When you first load up Legends of Runeterra, one of the first things that stands out is the quality of the art. Unlike some other digital card games, it allows you to see the full art in-game at basically any time.
And if you want even more art, you can turn to the champion skins. They give you new versions of your champions, and the higher quality skins give you new level up animations for them as well. With the game being out for a few years now, there are a lot of skins to choose from, so you'll need to distribute your coins carefully. Here are ten of the best skins you can get your hands on.
10 Bard Bard
In truth, Bard Bard makes this list largely on name alone. That’s not to say that the skin isn’t good; its level up animation is new only in the technical sense. The animations are the same, but the new skin gives Bard a fancy new coat, a shiny horn, and a tricorn hat.
Really though, you don’t need to see the art at all. Bard Bard is just such a brilliant concept. Combining the champion Bard with the bard class from Dungeons & Dragons seems like an obvious move, but even the simplest ideas still need to be suggested by someone. Whoever suggested this one deserves a raise.
9 Pulsefire Jhin
Pulsefire Jhin, decked out with cybernetics and an oni mask, trust falls off a building into a portal, then combat rolls out of another and fires his sniper rifle. And that's just his new level up animation. This skin has all the style and flair of the original Jhin, but with a futuristic twist.
The only reason that it isn’t higher on this list is that Jhin’s base design is one of the best Riot Games has ever produced. Using this skin means you don’t get to see it, forcing you to make a tough choice.
8 Tidecaller Nami
From the same skin line as Bard Bard comes Tidecaller Nami, also playing into the faux Dungeons & Dragon concept — although that’s less immediately obvious from the name. Looking at her pre-leveled art, though, makes the theme extremely clear, with Nami sitting at a tavern table mid-dice roll.
The new level-up animation drives the point home, as the roll transitions into Nami casting a spell at a massive beast. The flavor text of her leveled-up form suggests that she rolled a natural 20. It's an exceptional realization of the theme.
7 Battle Academia Lux
The Star Guardian skins are directly based on the genre of Magical Girl anime. such as Sailor Moon. However, if you really want a skin that makes you feel like an anime character, Lux’s Battle Academia skin is the way to go.
There are speech bubbles in Lux's new art, and her level-up animation has manga-style panels cutting in. It's like something straight out of The Irregular Magic High School or My Hero Academia. If that sounds like something that would appeal to you, pick up this skin.
6 Gilded Vi
This skin is a refreshing twist on one of the game’s most well-known champions. Set in a version of Runeterra where Zaun was never created, Gilded Vi rubs shoulders with the elite. In her pre-leveled art, she's relaxing on a fancy couch, eating some shrimp. Then, in her level up animation, a ruffian interrupts her evening.
Fortunately, this version of Vi isn’t so different from the original that she doesn’t enjoy cracking a few skulls. If you thought regular Vi wasn’t quite fancy enough, this is the skin for you.
5 Worldbreaker Trundle
The Worldbreaker line of skins revolves around champions becoming Godzilla-sized monsters, and Trundle's entry is the best of them. It's the only one with a fully unique level-up animation, and it is spectacular.
Trundle lifts his mighty club high into the air, then brings it down on a building, smashing it to pieces — embodying the Worldbreaker spirit in earth-shattering fashion. It helps that the base Trundle’s level-up animation is somewhat underwhelming, making the version included with this skin even more of an upgrade.
4 Arcade Anivia
How do you make an ice phoenix even cooler (pun intended)? Apparently, you stick her inside a fighter jet with a Star Fox theme. There’s really not much more that needs to be said; if that description doesn't entice you, nothing will.
The Arcade Anivia skin is a prime example of how creative you can get when you aren’t limited by the confines of a game’s lore. You have to hope that the Legends of Runeterra team continues to explore similarly wild ideas in the future.
3 Dark Star Zed
In Ionia, Zed hides in the shadows between the trees. Now, he’s the shadow between the stars. Dark Star Zed is one of Legends of Runeterra's most dramatic and visually spectacular skins.
Zed appears to be made out of space itself. The shadows he summons get unique art as well, so you'll be getting a lot from this one skin. To top it all off, Dark Star Zed has a unique level-up animation that involves him literally blowing up a planet. It’s a stellar skin (again, pun intended) all round.
2 Star Guardian Kai’Sa
Currently the most expensive skin in the game, Star Guardian Kai'Sa is a rare case where you get what you pay for. Not only does the skin have a new level-up animation, complete with a full Magical Girl transformation, but it is also the only skin currently in the game that grants its champion new voice lines.
The skin is basically a complete makeover for the character. It’s certainly Legends of Runeterra’s most complex effort yet, and it definitely lives up to the hype.
1 Santa Braum
Happy Snowdown, everyone! Have you been good this year? Then perhaps you’ll get the Santa Braum skin in your stocking. Sporting a bushy white beard and an outfit that is both obviously festive and still shows off his impressive muscles, Santa Braum is dripping with festive cheer. The Mighty Poros he summons get in on the holiday spirit as well, with their own Santa hats and sacks of presents.
Above all else though, this is the skin that best fits its character — maybe even more so than Bard Bard. Braum, the ever-jovial defender of the weak and downtrodden, always embodied Santa in spirit. Now he can do so in appearance as well.