Greetings, one and all. I'm Jack Viper, and this is my first guide here on mobafire. Actually, what follows should not be taken as a comprehensive guide. Rather, what I propose is simply a different approach to building Skarner than what I've seen over and over. Therefore, in the spirit of embracing new ideas, I humbly ask that you hold presuppostions until you have at least tested the build yourself. Otherwise, I gladly welcome any informed opinions or points of view.

Also, as this is not a comprehensive guide, I will not be discussing jungling beyond the basics. This is not a jungling guide. I mostly play Twisted Treeline and Dominion. I don't play much Summoner's Rift, but when I do, I play skarner jungle or top. Now, for the rest of you that didn't just close the page, let's continue, shall we?

I'm sure we're all familiar with the idea of building skarner AP and, while quite fun, it simply does not perform up to par with the common tank builds. But why is that? I mean, you get massive shields. Ixtal's Impact actually become an asset. You have decent healing. You have good damage. Why, you're a bona fide AP carry. Right? ...Riiight.

The reason that building skarner pure AP doesn't work is simple: you go splat. As a fighter, skarner has to be in meelee range to do ANYTHING, primarily spam autoattacks and Shattered Earthes. You have to build resistances or all the shields and healing in the world won't save you from instant incineration in a teamfight.

...but you're building AP

True, but I'm building AP items in a way that I don't go splat. I build a combination of AP, resistances, CDR, and attack speed in a way that gives me large shields that don't break and are always off cooldown. The primary focus of the build is to pretty much ALWAYS have Seismic Bastion up, therefore taking full advantage of the buff as well as taking little to no actual damage to our health pool.

Pretty basic runes for skarner. I've experimented with others, but keep coming back to these. Attack speed marks for his passive and damage, flat armor seals and magic resist/lv glyphs for survivability. I like movespeed Quints on skarner for better chase, flee, sticking to targets with Shattered Earth, and dragging with his Impale.

It comes down to preference, really. I have tried Surge with varying degrees of success; it's not bad. You can use Revive in Dominion; I'll have to test it more. Anything other than these I wouldn't use at all.

Fairly basic skill progression. I do like an early two points in Seismic Bastion simply because at level one it breaks too easily to be of much use. I still don't level Ixtal's Impact until last because we won't have enough AP to justify its use until later in the game.

Here we go, the build itself.



We start with Boots for mobility. Depending on how the game is going, we can either rush Frozen Heart for instant tankiness and team support, or pick up Sheen early for more damage. Both of these items provide the mana we need for the duration of the game.

One thing that should be noted is that these primary items are central in most skarner builds. So, if you start a game planning on going with this build, and things aren't going too well, you can at this point 'hit the panic button' and just go the usual Trinity tank route. So there is some versatility in the early/ mid game. (You can also upgrade boots earlier if you so desire)




Time to upgrade our boots and focus on the hardest part of the build - building that Rabadon's Deathcap. But that deathcap is what makes the build. It's what makes our shield big enough to not break prematurely. Stinger is cheap and gives attack speed and more CDR, so now our shields are rarely on cooldown.




Next, we finish Nashor's Tooth. Our Shields are now always up due to max CDR, and attack speed. Then, finish Lich Bane for more AP, MR, movespeed, and a bigger physical nuke.




90-95% of games don't get this far. But, in case of a game this long, this item compliments what we already have really well. More AP, and some extra AD and lifesteal for all our attack speed and Lich Bane nukes. With the spellvamp, we are healing quite alot now.

This build order is not set in stone. Of course, you can and should tailor the order you build the items to the circumstances of the game. As most of these items are on the expensive side, you should prioritize what would be most beneficial at your point in the game. Ask yourself,

• Am I being poked by a mage, or being cc'd? Get Mercury's Treads early.
• Is the enemy team mostly AD and/or aggressive? Rush Frozen Heart.
• Is the enemy team mostly squishies? Get Sheen and Stinger.
• Does the enemy team lack stong AD? You can skip Frozen Heart for Nashor's Tooth.

A good rule of thumb is to finish Rabadon's Deathcap as your 2nd major item. The reason being is that it just doesn't do much without the CDR and mana from Frozen Heart or Nashor's Tooth.

To reiterate, this is how the build works:

• Frozen Heart makes us tanky enough so that our shields hold up in teamfights.
• Rabadon's Deathcap, along with other AP items, allows us to have BIG shields.
• Nashor's Tooth gives us attack speed and takes our CDR to max, so that our shields are off cooldown by the time the buff ends.
• Lich Bane provides a huge physical nuke every 2 seconds, as well as movespeed and MR. I find that skarner's naturally high base magic resist, along with runes, Mercury Treads, and this item, is plenty of MR.
• Our Ixtal's Impact is actually a decent aoe nuke with good healing
• Theoretically, if our shield is always up, then we never lose hp

Honestly, no. I do not make the claim that this build, or any other build for that matter, is the best build. Why? Becuase Skarner is such a versatile champion. He isn't "stuck" to any particular item build or playstyle. In fact, every stat in the game is beneficial to skarner, which is why I've seen people run everything from Black Cleaver to Rod of Ages on him. There really is no "best" build for him, only what is best for your own playstyle.

What I am offering is a build that makes the absolute most out of Seismic Bastion, thereby making you really tanky AND do tons of damage.

Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think. All thoughts and criticism are welcome, so long as it is constructive and courteous. And please, do not comment if you have not tested it yourself. Thanks again.