On August 28 2012 01:17 zulu_nation8 wrote:
this question has been bothering me for a while now, do you smartcast skarner's ult? I'm pretty sure not doing it has made me miss out on 3-4 kills yesterday alone but might be just bad.

I smartcast everything ever. I just feel so clunky doing a normal cast anymore.

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

August 27 2012 17:31 GMT

#282

Yes, you should smartcast absolutely everything including Veigar stun, Ashe arrow and Trundle pillar.
If you play a champion about 5 times you should have enough experience to have decent accuracy, and any loss in that is far outweighted by the speed with which you can cast things.

Xevious

United States2086 Posts

September 05 2012 06:25 GMT

#283

mana pots suck

Lmui

Canada6215 Posts

September 05 2012 06:50 GMT

#284

On whether to smartcast or dumbcast my philosophy is that if it's a point and click such as ryze/annie Q, skarner ulti etc, always smartcast. For skillshots it's personal preference. Smartcasting is theoretically better but I've grown to love the precision offered by dumbcasting things like leona's zenith blade since if the only thing you have to do is click, it's really easy to hit something.

koreasilver

9109 Posts

September 05 2012 06:50 GMT

#285

You don't have to smartcast. There are plenty of top tier players that don't use smartcast ever. I personally think it's completely champion and skill design dependent. Like for Ryze you would obviously use smartcast, and same with Cass' E. Smash keeps Pantheon Q on smartcast but he seems to always keep E and R on normal, and when he does need to smartcast E he uses ~. Froggen never uses smartcast, and in an interview he once said he just doesn't like it. Dyrus for a while didn't use smartcast at all either.

zulu_nation8

China26351 Posts

September 10 2012 05:37 GMT

#286

OK I ADMIT IT, scip is right, kindlem is much better than hog. I will get both from now on (like I did before but I'll get kindlem first)

Also scip what do you think of this build? I just carried my team in solo queue with it and got my new high rating

[image loading]

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

September 10 2012 19:12 GMT

#287

Manamune is obviously a core item on Skarner. I reccomend starting boots+3 as usual, get Tear of Goddess on your first back. Do NOT buy any mana pots, they aren't necessary. I reccomend getting Mercs before finishing Manamune, because Manamune without well-charged Tear is kind of a waste. I would reccomend going Glacial OR Shurelyas right after; you aim to maximize your DEEPS and after you get solid amount of AD you do that with CDR.
+ Show Spoiler +

If you are grinding rankeds on your 1200 elo smurf, that is.

gtrsrs

United States9109 Posts

September 11 2012 04:24 GMT

#288

skarner is so versatile that i've rushed mbr on him and crushed
it's like, come at me bro, i do %-max health damage AND have infinite cc
it's really the answer to all his problems

Plague1503

Croatia466 Posts

September 11 2012 10:58 GMT

#289

On September 11 2012 13:24 gtrsrs wrote:
skarner is so versatile that i've rushed mbr on him and crushed
it's like, come at me bro, i do %-max health damage AND have infinite cc
it's really the answer to all his problems

True, since I started playing Skarner I'm having trouble forcing myself to use any other jungler (except Udyr, I can always play Udyr :D ) as he is just so good at everything (except his mana costs, but that can be solved by using a hybrid mastery page like Skarnold's or having a manaless/non-blue hungry mid so you can hog the buff all the time)

ShaLLoW[baY]

Canada12499 Posts

September 11 2012 11:02 GMT

#290

On September 05 2012 15:50 koreasilver wrote:
You don't have to smartcast. There are plenty of top tier players that don't use smartcast ever. I personally think it's completely champion and skill design dependent. Like for Ryze you would obviously use smartcast, and same with Cass' E. Smash keeps Pantheon Q on smartcast but he seems to always keep E and R on normal, and when he does need to smartcast E he uses ~. Froggen never uses smartcast, and in an interview he once said he just doesn't like it. Dyrus for a while didn't use smartcast at all either.

I tend to just smartcast everything but turn on the smartcast range indicator so that if I'm not 100% sure at a given moment I can just hold down the button, get the range and then let go of it. I'm surprised I don't see more people doing this, it gives you the option to cast quickly if you're comfortable to at that moment or to take your time should you need to.

Or maybe I'm just bad ;(

Xevious

United States2086 Posts

September 11 2012 20:21 GMT

#291

On September 11 2012 04:12 Scip wrote:
If you are grinding rankeds on your 1200 elo smurf, that is.

saw that coming

zulu_nation8

China26351 Posts

October 18 2012 04:15 GMT

#292

http://www.mediafire.com/?8v0313ot0epuih5

All my Skarner games from 2k up including some games in the highest elo bracket, wins and losses included. I can answer any questions regarding specific games. 15 games total. The pack includes a 3-4 games straight series vs rainbow thugs.

Sandster

United States4054 Posts

October 18 2012 15:58 GMT

#293

On September 11 2012 20:02 ShaLLoW[baY] wrote:

Show nested quote +

I agree with this. I just turned on smartcast last week (previously used to shift-smartcast, which is clunkier). The range indicators are very important to me and you can always cancel by just moving. With the option to see range indicator I don't see the reason to ever not smartcast.

The question is do you use smartcast+selfcast (i.e. if you press E on morgana it automatically shields yourself, unless you have your cursor over an ally). It's very nice for people with less than godlike reaction speed.

Smartcast certainly isn't necessary for Skarner though.

Scip

Czech Republic11293 Posts

October 25 2012 03:22 GMT

#294

Just posting it here as a reminder.
Things that need to be tested:
Skarner ultimate vs. Flash and all jumps, (jax, irelia, lee sin, shyvana, everything)
Skarner ultimate vs. repositioning skills (janna, blitzcrank, alistar, everything)
1 level in E early jungle
1 level in W 2nd max E jungle

Things that need to be theorycrafted:
Item build changes? I think not but maybe. CDR is going to be less valuable we know that much.
When to pick Skarner? Does he still have a niche or is he completely outclassed. New counterpicks and best teammates.

nyxnyxnyx

Indonesia2978 Posts

October 25 2012 06:30 GMT

#295

nvm ignore me i didnt realize skarner was changed sry

Xevious

United States2086 Posts

October 25 2012 10:41 GMT

#296

ult will hardly be able to interrupt skills cuz it'll stop casting as soon as they get out of range, so there's an extremely short window of time for skills like corki w for them to be pulled out of it but 99% of the time it'll just cancel. also it will never happen for flash or other instant repositioning skills.

only viable build will be pure tank/damage absorption (aegis+randuin/FoN) to compensate for the lost tankiness from w cd (this goes for competitive play, you can still go triforce gunblade or my normal build at 1200 elo). shurelia's rush probably not as good since pure tank stats more important than utility, also more risky to initiate with shurelia's because of ult change -.-

getting e might be worth it but i don't think so because then your already nerfed w will be even shittier. i doubt making a shittier spell shittier in exchange for another shitty spell is the right option.

Don_Julio

2220 Posts

October 25 2012 17:49 GMT

#297

Serious question: Do you really think that Skarner is unplayable now? Or is it just an emotional outburst cuz your beloved scorpion got nerfed?

I'd really like to pick up Skarner. Played him when he was free2play the last time and doing so again at the moment. Now I'm close to have enough IP to get him. I have a lot of fun and feel that i can carry my teams with him. The patch isn't live on EU yet so I guess I have to wait and find out if there's any significant difference for me tomorrow.

Requizen

United States33802 Posts

October 25 2012 17:59 GMT

#298

4 seconds on W isn't even that much if you hit shit. So it's up 90% of the time rather than 100% of the time, that still makes it one of the better defensive abilities in the game.

Eladir

Greece467 Posts

October 25 2012 20:34 GMT

#299

Skarner has been retardedly strong since forever. Don't know about after the new patch but the changes make a lot of sense. The perma chase and ult despite the enemy flashing etc. were broken.

Thereisnosaurus

Australia1822 Posts

October 25 2012 22:09 GMT

#300

random question, I started playing skarner recently and went boots pots as I do with all my other junglers, it seems to work ok, but most guides and games I see skarners starting cloth+5. Am I just at a level where I'm not being punished or is boots a viable choice for skarner?