Late 3
Hardest lane early on for Skarner. Level 5 however he starts to lose his threat, it returns at level 6 for a bit but after that, he just can't take you on. You can chase him down and kill him easily. Don't tower dive. 95% AD damage.
Recommend Build v2
VLADIMIR Early 7 - Mid 4 - Late 2
Two sides to this. Out of melee range and in melee range. Rush Swiftness Boots to get into melee range of Vlad. Wait will he pushes into towards you and charge onto him. Call for a gank to get him shut down as he struggles to escape your grasp once you get on top of him. Once you ARE on top of him however.. Just whisper into his ear... It will be over soon.
No threat late-game at all.
Recommend any build - Build Swift boots
ZED Early 7 - Mid 7 - Late 6
Early on he can poke you pretty well. The only thing is that he will struggle to finish you, since he cannot beat you in a 1v1 at any point. He needs to poke and whittle you down. However since you build innately tanky you should be able to sustain his poke and chase him down if he fully engages. Just remember to watch for shruikens and avoid standing near his shadow, since he can use his E twice. His level 6 burst can hurt, but don't back down. Stick on him don't be scared.
100% AD
Recommend Build v2 (Get more armour early, he is full AD anyway)
RUMBLE Early 8 - Mid 8 - Late 8
Wait he has high scores? Why only hard?
Because once you get on top of Rumble you wreck him. Straight up destroy him.
BUT YOU NEVER WILL CAUSE Electric Harpoon IS LAME AS ALL HECK.
That single ability prevents you from ever getting on Rumble, if he ever engages you then turn on him and beat him up. If he wastes his harpoons, free kill.
But he has harass, a slow and big burst. He is a pain.
85% AP dmg, 15% AD
Recommend Build v1
SHEN Early 8 - Mid 4 - Late 6
Good early burst damage from his , and which will burst straight through your with ease. Also you cannot trade back against him very well because to get decent damage on him you need to stick on him for a good 5+ seconds, but in that time he will have his vorpal blade back up so the trade will go evenly. However if you don't trade back you can lose 150-300 HP very quickly.
So stay defensive until level 5. He doesn't have an ultimate to fight you 1v1 and you can Impale him to prevent him from teleporting. After level 5 he falls off, because he relies on poking you down and his tankiness to keep him in the lane. However if he doesn't have 120 energy he can't use to escape. You can also push him back MUCH faster than he can hope for so he can't split push either.
The reason he gets harder late game is not for 1v1 but because his can stop you from getting
40% AP dmg, 60% AD
Recommend Build v1
RIVEN Early 9 - Mid 6 - Late 3
The master of early game. She will do everything in her power to kill you early on. Which you shouldn't let her, and if you don't die to her. Then she won't be a problem. Play very passive and farm with and fight her level 4-5 but avoid any level 6 fights. When you have mid-game items you can fight her 1v1 because of your tankiness, although you should still to try to avoid fighting her if she pops it at full HP. If she doesn't fight you 1v1 with her ultimate up your sustained damage will outscale her burst and spells. The longer the fight goes on the harder you win the fight.
Late game she can stun you, but other than that she doesn't scare you.
100% AD
Recommend Build v2
DARIUS Early 9 - Mid 6 - Late 3
You'll notice Darius has the same score as Riven. Thats because its the same lane effectively, minus the higher skill cap on Riven. The more s that hit or miss, thats what will dictate the lane. Darius cannot fight you 1v1 because he is reliant on his bleed damage and to win a fight. Try your best to instantly engage if he misses one or if you manage to tease it out of him. Thats his primary damage tool, don't let it go un-punished.
Again level 4-5 you'll out damage him. Level 6 you cannot let yourself be even on health or .
is needed as soon as possible
10% AP 30% True Damage 60% AD
Recommend Build v2

Medium

MALPHITE Early - 7 Mid 5 - Late 6 [Need more verfication]
You are very unlikely to die to Malphite, and he can only trade with you to do damage. If you ever actually get onto him he will struggle to keep up with your damage output. Malphite is more an annoyance than a real threat. But late game he can make your life a misery protecting carries and slowing your MS and AS.
10% AD 90% AP
Recommend Build v2
TRUNDLE Early 5 - Mid 7 - Late 7
Trundle is difficult. Then why is he Medium? Because its so difficult for him to get onto you. But once he gets onto you he can outdamage you. Whoever gets ahead in this lane will snowball very quickly. Although he steals AD you aren't reliant on that stat, however all the bonus stats that he gains means that he scales as well as you however.
It doesn't seem like a problem until you have to deal with which can turn the tide extremely quickly. Do not fight him with that up. Kite away and wait till it fades. Talking of kiting try to kite out of Frozen Kingdom to fight Trundle as it simply gives too many bonus buffs to ignore. If you have a large advantage you can fight
But in the end thats why this is a Medium match-up. Trundle will struggle to ever catch or finish you, you can just farm without worry.
10% AP 90% AD
Recommend Build v2
JAYCE Early 8 - Mid 5 - Late 2
People are scared of Jayce. For good reason. But when you're playing Skarner you shouldn't be. Sure his early game poke hurts and he has high poke. But he is squishy and will just be difficult to kill. If he ever tries to all in you, he'll lose. Simple as.
Late game, he is basically a free kill.
5% AP 95% AD
Recommend Build v2
KHA'ZIX Early 5 - Mid 7 - Late 7
Early on Kha'zix has a weak laning phase but like Skarner, he scales very well. He can snowball very well, so if he gets an early gank and kill for him he can become a threat quicker. This is a large skill match-up but because you both have very similar lane dynamics it comes down to who does it better.
Skarner does. 1v1 you can stick onto Kha'zix so you can burn him out of mana quickly trying to sustain or force him to burn mana on his escape. He does spike up but because you can build tanky without it affecting your build it won't be a problem. Don't be scared of him.
He will hurt at all points in the game, but ward up, don't feed him and he should never threathen you.
40% AP 60% AD
Recommend Build v2
YORICK Early 7 - Mid 5 - Late 5
Not a problem. Relies on harassing you out of lane but you can kite his ghouls with t1 boots and in a 1v1 situation his ghouls actually give you more sustain from . Don't ever try to engage him 1v1 if you don't have all your abilities up and avoid fighting him when he uses
That said has a 10 second CD so if the fight is close and he has it up, use your ultimate in the last 2 seconds to prevent killing him and bringing him back from the grave.
Just farm it up, push out the wave since he can't push back as fast as you
10% AP 90% AD
Recommend Build v2
SEJUANI Early 6 - Mid 4 - Late 7
Weird match-up. She is burst reliant but she doesn't do anything else. Stick on her and you'll win. Save for when she uses to prevent her from escaping you. You outsustain her, outdamage her after the first few seconds and have similar utility. Her late-game kiting and team fighting is better but she comes nowhere close to your damage output. Just don't tear her apart if she tries to defend her carries, and the same if she charges in.
75% AP 25% AD
Recommend any build
SINGED [Need A LOT more testing]
Currently not had a chance to try the match-up. But I can imagine him being irritating. Poison annoying but you have sustain to ignore that. He can't deal with your sustained dps but is hard to catch, yet your will help with that. You can push almost as hard him and he has no chance of killing you early, unless you mess up. You can also lock him down late better than most top laners. Don't be scared of him because he has poor 1v1, he just kites with and you around. Save your for when he uses . If he uses and when you try to get onto him then he will quickly run out of mana. Apply pressure and either kill him, push him out of lane or force him to farm at his tower.
Late game however if he uses his abilities to kite you away from carries he will a major problem. However if he doesn't focus on you but tries to use his abilities on your carry you can crush him.
80% AP 20% AD
RENGAR Early 7 - Mid 5 - Late 4
Good harass and multiple ways to kite. A bad Rengar will try to 1v1 you and find himself getting killed a lot. A good one will work you down with his and , using the bush to dive in and out. Don't underestimate how much damage he can put out over time but try to get onto him. Once his is down he will need full ferocity to get Empowered Bole Strike to keep you off him. Because unless he is in a bush he cannot escape you easily. You can wave clear a lot better than him so push against him to apply pressure if you can't get onto him.
40% AP 60% AD
Recommend Build v2
UDYR Early 5 - Mid 6 - Late 5
Similar to you except he doesn't scale as quick and has no real ultimate.
Very powerful first 3 levels, so don't go near him i.e. play standard and win the lane
His shield is annoying but he will have to burn a lot of mana to either damage you or escape. Not much to say on this match-up other than that. Nuisance late game, but as long as you didn't feed him shouldn't be a problem
55% AP 45% AD
Recommend any build
NIDALEE Early 6 - Mid 5 - Late 4
A nuisance. Rush and don't bother fighting her. Powerlevel your if you feel you aren't sustaining enough to ignore her auto attacks.
Hide in the bush to avoid her autoing you down and if you do ever get the chance to get onto her don't hesitate as she can only kite and attack you, can't beat you 1v1. She does have high burst when you get low however, remember that.
I hate playing against Nidalee. So irritating.
20% AP 80% AD
Recommend Build v2
KENNEN Early 6 - Mid 6 - Late 7
See above. Only difference is that he has a higher chance to kill you mid game and his constant chance to stun you will keep you on your toes. He is just as hard to catch and gank but he becomes much more useful for his team late game than Nidalee. Just farm and try to ignore him or punish him for getting close with
45% AP 55% AD
Recommend Build v2
AKALI Early 6 - Mid 6 - Late 7
Harass Assassin v a Sustain Tank.
Don't be silly and stand in the middle of her shroud if you don't have any abilities up and you should win this no problem. Don't get hit by free harass, trade with your harass. Sustain and kill her if you ever get the chance. You can zone her once you have a few items or get a large amount of HP ahead of her through trades/sustain
75% AP 25 AD
Recommend Build v1

Easy

DIANA Early 5 - Mid 4 - Late 4
Diana has good poke and is hard to kill early on but she lacks any certain escapes. Sure she CAN jump away, sure her DOES slow. But thats nothing enough to let her escape. She can stand up to you early but the longer the game goes the more you almost naturally counter her. Diana can't stop you from getting onto carries, can't fight you 1v1 and can't push faster than.
75% AP 25% AD
Recommend any build
FIZZ Early 5 - Mid 4 - Late 3
Fizz IS a high skill cap champion. However he cannot outdamage you 1v1 unless he gets ahead or goes aggressive very early.
Mid-game however if he goes tanky, he will not rival your damage at all. If he goes AP then your will actually consume most damage from . He will also have even less chance of being able to 1v1 you.
He will often try to jump in and jump out to get damage down onto you. Wait till the reduced healing wears off then a creep wave and heal it all back up. Try to chase Fizz down whenever he comes in for damage.
You will out-sustain him and out damage him because he is mana and CD reliant like you, but not as tanky and his CDs not as low.
He is Fizz though, don't expect to catch him very often
60% AP 40% AD
Recommend Build v1
CHO'GATH Early 5 - Mid 4 - Late 6
If he gets ahead his burst can screw you up, but your sustain is equal to him but your dps is much higher. He can burst and kill you if he hits you with too much free harass but because he can never dare engage you, you should aim to try attack him head on as soon as level 3. Cho'gath will be forced to use to retreat. This means Cho'Gath will be forced to burn through his mana on your terms. Getting T2 boots early is a good idea to dodge his skillshots and stick on him
70% AP 30% AD
Recommend Build v1
ZAC Early 6 - Mid 4 - Late 5
Perfect lane for you really. He has decent harass and sustain but horrible 1v1ing. His has a long CD as you can see from the tooltip. Get used to it and make him burn it to escape you and be scary. Squash any of the blobs that fall off him and rip him apart.
95% AP 5% AD
Recommend any Build
GAREN Early 5 - Mid 4 - Late 2
Garen charges in with and you can activate and start auto attacking him. Once is down then kill him. Rinse and repeat for the whole game. Sustain with your E. Its that easy.
100% AD
Recommend Build v2

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