Lunar Revel Skins

Lunar Revel is one of those skinlines I keep coming back to every January. Not sure if it's just me but there's something about the red and gold palette that hits different when you're grinding ranked at 1 AM during the Lunar New Year event. Riot's been dropping these since 2012 and the line has grown to 18 skins across a solid roster. Some of them are genuine bangers. Some feel like Riot needed to fill a quota. The aesthetic borrows heavily from East Asian mythology and festival culture, lanterns and dragons and jade and all that, and when it works it really works. Been locking in Lunar Revel skins every February for years now and I have opinions on basically all of them.

What Sets Lunar Revel Apart on the Rift

The visual identity here is tight. Red, gold, jade green, and black. Every skin in the line shares that core palette with minor variations. Splash arts lean into festival imagery, paper lanterns, fireworks, traditional armor with mythological motifs. The VFX across the Epic tier skins especially tend to incorporate particle effects that look like firecrackers or golden light bursts. Compared to something like Immortal Journey which goes for a more serious wuxia vibe, Lunar Revel feels more celebratory. More festive. Think Chinese New Year parade energy rather than martial arts movie.

Could be wrong here but I think the thing that ties the whole line together better than any other skinline is consistency in splash art direction. The backgrounds almost always feature red skies or festival grounds. Characters are posed in dynamic action stances but with ornate detailing on their outfits. Gold trim everywhere. Dragon motifs on everything from shoulder pads to weapon hilts.

The line has a few sub-themes too. You've got the Lunar Wraith skins (Caitlyn, Morgana, Sylas) which lean darker and more ghostly. The Lunar Guardian set (Warwick, Nasus, Malphite, Kha'Zix) goes full mythological beast mode. Then the Lunar Empress/Emperor skins (Ashe, Lux, Qiyana, Thresh) are the royalty angle. Each sub-group has its own flavor but they all read as Lunar Revel when you see them in a teamfight. (Random aside: I used to think Lunar Wraith and Lunar Guardian were separate skinlines entirely until I checked the wiki one night at like 3 AM.)

One thing Lunar Revel does better than most seasonal lines is thematic coherence without looking copy-pasted. Snow Day skins sometimes feel like Riot just threw a Santa hat on a champion and called it done. Lunar Revel actually redesigns silhouettes and gives each champion a distinct role within the festival mythology.

Best Lunar Revel Skins Worth Locking In

Lunar Guardian Warwick. Full stop. This is the skin that made me a Warwick main for an entire month back in season 8. The model turns him into this jade lion guardian and the VFX on his Q and R have these golden claw trails that look clean in motion. At 1350 RP its one of the better Epic tier skins Warwick has period. The recall animation where he does the traditional lion dance stance is genuinely cool. Spammed this in Diamond during the 2018 Lunar Revel event and it just felt right for jungle clear after jungle clear.

Lunar Empress Ashe is another standout. The bow redesign with the golden phoenix motif gives her a regal look that most Ashe skins dont match. Her W spreads these golden feather-shaped projectiles across the lane and the ult arrow looks like a phoenix in flight. Been running this in ranked and the visual clarity on her abilities is actually better than base in my experience. The splash art alone makes it worth 1350 RP.

Lunar Wraith Caitlyn goes in a completely different direction. Darker palette, more ghostly VFX. Her traps glow with this eerie blue-green light and the headshot proc has a satisfying visual pop. Real talk though, as an ADC skin it competes with a lot of great Caitlyn options. But for the aesthetic it delivers.

Radiant Wukong surprised me. Not gonna lie I expected a lazy cash grab when it dropped but the golden armor and the staff redesign are well done. His E and R have these radiant burst effects that look good in teamfights specifically. The clarity on his clone is slightly different too which I think helps in ranked games where people are actually paying attention.

Lunar Goddess Diana rounds out my top five. The crescent blade gets a jade and gold treatment that fits the Lunar Revel color story perfectly. Diana's whole moon theme already overlaps with Lunar New Year symbolism so it feels like one of the most natural champion picks in the entire line. Played maybe 40 games with this one last season and the Q arc just looks premium.

The Champion Roster and Who Actually Fits

18 skins across 17 champions (Wukong has two, Jade Dragon and Radiant). Thats a decent spread for a seasonal line that's been running since 2012. Some of these picks are obvious. Wukong? Based on the Monkey King from Journey to the West. Lee Sin with Dragon Fist? Martial arts aesthetic is a perfect fit. Diana and her moon theme? Natural overlap with Lunar celebrations.

Then you've got picks that feel more forced. Kha'Zix as a Lunar Guardian is cool visually but thematically a void bug doesnt exactly scream Chinese New Year to me. Might be overthinking it but Sylas in the Lunar Wraith set feels like Riot needed a bruiser and just picked whoever was popular that patch. He works fine visually but the connection to the theme is thin.

Tahm Kench as Coin Emperor is the funniest thematic fit in the line. A giant catfish gambling deity throwing coins around. It leans into the prosperity aspect of Lunar New Year and honestly it suits his personality perfectly. Seen maybe 5 of these in my games total but every time someone locks it in I respect the pick.

Who should get the next Lunar Revel skin? Honestly Sett feels like the most obvious miss. His whole kit has that brawler energy that would translate perfectly into a martial arts festival fighter. Xin Zhao is another one, literally based on a Chinese historical figure and he doesnt have a Lunar Revel skin. Feels like an oversight. Thresh already got Lunar Emperor so the support slot is covered but I think Rakan could work for a future release.

The line hasn't gotten a new entry since 2023 which makes me wonder if Riot is planning a bigger batch or if theyve moved on to Mythmaker as the replacement Lunar New Year event line. Could be coping but I think there's room for both.

Tier Breakdown and Pricing

This is an Epic-heavy skinline. 13 out of 18 skins sit at the 1350 RP tier. The remaining 5 are Standard tier at 975 RP and those are mostly the older releases from 2012 and 2013 like Guqin Sona and Dragon Fist Lee Sin and Jade Dragon Wukong. No Legendaries. No Ultimates. No Mythic or Prestige editions.

Kinda feels like a missed opportunity honestly. A Legendary Lunar Revel skin with new VO and a full animation overhaul could carry the line to another level. Imagine a Legendary Lunar Guardian Warwick with unique voice lines referencing the mythology. Or a Legendary Lunar Empress for someone like Syndra with full ability redesigns. The 1350 RP ceiling means every skin in the line is competing at the same price point which makes the standouts harder to identify at a glance.

That said, the Epic tier quality is generally above average here. The older 975 RP skins show their age. Dragon Fist Lee Sin was great in 2012 but holds up less well next to the 2018 and 2020 releases. The price range of 975 to 1350 RP means the whole line is accessible though. You're never paying more than 1350 for any Lunar Revel skin which keeps the barrier low for collecting the full set.

(Sidebar for skin collectors specifically: if you wait for the Lunar Revel event shop each January you can usually snag a few of these at discount. I picked up three of them at 30% off in the 2023 event shop during one late night session.)

Fair warning, the Standard tier skins at 975 RP basically just give you a model change with maybe minor particle tweaks. The Epics are where the actual VFX work kicks in. If you're only buying one Lunar Revel skin make it an Epic.