Star Guardian Season 2 Skins

Not gonna lie, Star Guardian Season 2 hit different when it dropped. The first wave back in 2015 set the whole magical girl thing up with Lux and Jinx, but this second batch from 2017 felt like Riot actually figured out what they were doing with the concept. Ahri leading a squad, darker undertones with Syndra's corruption arc, and Soraka playing the mentor role. Watched the cinematic at like 1 AM on a work night and couldn't stop thinking about it. The whole vibe shifted from "cute anime reference" to something with actual narrative weight, and that carried into the skins themselves.

What Sets Star Guardian Season 2 Apart

The visual identity here is tighter than Season 1. Every skin in this batch shares a specific particle language: pastel star bursts on ability hits, those signature familiar companions floating around each champion, and recall animations that tell mini-stories. Color coding matters too. Ahri gets the classic pink-red leader palette, Soraka leans into green-teal healer energy, Miss Fortune rocks a deeper magenta, Ezreal keeps his golden-blue thing going, and Syndra sits in that corrupted purple space.

Could be wrong here but I think the splash arts for this wave are some of the best Riot has ever commissioned as a set. They share composition elements: the starry backgrounds, the dynamic poses mid-transformation, the familiars integrated into the action. When you line them all up its like panels from the same manga chapter. Season 1 splashes were good but felt more isolated from each other.

The VFX work across the line keeps this consistent star-and-light motif. Every ability proc leaves behind these tiny star particles that dissipate after half a second. Subtle enough that it doesnt clutter your screen in a teamfight but visible enough that you know you're running Star Guardian. Compare that to something like the Cosmic line which shares a similar space aesthetic but goes heavier on the nebula effects. Star Guardian Season 2 stays cleaner. More precise.

One thing that separates this wave from basically every other skinline batch: the narrative. Riot released an actual story alongside these skins. Ahri's team, Syndra's fall from grace, the whole light-versus-corruption angle. Most skinlines are just "here's a theme, we slapped it on five champions." Star Guardian Season 2 tried to make you care about the characters. (Random aside: I read the entire Star Guardian lore page on Universe back in 2017 and it's still one of my favorite pieces of LoL expanded content.) Whether that matters to you when you're locking in for ranked at midnight is debatable, but it gives the skins a weight that pure cosmetic lines dont have.

Best Star Guardian Season 2 Skins

Star Guardian Ahri is the crown jewel here and it's not close. Full Legendary treatment at 1820 RP. New voice lines, new animations, the fox familiars following her around, unique recall where she transforms with her squad. Been spamming this in Diamond on my Ahri pocket pick and the Q orb especially stands out. That star trail on the return pass is clean. The charm animation got this heart-shaped star burst that actually makes landing E feel more satisfying. Might be overthinking it but I swear I hit more charms with this skin because the visual feedback is just better.

Prestige Star Guardian Soraka sits in a weird spot. Mythic tier, golden chroma treatment on the base Star Guardian model. Looks premium in the loading screen. In-game? Honestly the gold particles blend into certain Rift terrain and I've lost track of my Q landing zone more than once. Still a flex pick if you own it because barely anyone has it. Seen maybe two in my games across three seasons.

Star Guardian Soraka in the regular Epic version is actually my preference over the Prestige. The green-teal palette reads better on Summoner's Rift. Her W heal beam gets this sparkly star effect that your ADC will appreciate seeing. The familiar (a little rabbit thing) hangs around during idle animations. For 1350 RP it delivers more visual clarity than the golden Prestige version that costs way more in reroll luck.

Star Guardian Miss Fortune surprised me. Not gonna lie, I didn't think MF fit the magical girl fantasy at all when they announced it. But the dual-gun star blasters work. Her ult especially, Bullet Time with star projectiles raining down, looks spectacular in a teamfight. The splash has her in this confident leader-adjacent pose that fits her personality without forcing the cutesy angle too hard.

Star Guardian Syndra rounds out the roster as the narrative villain of the wave. Her dark purple corrupted aesthetic contrasts with the rest of the squad's brighter palettes. The dark spheres orbiting her feel menacing in a way that regular Syndra doesn't quite hit. Kinda feels like Riot designed her kit specifically for a "fallen Star Guardian" concept and it just landed perfectly.

The Champion Roster

Five champions across nine skins. Ahri as the squad leader makes perfect sense. Fox girl, magical transformation, charismatic personality. She was born for this skinline. Soraka fits the healer-mentor archetype so naturally that it almost feels lazy, but lazy in a good way. Sometimes the obvious choice is the right one.

Miss Fortune was the wildcard pick and I think she earned her spot. The confident gunslinger translating into a magical girl dual-wielder works better than it should. My ADC duo partner mained MF for most of season 8 and he said the Star Guardian skin made him feel like he was playing a different champion. Not sure if thats a compliment to the skin or an insult to base MF but either way the skin left an impression.

Ezreal feels almost too natural. Blonde anime protagonist with a gauntlet that shoots energy? He was already a Star Guardian before Riot made it official. The skin is solid but it doesnt surprise you. You look at it and go "yeah, obviously." Which is fine. Not every champion in a skinline needs to be a revelation.

Syndra as the corrupted member adds narrative tension to what would otherwise just be a pretty skin batch. Her inclusion gives the whole line stakes. Real talk though, if I could add one champion to this wave retroactively? Neeko. She came out in 2018 and her whole shapeshifter identity plus the colorful ability kit would've slotted into this squad perfectly. Missed opportunity. (Sidebar: Neeko did eventually get Star Guardian in Season 3, so Riot caught up.)

The Pajama Guardian variants for Soraka, Miss Fortune, and Ezreal are technically part of this set too. They're the same skins but in onesie pajama outfits. Cute concept. Divisive execution. Some people in my ranked games rock the Pajama versions ironically, others genuinely prefer the cozy vibe over the full transformation look. I respect both approaches.

Tier Breakdown and Pricing

Seven Epics at 1350 RP each. One Legendary at 1820 RP. One Mythic. The Epics do most of the heavy lifting for this skinline, which is pretty standard for Riot's batch releases. Every Epic gets new VFX, new recall animation, and the familiar companion. Good value at that price point.

Star Guardian Ahri at 1820 RP earns the Legendary tag. New VO, new animations across the board, the fox familiars that react to gameplay events. If you main Ahri this is a no-brainer purchase. 1820 RP well spent for mains. Even if you only play her occasionally in ARAM or as a mid lane counterpick, the skin feels premium enough to justify the price.

The Pajama Guardian variants launched at the same 1350 RP as their Star Guardian counterparts. Riot caught some heat for that at the time. People expected them to be cheaper since they share the same ability VFX. Fair criticism honestly. They're essentially chromas with a model swap. But 1350 is 1350 and the market spoke. They sold fine.

Price range across the whole line runs 1350 to 1820 RP. No budget options, no 975 throwbacks. This is a premium skinline and Riot priced it accordingly. For a comp of five Star Guardian skins you're looking at around 7500 RP if you skip Pajama variants. Thats roughly $50-60 depending on which RP bundle you buy. Steep for a full collection but most people just grab their main's skin and call it a day.

The Prestige Soraka variant drops from Hextech crafting or special event loot. No direct purchase path. Loot exclusive. If you're the type who rerolls skin shards religiously you might get lucky. I've been playing since season 4 and have rolled exactly zero Prestige skins from shards. Your mileage may vary.

Star Guardian Season 2 in Context

This wave dropped in September 2017 alongside a dedicated game mode and the cinematic that still holds up. Season 7 was peak League engagement and Star Guardian Season 2 capitalized on that energy. The skin releases came with missions, token grinding, borders, icons, the whole event package that Riot perfected around this era.

Compared to Season 1's simpler approach, Star Guardian Season 2 felt like an actual franchise expansion. Season 3 later went even bigger with Kai'Sa and the whole Void corruption storyline, but Season 2 established that Star Guardian could be more than just cute skins. It could be a narrative vehicle. Take this with a grain of salt but I think Season 2 is the strongest wave overall because it balanced quality and ambition without overextending. Season 3 had more skins but the quality spread thinner.

Been running Star Guardian Ahri as my default Ahri skin since 2017. Thats seven years. Switched to Spirit Blossom for maybe two months in 2020 and came right back. The familiars, the star particles on charm, the recall animation where she poses with the squad. Nothing else captures that specific energy. (Personal thing: I associate this skin with climbing from Plat to Diamond for the first time because I was one-tricking Ahri that September and this skin dropped right in the middle of my grind.)

The 9 skins across five champions gives this line a focused roster. Not too bloated, not too thin. Every champion feels like they belong in the theme, even if Ezreal is a bit of a gimme. For anyone building a Star Guardian collection, Season 2 is where the line matured from a fun side project into one of League's flagship skinlines. Lock these in.