How to win the jungle race as Skarner against Locke · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Skarner's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Locke.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Even Skirmish | Dead-even at the first buff: Shattered Earth boulder poke chips contests from range, while Q nail volleys clear camps at range while banking marks for the first scuttle fight. Whoever arrives with more HP and cooldowns wins, so track their clear and pick the moment. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Even Skirmish | Neither side cleanly wins level 2 — a stacked nail string into the blink-through consume deletes half a health bar, but Seismic Bastion shield trades plus the boulder slow win short exchanges. Trade only from full health; with one camp still up on both sides the first mis-step decides this, not the kits. |
| Level 3 Route | Skarner Favoured | The Ixtal's Impact wall-stun threat makes corridor fights yours. Locke can make it awkward — a stacked nail string into the blink-through consume deletes half a health bar — but not as the first scuttle timer lands. Trade, then walk away with the first scuttle and the gank window behind it. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Skarner Favoured — Take Duels | You hold the edge at 4-5, not a blowout. He uses 4-5 to bank marks at range, then blinks in the moment the nail count says the kill is there, so meet them where the camps are, not where their laners are. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Impale Favoured | Impale drags whoever steps up into your team's kill box, while the Purgatory totem turns any low-HP skirmish into a chain of executes and blink resets. You win the breakpoint against Locke, not the whole game — cash it on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| First Item Spike | Lich Bane / Shadowflame Spike | His Lich Bane spike is real: the blink-consume chunk one-shots chipped squishies. Respect the first-item window, then note his E is still a one-way door — punish every spent blink. Locke's first item makes the mark consume hit for a real chunk, which is when the blink stops being a poke tool. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Skarner Favoured at Full Build | Late-game Locke scales with his seal count, not his items — deny executes and his floor never rises. Focus him when E is down and never let "almost dead" linger inside Purgatory. |
Standard start — his level-1 clear is ranged but mana-hungry and his duel is honest at best; you dictate the early tempo, not him. Locke clears at range with Ritual Nails and banks marks while doing it, so his first scuttle arrives with stacks up.
Ranked by the race windows in Skarner's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Skarner vs Locke report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Skarner's race plan controls 5 of the 7 windows — Skarner holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Skarner's race plan controls 5 of the 7 windows, so Locke is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Locke vs Skarner guide →
All Skarner jungle matchups →
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