The latest World Championship skins are coming soon to the League of Legends PBE. Has Riot done justice to FunPlus Phoenix? We think so!

A recent announcement on Twitter gave us our first look at the skins dedicated to the winners of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship – China’s FunPlus Phoenix.

A tradition
The first World Championship skins were released in 2013, when the then defending champions Taipei Assassins received a set of skins to celebrate their victory in 2012, which were only available for a limited time. This was soon followed by skins for Fnatic, the winners of the first tournament in 2011, and SKT, who won the tournament in 2013.

Since then, LoL developer Riot Games has always worked with the respective world champions to develop a series of skins commemorating the winners

When China’s 2019 Summer Split champion FunPlus Phoenix won the World Championship after a decisive 3-0 win over G2 Esports, many fans were eager to see which skins Riot Games would create for them. Last December, players confirmed which champions they had chosen.

• Kim “Gimgoon” Han-saem, top lane: gangplank
• Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang, jungle: Lee Sin
• Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang, mid-lane: Malphite
• Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang, bot lane: Vayne
• Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song, Support: Thresh

The only unusual choice is Doinb’s, as Malphite is not traditionally a mid-lane champion. However, the FunPlus Phoenix mid-laner has been known to experiment with his picks and in the win against Vietnam’s GAM Esports, he actually had the rock giant selected. Rumor in the Korean Inven community is that this could be a gesture towards his wife, as Malphite is the champion she plays the most.

With this selection, Lee Sin, Thresh, and Vayne join Ezreal and Rakan as the only champions to have two World Championship skins: SKT’s Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong and Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin also selected Lee Sin and Vayne after their first title in 2013, while Samsung White’s Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong chose Thresh when he was allowed to vote after his title in 2014.

The Selection

This week we finally got official confirmation of what the skins will look like in action – and they look good.

Riot has given the Champions a modern makeover in the FPX color scheme: Black and fiery yellow, orange and red. We can expect a lot of flame and fireworks effects. As in the last two series, the champions have customized recall animations that also feature the player’s signature.

The skins will be coming to the PBE (Public Beta Environment) servers soon, where they can be tested. They will likely be released with patch 10.9, though of course that’s subject to change. Riot recently released patch 10.8, so it might be some time before we see the FPX skins on the live servers.

According to the preliminary information, the skins will cost 1350 RP each. Interestingly, the PBE server store also offers “elite” chromas, for those who want to add a special flair to their skins.

Traditionally, Worlds skins are only available temporarily, usually at release and during the World Championship. So if you want to buy them, don’t wait too long. Until then, we have everything you need to know about League of Legends here on EarlyGame.

Champion skin

Champion skin (or skin for short) refers to the color scheme or appearance of a champion. Most champion skins can be purchased in the Riot Shop with Riot Points, while others are/were only available for special events/promotions. However, some selected chroma skins (color-changed skins)can be purchased at special events for Blue Essence. Some champion skins bring new particles for visual effects, quotes and sound effects. Each skin has its own splashart, which is displayed in the champion selection and loading screen. Since patch 7.16, the custom champion image is also matched to the skin in the game itself.

What is actually… “League of Legends”?

“League of Legends is one of the most successful e-sports titles in the world. But what is it actually about? And what makes the game so popular? An explanation for beginners.

What is League of Legends (“LoL”) about?

In a classic game of “League of Legends,” two teams each have five characters called champions, each with individual characteristics. The main goal of each team is to destroy the opponent’s Nexus (a main building). Before this can be attacked, however, several defenses must be torn down on at least one of the three central level routes (lanes). Similar to “Dota 2”, the heroes receive continuous support on their campaign from AI-controlled units called minions. They storm the battlefield at regular intervals and independently attack enemies or enemy buildings – but only on the three main paths of the map. Those who roam around in the surrounding jungle will have to do without minion help. As usual in the MOBA genre, the champions reach higher levels by collecting experience points. In the course of the match, they learn numerous new abilities. Provided they have enough gold, the player can also strengthen himself with new equipment. Each of the 141 hero characters that the player can currently choose from is assigned to one of six classes. Warriors can deal out a lot of damage, tanks take a lot of punishment, mages have powerful special abilities, and supporters can, among other things, replenish the mana energy of allies or heal their comrades-in-arms.