The general League of Legends community seems to find Skarner a bit underpowered, but Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom thinks this crystal scorpion might just be misunderstood.

When I first heard of Skarner's skillset, I knew in my mind that the jungle would be the only place for him. With LoL's current metagame, the only lanes that Skarner can really contribute in would be either soloing top or 'supporting' a ranged carry bottom. Unfortunately, I don't feel that Skarner is that great as a top solo, especially after level six, because Impale is quite lackluster if you have no teammate who can take advantage of it. Putting Skarner with a ranged AD is almost as bad, because he does require a few core items to be dangerous, and as a pseudo tank, I think he deserves the gold.

With that being said, I've had some great success with jungling Skarner, even in higher level ranked games. I believe that players who have complained that Skarner lacks a good "gap closer," should be reminded that Skarner is reminiscent of Udyr in his play style, and Udyr's is a legitimate threat with his speed boosting Bear Stance. While Skarner lacks a solid stun like Udyr, he can gank without heavy reliance on the Lizard Buff. As long as you make sure to 'charge' your Crystal Slash before you get to your opponents (by using it on their creeps as you pass by), Skarner has access to a near perpetual slow, and that can be really dangerous. Too many times I see enemy Skarners try to gank without charging their Slash, and their opponents then have a window between the first and the second slash to get away without being slowed. 

The other reason I really enjoy Skarner is his abilities allow him to be played on the edge of your seat. With a champion like Brand or Annie, most fights simply come down to proper positioning and then unloading all of your skills. With Skarner, however, similar to champions like Udyr, Poppy, or Vayne, you can constantly chain your skills together to stay just one step ahead of your opponents. I can't even begin to count the number of times I've baited an enemy champion into attacking, only to use a combination of all of my abilities to survive.

In the end, if you want to get the best out of Skarner, I suggest that you give him free reign of the jungle while building a team with some strong control skills. Nothing is more devastating than flanking an enemy group to impale their carry so that your team can jump in with their own control spells to get the kill. With just a Sheen and Mercury Treads, Skarner can be a legitimate threat as long as you make sure you're using his abilities wisely. If you really enjoy playing an aggressive Udyr who barely survives with turtle stance, I recommned you think about trying Skarner. While popular opinion is often a good reflection of a champion's overall viability, sometimes it takes a willingness to set aside preconceived notions to find something really spectacular. Besides, if more people complain, Skarner might get buffed, which would only mean good things for us!

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom, Senior Staff Writer