League of Legends - Skarner Champion Strategy and Item Build Guide

Skarner

Basic Information

Champion Stats

Lore

Skills

Icon	Description
	Crystal Spires (Effect Radius: 1150)Skarner’s presence causes a number of Crystal Spires to appear at set points on the battlefield, which can be captured by champions who stand near them for 2 seconds. Once captured, Crystal Spires are owned until contested and the defending team can stand on the spire to prevent the opposing team from capturing it.CRYSTAL CHARGE: While within range of a Crystal Spire controlled by his team, or while an enemy is stunned with Fracture or suppressed with Impale, Skarner gains 70 – 120 (based on level) bonus movement speed, 43 – 160 (based on level)% bonus attack speed and restores 2% maximum mana every second.
	Crystal Slash (Effect Radius: 350, Cost: 10/11/12/13/14 Mana, Cooldown: 3.5/3.25/3/2.75/2.5)ACTIVE: Skarner deals 80% bonus Attack Damage physical damage to all nearby enemies. If a unit is struck, he charges himself with Crystal Energy for 4 seconds.While Skarner is charged, Crystal Slash deals 80% bonus Attack Damage (+30% Ability Power) bonus magic damage.Basic attacks lower Crystal Slash’s cooldown by 0.25 seconds (quadrupled against champions).
	Crystalline Exoskeleton (Cost: 60 Mana, Cooldown: 13/12.5/12/11.5/11)ACTIVE: Skarner is shielded for 0 (10/11/12/13/14% of his maximum health) (+80% Ability Power)damage for 6 seconds. While the shield persists, Skarner gains movement speed that ramps up to 16/20/24/28/32% over 3 seconds.
	Fracture (Target Range: 1000, Collision Radius: 35, Speed: 1500, Cost: 55 Mana, Cooldown: 14/13.5/13/12.5/12)PASSIVE: Crystallizing enemies with Fracture and Impale grants Crystal Charge for the disable duration and reduces the cooldown of Fracture by the same amount.ACTIVE: Skarner summons a blast of crystalline energy, dealing 40/65/90/115/140 (+20% Ability Power) magic damage, slowing targets hit by 30/35/40/45/50% for 2.5 seconds and reducing the blast’s speed. Enemies hit by Fracture are afflicted with Crystal Venom for 5 seconds, causing Skarner’s next basic attack against them to deal 25/35/45/55/65 additional physical damage and stun the target for 1 second.
	Impale (Target Range: 350, Cost: 100 Mana, Cooldown: 120/100/80)ACTIVE: Skarner suppresses an enemy champion for 1.75 seconds, dealing 60% Attack Damagephysical damage plus 20/60/100 (+50% Ability Power) magic damage. Skarner can move freely during this time, and will drag his helpless victim around with him. When the effect ends, Skarner’s target will be dealt the same damage again.

Strategy

• The recent Skarner rework saw him have a new passive in Crystal Spires. Take advantage of activating most of the Crystal Spires (passive) located in key areas in the map. This will enable you to move faster and gank lanes, effectively assisting your laners, provide good map vision and jungle pressure.
• Take note when the other Crystal Spires (passive) change color – this means that an enemy champion recently activated it, and is near the vicinity.
• When ganking lanes, be sure to hit opponents with (E) Fracture to slow them down and mark them with Crystal Venom. Follow up with an auto attack to the marked enemies to stun them and continue to whittle them down with (Q) Crystal Slash.
• Remember to hit enemies with (Q) Crystal Slash to empower it for subsequent casts. It gets stronger as long as it is empowered, and its cooldown is lowered each time Skarner uses basic attacks on opponents.
• Skarner’s (W) Crystalline Exoskeleton gives him bonus armor and movement speed for a short duration, or as long as the shield persists. Cast this during ganks to stick to the opposing targets.
• (E) Fracture can hit and slow multiple targets. Keep this in mind during clashes so that you can auto attack marked champions, stun key targets and disable the enemy’s front line.
• (R) Impale combos well with Flash. You can quickly pick off straggling enemies by flashing into them and dragging them back to your team. However, it is best if you (R) Impale the enemy team’s squishy damage dealers if you can get to them.

Runes & Masteries

COMING SOON

Summoner Spells

Jungler
Flash	Smite

Item Builds

Jungler

Starter Items
Hunter’s Talisman	Refillable Potion	Warding Totem

Core Items
Stalker’s Blade: Cinderhulk Enchantment	Righteous Glory	Trinity Force

Stalker’s Blade: Cinderhulk Enchantment – Since Skarner usually dives into the enemy team to hook them back with (R) Impale, he needs to survive during such instances. Because of this, getting the Cinderhulk upgrade for Stalker’s Blade greatly helps him, thanks in large part to its bonus health. This allows him to tank the brunt of the damage and gives him a better chance of snagging the enemy carry.

Righteous Glory – Righteous Glory is another key item Skarner needs. Getting this enables him to have another initiating tool at his disposal. Stats-wise, Righteous Glory gives him good armor, health, health regeneration and cooldown reduction. This allows him to use his skills more frequently and be tanky.

Trinity Force – This is Skarner’s main damaging item. Trinity Force greatly complements his overall kit, as he often relies on hitting enemies with auto attacks each time he casts (Q) Crystal Slash, (W) Crystalline Exoskeleton and (E) Fracture. Furthermore, this item gives him a good Attack Speed bonus which allows him to deal good damage when he gets close to targets.

Full Item Build
Stalker’s Blade: Cinderhulk Enchantment	Righteous Glory	Trinity Force
Mercury Treads	Dead Man’s Plate	Gargoyle Stoneplate

Mercury’s Treads – A standard defensive boots upgrade, Mercury’s Treads helps Skarner get close to his target by decreasing the duration of crowd controls he incurs. This is especially useful against enemy champions who have hard CCs.

Dead Man’s Plate – Dead Man’s Plate further bolsters Skarner’s engaging skills, thanks to the bonus movement speed it gives. Furthermore, at ful momentum stacks, his auto attack slows the first enemy he hits, making it a must-have item on him.

Gargoyle Stoneplate – Rounding up his standard build path is Gargoyle Stoneplate. Skarner needs to survive whenever he initiates a team fight. As such, getting this item allows him to soak significant enemy damage for a short duration. Gargoyle Stoneplate gives him good bonus armor and magic resistance, and its active skill significantly increases his health during clashes.

Situational Items
Ninja Tabi	Thornmail	Abyssal Mask
Randuin’s Omen	Knight’s Vow

Ninja Tabi – Get this boots upgrade if your enemy team predominantly deals physical damage and relies on auto attacks. Ninja Tabi grants good armor and movement speed, and more importantly, decreases the damage of auto attacks by a small percentage.

Thornmail – Another good item to address physical and auto attackers, Thornmail helps Skarner tank their damage during skirmishes and clashes. Defensively, Thornmail grants good armor and health stats, allowing him shoulder the brunt of physical attack damage for his team. Moreover, whenever he gets hit with an auto attack, Thornmail inflicts Grievous Wounds on the source of that damage, effectively hampering their health regeneration and lifesteal.

Abyssal Mask – Abyssal Mask is a situational item since this is usually effective when your team consists of strong magic damage-dealing champions. This is because this item decreases the magic resistance of enemy champions who are near you. As for stats, this item gives you good magic resistance, health and mana. However, if your team doesn’t have much magic damage to work with, you’re better off getting other gold-efficient items.

Randuin’s Omen – Randuin’s Omen is a decent alternative to Righteous Glory, especially if the enemy team has strong Attack Damage. This item gives Skarner good armor and health stats. Apart from this, Randuin’s Omen slows down the attack speed of enemies who auto attack you, as well as having an active slow that hinders the movement of enemies around you.

Knight’s Vow – If your team needs more utility and protection for your carries, get Knight’s Vow. This item gives good armor, health and health regeneration stats, allowing him to tank damage during clashes. Moreover, Knight’s Vow gives him the ability to soak some damage for his team’s carry.

Playing Against

• Skarner’s effectiveness greatly diminishes if he cannot pick off high priority targets with his (R) Impale. When he tries to rush your team’s carries, be sure to cast crowd control skills on him such as Slows, Stuns, Knock Ups and Knock backs, and Roots to keep him at bay.
• Activate Skarner’s Crystal Spires (passive) to gain vision of its area. If it turns to the opposing color, it means that Skarner or his teammate is near the vicinity.
• Skarner is squishy during the early phase of his jungling. You can ward some areas where you think he might cross in order to coordinate a gank while he is attacking his neutral camp.
• Avoid getting hit with Skarner’s (E) Fracture, as it will slow you and can leave you susceptible to Skarner’s (Q) Crystal Slash and auto-attack combo.
• If you can, break Skarner’s (W) Crystalline Exoskeleton as quickly as possible to remove its bonus attack and movement speed it gives him.
• Buying a Quicksilver Sash or Mikael’s Crucible counters Skarner’s (R) Impale.

Hard Counter

• Janna – Janna specializes in keeping initiators at bay. She can handily hinder Skarner’s advances and protect her team’s carries with Howling Gale, Zephyr and Monsoon.
• Morgana – Similar to Janna, Morgana also specializes in keeping Skarner from picking off her carry. She can cast Black Shield to make her ADC immune to all of Skarner’s skills, specifically (E) Fracture, (Q) Crystal Slash and (R) Impale. Moreover, Morgana can hit Skarner with Dark Binding, leaving him open to damage.
• Trundle – Trundle excels in sapping Skarner’s tankiness and damage output. He starts off with Chomp, stealing Skarner’s attack damage when they duke it out. Afterwards, Trundle uses Subjugate to diminish Skarner’s armor and magic resistance to further soften him during clashes or skirmishes.

Strategy Video

COMING SOON

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