Chosen of the Wolf Katarina

First game I played with Chosen of the Wolf Katarina was a late night ranked session, maybe 1 AM on a Wednesday. Locked her in blind and the loading screen splash hit different. Terence ‘Terrylefruit’ Cantal put in the work here, the feral energy in the pose, the wolf motifs wrapping around the blades. Katarina looks like she crawled out of some ancient pact ritual and honestly thats the exact vibe this skinline needed. Not sure if it’s just me but the splash alone sold me before I even saw abilities in game.

What the skin actually changes

New VFX across the board. Her Q dagger throw leaves this spectral wolf trail behind it, faint but visible enough that you notice mid-lane. The Shunpo on E has a quick burst of dark fur-like particles when she blinks in. Looks clean. W grounds daggers with a wolfish glow around the pickup zone, which actually helps me track dagger positions in chaotic teamfights where I’m trying to reset on the backline.

The R is where Riot put the budget. Death Lotus spins out these ghostly wolf fangs in a circle around Katarina and the whole thing pulses with this deep indigo energy. Been spamming this in Diamond for a couple months now and I still catch myself watching the ult VFX instead of tracking cooldowns. Bad habit. Worth it though.

New recall animation too. She does this ritual stance with wolves circling her before she channels back. Standard voice lines, no new VO. Kinda feels like a missed opportunity given how strong the wolf theme is, but for an Epic tier skin at 1350 RP I cant really complain. The visual package carries hard enough.

The Chosen of the Wolf line and release context

Chosen of the Wolf dropped November 6, 2024. Late season 14. The skinline includes Swain, Kindred, Pantheon, and Ambessa if I’m remembering right. Katarina fits the predatory aesthetic naturally. She’s an assassin who dives comp after comp looking for resets, so the wolf hunter fantasy works without forcing it.

The Chosen of the Wolf line leans into this primal ritualistic look. Dark leathers, bone accessories, wolf iconography everywhere. Compared to something like Warring Kingdoms Katarina or the Faerie Court stuff, this one goes harder on the aggressive side. No elegance, just teeth. (Random aside: my duo partner who one-tricks Kindred bought the whole bundle day one and we ran Chosen of the Wolf bot lane for like 15 games straight. Looked absurd in the best way.)

8 chromas total. Obsidian is my go-to because the dark tones make the wolf VFX pop against the Rift backdrop. Tanzanite pushes the purple hard and reads like a night predator vibe. Pearl flips the palette completely into this pale, almost ghostly look that I think works better than the base color honestly. Rest are fine but those three carry the chroma set.

Is 1350 RP worth it for Katarina mains?

Real verdict: if you main Katarina this is a strong pickup. Maybe not her absolute best skin since Project and Battle Queen exist, but Chosen of the Wolf Katarina sits comfortably in the top three or four. The VFX clarity on daggers actually helps gameplay which is rare for cosmetics. Could be wrong here but I think the Q trail makes it slightly easier to track bouncing daggers in a messy teamfight around dragon pit.

Shop has it. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New particles, new recall, solid splash. Voice pack is base only which keeps it from competing with Legendaries but thats not the tier it’s going for. Been daily driving this over High Noon Katarina since about mid-November and I keep coming back to it. The wolf aesthetic just hits different when you’re diving their ADC pre-6 and spinning through the backline.

Skip it if you already own Battle Queen and dont care about skinlines. Pick it up if you like the darker Katarina fantasy or if you’re collecting the Chosen of the Wolf set. Simple change from her usual elegant assassin look – huge impact on how she feels in game. Top pick for Katarina mains this season, especially with the Obsidian chroma equipped.