Old Skarner was a BLAST but i will say, nothing having to rest my fingers after playing him does put a smile on my Face. I also agree on we need a Crystal skin for new Skarner!
They could make it to have the old skarner zones as one of those 200 dollars skins. Like they dont do anything but they are there. Maybe the price is to much but i would pay that for a skin of old skarner.
i think the worst thing theyve done still is completely removed the crystal scar and the brakern like that makes hextech so much more interesting, and made for a really cool lore of skarner being the last of his kind thing
I still contend that the current version of hextech is more tied into the broader lore and can make for interesting character tension. It's pretty much as soon as any moderately noble character with some pull (think Cait, Jayce, or Heim) found out the original source, they'd almost be obligated to halt all use themselves and call for wider spread removal. Otherwise we'd think less of them. Tying it to just mages in general integrates with SO many other characters.
i echo the same sentiment. i feel like skarners old place in the lore was great if they expanded on it. making him just ‘ixtal guy’ is a lot more boring than a member of the now extinct (i think) species thats powering one of the regions entirely. had they not retconned old skarner i wouldve LOVED to see a camille skarner interaction ingame.
@@Zenodiagnosis "Just Ixtal Guy"... bro he's the, apparently immortal, head of state that lead to the region being in isolation for so long. He is direct, conflicting opinilm with those who want to open the area, such as Qiyana, but also is justified after instances of abuse within the region, just as from some individuals in piltover.
@@themonkeys96 I disagree, the moment I saw what he became the first thing that came in my mind is "Oh no, he will be put in the same limbo that every Kaiju like character currently is" Being a giant Kaiju only makes him less interactive, he can just fart and piltover os over, Being that almighty and powerful only means Riot won't let him do anything. He's also an isolationist which means Riot has the best excuse ever to never progress his lore or Ixtal lore as a whole, and they can just blame the giant scorpion for it. Also how Scorpion Godzilla interacts with it's people? They judge if he's happy by the size of the dust storm he creates? I saw that as just an excuse to erase Skarner without erasing him And before you argue that isolationist is fun...it isn't...in every strategy game the isolationist are usually the most boring civilizations and in storytelling as well..
As much as I'll miss old skarner I have to say I'm somewhat hopeful for what this reworked version has to offer. To be frank not having to constantly worry about my spires every two minutes sounds like a dream come true, even if it was his gimmick. Though I also agree that the boy should get a crystal skin to pay homage to who he used to be.
Something I don't see a lot of people talking about, but I as someone who is a big fan of the lore am pretty upset about, is ditching the whole hextech facet of the character. I genuinely thought the whole "Piltover is a shining city just don't look at their history or below" thing was really really nicely complimented with their technology being built upon using an entire race's souls as fuel essentially. And Skarner being the last one. Ignoring the whole Seraphine debacle Skarners lore was really unique and nice important part of League's lore. However I think they dropped all of that for something less unique to make it feel less "real" and also get the current lore to matchup with Arcane. Also even if the new design looks way more polished and objectively better looking, the Crystal aesthetic was still way more interesting.
I think what I'll miss most is how somber Skarner used to be. There was something about like, picking up Skarner while listening to Lo-Fi music that really clicked with me, but in terms of personality, the new Skarner is way more aggressive, which is amusing, given that he's not the DPS machine anymore.
I'll never forgive them for the Mordekaiser rework. Old mord was such a cool and unique champion. Same with Asol, his original kit was very different than every other champ. But they reworked them because they didn't have high play rates, but champions with niche kits are more likely to have lower playrates! Nothing wrong with that.
Yeah I'd rather them rework actual problematic champs vs spending a ton of resources on updating less popular characters JUST because they don't have high play rates. When characters like Shaco and Master Yi both have terrible designs and lore AND are harmful to the game
A good sign some is retarded is if they like old Asol. “Oh gee I sure love having a massive deadzone near me that everyone can slip into!” With that same classic “Unique = good” bullshit.
@@irisstarsterio shaco is literally the only trickster champion on the game that utilizes mind games properly with his kit, you’re not gonna fall for an amateur shaco but a good one is a nightmare, avg argument of blaming kits instead of learning how to go over them the master yi hate i think just started from the thought of “ew how did i lose to this? probably just cause the champion aligns with the same iq of the person”, he’s ok, he gets popped just like everyone else if yk what you’re doing, there’s a lot of champs to rant about and you chose the ones popular in low elo cause beginners and tryhards can have succes with them, classic
Murder the old champ some people actually loved to hopefully sell some skins for the new shiny champion with no soul made from the rotting corpse of a neglected but loved champion. Sure some people will play with his corpse but they are the exact same people that killed him in the first place and left him to rot.
I prefer the OLDER Skarner. The one where his passive reduced his CD, the one Riot once called a Grass Mower and then reworked his Q. Where you could build full AP and zoom the battlefield with 2k shield and abducting enemies through 2 towers!
@@darkbill5915 I mean... while I do prefer the oldest, the new one is solid. It IS nice to have a kaiju scorpion, but both have that pleasure gameplay, just different types. I just don't like how he proclaims to 'command the earth' and have basically strength feats that shoves the earth around rather than really make the earth do something. Feels weird. Only his passive seems to be a 'mini whiny sandstorm on the eye' of command of earth.
Omg I never even considered using Terminus. I will miss old Skarner for his speed but I'm starting to enjoy his Reinhart like E ability and his passive DoT.
I too miss the crystal look, and i miss his old lore because it really put a dark look on piltover and its society... but arcane is popular now so we can't have them looking too bad anymore.
I'll definitely miss going trinity skarner and making people's jaw drop with the unmatched dueling potential. But i'm happy he gets to be the menace he always deserved to be. I just hope he will become somehwat unpopular again so i'll always be able to pick him.
I just think that this Skarner has taken the same route as the Galio rework, where they create an entirely new champion that’s loosely BASED on the old champion but is in essence entirely different.
Skarner was the character that got me to play league, I'm going to miss the fun mini game. New skarner does not feel like the same champion he feels so different.
I really think the Skarner digging through walls mechanic is so unbelievably cool, the angles you will be able to take for ganks will be unprecedented. People complain about how long these VGUs take to make but when the quality is as high as it's recently been and the mechanics are as unique I think waiting is reasonable.
There's also the fact that, supposedly, when they tried to remove old skarner from the game it straight up broke the game. Something about how a lot of other champs had code that was copied from how skarner's crystal spires worked.
On the previous seasons map sure, but on this map? It is open enough to enter a lane from nearly any point without going over walls, so what unprecedented angles are you talking about?
@@Jacob-uq8sqit serves a different purpose tho. Skarner E is mobility and engage. Kayn E mobility and sustain. Its two abilities with different purposes
It’s literally just sion R mixed with Kayn/Rhaast It’s literally the same angles plenty of champs with dashes or the ability to ignore terrain already take. He has zero unique mechanics and the quality here is non existent.
Honestly a Classic Skin would be awesome, it just makes sense. As for the gameplay, I will cherish the memories of going around at impossible speeds spamming W while dodging and laughing around people, while also being incredibly hyped about this rework. Old skarner felt a bit linear at times, and I despised the spires, so I can't wait to try him out
Riot has like 5 different crystal skin lines. Im sure in the future they could give him one. That being said im sad they didnt just release a new skin like they did with Volibear. Yone has received more skins in the last 10 months than Skarners entire existence
I feel you man i will always love Old Skarner more than this new one even if hes good. I am one of three Skarner mains with 200k pts and the number will continue to rise
You kind sir have converted me, I was very pessimistic about the rework even considering all the positive reactions from the community and was avoiding nearly all content focused on the new Skarner because it was hard for me to accept that he’ll soon be gone (I’m traumatized after asol rework I loved asol with stars)but after watching this, I am excited to try him out, I will still try to get as much playtime on him before the new one comes out but now I don’t feel like I’m being stolen from
Old Skarner was the whole reason I even picked up League in the first place when I started back in 2016. I do love new Skarner and will miss old but it's about time for a change and yes he needs a Crystal Skin!
For me, I'd have loved the crystal aethetic to be there in the new one. And I'm so used to skarner being the sad amumu kind of guy that the new all powerful skarner lore feels off.
From a gameplay perspective I think they did a pretty good job, but I think they dropped the V in VGU. His Sandscourge skin looks especially awful not to mention they changed the skins entire identity. And they got rid of his unique recall on the guardian of the sands skin.
I couldn't have said it better myself. As a Skarner main I'll forever miss the purple crysral scorpion but he was long overdue for a rework. I'm waiting to play new Skarner when he comes to the live servers but from what I've seen he's really fun.
Design-wise, new Skarner is leagues above the old. He has much more interactive gameplay, with a lower skill floor and a higher skill ceiling. Aesthetically, they could’ve made him look a bit more interesting. I would’ve loved to see some added color in his model like the stuff we see in his splash art.
I think they should've done another "Thousand Pierced Bear" for Skarner by giving everyone who's played before the rework a crystal-themed skin for him. Even fundamentally speaking, crystals are just way cooler and less bland than some rocks and it's what made Skarner one of the most unique champions in the game!
For me, this rework is what I've seen people describing the Aurelion rework, I like the champion and design but not the gameplay, so with the change in how he plays made me enjoy him more in the gameplay side Ps: I had so much more fun with old ASol than the reworked. Never played old Aatrox, started playing in 2020.
As a Skarner main for at least 4 seasons now - it does bring a tear to my eye to watch my boy transform, I like the new design and I can see what they are going for - I will miss my old boy but im excited to try out the new skarner and see what wacky builds we can bring into the new design - I refuse to let him just be forced into a tank role, being creative with him was my favourite thing
Maybe new Skarner has a higher skill cap but I just feel so sluggish trying to pull off combos with him, like E speed windup should be just a little bit faster, and I should be able to move while casting R. But again, maybe I'm just trash with him at the moment.
Some of my favourite builds are those which allow abilities to reset their own cooldowns on use. One of these is Shyvana who with enough ability haste and targets can have her empowered Q reset it's own cooldown on use. Skarner also falls into this category, build enough ability haste and your auto attacks begin resetting the Q cooldown, so when you're in a spire you just turn into a complete tank shredder.
ill miss the old skarner, he was my first ever main solely because crsytal scorpion neat and then i liked playing him as well, the new skarner seems fun as well but i definitely would like a classic skin to make him crystaly
INSANE. CONTROVERSIAL opinion: Alot of the lol community claims that the ONLY WAY Riot can rework Champion is to MAKE THEM THE SAME CHARACTER AND CHANGE NOTHING which in honesty is a pretty reductive way of how VGUs should be. VGUs should maintain the core aspects of what people liked about the champ and expand/modernize the kit while fixing the old champ's problems. Old Skarner's issue was that he was too linear of a stat-checking champion who heavily relied on an outdated kit that many newer and long-time champs outclass (even back in 2011). in a way, they're still things that they kept like q being an enhanced auto-attack and his w giving his shield. but they all expanded on a lot more like his W slowing and q throwing a rock. and while his e is different you CAN'T DENY HOW COOL IT IS to charge through terrain and colliding opponents. that's how VGUs should be, taking an outdated kit and expanding/modernizing it while keeping the themes in a new way for the champ. NOT MAKING THEM THE SAME CHARACTER AND CHANGE NOTHING
If I'm being real, I've never been a Skarner main but he was one of the first champions that ever caught my eye when I first started playing League. I really loved his aesthetic and hoped that a rework/VGU would only improve on him, but it seems to me like a similar situation to Aatrox (though not as egregious necessarily). His new kit seems really fun and I'm excited for it, but it sucks to lose the crystal scorpion with survivor's guilt lore they had for him. I'm really praying that Riot gives him some sort of crystal skin to revitalize the aesthetic of old Skarner, cuz if they don't it seems like a huge opportunity wasted.
@f3rbus like honestly, and this is my perspective to really look at. If the argument was to say you don't like a rework because you miss the old champs playstyle. That is completely valid. There's are plenty of champs that got rework that I can say I missed, like irelia, aatrox, and to extend skarner (button mashing is fun sometimes), and while it's understandable that needed to be updated it's perfect fine to miss or even prefer old champs. Like to be clear, I'm not saying, "If you like old champs, then you only like cheesey playstlye and that's cringe. No, I think that's fine. However, I feel like that can't really be an objective measure on how reworks should be handled. That it's "needs to be exactly the same character, because thats only what i want" even if there a chance to really reimage a champ in a whole new way that can not only be updated but expand its kit in a innovated way you know.
I agree, and imo most people are only bummed about Skarner's case because he underwent such a huge visual change from bright purple/blue crystal to gray stone and to many that makes him look more bland. I think for the most part people are typically pretty accepting of the new reworks that we get cuz they usually do succeed in forwarding the champion and making them much more fun/balanced to play. I think Skarner is the exception to the rule mostly cuz he's such an oddity in the lineup compared to some of the other reworks.
I prefer new Skarner's gameplay a whole lot more, but I loved old Skarner's story and look a billion times more. A traditional skin would be a gift from god for Skarner in my opinion, and it would be one of the only skins I'd be EXCITED to buy.
When i started to play league in 2020 my friends told me there's a lot of champions with so cool details, and i ask then if there was a scorpion (because i love scorpions) and told me about Skarner, when i try it when i have more knowledge about the game and the jungle, i love it how it feels to play with him. Even if i miss some big changes about him because i didn't start playing league like the ones who played more years than me, and the fact he's very unpopular which didn't know it before i search some guides and tips about him, until i found Skarner's reddit and see how united there are all the skarner mains at the moment to make builds/runes and everything about him (I even make some logos for his birthday release to the game, and guides about him too, and also i have saved some videos while i played with him). I remember how scared i was about how it would be the way he will be reworked, i didn't vote for Skarner because Riot say he will change almost completly everything about him, only keeping his iconic ult. Now those days i saw how it looks and his new abilities and skins i find out it has some things related about the old one as you showed on this video, i had like a small breath of calm but still i'm feeling nervous, hyped and sad about how it will change, i actually like his rework even if i don't have PBE to try it because i don't know how it works and i have huge ping if i play on that server. Even with that, i still will miss his crystals and cool lore about those crystals, and those funny and great moments i have playing with him, mixing up some crazy builds and runes i create plus beeing imporved by looking at some skarners players i see past of the time, and stealing objectives literally walking to the enemy jungle even if i play him alone or with my friends; Thank you Skarner for those moments in League Of Legends, i will still play with you when the rework arrives because i like it, and i will not forget how the old one it was 💎🦂💙
AS an OTP, my biggest fear was about the versatility that I can have on some game and or matchups, I just hope that with the new added ratios, it will still be a thing And as you said, I'll miss my old crystal scorpio 😢 But lets hope for the best :D And last but mostly, thank you for your hardwork, you made me confident to follow my view of the game and playing off meta just for the fun of it.
Being mastery 7 on old skarner will always be a treasured achievement for me, but new skarner looks like he's much healthier for the game and honestly after playing him in PBE, he's more fun too. And I'm glad he got a lore rework, maybe, just maybe, if we're extra good this year riot will let him be in the next league cinematic. Imagine that, now that he has real lore. I'm truly excited for the rework, even though we are losing our old crystal boy.
Definitely agree that the crystal features gave Skarner his own character, my one complaint with the new design would be the lack of a distinct aesthetic (he kinda makes me think of a malphite 2.0 now) Ability changes seem perfect though.
What I loved about Skarner was how fucking fast he was in the right conditions. He would eventually catch almost every character in the roster in the long run.
As an old Skarner enjoyer I'm gonna miss his old kit for all the reasons you said, however after the reveal and playing it I'm hopeful for the future of the champ. His new kit brings a lot to teamfights in general with the chain cc. I will miss the old Q though I wish they kept something similar in his kit for the cd refund on hit. On the topic of skins I really hope they do make some sort of crystal skin for him. On a different and harsher note about skins, all the new ones feel lazy. The design team seems to just have thrown on a slight coat of paint and changed one small detail to make the new skins which for me at least just comes off as lazy and they don't feel unique at all. I really wish they did a little more to them given this is a complete champ overhaul :\ Nonetheless I'm glad that rito has finally given some love to our little(massive now) scorpion boi
I accidentally got myself into an awkward spot, where I basically started to master and understand Crystal Skarner, the moment his rework was announced. Oops.
Ult bearly last long enough to get them halfway in and keeps them the same distance you ult them at. they would have had to been at the edge of your tower range and stayed them while you winded up ur ult while you also had to approach them without using E
As one of those pesky m7 scorpions, I’m actually pretty happy about this rework. He felt like a juggernaut version of Kindred, where you relied on your team to secure your side objectives so that you could be stronger. Difference was that Kindred was decently weak without stacks but could still utilize gold and outplay in fights with dashes and ult. Skarner without spires was a stat stick melee range CCer, who lacked the stats or speed to be useful at all. It’s weird having a tiny circle that you stand on determine whether you’re the literal strongest or weakest champ in the lobby, and so I’m cool with his newer version. My biggest gripe is his ult becoming glorified Yone ult though
I really hated old sksrner, but new skarner seems awesome. I will tho say that I agree he should get a traditional skin, I usuly never use these skins, but I absolutely agree that he should get one especially with how different they made his design. Normally I think traditional skins are just worse then the base skin, but respect their existence because of nostalgia. In this case the fact that the design is completely different I absolutely think sksrner should get one, I also agree that his older concept is much cooler a crystal scorpion sounds cool, but he looked a little too goofy, a redesign of his old concept would be so fucking awesome.
I haven't played him yet and played the "old" one a ton, I do agree on the whole crystal thing being gone. Old Skarner was known has "the crystal scorpion" and stripping away the crystal part feels weird, similairly with what they did with Voli by taking away his armor (I would say Skarner's case is worse on that aspect imo)
I felt the same way with old Galio. I hadn’t played him until I heard he was getting reworked and found out I loved him. Then he got reworked and I also loved the rework. I love himbo Statue, but I also miss my windy gargoyle boy.
a totally another game wich is paladins one thing that evil mojo did well is when they changed the base skin of a champion they made it able for at least a limited time to buy old skin
They decided to change the crystal look because it looked to similar to the void and i for one welcome the new look. He really needed to look as a separate identity from the void especially since no one really knew his champion.
I have 300k mastery on Skarner and am hyped for the rework! I will miss the spam Q in terms of the damage and itemization potential it brought in-game but ngl, I'm looking forward to not having to spam press Q every game haha
As someone who loved Skarner's old design, even a decade ago when I started playing the game, him not receiving a Traditional skin feels like a crime. I understand that it's not really worth it for Riot to make skins for an unpopular champ, but the old design will always be more iconic than the base design he has now.
New skarner seems exciting! Old skarner was not well understood and could feel weak with 14 damage Qs. Tho i agree we need a classic crystal skin, i like this theme and it's sad if they let it go like that
Bit worried about phreak saying he wants skarner to exclusively be a tank, but here's to hoping that someone distracts him and buffs the ad scaling back up
As a Skarner main since 2014, I personally have a lot of issues with this rework, ranging from the change in playstyle, to his lore and personality, as well as the general impression of the champion to begin with. The TLDR of the whole thing is that I view this as a Malphite rework (gameplay wise) with a semblance of Skarner's ult being retained, as there's nothing else in the entire kit to build into his individuality. From a gameplay perspective, what I find most fascinating is that (current) Skarner's style of play actually feeds into that "insect" (arachnid, but let's not get too specific) gimmick he's designed around, where he, like another bug champion such as Kha'Zix, weaves in and out of combat in order to make use of, or create, openings and exploit them. The spires help in this regard by making him a "home turf", and I feel that before you talk about any other part of Skarner, you need to address the most controversial part, which are these very spires. I think there are numerous ways to go about his spires in order to improve them, and the main issue as far as I'm concerned is not that they're there, but that Skarner practically loses all presence outside of them. You can't split push or help efficiently taking any objective that isn't in the jungle, and more than anything, you can't even defend your own base. They could literally just slam down an uncapturable spire in his own base and it would solve a large issue he currently has, which is that it doesn't matter how well you do, if your team's losing, so are you, and you'll be forced out of the only environment where your champion actually functions, because Skarner is not just weaker outside of his spires, he's hardly even a champion. Another is that Skarner's core gameplay has always been a match made in heaven with Spellblades (Trinity Force, Iceborn Gauntlet, Lich Bane, hell even the new support item is incredible on him), and due to being one of the few champions in the game who scale with any stat, his build pathing has some genuinely interesting complexity, unlike the majority of the game where your champion will force out the same 3-4 items every single game in roughly the same order; frankly, I think it's boring, and shaves off so much player expression to the point where it's insulting, although it has gotten significantly better now that Mythic items are gone, and thank the heavens for that. As far as his lore is concerned, what I'm the most peeved about is that old Skarner was actually designed around this great balance of genuine wisdom and knowledge, mixed with a primal rage, where you usually only see one of the two present. The reworked skarner is just a territorial meathead, there's no sophistication to his character at all, and I find it insulting that they'd remove such a good narrative just to pave the way for whatever they came up with to justify Arcane. As far the loss of the Crystal theme, I don't even have any words for that, let's not pretend that Crystals and gemstones aren't also connected to the aspect of Earth, it's ridiculous that they'd even think to remove it in the first place, especially with how otherwise prominent they are in League's lore as a whole. Seriously. But hey, still better than Crystal Venom, for anyone out there who remembers that shitshow of a passive. :)
I think his new kit is much more skill expressive than his old one tbh, mainly in the form of rotation orders (such as Stun E to Q or slow CC to R), somewhat on decision making around Auto Q/Q2, and the positioning of E. Also Crystal spires is imo, one of the worst inherent designs league has ever had and not many variants of the idea would ever really make it a good design.
I'm in pretty much the exact same place - I'm going to miss old Skarner (and desperately hope he gets a Classic skin), but new Skarner looks *very* fun, and very in line with how I play Skarner now - as a beefy tank. I was never a big fan of the spires, though, so that's one component of his kit that I won't be mourning all that much.
The way I feel about skarner is like. He's my favorite champion I never play. I thought his gimmick was rad as hell, and his old/current design was really cool. I just didn't play jungle enough to play him, and without the spires in lane, I didn't ever play him there either. So I'm hoping for everyone that this rework ends up really good so we can all enjoy playing him
I have no idea why riot stopped making "traditional" skins for post-rework characters, this was such a great idea. It would make little sense for stylistically close ones like Aatrox, but for my boy Skarner? Take all my money!
I'll definitely miss "old" Skarner. I've always tried to make him work, but never really found him worthwhile...until this season. I picked up Skarner toplane, starting with a phaserush, cdr cheese strat, maxing E for the cdr for more CC to ult people into my tower from a frozen lane position. Eventually, I evolved into going Conquerer, still cheesing with R when needed, but with Manamune, Iceborn, and Shojin, I could straight up duel people, stunlocking them for 3-4 seconds all while nailing them with that juicy 6% max hp mixed damage every second or less. Going full CDR allowed for an insane amount of stuns, with enough tankiness to not get oneshot, tossing in frozen heart and spirit visage later. I'll keep playing it til the rework because I love him to much, but I can't say I'm not hyped for the rework. I am a little sad, though...before the juggernaut update, I also played Skarner top, but with a different build: gunblade, nashors, bork, rageblade. That, combined with his Q giving attackspeed stacks, make him a master Yi level shredder I absolutely loved. Even after the update, I still liked him though. Why? Because I have a bit of a thing where no matter what I'm playing or doing, I want to go fast. As fast as possible. I want to make them EAT MY DUST! So naturally whenever URF came around, I played AS Jhin, movespeed hec, quinn, rammus, etc... as well as Skarner. For this one reason alone, I will miss THIS Skarner the most. No longer will I be an unstoppable, inescapable speeding force of nature, I will now be a more traditional, although still cool, engage bruiser tank. (honestly I wish his E had slow resist and scaled with his speed but oh well) Anywhos, thanks for coming to my nostalgia trip.
I mean, I love crystal skarner, I have 200k mastery points on him, played jg, top and support, never ran out of fun, I have no idea what made me feel interested in the champ when I first played him, it's just wonderful, I love his purple and blue crystal style as well as the voicelines, his lore being depressing, yet, a good lore that gives him purpose to do and feel as he does, what I feared the most since the beginning is that he'll become more known and played more usually, I'm not mad because he might be played in pro play, but a lot of my friends told me that they love how the new skarner looks and that they'll be maining him most probably. I don't know, you made me feel kind of less pessimistic towards the rework, I'm on vacations until monday so I'll have only Tuesday to play my boy one last time, as the rework is on Wednesday iirc. In the end, it's not a bad rework, I agree that it's a banger rework as many people say, it's just that I'd rather have him as a new champion instead of replacing mine, I just hope they give him a classic purple crystal skin as well. I love you so much for making this video, cryo
Lore wise, I like his new, boomer guardian mentality rather than the depressed, sole survivor one. Gameplay wise, I'll miss his old ultimate where you can basically kidnap someone with the distance you can cover with his speed and other utilities. Big scorpion jumpscare would do just fine though.
I loved every iteration of Skarner so far and I don't think his rework is changing that. From the Cooldown reducing Skarner (Energize) to the three hit passive Skarner (Crystallizing Sting), and then to his Crystal Spire Skarner, I honestly believe every part of him has been brought back. The cooldown reduction aspect in his E, the three hit passive in his new passive and parts of his spires spread all throughout his new kit, like the attack speed portion of his spires in his Q and its movespeed boost in his E walking through walls. Even his area control from the Crystal spires has been modernized a bit, instead of being more of an objective to control, his spire instead becomes where he is at that time. Every wall is a spire, every jungle camp is, he takes up so much space that he cannot be ignored, much like how the spires do for everyone like giving vision or denying you.
I love old Skarner and wish he was still accessible. I found scars annoying to manage and hated having a passive that my enemies could take from me, but new Skarner does not maintain what I loved about old Skarner, which was having a high move speed and being able to really bully a problem enemy. Plus I don't see how a gray, bland rock scorpion is more exciting than a purple, crystal scorpion. The lore was butchered as well, went from a noble monster character that had massive implications for Piltover, to being a tyrant of Ixtal. Completely lost what I loved about him.
I mained skarner in casual for a while (only about 40ish games, still more than 99% of the playerbase) and to be honest, as fun as his traditional kit is, I think his new kit is gonna be, if nothing else, MUCH healthier for the game and a hell of a lot easier to balance. I do think though, that I would love them to add some more quirks to his kit. Just little things that add a bit more flavor and slightly more skill expression, kinda like how Garen has a bunch of effects that people dont know about like slow cleansing and armor shred.
I main the old Skarner, and I have the exact thoughts you're having. I'll sure miss his old kit, but his new one seems fun as well. Well, I've found a new main now, been maining Azir for some months, but I'm sure Skarner will always be a viable second option for me: )
I’d miss the Q spam on he’s Robot/Mech skin, it looks so satisfying watching him Cut down enemies Its quite similar to the Aether Kayle Skin, her Swing in the “Pre-rework” was super satisfying to look at especially if she has build Full Atk Speed. Same with Udyr “Spirit Guard” Tiger stance, the Basic attack on that one with high attack speed was also super satisfying. Honestly i question Why Riot would even change this when they are like the highlight of the skin, with Kayle it’d make more sense cause now she wields 2, but for Udyr and Skarner, idk it was possible to keep it they just didn’t
They handled this rework pretty good..The only thing that i hate and you pointed it aswell..They didn't even try to stay close to his original crystal design and its sad to not even see a new skin with the crystal theme...
I honestly never played skarner even with the threat of new skarner on the horizon but the more i see all the people who genuinely liked old skarner is super cool, though new skarner feels like he fits in a lot more but ill miss the crystal aspect of him. as for the vgus in general it gives me hope they will do their next choice well in terms of appeal and overall design.
The two things that I have a problem with for New Skarner is that is base skin feels a bit bland to look at from the top down view the game is set at, and also his recall feels very nothing. It doesnt need to be flashy, but it feels like when they added "recall animations" to all the old champions who didnt have them right before Galio got reworked. Also GotS lost the unique recall it had before.
Old Skarner was a BLAST but i will say, nothing having to rest my fingers after playing him does put a smile on my Face. I also agree on we need a Crystal skin for new Skarner!
They could make it to have the old skarner zones as one of those 200 dollars skins. Like they dont do anything but they are there. Maybe the price is to much but i would pay that for a skin of old skarner.
@@Lappland_is_mitsuspecific monsters=specific zones=specific visual effects on the skin
They could include him in the Crystalis Motus skinline considering it's sticking around for this year. Plus means he gets a mythic skin.
Did you say we need another Lux skin?
of the current reworks Skarner feels by far the one fans most want a Traditional Skin
I could see a Hextech Skarner skin representing his pre-rework self
i think the worst thing theyve done still is completely removed the crystal scar and the brakern like that makes hextech so much more interesting, and made for a really cool lore of skarner being the last of his kind thing
I still contend that the current version of hextech is more tied into the broader lore and can make for interesting character tension. It's pretty much as soon as any moderately noble character with some pull (think Cait, Jayce, or Heim) found out the original source, they'd almost be obligated to halt all use themselves and call for wider spread removal. Otherwise we'd think less of them. Tying it to just mages in general integrates with SO many other characters.
i echo the same sentiment. i feel like skarners old place in the lore was great if they expanded on it. making him just ‘ixtal guy’ is a lot more boring than a member of the now extinct (i think) species thats powering one of the regions entirely. had they not retconned old skarner i wouldve LOVED to see a camille skarner interaction ingame.
@@Zenodiagnosis "Just Ixtal Guy"... bro he's the, apparently immortal, head of state that lead to the region being in isolation for so long. He is direct, conflicting opinilm with those who want to open the area, such as Qiyana, but also is justified after instances of abuse within the region, just as from some individuals in piltover.
@@themonkeys96 I disagree, the moment I saw what he became the first thing that came in my mind is
"Oh no, he will be put in the same limbo that every Kaiju like character currently is"
Being a giant Kaiju only makes him less interactive, he can just fart and piltover os over, Being that almighty and powerful only means Riot won't let him do anything. He's also an isolationist which means Riot has the best excuse ever to never progress his lore or Ixtal lore as a whole, and they can just blame the giant scorpion for it. Also how Scorpion Godzilla interacts with it's people? They judge if he's happy by the size of the dust storm he creates?
I saw that as just an excuse to erase Skarner without erasing him
And before you argue that isolationist is fun...it isn't...in every strategy game the isolationist are usually the most boring civilizations and in storytelling as well..
As much as I'll miss old skarner I have to say I'm somewhat hopeful for what this reworked version has to offer. To be frank not having to constantly worry about my spires every two minutes sounds like a dream come true, even if it was his gimmick. Though I also agree that the boy should get a crystal skin to pay homage to who he used to be.
5:06 Riot when they removed Cripple from Darius' W because "it is an anti-fun mechanic" only to then immediately slap it on Fiora's W was just insane
Something I don't see a lot of people talking about, but I as someone who is a big fan of the lore am pretty upset about, is ditching the whole hextech facet of the character. I genuinely thought the whole "Piltover is a shining city just don't look at their history or below" thing was really really nicely complimented with their technology being built upon using an entire race's souls as fuel essentially. And Skarner being the last one. Ignoring the whole Seraphine debacle Skarners lore was really unique and nice important part of League's lore. However I think they dropped all of that for something less unique to make it feel less "real" and also get the current lore to matchup with Arcane.
Also even if the new design looks way more polished and objectively better looking, the Crystal aesthetic was still way more interesting.
The way you delivered Lucian to your turret at 3:40 was hillarious
I think what I'll miss most is how somber Skarner used to be. There was something about like, picking up Skarner while listening to Lo-Fi music that really clicked with me, but in terms of personality, the new Skarner is way more aggressive, which is amusing, given that he's not the DPS machine anymore.
I'll never forgive them for the Mordekaiser rework. Old mord was such a cool and unique champion. Same with Asol, his original kit was very different than every other champ. But they reworked them because they didn't have high play rates, but champions with niche kits are more likely to have lower playrates! Nothing wrong with that.
From the champion that I can play whole day without boring to super boring stat checker, it's really sad to see this happen.
Yeah I'd rather them rework actual problematic champs vs spending a ton of resources on updating less popular characters JUST because they don't have high play rates. When characters like Shaco and Master Yi both have terrible designs and lore AND are harmful to the game
A good sign some is retarded is if they like old Asol. “Oh gee I sure love having a massive deadzone near me that everyone can slip into!” With that same classic “Unique = good” bullshit.
They may have been unique but they SUCKED!
@@irisstarsterio shaco is literally the only trickster champion on the game that utilizes mind games properly with his kit, you’re not gonna fall for an amateur shaco but a good one is a nightmare, avg argument of blaming kits instead of learning how to go over them
the master yi hate i think just started from the thought of “ew how did i lose to this? probably just cause the champion aligns with the same iq of the person”, he’s ok, he gets popped just like everyone else if yk what you’re doing, there’s a lot of champs to rant about and you chose the ones popular in low elo cause beginners and tryhards can have succes with them, classic
I believe he will once again quickly fall into the "forgotten champions" again by around August at best.
Undoubtedly, this rework was stupid from the get go.
Murder the old champ some people actually loved to hopefully sell some skins for the new shiny champion with no soul made from the rotting corpse of a neglected but loved champion.
Sure some people will play with his corpse but they are the exact same people that killed him in the first place and left him to rot.
He’s already dead lol, I’ve seen two in the past month
I prefer the OLDER Skarner. The one where his passive reduced his CD, the one Riot once called a Grass Mower and then reworked his Q. Where you could build full AP and zoom the battlefield with 2k shield and abducting enemies through 2 towers!
Completely, new one seems terrible Imo, he lost a lot of his identity
@@darkbill5915 I mean... while I do prefer the oldest, the new one is solid. It IS nice to have a kaiju scorpion, but both have that pleasure gameplay, just different types.
I just don't like how he proclaims to 'command the earth' and have basically strength feats that shoves the earth around rather than really make the earth do something. Feels weird. Only his passive seems to be a 'mini whiny sandstorm on the eye' of command of earth.
He is more like the protector of ixtal
Omg I never even considered using Terminus.
I will miss old Skarner for his speed but I'm starting to enjoy his Reinhart like E ability and his passive DoT.
I lost old yorick, i lost ad Malza, i lost old Aatrox, i lost old Mordekaiser, now it's time for Skarner
Bro I dont know how they took a crystal scorpion and turned it into a generic carved stone monster
AND HIS LORE IS LESS COOL NOW.
He’s malphite but a scorpion
Like if malphite got a vgu, that’s what he’d be now… cringé
I too miss the crystal look, and i miss his old lore because it really put a dark look on piltover and its society... but arcane is popular now so we can't have them looking too bad anymore.
I'll definitely miss going trinity skarner and making people's jaw drop with the unmatched dueling potential.
But i'm happy he gets to be the menace he always deserved to be.
I just hope he will become somehwat unpopular again so i'll always be able to pick him.
I just think that this Skarner has taken the same route as the Galio rework, where they create an entirely new champion that’s loosely BASED on the old champion but is in essence entirely different.
Skarner was the character that got me to play league, I'm going to miss the fun mini game. New skarner does not feel like the same champion he feels so different.
While I was an avid old Skarner lore enjoyer, I seriously love Ixtal. So it's giving me some copium that they will finally flesh out Ixtal more...
New skarner feels clunky and his R is easily able to dodge. Old skarner will be truly missed
I really think the Skarner digging through walls mechanic is so unbelievably cool, the angles you will be able to take for ganks will be unprecedented.
People complain about how long these VGUs take to make but when the quality is as high as it's recently been and the mechanics are as unique I think waiting is reasonable.
There's also the fact that, supposedly, when they tried to remove old skarner from the game it straight up broke the game.
Something about how a lot of other champs had code that was copied from how skarner's crystal spires worked.
On the previous seasons map sure, but on this map?
It is open enough to enter a lane from nearly any point without going over walls, so what unprecedented angles are you talking about?
Kayn’s E is objectively better
@@Jacob-uq8sqit serves a different purpose tho. Skarner E is mobility and engage. Kayn E mobility and sustain. Its two abilities with different purposes
It’s literally just sion R mixed with Kayn/Rhaast
It’s literally the same angles plenty of champs with dashes or the ability to ignore terrain already take.
He has zero unique mechanics and the quality here is non existent.
I still want the crystal Skarner back. And his old personality.
I miss my kind....
Honestly a Classic Skin would be awesome, it just makes sense. As for the gameplay, I will cherish the memories of going around at impossible speeds spamming W while dodging and laughing around people, while also being incredibly hyped about this rework. Old skarner felt a bit linear at times, and I despised the spires, so I can't wait to try him out
Riot literally ethnically clenesed skarners hextech crystal heritage, to whitewash Seraphine.
Riot HAVE TO give a Cristal Indomutus skin to the new Skarner to honor the old one. I would buy a pass in a heath beat for that mytic skin
Riot has like 5 different crystal skin lines. Im sure in the future they could give him one. That being said im sad they didnt just release a new skin like they did with Volibear. Yone has received more skins in the last 10 months than Skarners entire existence
I feel you man i will always love Old Skarner more than this new one even if hes good. I am one of three Skarner mains with 200k pts and the number will continue to rise
You kind sir have converted me, I was very pessimistic about the rework even considering all the positive reactions from the community and was avoiding nearly all content focused on the new Skarner because it was hard for me to accept that he’ll soon be gone (I’m traumatized after asol rework I loved asol with stars)but after watching this, I am excited to try him out, I will still try to get as much playtime on him before the new one comes out but now I don’t feel like I’m being stolen from
Old Skarner was the whole reason I even picked up League in the first place when I started back in 2016. I do love new Skarner and will miss old but it's about time for a change and yes he needs a Crystal Skin!
For me, I'd have loved the crystal aethetic to be there in the new one. And I'm so used to skarner being the sad amumu kind of guy that the new all powerful skarner lore feels off.
From a gameplay perspective I think they did a pretty good job, but I think they dropped the V in VGU. His Sandscourge skin looks especially awful not to mention they changed the skins entire identity. And they got rid of his unique recall on the guardian of the sands skin.
I couldn't have said it better myself. As a Skarner main I'll forever miss the purple crysral scorpion but he was long overdue for a rework.
I'm waiting to play new Skarner when he comes to the live servers but from what I've seen he's really fun.
I wish he still had as much control with the R as old skarner instead of just holding them at max range of his ult in the rework...
Design-wise, new Skarner is leagues above the old. He has much more interactive gameplay, with a lower skill floor and a higher skill ceiling. Aesthetically, they could’ve made him look a bit more interesting. I would’ve loved to see some added color in his model like the stuff we see in his splash art.
I think they should've done another "Thousand Pierced Bear" for Skarner by giving everyone who's played before the rework a crystal-themed skin for him. Even fundamentally speaking, crystals are just way cooler and less bland than some rocks and it's what made Skarner one of the most unique champions in the game!
I feel like the crystals on the map were more integral to him than his ultimate, so i feel like they'd have been better off just making a new champ
For me, this rework is what I've seen people describing the Aurelion rework, I like the champion and design but not the gameplay, so with the change in how he plays made me enjoy him more in the gameplay side
Ps: I had so much more fun with old ASol than the reworked. Never played old Aatrox, started playing in 2020.
As a Skarner main for at least 4 seasons now - it does bring a tear to my eye to watch my boy transform, I like the new design and I can see what they are going for - I will miss my old boy but im excited to try out the new skarner and see what wacky builds we can bring into the new design - I refuse to let him just be forced into a tank role, being creative with him was my favourite thing
i will miss the crystal skarner so much..........
Input meme: now this is nice (new Skarner), but I really like this (old Skarner), but I also really really like this more (new Skarner).
Maybe new Skarner has a higher skill cap but I just feel so sluggish trying to pull off combos with him, like E speed windup should be just a little bit faster, and I should be able to move while casting R. But again, maybe I'm just trash with him at the moment.
Some of my favourite builds are those which allow abilities to reset their own cooldowns on use. One of these is Shyvana who with enough ability haste and targets can have her empowered Q reset it's own cooldown on use. Skarner also falls into this category, build enough ability haste and your auto attacks begin resetting the Q cooldown, so when you're in a spire you just turn into a complete tank shredder.
ill miss the old skarner, he was my first ever main solely because crsytal scorpion neat and then i liked playing him as well, the new skarner seems fun as well but i definitely would like a classic skin to make him crystaly
INSANE. CONTROVERSIAL opinion: Alot of the lol community claims that the ONLY WAY Riot can rework Champion is to MAKE THEM THE SAME CHARACTER AND CHANGE NOTHING which in honesty is a pretty reductive way of how VGUs should be.
VGUs should maintain the core aspects of what people liked about the champ and expand/modernize the kit while fixing the old champ's problems. Old Skarner's issue was that he was too linear of a stat-checking champion who heavily relied on an outdated kit that many newer and long-time champs outclass (even back in 2011). in a way, they're still things that they kept like q being an enhanced auto-attack and his w giving his shield. but they all expanded on a lot more like his W slowing and q throwing a rock. and while his e is different you CAN'T DENY HOW COOL IT IS to charge through terrain and colliding opponents. that's how VGUs should be, taking an outdated kit and expanding/modernizing it while keeping the themes in a new way for the champ.
NOT MAKING THEM THE SAME CHARACTER AND CHANGE NOTHING
If I'm being real, I've never been a Skarner main but he was one of the first champions that ever caught my eye when I first started playing League. I really loved his aesthetic and hoped that a rework/VGU would only improve on him, but it seems to me like a similar situation to Aatrox (though not as egregious necessarily). His new kit seems really fun and I'm excited for it, but it sucks to lose the crystal scorpion with survivor's guilt lore they had for him. I'm really praying that Riot gives him some sort of crystal skin to revitalize the aesthetic of old Skarner, cuz if they don't it seems like a huge opportunity wasted.
@f3rbus like honestly, and this is my perspective to really look at. If the argument was to say you don't like a rework because you miss the old champs playstyle. That is completely valid. There's are plenty of champs that got rework that I can say I missed, like irelia, aatrox, and to extend skarner (button mashing is fun sometimes), and while it's understandable that needed to be updated it's perfect fine to miss or even prefer old champs. Like to be clear, I'm not saying, "If you like old champs, then you only like cheesey playstlye and that's cringe. No, I think that's fine.
However, I feel like that can't really be an objective measure on how reworks should be handled. That it's "needs to be exactly the same character, because thats only what i want" even if there a chance to really reimage a champ in a whole new way that can not only be updated but expand its kit in a innovated way you know.
I agree, and imo most people are only bummed about Skarner's case because he underwent such a huge visual change from bright purple/blue crystal to gray stone and to many that makes him look more bland. I think for the most part people are typically pretty accepting of the new reworks that we get cuz they usually do succeed in forwarding the champion and making them much more fun/balanced to play. I think Skarner is the exception to the rule mostly cuz he's such an oddity in the lineup compared to some of the other reworks.
I prefer new Skarner's gameplay a whole lot more, but I loved old Skarner's story and look a billion times more. A traditional skin would be a gift from god for Skarner in my opinion, and it would be one of the only skins I'd be EXCITED to buy.
CRYO WITH THE SUPER ROBOT WARS OGs DIALOGUE MUSIC?? GIGACHAD
When i started to play league in 2020 my friends told me there's a lot of champions with so cool details, and i ask then if there was a scorpion (because i love scorpions) and told me about Skarner, when i try it when i have more knowledge about the game and the jungle, i love it how it feels to play with him. Even if i miss some big changes about him because i didn't start playing league like the ones who played more years than me, and the fact he's very unpopular which didn't know it before i search some guides and tips about him, until i found Skarner's reddit and see how united there are all the skarner mains at the moment to make builds/runes and everything about him (I even make some logos for his birthday release to the game, and guides about him too, and also i have saved some videos while i played with him).
I remember how scared i was about how it would be the way he will be reworked, i didn't vote for Skarner because Riot say he will change almost completly everything about him, only keeping his iconic ult. Now those days i saw how it looks and his new abilities and skins i find out it has some things related about the old one as you showed on this video, i had like a small breath of calm but still i'm feeling nervous, hyped and sad about how it will change, i actually like his rework even if i don't have PBE to try it because i don't know how it works and i have huge ping if i play on that server.
Even with that, i still will miss his crystals and cool lore about those crystals, and those funny and great moments i have playing with him, mixing up some crazy builds and runes i create plus beeing imporved by looking at some skarners players i see past of the time, and stealing objectives literally walking to the enemy jungle even if i play him alone or with my friends; Thank you Skarner for those moments in League Of Legends, i will still play with you when the rework arrives because i like it, and i will not forget how the old one it was 💎🦂💙
Well, hope you are enjoying him, cause I, for one, hate it.
AS an OTP, my biggest fear was about the versatility that I can have on some game and or matchups, I just hope that with the new added ratios, it will still be a thing
And as you said, I'll miss my old crystal scorpio 😢
But lets hope for the best :D
And last but mostly, thank you for your hardwork, you made me confident to follow my view of the game and playing off meta just for the fun of it.
Just wished they would have presered some of the old lore
Being mastery 7 on old skarner will always be a treasured achievement for me, but new skarner looks like he's much healthier for the game and honestly after playing him in PBE, he's more fun too. And I'm glad he got a lore rework, maybe, just maybe, if we're extra good this year riot will let him be in the next league cinematic. Imagine that, now that he has real lore. I'm truly excited for the rework, even though we are losing our old crystal boy.
Definitely agree that the crystal features gave Skarner his own character, my one complaint with the new design would be the lack of a distinct aesthetic (he kinda makes me think of a malphite 2.0 now) Ability changes seem perfect though.
The ultrakill brain rot in me immediately recognizing Requiem in the background
What I loved about Skarner was how fucking fast he was in the right conditions. He would eventually catch almost every character in the roster in the long run.
As an old Skarner enjoyer I'm gonna miss his old kit for all the reasons you said, however after the reveal and playing it I'm hopeful for the future of the champ. His new kit brings a lot to teamfights in general with the chain cc. I will miss the old Q though I wish they kept something similar in his kit for the cd refund on hit. On the topic of skins I really hope they do make some sort of crystal skin for him. On a different and harsher note about skins, all the new ones feel lazy. The design team seems to just have thrown on a slight coat of paint and changed one small detail to make the new skins which for me at least just comes off as lazy and they don't feel unique at all. I really wish they did a little more to them given this is a complete champ overhaul :\ Nonetheless I'm glad that rito has finally given some love to our little(massive now) scorpion boi
I accidentally got myself into an awkward spot, where I basically started to master and understand Crystal Skarner, the moment his rework was announced. Oops.
My new favorite combo is moving them with the ult and then pinning them into a wall with the e
I can't stop thinking of a slow + ult combo, where you pull someone in tower range, then flash in front of them to ram them into your tower
Ult bearly last long enough to get them halfway in and keeps them the same distance you ult them at. they would have had to been at the edge of your tower range and stayed them while you winded up ur ult while you also had to approach them without using E
@@GeninGeoult lasts 0.25 less lmao
The plastic memory reference made me cry instantaneously
As one of those pesky m7 scorpions, I’m actually pretty happy about this rework. He felt like a juggernaut version of Kindred, where you relied on your team to secure your side objectives so that you could be stronger. Difference was that Kindred was decently weak without stacks but could still utilize gold and outplay in fights with dashes and ult. Skarner without spires was a stat stick melee range CCer, who lacked the stats or speed to be useful at all. It’s weird having a tiny circle that you stand on determine whether you’re the literal strongest or weakest champ in the lobby, and so I’m cool with his newer version. My biggest gripe is his ult becoming glorified Yone ult though
3 stingers walmart hydra design
I'm glad they added an AD ratio to his Q. The Hail of Blades lethality Skarner build dream is still alive
A Crystalis Indomitus-themed Skarner skin has the potential to look pretty cool.
I highly dislike the fact that they have replaced the crystal aesthetic with something wholly less interesting.
I really hated old sksrner, but new skarner seems awesome.
I will tho say that I agree he should get a traditional skin, I usuly never use these skins, but I absolutely agree that he should get one especially with how different they made his design.
Normally I think traditional skins are just worse then the base skin, but respect their existence because of nostalgia. In this case the fact that the design is completely different I absolutely think sksrner should get one, I also agree that his older concept is much cooler a crystal scorpion sounds cool, but he looked a little too goofy, a redesign of his old concept would be so fucking awesome.
I haven't played him yet and played the "old" one a ton, I do agree on the whole crystal thing being gone. Old Skarner was known has "the crystal scorpion" and stripping away the crystal part feels weird, similairly with what they did with Voli by taking away his armor (I would say Skarner's case is worse on that aspect imo)
I felt the same way with old Galio. I hadn’t played him until I heard he was getting reworked and found out I loved him. Then he got reworked and I also loved the rework. I love himbo Statue, but I also miss my windy gargoyle boy.
a totally another game wich is paladins one thing that evil mojo did well is when they changed the base skin of a champion they made it able for at least a limited time to buy old skin
Holy shit we’re getting ultrakill ost in these videos now that break was a banger
New Skarner is like Mordekaiser and Warwick to me, keeping the Champions identity while still being new. I like it a lot.
They decided to change the crystal look because it looked to similar to the void and i for one welcome the new look. He really needed to look as a separate identity from the void especially since no one really knew his champion.
I have 300k mastery on Skarner and am hyped for the rework! I will miss the spam Q in terms of the damage and itemization potential it brought in-game but ngl, I'm looking forward to not having to spam press Q every game haha
As someone who loved Skarner's old design, even a decade ago when I started playing the game, him not receiving a Traditional skin feels like a crime.
I understand that it's not really worth it for Riot to make skins for an unpopular champ, but the old design will always be more iconic than the base design he has now.
New skarner seems exciting! Old skarner was not well understood and could feel weak with 14 damage Qs. Tho i agree we need a classic crystal skin, i like this theme and it's sad if they let it go like that
i like both versions of skarner. I especially loved playing ap skarner and i cant wait for the rework to come out and try out the changes to him
I will miss dragging the opponent into top tower with the classic combo but I am excited how we can utilize his new kit on toplane
Bit worried about phreak saying he wants skarner to exclusively be a tank, but here's to hoping that someone distracts him and buffs the ad scaling back up
ill miss my boi was so fun playing Q spam beast
As a Skarner main since 2014, I personally have a lot of issues with this rework, ranging from the change in playstyle, to his lore and personality, as well as the general impression of the champion to begin with.
The TLDR of the whole thing is that I view this as a Malphite rework (gameplay wise) with a semblance of Skarner's ult being retained, as there's nothing else in the entire kit to build into his individuality.
From a gameplay perspective, what I find most fascinating is that (current) Skarner's style of play actually feeds into that "insect" (arachnid, but let's not get too specific) gimmick he's designed around, where he, like another bug champion such as Kha'Zix, weaves in and out of combat in order to make use of, or create, openings and exploit them. The spires help in this regard by making him a "home turf", and I feel that before you talk about any other part of Skarner, you need to address the most controversial part, which are these very spires.
I think there are numerous ways to go about his spires in order to improve them, and the main issue as far as I'm concerned is not that they're there, but that Skarner practically loses all presence outside of them. You can't split push or help efficiently taking any objective that isn't in the jungle, and more than anything, you can't even defend your own base. They could literally just slam down an uncapturable spire in his own base and it would solve a large issue he currently has, which is that it doesn't matter how well you do, if your team's losing, so are you, and you'll be forced out of the only environment where your champion actually functions, because Skarner is not just weaker outside of his spires, he's hardly even a champion.
Another is that Skarner's core gameplay has always been a match made in heaven with Spellblades (Trinity Force, Iceborn Gauntlet, Lich Bane, hell even the new support item is incredible on him), and due to being one of the few champions in the game who scale with any stat, his build pathing has some genuinely interesting complexity, unlike the majority of the game where your champion will force out the same 3-4 items every single game in roughly the same order; frankly, I think it's boring, and shaves off so much player expression to the point where it's insulting, although it has gotten significantly better now that Mythic items are gone, and thank the heavens for that.
As far as his lore is concerned, what I'm the most peeved about is that old Skarner was actually designed around this great balance of genuine wisdom and knowledge, mixed with a primal rage, where you usually only see one of the two present. The reworked skarner is just a territorial meathead, there's no sophistication to his character at all, and I find it insulting that they'd remove such a good narrative just to pave the way for whatever they came up with to justify Arcane.
As far the loss of the Crystal theme, I don't even have any words for that, let's not pretend that Crystals and gemstones aren't also connected to the aspect of Earth, it's ridiculous that they'd even think to remove it in the first place, especially with how otherwise prominent they are in League's lore as a whole. Seriously.
But hey, still better than Crystal Venom, for anyone out there who remembers that shitshow of a passive. :)
I think his new kit is much more skill expressive than his old one tbh, mainly in the form of rotation orders (such as Stun E to Q or slow CC to R), somewhat on decision making around Auto Q/Q2, and the positioning of E.
Also Crystal spires is imo, one of the worst inherent designs league has ever had and not many variants of the idea would ever really make it a good design.
I like both skarners. I'd still love a traditional purple crystal scorpion skin with his old voice lines though.
I'm in pretty much the exact same place - I'm going to miss old Skarner (and desperately hope he gets a Classic skin), but new Skarner looks *very* fun, and very in line with how I play Skarner now - as a beefy tank.
I was never a big fan of the spires, though, so that's one component of his kit that I won't be mourning all that much.
The way I feel about skarner is like. He's my favorite champion I never play. I thought his gimmick was rad as hell, and his old/current design was really cool. I just didn't play jungle enough to play him, and without the spires in lane, I didn't ever play him there either. So I'm hoping for everyone that this rework ends up really good so we can all enjoy playing him
I have no idea why riot stopped making "traditional" skins for post-rework characters, this was such a great idea.
It would make little sense for stylistically close ones like Aatrox, but for my boy Skarner? Take all my money!
I'll definitely miss "old" Skarner. I've always tried to make him work, but never really found him worthwhile...until this season.
I picked up Skarner toplane, starting with a phaserush, cdr cheese strat, maxing E for the cdr for more CC to ult people into my tower from a frozen lane position.
Eventually, I evolved into going Conquerer, still cheesing with R when needed, but with Manamune, Iceborn, and Shojin, I could straight up duel people, stunlocking them for 3-4 seconds all while nailing them with that juicy 6% max hp mixed damage every second or less. Going full CDR allowed for an insane amount of stuns, with enough tankiness to not get oneshot, tossing in frozen heart and spirit visage later.
I'll keep playing it til the rework because I love him to much, but I can't say I'm not hyped for the rework.
I am a little sad, though...before the juggernaut update, I also played Skarner top, but with a different build: gunblade, nashors, bork, rageblade. That, combined with his Q giving attackspeed stacks, make him a master Yi level shredder I absolutely loved. Even after the update, I still liked him though. Why? Because I have a bit of a thing where no matter what I'm playing or doing, I want to go fast. As fast as possible. I want to make them EAT MY DUST!
So naturally whenever URF came around, I played AS Jhin, movespeed hec, quinn, rammus, etc... as well as Skarner.
For this one reason alone, I will miss THIS Skarner the most. No longer will I be an unstoppable, inescapable speeding force of nature, I will now be a more traditional, although still cool, engage bruiser tank. (honestly I wish his E had slow resist and scaled with his speed but oh well)
Anywhos, thanks for coming to my nostalgia trip.
I mean, I love crystal skarner, I have 200k mastery points on him, played jg, top and support, never ran out of fun, I have no idea what made me feel interested in the champ when I first played him, it's just wonderful, I love his purple and blue crystal style as well as the voicelines, his lore being depressing, yet, a good lore that gives him purpose to do and feel as he does, what I feared the most since the beginning is that he'll become more known and played more usually, I'm not mad because he might be played in pro play, but a lot of my friends told me that they love how the new skarner looks and that they'll be maining him most probably. I don't know, you made me feel kind of less pessimistic towards the rework, I'm on vacations until monday so I'll have only Tuesday to play my boy one last time, as the rework is on Wednesday iirc. In the end, it's not a bad rework, I agree that it's a banger rework as many people say, it's just that I'd rather have him as a new champion instead of replacing mine, I just hope they give him a classic purple crystal skin as well. I love you so much for making this video, cryo
Lore wise, I like his new, boomer guardian mentality rather than the depressed, sole survivor one. Gameplay wise, I'll miss his old ultimate where you can basically kidnap someone with the distance you can cover with his speed and other utilities. Big scorpion jumpscare would do just fine though.
I loved every iteration of Skarner so far and I don't think his rework is changing that. From the Cooldown reducing Skarner (Energize) to the three hit passive Skarner (Crystallizing Sting), and then to his Crystal Spire Skarner, I honestly believe every part of him has been brought back. The cooldown reduction aspect in his E, the three hit passive in his new passive and parts of his spires spread all throughout his new kit, like the attack speed portion of his spires in his Q and its movespeed boost in his E walking through walls.
Even his area control from the Crystal spires has been modernized a bit, instead of being more of an objective to control, his spire instead becomes where he is at that time. Every wall is a spire, every jungle camp is, he takes up so much space that he cannot be ignored, much like how the spires do for everyone like giving vision or denying you.
I love old Skarner and wish he was still accessible. I found scars annoying to manage and hated having a passive that my enemies could take from me, but new Skarner does not maintain what I loved about old Skarner, which was having a high move speed and being able to really bully a problem enemy.
Plus I don't see how a gray, bland rock scorpion is more exciting than a purple, crystal scorpion. The lore was butchered as well, went from a noble monster character that had massive implications for Piltover, to being a tyrant of Ixtal. Completely lost what I loved about him.
I mained skarner in casual for a while (only about 40ish games, still more than 99% of the playerbase) and to be honest, as fun as his traditional kit is, I think his new kit is gonna be, if nothing else, MUCH healthier for the game and a hell of a lot easier to balance. I do think though, that I would love them to add some more quirks to his kit. Just little things that add a bit more flavor and slightly more skill expression, kinda like how Garen has a bunch of effects that people dont know about like slow cleansing and armor shred.
I main the old Skarner, and I have the exact thoughts you're having. I'll sure miss his old kit, but his new one seems fun as well. Well, I've found a new main now, been maining Azir for some months, but I'm sure Skarner will always be a viable second option for me: )
I’d miss the Q spam on he’s Robot/Mech skin, it looks so satisfying watching him Cut down enemies
Its quite similar to the Aether Kayle Skin, her Swing in the “Pre-rework” was super satisfying to look at especially if she has build Full Atk Speed.
Same with Udyr “Spirit Guard” Tiger stance, the Basic attack on that one with high attack speed was also super satisfying.
Honestly i question Why Riot would even change this when they are like the highlight of the skin, with Kayle it’d make more sense cause now she wields 2, but for Udyr and Skarner, idk it was possible to keep it they just didn’t
As a former Mordekaiser main, i'm happy for the Skarner lads.
At least it wasn't turned into AP Darius
They handled this rework pretty good..The only thing that i hate and you pointed it aswell..They didn't even try to stay close to his original crystal design and its sad to not even see a new skin with the crystal theme...
although i haven't played old skarner i think it's a better situation than asol's "rework"(deletion). The rework situation is a very delicate thing
Ok we can agree that we are thirsty for a "traditional skarner" skin, bring back my crystal body.
Champion that has longest consecutive of highest winrate in game is actually Skarner, and it's traumatized Riot quite a lot.
I honestly never played skarner even with the threat of new skarner on the horizon but the more i see all the people who genuinely liked old skarner is super cool, though new skarner feels like he fits in a lot more but ill miss the crystal aspect of him.
as for the vgus in general it gives me hope they will do their next choice well in terms of appeal and overall design.
Oh god the PSO2 sound effect hit me like a truck
Old Skarner on ARAM is goat. Hit mid game, and you can literally run down the entire enemy team. So much fun.
The two things that I have a problem with for New Skarner is that is base skin feels a bit bland to look at from the top down view the game is set at, and also his recall feels very nothing. It doesnt need to be flashy, but it feels like when they added "recall animations" to all the old champions who didnt have them right before Galio got reworked.
Also GotS lost the unique recall it had before.
Yeah riot is actually listening giving skarners hybrid choices like jax and irelia instead of mundo choices this is amazing