How to Play Reworked Skarner in League of Legends Season 14

With the arrival of Patch 14.7, Riot Games is set to refresh Skarner, a decision rooted in the community's desire for updates on the champion roadmap. Skarner, an elder among League's roster since 2011, has seen various transformations. However, despite these changes, his abilities have often felt overshadowed by the more modern champions.

This article from 1v9 aims to equip you with key strategies and insights to adeptly navigate Skarner's reworked abilities. While this guide provides a foundation, it's meant to kickstart your journey with the reimagined Skarner, encouraging practice in non-ranked games first to hone your skills.

Skarner Rework New Ability Breakdown

Let’s dive into what Skarner brings to the table, both before and after his season 14 rework. Skarner, a champion known for his unique blend of crowd control and mobility, has undergone a transformation that retains the essence of his original kit while injecting modern flair and functionality. Alongside his ability updates, Skarner has also been visually reimagined, boasting a more polished and high-quality appearance. This section will provide a comparative overview of Skarner’s old and new abilities, highlighting how the rework has reshaped his gameplay.

Skarner’s Passive: Threads of Vibration

Skarner's foundational attacks and abilities—his Q, E, and Ultimate—infuse enemies with resonant stacks. When these stacks accumulate, they explode in magical damage, bolstering Skarner's dueling capabilities. This innate power not only sharpens his edge in singular confrontations but also paves the way for his allies to swiftly dismantle key targets, particularly in team clashes where focusing down priority adversaries can tilt the scales of battle.

Skarner’s Q: Shattered Earth / Upheaval

Unleashing this skill, Skarner summons a monolith from the earth, enhancing his subsequent three attacks. On the third strike, he brings the monolith crashing down on his foe, applying a slow and inflicting extra damage. Reactivating this skill allows Skarner to hurl the monolith forward, striking and slowing any adversaries in its path while dealing increased damage. This dual-phase ability not only augments his offensive capabilities but also provides tactical flexibility in controlling enemy movements.

Skarner’s W: Seismic Bastion

Upon activation, Skarner wraps himself in a substantial protective shield, while also emitting a pulse that slows and slightly damages surrounding enemies. This ability offers Skarner both defense and crowd control, making him tougher in skirmishes and enabling him to disrupt enemy formations.

Skarner’s E: Ixtal’s Impact

Skarner's E introduces a novel mechanism, setting it apart with its uniqueness—comparable in spirit to Sion's unstoppable charge or Kayn's shadow step. Upon activation, Skarner gains the ability to phase through obstacles, charging forward with spectral agility. Enemies struck during this spectral charge are stunned upon colliding with terrain, making this skill a potent tool for initiating or disrupting enemy formations. Skarner can prematurely end this ghostly advance with a recast. However, be wary, as silences, roots, and effects that ground can interrupt this ability, halting Skarner's ethereal onslaught.

Skarner’s Ultimate: Impale

In his ultimate move, Skarner extends his stinger to ensnare up to three foes, suppressing and anchoring them to his will. Unlike his former ult, this move demands precise skillshot execution and proximity, given its significant cast time of 0.75 seconds, challenging Skarner to ensnare enemies astutely. This revamped ability transforms him into a formidable force in skirmishes, allowing for strategic repositioning or pulling adversaries into the heart of conflict.

Skarner Synergy

Skarner stands out as a versatile champion capable of enhancing ganks for his teammates, making him synergize well with a wide range of champions in League of Legends. While certain champions naturally mesh better with Skarner’s playstyle, here we highlight our top recommendations to pair with him, noting that these choices, though not solely based on statistical superiority, have shown to be highly effective alongside Skarner.

Lissandra

Lissandra excels when paired with Skarner, thanks to her capacity for crowd control and damage. As Skarner initiates, Lissandra can capitalize on the engagement, immobilizing targets and unleashing her damage potential. After Skarner reaches level 6, ganking becomes even more straightforward, as he can drag enemies closer to Lissandra's tower, setting the stage for her to use her ultimate for an easy takedown.

Renekton

Renekton, known for his dominant laning phase and robust gank assistance, pairs well with Skarner. His prowess in early skirmishes enables him to support Skarner during objective contests or battles over scuttle crabs. As the game progresses into mid-phase, Renekton's ability to dive into the fray complements Skarner's initiations, making them a formidable duo during engagements.

Senna

Senna shines in the support role, offering excellent gank setup with her root ability (W) and sustained damage through her ranged attacks. Although her performance as an AD carry has diminished, her capacity to contribute significantly to Skarner's ganks and her scaling damage output as matches progress makes her a valuable ally in securing victories.

Milio

Milio stands out as a partner for Skarner, bringing powerful support and enhancement abilities to the battlefield. With his array of skills, Milio can bolster Skarner's survivability and assist in engaging or disengaging during ganks. His abilities to heal and shield allies, coupled with his Ultimate, make him an excellent companion during both the laning phase and team fights, aiding the ADC to capitalize on Skarner's initiations effectively.

Skarner Tips and Tricks

To enhance your Skarner gameplay, here are some straightforward strategies to adopt. These suggestions aim to simplify your approach without overcomplicating your learning curve.

• Optimize your Ultimate's usage by engaging enemies at close range, minimizing their chances to escape.
• Reserve your Q for crucial moments instead of during pursuits to avoid losing momentum.
• Target the center of jungle camps with your W for efficient clears, impacting all monsters simultaneously.
• During jungle clears, prioritize empowered auto-attacks over reactivating your Q; the latter often proves less effective.
• Close the distance before unleashing your E to ensure its impact, preventing premature expiration.
• Save your E for critical engagements rather than frequent camp-to-camp transitions, especially in the early game, to conserve resources.
• Seek fights in constrained spaces like around objectives, within jungle corridors, and near turrets. These areas naturally facilitate landing your Ultimate on multiple foes, leveraging Skarner’s teamfight potential.

By focusing on these tips, you can start mastering Skarner’s mechanics and strategy, positioning yourself for success in your matches.

Skarner Jungle Routes for Season 14

Mastering jungle pathing is critical for any jungler, including Skarner. Efficient jungle routes ensure a speedy and healthy clear, setting you up for early advantages over your opponent. A random approach to clearing camps can delay your power spikes, allowing the enemy jungler to gain an upper hand.

For Skarner, particularly on the Blue side, here’s an effective jungle route tailored for Season 14. This strategy is equally applicable on the Red side; simply mirror the route (beginning with the Red Buff on the alternative side).

Conclusion

And there you have it, our comprehensive guide to mastering the reworked Skarner. What are your thoughts on these changes? Are you excited about the new possibilities Skarner brings to the table, or do you feel there were missed opportunities in his rework? Personally, I'm quite optimistic about this overhaul. Riot Games seems to have hit the nail on the head with this update, and I eagerly anticipate testing Skarner out in live games.