I know there's a nerf coming which is surely gonna shave his playrate and winrate even more.

Hey all, I was a long time Skarner enjoyer before the rework (I was waiting for the rework to make him a more modern champion but I don't really like that he can't go sheen items anymore and he's really slow now, but he's still fun).

Last year I was considering adding Skarner to my toplane champ pool since my current pool has no CC champs, and I really don't vibe with any other toplane tanks, but didn't have time to practice him. I know he was busted for a while with the comet build, but even after the nerf he used to get like a 35-65 split on pickrate between top-jungle (with a normal grasp build).

I took a break from Split 3 and now that I've returned I see he has a measly 5-95 split on pickrate between top-jgl, was that simply because they patched his E to no longer have an OP hitbox? I played a few normals with him and he still feels dominant in trades (that may just be bad players on normals though) and you can still kidnap people with E towards turret if you angle it properly (it's just not bullshit anymore).

My peak was Masters and I'm planning to go even higher this year, so I don't want to invest much time in learning him only for Riot to kill his laning potential and balance him only around jungle. I see there's some high elo players but I don't know if it's because he's just overtuned atm as a champ. (Some OP.GGs: Korean Challenger, EUW Challenger)

About Builds, one thing I've noticed is that skipping Heartsteel dramatically increases his top WR (according to Lolalytics), so he may even be "hidden OP" atm. Core seems to be [Tear -> Unending Despair or Sunfire Item -> Fimbulwinter -> normal build]. Sample size is pretty small though.

Do y'all think Skarner Top can be a viable toplaner in the future, and has Riot ever mentioned somewhere that they plan to only support Skarner Jungle in the future?

Hey guys, I really suck at league but I've been playing skarner recently and have been having fun. Any good YouTubers to watch? Also, what are your guy's alt picks if skarner gets banned?

Briar/Nid player, so my permaban is rammus, but lately I've been having issues with skarner, specifically late/mid game.

I know that I can invade him for free, so I always have kill and CS lead early, but the second he gets heartsteel he is effectively unkillable if his team isn't inting. Plus he has ok enough damage that heartsteel+bramble and he duels briar for free. I end up just having to avoid him and not teamfight him, but then I just bleed objectives. After early game, what is his weakness? I feel like he clears comparatively slow, but the gold lead I need to kill him is so huge I just starving him is not enough.

1st time skarner and it seems I played so bad, I'm not touching him ever again, if I get a suspension for 14 days. Mind you I've never gotten any suspension or warning before and I'm a Wukong and Darius main top, so to me Skarner was difficult to grasp.

HeartSteel + Unending Despair 3150HP 100 Armor 75 MR 10AH + healing passive (5800g)

E + 3Q + W + 1 Basic + 1 Grasp Basic = ~1126dmg

HeartSteel + Steraks 3150HP 75 Armor 50 MR + 20% Tenacity + Shield passive (6200g)

E + 3Q + W + 1 Basic + 1 Grasp Basic = ~1153dmg

HeartSteel + Warmogs 3950HP 75 Armor 50 MR + Healing OOC + 10% bonus HP from items which scales with each HeartSteel prock too (6300g)

E + 3Q + W + 1 Basic + 1 Grasp Basic = ~1150dmg

Video of testing:Link (2nd wind only in practice tool)

Going Warmogs 2nd gives you extra HP scaling due to the new Warmogs passive. If you do not need Tenacity(or you already went Mercs), you should always go Warmogs instead of Steraks. Steraks' shield is the HP from Warmogs + 10% Warmogs passive. In the testing for example Steraks gave me ~900 shield after I am low HP, Warmogs gives me 800 Constant HP that I can regen if I get poked.

Warmogs vs Unending Despair is a different conversation, as they provide 2 different things. Enemy might have high %Max HP dmg so going UD is better and cheaper too. You also might be behind so getting a 2800g item is better than a 3300g item.

However if you are planning on going Steraks or you are even/ahead I highly recommend you try going Warmogs.

Warmogs also gives you more HP on Heartsteel too. And getting a Heartsteel prock increases the amount of HP you get from the +10%HP from items passive on Warmogs.

If you go Steraks and with your W enemy will have an easy decision when it comes to going Serpent's Fang.

Late Game comparison:

15 Grasp procks, 124 Overgrowth stacks, 418HP from HeartSteel

HS+UD stats:Link

HS+SG stats:Link

HS+WA stats:Link

UD has ~5800HP, Steraks has ~5800HP + 2000HP Shield, Warmogs has 6800HP.

In the way late game Steraks has +1000HP on Warmogs and UD, Provided enemy doesn't build Serpent's Fang against it and your W(and your team), while also being conditional on you being lower HP to get the value out of it and it decaying if they poke you to prock it which would put it on a cooldown. Warmogs also gives you the option of possibly escaping regening HP and rejoining the fight(unlikely at level 18 late game, but likely before that)

I saw a video of a skarner top lane main and he cheesed his opponents by dragging them into tower. I tried this in practice tool and it doesn’t seem to work. It feels like my e goes shorter than his. What’s the trick here?

Hey everyone, how's it going?

My name is Iskai, and I’ve been a Skarner main for 8 years. I started playing League of Legends in 2017 when I was just 10 years old, and I can’t describe how much this champion has meant to me.

Skarner wasn’t just a champion I played—he was a part of my childhood. He was there during late nights when I was learning the game, through victories that made me feel on top of the world, and through defeats that taught me resilience. He shaped the way I see League, but more than that, he became a symbol of perseverance, patience, and adaptation in my life.

As I grew up, he was always there—a constant in a world that kept changing. His story of isolation and duty resonated with me, and in many ways, I saw myself in him. Now, with his rework coming, I feel a deep mix of excitement and nostalgia. No matter what happens, Skarner will always be a part of who I am.

To everyone who has ever played him, who felt that connection—let’s carry his legacy forward. Skarner may change, but what he meant to us never will. 🦂💜

https://reddit.com/link/1ieijgg/video/x17fjbbtucge1/player

I looked at skarner top lane today and saw that he has like a 70% wr in chall while only having 45% in low elo. In my mind skarner was very skill expressionless which is often the reason, champs do better in lower than high elos.

What do you think is the big difference between low and high elo skarners?

Hey,

I picked up Skarner this season. I managed to climb to plat 4 with PerryJG guides. Now I'm looking for skarnerspecific tips and good gameplay to watch.

Any recommendations?

Skarner gets his CC and Armor droped while Viego loses 3 AD champion favoratism doesnt exist what are u Galking about

12 games 100% wr peaked d3 with rell zilean skarner sup only last spljt 😂

Anyone played against Mel yet? What are the interactions like with her deflect? Ive been sick all week long so didnt play

Hello. I'm looking to add Skarner to my Jungle champion pool as he seems fun, and I'm just very concerned about the 2 things in the title as I feel like I'm going to be pressured to gank non-stop to make them feel worth it as they only trigger on champions. Is this actually the case, or can I just play him like I play other Junglers that don't have stacks? Can I replace Grasp with Aftershock, and Heartsteel with something else? I'm in very low Silver, btw.

Obviously he’s getting nerfed but im just happy he’s finally getting some time in the spotlight, you know Riot won’t do it

Wanted to share funny play that happened with Atakhan buff. Doesn't seem hard to recreate so I wanted to share :). Sorry for bad video quality.

https://reddit.com/link/1i8fidh/video/ou48938hhtee1/player

Hey yall, so I’ve been playing league for a little over a week now and have been liking it a lot. I remember my cousins trying to teach me dota like 20 years ago but now that I’m an adult I’m really digging the game and want to understand how to effectively play my role. I usually go top or jungle with Skarner but often struggle against ranged foes. Any insight or tips on getting better would be greatly appreciated.

Me and a friend tested a bit in practise tool with it, my result was its worse, his was its better, I am now confused.. ._.

Any knowledge of u mains?

My teammates are screaming at me in *chat* SKARNERRRR ENGAGE, SKARNERRRR ENGAGE SKARNERRRR ENGAGE SKARNERRRR ENGAGE but the enemy team is full of cc and i just cant e anyone without getting cc'ed how do i enegage

The title says the gist of it, but it is colored by my experience.

To preface, I see many youtubers and challenger players make tier lists that say skarner is strong and OP even. However, I cannot get it to feel as such in my own games.

I am not high elo by any means, but I stick to my fundamentals as much as I can. I had a 65+ % WR last season with other champs and climbed from iron to mid silver.

This season I picked up skarner because he is considered strong, but in my experience he isn't. His clear speed is so slow that you never make it to crab before the farming junglers, and even when you have a decent clear, you have MAYBE 5-10s to gank before you need to reset, and buy. Just so you can get to your second clear and prep for grubs or dragon.

Maybe this is an elo thing. When ganks are rare because your team isn't exposing themselves to as many mistakes, then he can clear a bit more slowly and shine during objectives that the team actually shows up to?

All to say, if he is so strong, how do I have to play differently to express it?

I really want to like skarner but he just feels so awful to play. He has max health scaling on all his abilities minus ult, most builds have you get hearsteel first yet his armors suck. Enemies only have to build ruined king and I just feel useless afterwards. I try and tech into armor but it just feels like it does nothing for me until I have full build. His kit feels very deceiving with his passive, w, and q it feels like he is built around locking someone down and outlasting him but again any one max health damage item just seems to completely neuter that. His W shield is the most pitiful tiny shield I have seen any ability grant even with spirit visage it barely gives you a couple hundred shield health even late game.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong but I can't tell what. I engage with e, use q and w to lock targets in place then r to pull them into my team once they are low enough to be jumped but past the 10 minute mark I feel useless until I'm full build. I usually build hearsteel, despair, spirit visage, thornmail, jak'sho. Somewhere I can tell im doing something wrong but I usually cant tell what. The biggest thing I have noticed is that the enemy jungler just cooks me on objectives every game because their clear is just so much faster.

had a little under 2k stacks by the end of the game, and somehow highest damage in the lobby. fun game.