hey yo it's Togura here :D
this is my first (published) guide
i just created it on my own, so don't say something like OMG u stole this idea or something, i didn't <.<

ok i'm gonna explain the way i play skarner
this is also a unique build as i think, cos i've never seen some1 using those items :D

i play him as a solo laner, so ask some1 of ur team politely to take the jungle :)

and plz vote first when u tested the build

PROS:

- skarner is a nice chaser
- he can rly screw up a target in a few seconds, or grab and pull it into ur team
- nice farming champ
- nice pushing ability

CONS:

- imo low range on his skills, but that's just a problem in early game
- expensive champ, that's why u should be on the solo lane aswell as being able to farm :D
- squishy in early game

u can see the runes on top
these runes r the runes i usually use for skarner
they include offensive runes aswell as defensive ones
i'm gonna explain why:

u need offensive runes for nice dmg output (ofc :D)

the marks or malice and the quintessences of desolationGreater Quintessence of Desolation combined with my masteries allow flat 9% critical chance, flat 10 armor penetration and 15% magic penetration (that means from lvl 1 :P)
i also pick some greater glyphs of strength , but u can also swap them all into glyphs of warding

u need defensive runes for lane survivability ( that u can stay as long as possible on a lane)

the seals of resilience allow some flat armor, that's nice, cos in early game the most dmg u'll get is from normal hits, either from minions or from ur enemie solo laner

watch my masteries on top

as u can see they allow a bit tankyness and fit nicely toghether with my runes

nothing left to say about the masteries :D

grab a sapphire crystal and 2 potions for the start
this allows u to stay long on the lane, i'm gonna explain this farther in the "farming" part ;)


now it's time to grab a philosopher's stonephilosopher's stone , this is the best solo lane item, a must have, u shall sell it in end game, cos then it's totally useless :D
btw this item is so f**cking rentable, cos it pays itself back after 27 minutes, keep that in mind ;)

if u want to go back, make sure that u push the last minion wave, or ask the jungler to hold ur lane for short
now u should get a sheen ( epic item on skarner)

if u buy ur boots/shoes check ur enemie team
if the enemie team has a lot of cc like leona or alistar etc. , grab mercury's treads
if the enemie team is full of annoying dps champs like yi , tryn or vayne , take ninja tabi

next item should be atma's impaler , it gives u great tankyness for ur lane aswell as for the mid and late game and it's even one of the core item's for this build :D

now it's the turn to finish trinity force , it works nicely together with atma's and allows u to chase ur enemie till his death :D (skarner is an epic chaser!)

one important mid game item is rylai's crytstal scepter (constant slow on the target u r harassing)

to empower ur "chasingness" grab first of all a bilgewater cutlass , it gives u more power in 1 vs 1 fight aswell as the active gives u a slow
finish it to hextech gunblade :P

the last item depends on the way u play or the enemie teams set up is like
if the cc is still f**king annoying take banshee's veil , it also synergizes nicely with atma's impaler
if the enemie team deals tons of magic dmg, but has not that much cc, take force of nature
if the enemie teams deals more AD dmg instead, take a thornmail

REMEMBER:
if an enemy is fed, u might grab the tanky items first, otherwise u'll screw up totally :D

don't have to say that much about the skill order :D

take E first
max Q first
max E right after that
and max W as the last skill
ofc skill on ur ulti on lvl 6 11 and 16

imo flash and ghost r the best skills for skarner
i can choose a good position in a teamfight with flash, and use ghost right after that to make sure that u pull ur enemie with ur ulti as far as possible out of his team

but u can use the skills u feel more comfortable with ;)

u pick fracture first, to check out how ur enemie is playing (agressive/not agressive) aswell as having a heal right at the beginning
after that u start to farm, don't focuss on killing the enemie, just kill him if it's "necessary" :D
ur Q spell gives u comfortable farming options
just try to last hit, but if u see u won't get the next minion, kill it with Q
( that's why u should take sapphire crytsal first :P )

i think that's enough said about farming, if u wanna know what "lasthitting" is, check it out on youtube or something like this

imo u should know what farming is and be able to do it :D

if u wanna refresh ur HP, use fracture , attack one minion and activade Q right after it :P

ur job is it to pick out ur enemie's squishiest or most dangerous target
OR
harrass a seperated enemie

NEVER pick their tank out, this will only help him to disable ur team!!!

i'm gonna make a vid about skarner's team work and post it right here :)
LINK>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqH8zfWrrcg&feature=channel_video_title <<<LINK

26.08.2011 - Offensive Masteries changed into more more ap-like ones thx @ haricots
- Runes correted: "Greater Glyphs of Strenght" thx @ kittykatman for finding
this mistake
29.08.2011 - link added and several mistakes fixes