Azir Skins

Azir is one of those champions where the skin catalog feels thin for how long he's been in the game. Seven skins across ten years. For a champion released in 2014, thats a rough ratio compared to someone like Lux or Ezreal. But here's the thing: most of what Riot has put out for the Emperor actually lands. His kit is so visually distinct with the soldiers and the wall that even small changes in a skin read clearly on the Rift. Been maining Azir on and off since season 5, hit Diamond with him twice, and I have opinions on every single one of these skins.

How Azir's Skin Catalog Shaped Up Over the Years

Seven skins total spanning from 2014 to 2024. Not a huge number. Riot clearly doesn't prioritize Azir when it comes to cosmetic releases, which makes sense given his historically low play rate outside of pro play. The breakdown is two Standard tier skins and five Epics. No Legendary. No Ultimate. No Mythic or Prestige either. Just solid mid-range options.

Galactic Azir dropped alongside his champion release back in 2014. Classic move from Riot, ship the champ with a launch skin. Then Gravelord came in 2016. SKT T1 Azir was the Worlds skin in 2016 too, celebrating Faker's squad. Warring Kingdoms followed in 2017 for Lunar New Year. Real talk though, after Warring Kingdoms there was a drought. Elderwood didn't show up until 2020. Three year gap for Azir mains. Painful.

Worlds 2022 Azir landed in 2023 (the naming is always confusing with esports skins, they lag a year). And Attorney Azir is the newest, released in 2024 as part of the Day Job skinline. Kinda feels like Riot remembered Azir exists every couple years and throws him something.

The price range sits between 975 RP for the two Standard skins and 1350 RP for the five Epics. No premium options to drain your wallet, which is honestly fine. Most Azir one-tricks I know in Diamond have cycled through three or four of these and settled on one. (Random aside: the Azir player population is small enough that you start recognizing the same summoner names in your games after a while.)

Best Skins for Azir

Not gonna lie, picking the best Azir skin causes arguments in every Azir mains Discord I've been in. But after hundreds of ranked games across multiple skins, here's where I land.

Gravelord Azir is the one. Released in 2016 at 1350 RP. The soldiers become these skeletal warriors and the entire color palette shifts to this sickly green undead aesthetic. His Q sends out ghoulish soldiers, the W summons feel heavier somehow. The wall on his R looks like a line of risen dead. Played maybe 150 games on Gravelord alone last season and it just feels right for the aggressive Azir playstyle where you're shuffling into teamfights and catching people off guard. The recall animation where he raises an army from the ground is chef's kiss.

Warring Kingdoms Azir sits at number two for me. 1350 RP, Lunar Revel themed. The red and gold color scheme works perfectly with his emperor fantasy. Soldiers get these ornate Chinese-inspired designs. Could be wrong here but I think the auto attack animations on the soldiers feel slightly crisper on this skin compared to base. Might be placebo. Either way, the thematic coherence between Azir's lore as a ruler and the Warring Kingdoms aesthetic is hard to beat. Locked this one in for most of season 9 I think.

Elderwood Azir is the wildcard pick. 1350 RP from 2020. Completely different direction. His soldiers become these forest spirit creatures, his wall is a line of magical trees. The Q repositioning looks gorgeous with the nature VFX trailing behind. If you're tired of the emperor vibe and want something more mystical, this is it. Been running Elderwood in normals when I want to switch things up from Gravelord.

Attorney Azir from 2024 deserves a mention too. Day Job skinline. The soldiers are tiny lawyers with briefcases and its the funniest thing Riot has done with this champion. The novelty factor is real. Took this into ranked for a week straight when it dropped, got a lot of reactions in chat. Not the most visually impressive but the personality carries it.

Worlds 2022 Azir rounds out the top five. Clean esports aesthetic with blue and white tones. Respects the champion's silhouette while adding that competitive prestige feel. Solid. Not flashy.

Skinlines and Where Azir Fits

Azir shows up in seven different skinlines across his catalog. Galactic, Death Sworn (wait, Gravelord is technically its own thing but adjacent to that undead space), World Champions 2015 for SKT, Warring Kingdoms under the Lunar Revel umbrella, Elderwood, World Championship for the 2022 edition, and Day Job for Attorney.

The skinlines that fit Azir best are the ones that lean into his ruler identity. Warring Kingdoms nails this. Ancient Chinese emperor commanding soldiers on the battlefield. Perfect thematic overlap. Elderwood works surprisingly well because it recontextualizes his command over soldiers as a nature spirit commanding forest creatures. Different flavor of authority but it still reads as Azir.

Might be overthinking it but I feel like the Day Job line is Riot testing whether comedy skins work on serious champions. Azir commanding a squad of attorneys is peak League humor. Not sure it'll age well but right now in my Diamond games its a conversation starter every time someone locks it in during champ select.

The Galactic skinline feels dated at this point. Season 4 quality. It was fine for 2014 but Riot's skin design has evolved so much since then that going back to Galactic feels rough. (Sidebar for anyone who's been playing since Azir's release: remember how buggy his soldiers were on launch? Dark times.)

SKT T1 Azir is cool for the historical significance. Faker's 2015 squad getting immortalized. But the skin itself doesnt do much beyond the team branding. Most esports skins from that era are like that.

Budget vs Premium: What to Grab for Azir

The good news with Azir is the ceiling isnt that high financially. No Legendary at 1820 RP to agonize over. Your most expensive option is 1350 RP for any of the five Epics. The two Standard skins sit at 975 RP.

Best value pick? Gravelord at 1350 RP. Not even close. The VFX changes, the soldier redesign, the recall animation. 1350 feels fair for what you get. If you're climbing ranked as an Azir main and want one skin, buy Gravelord and dont look back.

Budget option is Galactic Azir at 975 RP. It's showing its age but the space theme gives you something different from base. The soldiers have a futuristic tint. For 975 RP it does the job. Just manage your expectations because it's a 2014 skin competing with 2024 standards.

Honestly if you're spending money on Azir skins at all, the 375 RP difference between Standard and Epic is worth it every time. The Epic skins for this champion all deliver meaningful visual changes. Standard gives you a recolor. Easy call. Save up for the extra few hundred RP and grab an Epic. Spammed Galactic for maybe two weeks before switching to Gravelord permanently back in season 7. Never went back.

Frequently Asked Questions