Skill Order -->
Shattered Earth->
Ixtal's Impact->
Seismic Bastion
Maxing Order -->
Ixtal's Impact->
Seismic Bastion->
Shattered Earth-->
Impale
Item Priority -->
Hunter's Talisman->
Refillable Potion->
Stalker's Blade - Cinderhulk->
Turbo Chemtank
When starting off the game one of the first things you’re going to want to do is secure the blue side or red side river with your allies
IF your team can possibly hold the fight should one break out.
Skarner level 1 is one of the weakest in league of legends so it should be avoided at all cost. However if possible securing this spire will give your team a 30 gold bonus if two or more champions are securing the spire for themselves (15 if only one champion secures it alone). The reason for this is to have an idea where the enemy champion is attempting to secure their scuttle from. While you can no longer see when the spire was taken if you’ve secured the top side one and notice it’s been recently taken without any enemy laner having left then you can know for a fact the enemy jungler is nearby. Secondly by having it up you give yourself a stronger chance to fight back with your waterwalking rune and provide even more flexibility in your first lvl 2-3 fight.
The best start for
Skarner would be Red > Krugs > Raptors. This gives you the quickest level three and takes advantage of all the AoE your kit has to offer. Work on lining your
Ixtal's Impact so it hits as many monsters as possible. While this is possible from the netural starting path of Krugs, Wolves, Gromp (only one so…IT COUNTS!) raptors is a different story. To get raptors into a straight line you’re going to want to AA one of the outer laying Raptors and step back slightly so they all begin to chase you. Luckily they have military training and will file into a somewhat straight line you can angle your
Ixtal's Impact through all of them. As your crstyal venom is applied quickly try to apply the stun to as many of them as possible before it wears off. This both helps increases your AoE damage but also reduce the amount of damage you take in return. The shorten
Ixtal's Impact cooldown lets you quickly reapply it as well.
Against other tanky junglers you should take advantage of your powerful level three ganks and sufficient clear due to your kit’s natural attack speed aiding you. If you’re running
Predator you should back after your third camp to get your boots ASAP. When against enemy tanks they will often provide more effective AoE CC so it’s imperative that you begin building up a lead for your team using the
Threads of Vibration for mobility around the map. Punish overextending lanes by coming at their flank and hitting your
Ixtal's Impact AFTER mobility spells have been used. If no lanes are opening themselves to ganks then focus on proper camp clearing to quickly reach your level six.
Aftershock or
Predator both are superb users of the level six boost and the second you hit it you should look for a forceful gank.
IF possible aim for the
Seismic Bastion >
Ixtal's Impact > AA >
Impale combo to increase your overall damage and CC duration, but do not be afraid to hit
Impale as soon as possible for champions like Akali who have crazy amount of dashes to get out of trouble quickly.
All forms of
Skarner are weak at taking objectives so for prio objectives such as inferno or mountain dragon focus on laners who take advantage of your strong single target CC and give them a snowballed lead. After you’ve pushed for a plating if possible make sure to request help for them in both pings and if they’re still not moving
POLITELY inform them of your need for aid.
Rift herald due to it’s weak spot is much easier to solo and you should find no troubles on that end.
Your overall focus in the early game is to ensure that you have at least one hard hitting carry for the mid to late game to play off of. Should this not be occurring then you may want to consider applying personal strengths with items such as
Trinity Force and
Sterak's Gage, or if you’re looking for even more personal carry potential there is always
Spear of Shojin.
Be you a carry engage with
Skarner due to you having a majority of your team’s gold or being the engage this is the part of the path where you should decide.
Stalker's Blade - Cinderhulk plays a vital role in either route as
Trinity Force &
Spear of Shojin all have health that will supplement the % boost and give your
Seismic Bastion more uptime overall and increase durability. Don’t be afraid to adapt to the situation at hand and understand the win condition is not always being the largest source of damage.
Item Priority(Carrying) -->
Trinity Force->
Sterak's Gage
Item Priority(Engage Tank) -->
Turbo Chemtank->
Dead Man's Plate
As laning phase begins to draw to a close it’s going to shift the overall combos you’re going to begin performing. By this point of the game you should swap to a
Sweeping Lens to clear enemy vision in the jungle. This is to force enemies into awkward face checking positions and allows you to bush bait with your
Impale as a surprise. Enemies who get killed in this matter can quickly begin flaming their teams especially if they’re the squishy support who is getting no aid in warding. Remember your job is to maintain your allies mental, as for the enemies all is fair in love and war.
Your big target is to use your
Impale on the strongest carry possible, in lower elos this often leads to enemies in the mid lane just mindlessly araming. Look for flanking points to use your engage tools to quickly and suddenly run down the closest target possible. Once you’ve
Impale them begin walking towards your ally only reversing direction right before the duration ends. This is to put yourself between them and their allies should they survive past the CC train. If you haven’t used your
Ixtal's Impact yet make sure to throw this on for good measure as well.
For higher elos this is where
Quicksilver Sash will begin to be bought so make sure before any engage you’re actively checking if someone is building a
Null-Magic Mantle. A good understanding of item builds is vital here as this will give you a heads up this foe will have a
Quicksilver Sash soon. Once a carry has a
Quicksilver Sash on the only time you want to
Impale them is is your allies have a stronger CC they can follow up behind you (Such as
Malzahar
Nether Grasp or
Ashe
Enchanted Crystal Arrow for example). Pulling their support or even the other carry out of position can make a 5v5 a 4v5 in your favor and this is still a strong ult to make.
For carry
Skarner look for enemies who are spilt pushing, as you’ve invested in damage you can get a lot of damage by performing your full duration of combo. As bruisers are usually the ones spilting you will have reduced CC on your
Ixtal's Impact but this only serves to add in the pain. Pings are helpful here to have an ally come along for the free kill so make sure to communicate effectively.
Baron and Closing out the Game
Skarner is
NOT a champion who can force towers down alone unless he is building
Trinity Force with
Demolish due to the lack of AS in his kit without proccing the spire from his
Ixtal's Impact. Even then the short duration of 1.25 seconds is subpar in maintaining it long enough to make good use of it. Most
Skarner players should instead look to
Impale a single person out of position and forcing the enemy team into a 4v5 over a vital objective. At this point of the game even
Impale an enemy tank jungler is critical as this means your team will be able to force an objective such as
baron nashor for free without the risk of a smite steal.
You can also use your
Impale to peel off enemy champions as many bruisers like
Riven,
Jax,
Aatrox do not have many open slots to force a
Quicksilver Sash into their build. A
Quicksilver Sash in their build delays other core items they’ll need and the need to hold onto it for your
Impale can force other hard hitting CC like
Morgana on them. Analyze how team fights are going to see if your engages are working or if your teammates inability to reposition themselves for it. It is always easier for randoms to focus on themselves then what you’re doing and it’s your job to adapt for your team. Once you’ve recognized how teamfights are going, make sure to apply your
Ixtal's Impact to as many targets as possible to maintain it’s up time.
IF you were building for a carry at this point of the game you should aim to force baron ASAP. Carry
Skarner falls off hard as late game champions begin to come online and
Quicksilver Sash is more easily fitted into a build. Forcing objectives may be the best route to close out a game at this point so don’t be afraid for calling a 50/50 if needed.
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