Chosen of the Wolf Skins

Chosen of the Wolf hit the Rift in 2024 and I remember thinking Riot finally made a skinline that feels like it belongs in a dark fantasy RPG. Not gonna lie, the wolf motif running through every splash and VFX sold me immediately. There's this primal energy across the whole set that works because it commits to the aesthetic hard. Six skins total, and the quality floor is surprisingly high for a line that dropped all at once.

What Makes Chosen of the Wolf Stand Out

The visual signature here is obvious the second you load into a game. Dark blues, silvers, spectral wolf imagery woven into every ability. The color palette stays tight across all six skins. Deep navy base with silver-white accents and these glowing wolf spirits that appear in abilities and recalls. Riot kept the identity consistent without making every skin look identical, which is harder than it sounds.

Could be wrong here but I think the shared element that ties everything together is the wolf companion motif. Every champion in the line gets some form of spectral wolf integrated into their kit visually. Swain's ravens become wolves. Katarina's daggers trail wolf spirits. Pantheon's shield bears the wolf crest. Its a subtle touch on some champions and extremely obvious on others.

The splash arts share a composition style too. Dark backgrounds, dramatic lighting from below, champions posed with their wolf spirits flanking them. Feels like a cohesive set of paintings rather than random skins that happen to share a name. Compare this to something like the Arcana line where the splashes vary wildly in composition. Chosen of the Wolf keeps it tight.

(Random aside: the loading screen when your whole team runs Chosen of the Wolf skins looks absolutely insane. Had it happen once in a normal game and the enemy team was typing about it in all chat.)

VFX-wise the wolf spirits are rendered in this translucent blue-silver that reads cleanly against the Rift. Not too bright, not too subtle. They found the sweet spot where it looks premium without cluttering your screen during teamfights. Some skinlines go overboard with particle effects and you lose track of hitboxes. Not the case here.

Best Chosen of the Wolf Skins

Chosen of the Wolf Ambessa takes the crown easily. Full stop. Being the Legendary of the set means new VO, new animations, the whole package. The wolf companion follows her around and reacts to abilities. Her ult specifically goes hard with the wolf imagery. Been watching streams of Ambessa mains running this and the Q animation alone justifies the 1820 RP.

Real talk though. Prestige Chosen of the Wolf Swain is the flex pick of the line. Mythic tier, white and gold colorway instead of the standard dark palette. Swain already fits the "commanding dark figure with animal companions" fantasy perfectly since his base kit uses ravens. Swapping ravens for wolves and then going prestige white? Chef's kiss. Seen maybe 4 of these in my games since release because the Mythic acquisition is rough.

Chosen of the Wolf Katarina surprised me. Kinda feels like Katarina gets shoved into every skinline whether she fits or not, but here the daggers trailing wolf spirits actually works with her reset playstyle. You get a kill, wolves swarm. Get another reset, more wolves. The fantasy of a wolf pack growing with each takedown in a teamfight is genuinely cool game design from the skins team.

Pantheon version is solid. Not spectacular, solid. The shield slam with the wolf emblem is clean, the spear has good trail effects. Might be overthinking it but Pantheon skins tend to all feel similar because his kit is straightforward. Chosen of the Wolf gives him enough visual identity to stand apart from his other Epics.

Kindred fits thematically better than anyone else in the line. Wolf is literally half their identity. Having Kindred in a wolf-themed skinline is almost too obvious but Riot executed it well. The lamb and wolf dynamic gets reinforced by the spectral wolf pack imagery surrounding them both.

The Champion Roster

Six champions total. Swain, Katarina, Pantheon, Kindred, and Ambessa. Not sure if it's just me but the roster feels intentionally curated for champions with aggressive playstyles. No enchanters, no pure tanks. Everyone here is either an assassin, a bruiser, or a battlemage. The wolf pack hunts.

Swain anchors the line thematically. His whole deal is dark power, commanding creatures, conquering through force. Perfect fit. Ambessa as the Legendary makes sense too since she launched alongside the skinline and Riot wanted to showcase their new champion. Smart business move giving your newest release the premium treatment.

Katarina and Pantheon feel like the "we need popular champions for sales" picks. Not complaining, both skins turned out well. But you can tell the creative direction was built around Swain and Ambessa first, then expanded. Kindred is the thematic slam dunk that probably got added because someone on the team said "wait, one of them is literally called Wolf."

Who should be added next if Riot expands this? Been thinking about this since the line dropped last year. Warwick is the obvious one. Naafiri with her wolf pack. Maybe Volibear if they lean into the primal god angle. Udyr could work with his stance changes manifesting different wolf spirits. The line has room to grow without feeling forced.

(Sidebar for jungle mains specifically: imagine a Chosen of the Wolf Naafiri where her packmates are all spectral wolves. Riot is leaving money on the table.)

Tier Breakdown and Pricing

The line runs from 1350 to 1820 RP. Four Epics at 1350, one Mythic (Prestige Swain), one Legendary (Ambessa) at 1820. No Standard tier skins dragging down the quality floor. Every skin in this line has custom VFX and new spell effects minimum.

Epics do the heavy lifting here honestly. Four out of six skins are 1350 RP and they're all above-average for that price point. The wolf VFX elevate what could be simple recolors into something that feels premium. Spammed Pantheon's version in ranked for a couple weeks after release and it never felt like I was missing out by not having the Legendary.

The Legendary earns its price through Ambessa's new VO and the wolf companion that follows her. Standard Legendary features but executed well. The Mythic is obviously the hardest to get. If you're deciding between spending on the line, grab whichever Epic matches your champion pool first. The value per RP is highest there.

Fair warning: if youre waiting for these to go on sale, Epics from 2024 should rotate into Your Shop eventually. The Legendary might take longer. Mythic won't ever be discounted obviously since it's a prestige skin with its own acquisition path.

Price range across the full set is reasonable. No 3250 RP Ultimate eating your wallet. No 520 RP throwaway dragging the line's reputation down. Riot priced this one sensibly for what each tier delivers. 1350 feels fair for the Epics given the VFX quality. 1820 for Ambessa's full package is standard Legendary pricing, nothing surprising.