5 Reasons Skarner Desperately Needs a Rework
If you’ve ever played League of Legends, you probably know Skarner — the crystal scorpion jungler with a unique playstyle. But here’s the thing: Skarner desperately needs a rework, and not just because he’s underperforming or hard to balance. It’s deeper than that. Today, I want to walk you through five very clear reasons why this old-school champ feels completely out of place in 2024’s League.
Reason 1: Skarner’s Movement Through Walls is Just Weird
Let’s start with the basics. Skarner is the only champion in League that can move through walls with his kit—something you would assume scorpions can’t do, right? This means his actual gank range changes depending on the size of the champion he’s targeting. For example, if he’s going after a champion who’s larger due to buffs or skins, his effective range becomes unnatural, wildly inaccurate, and confusing.
If you look at your mini-map, his range appears way more variable than it should. Compared to other champions, this breaks the UI and feels unintuitive. Riot’s design philosophy generally avoids confusing mechanics like this, so it’s high time Skarner loses this unique, broken movement mechanic.
Reason 2: Outdated and Invisible Champion Interactions
One of the biggest frustrations with Skarner is his odd keyword-based interaction with other champions’ terrain effects. He can exploit abilities from Jarvan IV, Anivia, and Taliyah to activate his E automatically. Sounds cool, but here’s the problem: this mechanic has been a relic since 2010.
No new champion in fifteen years has this kind of interaction, and it goes against League’s current design ethos. It creates unpredictable moments that players can’t see or understand unless they’re hardcore lore or mechanics fans.
Honestly, if you’re new to the game or even a casual player, these interactions just add unnecessary confusion. Changing this would bring Skarner more in line with modern champions and make gameplay more straightforward.
Reason 3: Skarner’s CC and Game Consistency Issues
Ever tried to use Skarner’s ultimate, Impale, and felt like it just didn’t work right? You’re not alone. Sometimes, his CC doesn’t feel consistent or reliable. Whether it’s down to matchmaking randomness or server quirks, your abilities working—or not—should never depend on factors outside your control.
This inconsistency makes playing Skarner frustrating, especially in ranked games where every moment counts. Riot should fix this to make sure the champ feels fair and fun to play every time.
Reason 4: Missing Core Mechanics Like CS Assistance
Many champions have built-in mechanics that help with minion kills (CS), especially those who rely on damage-over-time effects. Soraka, Morgana, even Singed, have ways to ensure they get credit for minion kills while their abilities are active.
Skarner’s “Threads of Vibration” passive, which deals damage over time, ticks too slowly to reliably credit him for minion kills during the “Death Grace” period (a short window after a minion dies when damage still counts). This means he often misses out on gold, hurting his mid and late game scaling.
This is a structural problem, not a numbers one. Comparing with other champions, Skarner lacks basic tools players expect, making his kit feel clunky and outdated.
Reason 5: Skarner Feels Like a Time Capsule from 2010
The sum of all these problems is that Skarner feels stuck in a past era of League. His kit has outdated mechanics, unintuitive interactions, and broken or missing features that modern champions don’t have to deal with.
Playing Skarner often means dealing with invisible pitfalls like skewed ranges, broken crowd control consistency, and confusing terrain tricks. That’s not fun — for you, your teammates, or your opponents.
Why Does This Matter?
League of Legends has evolved so much since 2010. Sure, older champions sometimes get balance tweaks or visual updates, but when their core mechanics don’t fit the game anymore, reworks become necessary.
Skarner is a fan favorite with a unique theme, but his kit hasn’t aged well. Reworking him would bring fresh life to the champion and help new and old players enjoy him more.
Wrapping Up
So, why does Skarner desperately need a rework? It’s not just about him being weak or unpopular. It’s about fixing core design flaws:
- His unnaturally variable movement through walls
- Outdated terrain keyword interactions
- Inconsistent CC and application
- Lack of essential minion kill assistance
- Overall feeling stuck in a past design era
If Riot is serious about keeping the game fresh and fun, they owe it to Skarner players to give this 2010 classic the attention it deserves.
If you want to learn more about champion reworks and how they shape the game, check out this [Link to related post]. And for official insights on champion design philosophy, Riot’s own dev articles are a great place to start: Riot Games Dev Blog.
Thanks for reading — and if you’re a Skarner main, hang in there. Your rework day might just be around the corner.
Image: Skarner, the crystal scorpion champion from League of Legends, shown charging through a wall, highlighting the unique and problematic movement mechanic that makes him desperately in need of a rework.
