Skarner Top Build 16.11
Skarner Top build in patch 16.11 has a 65.0% win rate over 20 games. This setup focuses on cloth armor is an early armor component meant to reduce incoming physical damage from basic attacks and ad-heavy trading. it is mainly purchased to stabilize lanes or builds against opponents who threaten through repeated physical hits.
Skarner Build Guide & Strategy (Patch 16.11)
About Skarner
Skarner is a pick-oriented fighter-tank who creates pressure through direct target access, movement speed, and an ultimate that removes one champion from a fight by force. He is most dangerous when he can choose the moment and angle of contact, but he becomes much easier to manage when his approach is obvious or when he drags the wrong target into the wrong space.
Skarner Build Strategy & Items
The item supports defensive lane plans where you expect to take physical poke, minion-supported trades, or sustained harassment from auto attacks. It fits champions who want to blunt early AD pressure, farm more safely, and reach later spikes without bleeding too much health. The item supports patient laning by reducing how costly chip damage feels and giving you more room to farm through pressure without being forced out quickly. It fits gameplans centered on endurance, controlled wave management, and reaching later spikes from a safer early game. This item supports a defensive approach against magic threats by letting you stand closer to waves, objectives, or fight entrances without losing as much health to spells. It fits tanks, bruisers, and even carries in games where surviving a key AP source matters more than adding immediate offense. Cloth Armor is an early armor component meant to reduce incoming physical damage from basic attacks and AD-heavy trading. It is mainly purchased to stabilize lanes or builds against opponents who threaten through repeated physical hits. Doran's Shield is a defensive starter item built to absorb rough early lanes and soften repeated harassment. It is mainly chosen when surviving poke, staying healthy through ranged pressure, or stabilizing a difficult matchup matters more than early damage. Negatron Cloak is a heavy magic resistance component bought when you need a clear answer to AP damage. It is mainly used to blunt mage burst, magic poke, or spell-heavy fights before finishing a larger MR item. Health Potion is a consumable sustain tool used to recover health over time during lane or after small fights. It is mainly for extending early map presence without needing an immediate recall. Control Ward is a vision tool used to secure information, deny enemy scouting, and make contested areas safer to play around. It is mainly bought to protect key zones like river entrances, objectives, lane brushes, and flanks from unseen movement.
Skarner Key Strengths
Cloth Armor is strong because it directly targets one of the most common early damage patterns, making physical trades noticeably less punishing. It is especially valuable into marksmen, fighters, or lanes where repeated auto attacks matter more than occasional burst from other damage types. Doran's Shield is especially strong into lanes that win through repeated small hits, because it helps smooth out constant harassment and preserves your ability to stay in experience range. It also gives a sturdier early baseline for melee champions walking into ranged matchups or anyone expecting to concede some early control. Negatron Cloak is strong because the MR spike is large enough to noticeably change how threatening enemy magic damage feels in lane and skirmishes. It is especially valuable when one fed mage or AP support can otherwise force you out before a fight even starts. Health Potion is valuable because it turns gold into reliable early endurance, which matters most when the first few waves decide pressure and recall timing. It also works across many matchups, making it one of the simplest ways to stay active after a rough exchange. Control Ward is powerful because it changes what both teams are allowed to do around fog of war, often deciding whether a pick, dragon setup, or lane trap is even possible. It also creates lasting value well beyond its cost when placed in positions that survive and continue denying enemy vision. Unending Despair shines when your champion can stay in the thick of a fight long enough for its sustained defensive payoff to matter. It is especially strong in clustered skirmishes and front-to-back fights where enemies cannot easily disengage from your zone of influence. Plated Steelcaps are strong because they answer one of the most common and persistent damage patterns in the game: sustained physical chip from attacks. They are especially useful into double-AD pressure, ranged harass lanes, or late-game carries that would otherwise shred you through repeated autos. Spirit Visage is especially strong when your champion or team can repeatedly restore your health, because it turns ordinary sustain into a much harder wall for the enemy to break through. It also gives a reliable anti-magic answer for frontliners who need to stay healthy while walking through AP poke or extended spell damage. Bramble Vest is useful because it gives a very practical early response to lanes where physical damage and sustain are both part of the problem. It is especially good against champions that want to chip you down and heal it back, since it makes those short trades much less one-sided. Mercury's Treads are valuable because they answer two common game-losing problems at once: heavy magic damage and chainable crowd control. They are especially useful when the enemy composition wins by catching someone first, since even a little more freedom to move or cast can completely change whether you escape the engage. Winter's Approach is valuable because it gives mana-using tanks a much cleaner build path, letting them stay spell-active without sacrificing their ability to absorb pressure. It is especially strong in longer skirmishes and objective fights, where repeated casts and extra durability matter more than one immediate stat spike.
Best Skarner Runes & Spells
Transcendence is a haste-focused rune built to make a champion's kit cycle more smoothly across the game. Its core purpose is to shorten downtime between meaningful casts so spell-based champions can pressure more often and recover faster after using key abilities. Manaflow Band is a resource rune meant to stabilize mana usage so spellcasters can keep trading and pushing without running dry too early. Its main purpose is to support frequent casting and smoother lane control rather than direct combat spikes. Shield Bash is a shield-linked combat rune that turns defensive activation into a sharper retaliation window. It is mainly used by champions that gain shields regularly and want those moments to carry immediate offensive payoff instead of serving only as protection. Grasp of the Undying is a trading rune built around repeated short combat touches that slowly tilt lane and scaling in the user's favor. Its purpose is to reward champions that can step up regularly, land a hit in combat, and turn that pattern into both immediate trade value and long-term durability. Second Wind is an anti-poke sustain rune built to soften repeated chip damage during lane. Its purpose is to help a champion keep functioning through annoying harassment by recovering health after taking hits instead of being steadily bled out. Overgrowth is a health-scaling rune that steadily adds durability as the game progresses through normal minion and monster flow. Its purpose is to give frontliners and bruisers a passive long-term toughness boost without requiring any special combat trigger. Flash is an instant repositioning spell built around solving range, angle, and danger in a single moment. It is mainly used to create or escape decisive situations that normal movement cannot cover in time. Teleport is a map-wide tempo spell built to convert wave states and timing windows into presence somewhere else on the map. It is mainly used to protect lane economy, answer side pressure, and arrive at fights or objectives without giving up too much structure or farm.
How to Play Skarner (Early, Mid & Late Game)
Skarner Laning Phase (Early Game)
In the early game as Skarner in the Top lane, prioritize consistent farming and map awareness. Aim to secure your Winter's Approach as quickly as possible to establish a lane advantage and create opening opportunities.
Skarner Mid Game Strategy
During the mid game, utilize your 3 item power spikes to control lane transitions and objective contested zones. As Top Skarner, your roaming potential and skirmishing power are at their peak.
Skarner Late Game Strategy
In the late game, focus on teamfighting effectiveness and critical positioning. As Skarner, your role is to maintain utility and pressure in final sieges, coordinated and protecting objectives with your full item build.
Skarner Mechanics & Gameplay Tips
Strong Skarner players use their speed and pathing to arrive from angles that make Fracture and follow-up contact unavoidable, then reserve Impale for the target whose displacement actually wins the fight. Weak Skarner play runs straight through vision, grabs the nearest body instead of the important one, or pulls a target so deep that the team cannot safely capitalize.