Skarner Survey Response
I just had a survey pop up after an ARAM i played as Skarner, asking if i thought the champ was unique with the options being: strongly agree, agree, neither agree or disagree, disagree, or strongly disagree"
I thought about it for a moment and checked the "disagree" box, because while he does have some unique things about him, since his rework i've felt like he was very similar to some other champs in play pattern. Now i have to admit that i'm very much a fan of the old Skarner where the Q would apply a slow on the second activation and could be reapplied as long as you had mana. But what i miss about Skarner mostly is that he used to be a threat in his own right. Early game Skarner with a sheen was something to be afraid of. But he was also very vulnerable to being invaded and required blue buffs early to be able to clear the jungle with any kind of speed (granted, the game has changed a lot since Skarner's rework). If he got fed then late game Skarner was terrifying (similar to Hecarim and Nocture, especially at that time. Also like Nocturne once he had an item or two he was a pretty potent duelist). These days Skarner feels like a pure tank, his damage output is lackluster compared to other "fighter" style jungles, his only forms of hard CC are his ult (which i am not complaining about, i love his ult) and a passive that requires 3 abilities to be landed and is activated by an auto attack. His new E is nice, but it can be difficult to hit on very mobile champions or skilled players. It feels like his kit has a lot more prerequisites that have to be met before he can apply his CC compared to other tanks; and barring his ultimate his CC is weaker than many other tank champions.
Skarner's old kit was called "anti-fun" the perma slow being the most targeted feature. But in my mind the only reason people died due to his perma slow is that they were overextended without vision. Being over extended without vision is a death sentence against many many many champions (Olaf, Nocturne, pretty much anyone with a perma slow or that can stick to you indefinitely. Vayne is another good example, she doesn't even have to land anything, her passive pretty much ensures her target is going to die if they can't make it to a tower). So i don't see how Skarner's old kit was any more or less anti-fun than the champions i listed, hell the champs i listed don't even have to get into melee range to employ their ability to run you down.
I guess the real point i'm getting at is "when i go into a game as a jungler, why would i pick Skarner?" His clear speed is pretty good, but nothing special. His pre 6 ganks are okay, but again nothing fantastic. His level 6 ganks are great with his ult, but that can be said about many other junglers that either scale better, or have better pre 6 ganks. And as far as late game goes he would be heavily out damaged by say, a Nocturne, and Nocturne doesn't have his core ability nullified by QSS. Old Skarner could at least still bring meaningful damage, but now he feels like a champion without much of a purpose to me.
I really want to enjoy playing Skarner, i like his thematic, i like the concept of his gameplay. But i feel like he's just not an enjoyable right now.
Sorry about the wall of text, the survey opened old wounds lol
