Welcome to my first guide!

First off please excuse my horribad typing. I make no excuses other than i suck.

I write this because there are so many summoners who misunderstand Skarner. Rather, I should say try to force him into roles and builds without proper understanding of the enemies team compositions.

This guide will not so much as give you my definitive build, but hopefully teach players Skarner's ONE TRUE POWER!

>VERSATILITY<

He can be anything. ANYTHING!

Just like a red mage, blending magic power and offensive strength; this is Skarner.

The runes I use depend heavily on my team comp and if u plan to play Skarner I suggest you have 2 setups ready for him at all times.

The first is lane sustain.

FLAT MANA REGEN GLYPHS help with the Q spam that comes with early game farming.
FLAT ARMOR SEALS give you the staying power that you need, Skarner isn't one to sit back. Get in the enemies face and FARM
ATTACK SPEED MARKS help with his W scaling. when W is maxed not having these can be a .25% attack speed difference.
FLAT HEALTH REGEN QUINTS Give you enough hp regen that you don't need to start regrowth pendant, although you can if top lane will be heavily harassed.

My second setup is more of the standard tanky DPS build. These runes are useful if your jungler is someone small liek NOC or SHACO and you need to be the BEEF in the sammich.

MR per lv GLyphs
Flat armor seals or DODGE yellows. the choice is entirely team comp dependant. if you use dodge runes, Buy tabi to maximize them. Good if team has multiple brawlers. flat armor and mercs if
armor pen marks This is assuming your going triforce instead of lichbane.
Movespeed quints, Flat armor quints, or MR per lv quints

Masteries are pretty Cut and dry. You have to sing 21 into Defensive for the armor, dodge, ATS, HP and 4% DR. You can go 21 utility, but ONLY if u have other tanky dps on the team such as jarvin or irelia.

My Recommendation is 9/21/0. Grabbing the 3 in ap/lv and 15% mpen in OFF and the 2% dodge and 4% ap/ats.

The order you take your skills is a decision you will have to make on the fly. its not something u can pre-plan like most champions.

Almost always take Q at lv1. will help in last hitting and some early game harass. Just be careful. If your using tanky DPS runes instead of my regen runes that mana bar will be at a constant 0 until you build that tear.

Now the next thing u need to do is understand your match-up. Are they aggro or passive? do they have sustain like Irelia or udyr or nidalee? can u pubstomp them and cause real terror against that jax or gragas? What do you do against jarvin?

For aggressive enemies Get W and E to lv2 as fast as you can leaving Q at lv1 1 for now. that shield has a smaller CD than you think and the Heal from E is not to be underestimated.

If you are surviving just fine and making the enemy feel true fear already, It's the perfect lane to MAX Q by lv9. Don't think the 80 base dmg is too low, treat skarner like DOT dmg. just chasing someone to their tower and force them to back with a maxed Q hitting 5 or 6 times in 4 seconds. Combined with the speed boost from your shield I can even chase Down Nidalee no matter how much she pounces.

If the lane is real rough, and you need to keep your distance to farm, Max your E. at max it can take all of the creep to 1/2 hp with no AP for easy cleanup and nice chunk healing.

my standard skill sequence is
Q E W Q W R E Q w Q Q R E E W R W E

Choices are limited.

Exhaust - Perfect for what you main job in team fights will be. JUMP ON DAT AD SQUISHY. Skarner WANTS to be kited. Please, run from him. You'll never get away and your just making his job complete. Removing the Carry so your team can win that 4v4. Exhaust makes that a dream come true. Jump on them. Force their CD. then when they run Exhaust QQQQ dead.

Flash - Great spell. Not much to be said. I normally use this to get first blood. harass with Q and when they back to shop flash on them QQ and run with ur shield blocking the turret fire.

Everything else I find not optimal as your AP's and AD's will have ignites already. TP is Plausible instead of Exhaust if that's what you feel with help the team more.

Ive tried many builds and All I will say is, please use my CORE items.

Tear of the Goddess
Boots
Catalyst
Sheen
Negatron
Chain Vest

These 6 items should be purchased more than anything. Notice how nothing is a final Item. Thats a decision u need to make INGAME. I find he has 2 Optimal Item Paths.

AD bruiser or AP Terror.
Your choice steams from what ever you make your Tear. Everything else is a trickle effect.

Tear - Manamune or Arcangel. the first major choice. AD or AP.
Catalyst - If you GO Rod of ages the negatron must become a Force of nature. If you go bveil You should make Rylais.
Chain vest - Frozen heart or Zhonya's Hourglass. Frozen heart if you go manamune/triforce. Zon for lichbane/arcangel.
Sheen - Trinity Force or Lichbane. Obviously TRIFORCE for manamune, frozenheart, etc. Lichbane to make use of that ap from Arc and Rylais.
Boots - Mercs or Tabi. You should know what you need.

Play it by ear and make smart choices. If you find yourself having to carry, Find room for a Hextech Gunblade.

Just always remember to have fun with skarner and don't be a F*&*ing ***** when you play him.

Skarner should always be the First one at the party, and the last one to leave.