Skarner vs Hecarim Counter Pick

Hecarim’s damage is a function of his speed. Warpath converts bonus movement speed into attack damage, Devastating Charge builds more speed and ends in a knockback, and Onslaught of Shadows is a long forward charge that finishes with a shockwave. Every part of that plan assumes he is the one dictating distance.

Impale is the answer, and it is why Skarner takes 55.6% of the 250 jungle games logged on patch 16.13.1. Suppression stops a charging champion mid-motion and then relocates him, which is the single worst outcome for a kit built on momentum. Seismic Bastion adds a shield and a slowing earthquake for the approach, and Ixtal’s Impact travels through terrain to reach him from 335 base movement speed against Hecarim’s 345, the one number in Hecarim’s favour before items.

Durability reads differently than the result suggests. Hecarim reaches 124.7 armor at level 18 against Skarner’s 109.5 and deals physical damage into it, so a straight damage race is not obviously Skarner’s. What tilts it is damage type: Threads of Vibration applies Quaking from his attacks and abilities, and at full stacks converts to magic damage scaled to maximum health, which a 2,427-health armor stacker has no cheap answer to. Skarner also finishes higher at 2,500. Complexity sits at 6 for Hecarim and 5 for Skarner, and both spend mana. Champion detail: Skarner, Hecarim.