Hey Summoners, I'm here to share my knowledge of Skarner (My favorite champion). First off let me share some information about myself. My summoner name is Doc Wumbo, I have been playing since early 2013, and I have been a Skarner Main ever since I found out that he is a champion. Even though I started this game in Bronze, I have been climbing the "Elo ladder" ever since. As of today I am Silver 3 in solo que and Gold in my ranked team. My win rate with Skarner is generally high and I hope to help all that read my guide carry as Skarner.

Pros:

1. Amazing Ganking potential
2. High damage and extremely tanky
3. Insane AOE and team fight potential
4. Can build many different items and still remain strong
5. Has many different play styles, from AP to Crit Skarner, all are fun and can work if implemented correctly
6. He is an amazing farmer
7. Fun to play
8. He's... A... Scorpion :D

Cons:

1. Melee, so he can easily be kited
2. Fracture (E) was turned into a spell that basically tickles the enemy
3. May become useless if against a CC heavy team
4. Many popular supports counter Skarner's play style (to run in and grab the carry)
5. Very squishy early game
6. Can't handle strong counter junglers in early levels (like Lee sin)
7. You might feel over powered at some point in the game and blindly run into a 1v3 situation, this may result in a triple kill or you throwing the game.

9x Cooldown Glyphs: gives Skarner the ability to use Crystalline exoskeleton (E) every 10.4 seconds rather than 13 seconds (at level 2-3), these few seconds taken off will give Skarner more survivability and better ganking potential because you can use Crystalline exoskeleton (W) to aid you with red buff and then use it again to gank mid, bot, or top.

9x Armor Seals: should be on most Junglers because all the jungle creeps do physical damage. It's a must on Skarner because he doesn't come with built in sustain, like Elise or Aatrox.

9x Attack Damage Marks: because Skarner's Crystal Slash (Q) gives him Attack Speed, so more damage is well liked and needed to clear the jungle faster, and is great against early duals.

3x Movement speed Quints: gives you a solid fast movement speed for fast ganks early game.

21/9/0

Although this makes Skarner squishy early game, his damage is really high causing you to out damage most champions, and causing your ganks to be perfect if done right.
The 21 points into the offensive tree gives Skarner extreme damage early game and great damage late game.
The 9 points into the defensive mastery tree gives Skarner some sustain in the jungle for early levels.

Mercury's treads gives Skarner some Magic resist and tenacity, which is well needed for a champion that can be useless if constant cc is applied to him.
- alternatives can be Ninja Tabi, Boots of Swiftness, Boot's of Mobility, and Ionian boots of lucidity
- Berserkers Greaves and Sorcerer's shoes are boots that should not be built on Jungle Skarner.

Iceborn Gauntlet is a must build because of Sheen and the permaslow it provides
- Trinity force is also great on Skarner, but doesn't help peel for the carry (if you're not the carry).

Ravenous hydra, yeah, i know what you guys think about this item on Skarner, its bad right? Wrong, first off Hydra gives Skarner even more AOE than he already has, Secondly Hydra's active is really useful for when someone is in Skarner's stinger.
- For instance a basic dual should be Skarner constantly Crystal Slashing (Q) the enemy and then when 3 stacks of Crystal poison (passive) is on the enemy, he should ult/crystal slash (Q)/Ravenous hydra active/crystal slash (Q) and the enemy should be dead, unless its a super tank.

Warmog's armor is not a must, but gives Skarner more sustain and make him more tanky

Spirit visage has cooldown, health, magic resist, and a passive to go well with Ravenous hydra and warmogs armor. it can be swapped for bansee's veil, but personally i prefer this item.

Randuin's omen makes Skarner a pain to kill when it comes to dualing the adc or another Auto Attack reliant champion. it gives him great Armor and health that adds to his collection of tank items.

Any trinket can be used, but i prefer to have wards on my side rather than scrying orb and sweeping lens.

Crystal Slash (Q) should be maxed As soon as possible, because it's Skarner's main damage output and helps him cling onto an enemy

Crystalline Exoskeleton (W) should be maxed second because it gives Skarner a great shield and an amazing movement speed buff that allows Skarner to catch up to an enemy and further stick onto them

Fracture (E) should be maxed last because it is outclassed by his other basic abilities. It provides him a strong slow through all levels, so leveling it up last would be ideal.

Impale (R) should be leveled up anytime you can level it up (6,11,16), it gives Skarner godly ganking potential and makes him an exceptional dualist.

My preferred Spells:
- Needed for all junglers

- Gives amazing ganking potential and even better dualing potential. I prefer this over flash because you can run into a 1v2 situation ult the champion with the higher Damage output, then exhaust the other champion (depending on who the champion is), and come out victorious.

Other Spells to use:

- The Common flash/ult combo is always great

- It's always fun to run into an enemy team at 100 mph, grab someone, and run out at the same speed. Ghost paired with the movement speed from Crystalline Exoskeleton can help you obtain top speed for fast ganking or engaging.

- I don't prefer Teleport on Skarner jungle, but its viable. It's cool to gank bot, not waste ult, Teleport top and help 2 lanes get ahead in a matter of 1 minute.

Spells to not use (ever):

- Skarner doesn't need barrier when he has a built in shield

- You have a trinket for this spell, its basically useless.

- Unless you plan to press 'Q' every second it is up, clarity isn't needed

- Seems viable on Skarner, but is more situational than the other needed spells (IE; flash, exhaust, ghost, etc.)

- Really situational, but not recommended

- Please, stop. Never use this on Skarner

Ravenous Hydra brings more AOE and Sustain into Skarner's kit, and this can do very well for Skarner in team fights. Imagine constant AOE with Crystal Slash (Q), Ravenous hydra passive, Iceborn gauntlet passive, and Ravenous hydra active, all of this under 5 seconds. Now think about all this AOE up every 10 seconds. This isn't only good for dualing a champion, but for team fights as well. If you still doubt this item on him, just try it in a normals and see the beauty of this item on Skarner. But remember to always rush Iceborn for the permaslow and armor.

Skarner's objective is to build decently tanky, peel for the team, and pick out the carry by pulling him/her into your team. If you can do this for the team, as Skarner, and implement it correctly, you will win many games.

Skarner can easily sustain the jungle after his first recall, with spiritstone on his side. He is also an excellent farmer and can clear the jungle generally fast.

Skarner's ganks were always great, in my opinion. Due to his new passive, Skarner can now gank at all levels, where as before he had to wait till level 6 to gank.

I can't say this enough, Ward, ward, ward. Seriously, try to buy a ward every recall, it helps you from getting counter jungled, keeps vision on the map, and can be placed in many spots to see where the enemy jungler is and if its time to kill him/her or counter jungle.

Skarner does best with champions that can follow up with his CC, like Leona or Lissandra. With a champion that has a stun or a snare, Skarner can easily work with that champion to win all team fights.

For Example, A great team for Skarner would be:

Wukong - Top
Karma - Mid
Braum - Support
Vayne - Marksman/ADC
Skarner - Jungle

Alright guys and girls, I hope you enjoyed my guide as much as I enjoyed making it, I also hope this guide helped you with Skarner a bit. If anyone has any questions please leave a comment or contact me on League of Legends (Doc Wumbo, on the NA server).

Just last words about Skarner:
Skarner has a great kit with strong engaging potential, great damage output, and can/should get really tanky. That being said, make your presence on the map, claim the enemy team as your own, show them who's boss, and make sure that the enemy team will remember you and how hard you carried your team. (Carrying a team doesn't always mean KDR, objectives and winning team fights carry games harder than kills do)