Nunu & Willump vs Skarner Counter Pick

One ability defines this clash. Impale suppresses and then drags its victims along, and suppression cuts the Absolute Zero channel the instant it lands, deleting the payoff Nunu & Willump build their fights around. Skarner adds Ixtal’s Impact on top, a charge through terrain that slams a champion into the next wall, so there are two ways to remove Nunu before the blizzard resolves. The result over 136 games on patch 16.13.1 is a 45.6% win rate and a Hard rating — although 136 games is a thin sample, and the figure reads better as a direction than as a settled number.

Skarner is also the sturdier body: 630 base health rising to 2,500, 109.5 armor at level 18 against 100.4, and a shield from Seismic Bastion on top. His damage is mixed, and Threads of Vibration converts max stacks of Quaking into max-health magic damage, which specifically punishes the health stacking a tank jungler wants. What Nunu & Willump keep is 345 move speed against 335 and cheap camp-to-camp pathing through Consume, so objective tempo and cross-map pressure beat any attempt at a duel. Committing Biggest Snowball Ever! only after Impale is spent is the single largest swing available. Both champions pay mana and both fight from close quarters, 150 against 125, so the resource game offers no relief either.