Infernal Skins

Infernal is one of those skinlines that's been around since season 1 and just keeps growing. Fire theme, lava textures, burning particles on everything. Kinda feels like Riot's go-to when they need a filler skin for a champion who hasnt gotten one in a while. But honestly? Some of these skins go way harder than they have any right to. 26 skins deep now, spanning from 2010 all the way to 2024, and the quality gap between the early ones and the newer Epics is wild. Been seeing Infernal skins in my Diamond games for years and some of them still look clean on the Rift.

What Ties the Infernal Line Together

The visual signature is obvious. Fire. Lava. Molten rock cracking across armor and skin. Orange and red dominate every splash, with black volcanic stone as the contrast element. Not exactly subtle. But the consistency is there, which is more than you can say for some of Riot's other long-running lines.

Early Infernal skins from 2010-2013 are basically texture swaps. Obsidian Malphite, Molten Rammus, Volcanic Wukong. These are Standard tier skins priced at 520-975 RP and they show their age. No new particles, no new animations, just "what if this champion was on fire." Fair enough for the era. Riot wasn't exactly pushing boundaries with skin design back then.

The newer Epics though? Different story. Infernal Varus, Infernal Akali, Infernal Vel'Koz. These have full particle redesigns, burning VFX on every ability, custom recalls. The recall animations specifically tend to feature the champion erupting from or commanding volcanic energy. Could be wrong here but I think Infernal might have some of the most visually consistent recalls across an entire skinline. Every single one involves fire in some way. Groundbreaking stuff, I know.

(Random aside: the color palette across 14 years barely shifts. That's actually impressive for a line this old. Compare it to something like Cosmic where early skins look nothing like later ones.)

What separates Infernal from similar fire-themed one-offs is the scale. 26 skins means you can run a full comp of Infernal skins in ranked. Top Shen, jungle Kindred, mid Akali, ADC Ashe, support Karma. Done. Not sure if it's just me but matching skinlines in solo queue hits different. Had a game last March where our whole team locked in Infernal skins without planning it. We lost but we looked incredible doing it.

Best Infernal Skins Worth Your RP

Infernal Nasus. The only Legendary in the line and it earns that 1820 RP price tag. Released back in 2013, this was one of the earlier Legendaries that actually felt like a Legendary. New voice lines, completely transformed model that evolves with his ult stacks, massive flaming Q bonks. The ult transformation is still one of the best in the game. Nasus grows into this towering fire demon and every Q proc feels like you're smashing the earth open. Been spamming this in Diamond whenever I get autofilled top and honestly its the only reason I don't dodge Nasus games.

Real talk though. The skin is from 2013 and some of the animations show their age compared to modern Legendaries. The base model holds up, the voice lines are great, the fantasy is perfect. But if you put it next to something like a 2024 Legendary the polygon count tells a story. Still top tier for Nasus mains. Probably the Nasus skin if you can only own one.

Infernal Akali surprised me. Epic tier, 1350 RP, and the shroud VFX with the fire particles look phenomenal. Her Q throws these burning kunai and the passive proc has this satisfying flame burst. Played maybe 40 games with it last season and it felt smooth. The auto-attack animations in particular have a weight to them that base Akali lacks.

Ashen Lord Aurelion Sol deserves a mention even though it technically has a unique name. Part of the Infernal line according to the data. The stars become miniature suns orbiting ASol and his Q grows into this massive fireball. Pre-rework this was arguably the best ASol skin. Post-rework it still looks good but the new kit doesn't showcase the orbital fire theme as well.

Foxfire Ahri is another one with a unique name that sits in the Infernal catalog. Cheap at 1350 RP and the fire foxes on her W look clean. Not the best Ahri skin anymore given how many she has, but for the price? Solid. My Ahri one-trick friend still uses this one over Spirit Blossom sometimes. Says the orb VFX on Q feel "crispier" whatever that means.

Infernal Galio is slept on. Might be overthinking it but his ult with the fire trail coming down from the sky looks better than most of his other skins. The taunt area with the flame ring reads clearly in teamfights too. Good skin for Galio mains who want something flashy for engage.

The Champion Roster

26 champions is a lot. Too many to list without putting you to sleep. The standouts for thematic fit are obvious. Nasus as a fire deity works. Malphite as a volcanic rock creature. Natural. Maokai as a charred burning tree. Creepy but it works. Rammus as a molten armadillo rolling through lava. Perfect.

Some feel forced though. Infernal Amumu is just sad Amumu but orange. Infernal Kennen is a fire yordle and I'm not sure who asked for that. Shadowfire Kindred has a cool name but the fire theme clashes with Kindred's whole death-and-peace aesthetic. Feels like Riot had a quota to fill.

Not gonna lie, the champions I want to see added are the ones with natural fire synergy that somehow dont have Infernal skins yet. Brand is the obvious one but that might be too on-the-nose. Shyvana in dragon form erupting from a volcano? Annie with a lava Tibbers? Rumble in a magma mech? These write themselves. Riot if you're reading this, Infernal Shyvana by end of 2027 please.

The roster spans every role which is nice for the matching skinline fantasy I mentioned. You've got tanks like Alistar and Shen, mages like Karthus and Xerath, assassins like Akali, ADCs like Ashe and Varus, and whatever Mordekaiser counts as these days. Engage support? Alistar. Enchanter adjacent? Karma. The coverage is solid.

(Sidebar for jungle mains: Warwick, Diana, Kindred, Amumu, and Wukong all have Infernal skins. Five jungle options in one skinline is pretty rare. Ran Infernal Diana in ranked last Tuesday and the Q crescent with fire particles looked sick in river fights around dragon.)

Tier and Pricing Breakdown

The split tells you everything about this line's history. 11 Standard tier skins and 14 Epics with 1 Legendary. The Standards are almost all from 2010-2013 and priced between 520-975 RP. The Epics are 2017 onwards at 1350 RP each. One Legendary at 1820 RP for Nasus.

The Epics carry this line. Hard. Without them Infernal would just be a collection of dated texture swaps that nobody thinks about. Infernal Shen, Infernal Varus, Infernal Akali. These are the skins that actually show up in your games. The Standards are basically collector's items at this point. Obsidian Malphite for 520 RP is fine if you want a cheap alt skin but dont expect modern quality.

Price range of 520 to 1820 RP means there's something for every budget. Think the sweet spot is the 1350 Epic tier. You get full particle changes, custom recall, new SFX. Worth it if you main any of those champions. The Nasus Legendary is 1820 well spent for mains but its age shows compared to 2024 Legendaries. Fair warning, some of the older Standards like Molten Rammus or Volcanic Wukong might disappoint if you're used to modern skin quality. They're products of their time.

Season 12 and 13 saw the most Epic additions to the line. Felt like Riot was bulking it up deliberately. Maybe testing whether fire themes sell consistently. Based on how often I see these in ranked around Gold through Diamond, I'd say yeah. Fire sells. Always has.