How To Counter Reworked Skarner in Season 14
Skarner is going to be out on the live servers on Patch 14.7. He is the first champion in Season 14 to receive a major rework. On paper, he looks quite the same, but is kit is changing completely, so you must learn how to play against the new version of Skarner.
The major changes include his Ultimate and his E, which he can now use to get through terrain to gank his allies. I highly recommend that you read some of our other articles to help you understand what the new Skarner does.
Here are some of the recommendations before we head into this guide:
- Skarner Ability Reveal
- How to Play the Reworked Skarner
- Best Skarner Champion Synergy
We’ve been working on a lot of other Skarner content lately, which you can find over on the Mobalytics Blog.
Invest in Penetration Items
As Skarner will be building tank items, you must invest in some penetration items to help you burst through his defensive stats. For AD champions, you must get some armor penetration items, such as Lord Dominik’s Regards or Mortal Reminder. If you do not get these items, then it will be hard for you to kill him.
If you play Mage Champions, you must get some magic penetration items. These include the likes of Sorcerer’s Shoes, which is a super convenient item, Stormsurge, which is one of the best new items introduced in Season 14, or Shadowflame, which also provides pen.
If you are playing a carry champion, it is important that you get an item like this, or you will struggle to kill him.
Pick Champions with Disengage
Picking champions with disengage tools is really good for countering Skarner. Champions with disengage or CC, we’ll make it hard for him to close the gap and take down the enemy. Try to pick champions that have tools like this in their kit when possible.
We will discuss some champions later on that you can pick to counter him too.
Save your Dashes
When Skarner ganks your lane, or if you see him charging towards you, think twice before using a dash or mobility tool. You may want to use it to dodge the initial CC, but you must be careful of his Ultimate.
I would advise trying to dodge the initial E by repositioning and then using your dash to get away from his Ultimate. The crucial thing to remember is that you shouldn’t dash in a super obvious way.
Instead of just dashing back and towards your tower, try to dash towards the side or diagonally to create distance while also increasing your chances of dodging his Ultimate.
Opt for Deeper Wards
Deep awarding is crucial when playing against any champion who has unique ganking paths. Before, the main culprits to unorthodox ganking methods were Shaco, Fiddle and Kayn, but with his new rework, Skarner also makes his way onto that list.
Skarner’s E lets him travel a large distance in a short space of time. It is important that you place wards slightly deeper than usual so you can spot him earlier. This somewhat ties into a previous tip about saving your dashes. If you see him earlier, then you have a longer time to react and create distance, so you’re not forced to use your dash immediately.
Here are some warding tips and tricks to help you get started, but use these as a starting point.
- Track him by placing deeper wards.
- Use the Scryers Bloom to see where he is at any given time.
- Secure those Scuttle Crabs for extra vision.
- Place vision on the Dragons, Rift Heralds and Void Grubs early on.
- Place Control Wards in his jungle to spot him clearing his camps!
Don’t Fight in the Jungle
If you don’t know what his new Ultimate does, he can suppress, CC and pull up to 3 enemy champions towards his teammates. Unlike before, this ability can CC up to 3 champions at once. This ability is now a skill shot; you must make it as hard as possible for him to land it.
You can do this by fighting in areas of the map where your allies will not be close together. This is anywhere apart from around objectives, in the jungle, and in the Dragon or Baron pits. So where should you fight? Fight in the lanes or the river- anywhere your team can spread out a little bit.
Try to avoid sitting on top of one another, as this makes it very easy for him to CC a lot of people at once.
Counter Picks
We will now discuss five decent champion pics you can play into him. For this section, we are looking at champions who can counter or have tools to counter him. They may not be statistically the best counters.
Janna
Janna is our first recommendation. She has many utility tools to protect her teammates and keep them alive. For instance, she has her Q, which cannot him up, her W to slow him down, a shield to protect her allies, and her Ultimate, too. However, think twice before using your Ultimate, as it may knock him away and take your allies with him.
Fiora
Fiora can be a good counter, especially if she can snowball in the top lane. I recommend her as she has the tools to dodge and escape his ganks. She can also be a real menace in the later parts of the game, resulting in her taking Towers for free and splitting the enemy team up (which her team can capitalise on to win fights or take objectives like the Baron).
Alistar
Alistar has tools to prevent his carries from being taken by him. Also, the Alistar can “prevent” Skarner from playing to his full potential as he can interrupt and force his ganks to fail. In team fights, his Ultimate is extremely useful and he can use himself as a tool to protect his carries too.
Kayn
Kayn is another strong counter to him. Firstly, he has a diverse build, so he can adapt accordingly. Secondly, Kayn is very strong in the meta right now, so he has a natural advantage. He has good objective control and is a great ganker / counterganker to prevent Skarner from getting ahead.
Vayne
The final champion on our list Vayne. Vayne is great versus tank champions, as her W helps break through their defensive stats. Also, she has mobility and a knockback tool, which is ideal at creating space and keeping herself safe when he goes all-in.
Final Thoughts
As we discussed earlier, learning the weaknesses and how to counter every champion in League of Legends is important if you want to climb. Make sure you pick one of these champions and use our advice in this article to help you counter Skarner if you come up against him in the near future!
We’ve been working on a lot of Skarner articles lately. You can find more articles like this over on the Mobalytics Blog
