World Champions: 2017 Skins

SSG's Worlds 2017 set is one of those skinlines that hits different if you actually watched the tournament. Samsung Galaxy ran through that bracket like they had something to prove, and Riot captured it in six clean Epic skins that still hold up years later. Not gonna lie, the white and blue color scheme across all six is one of the most cohesive Worlds sets they've ever done. Every skin shares that crisp Samsung branding without looking like a corporate sponsor slapped a logo on default models. Been playing since season 5 and I think this might be the best-looking complete Worlds roster until maybe T1's 2023 set.

What Makes the SSG 2017 Line Stand Out

Could be wrong here but I dont think any other Worlds skinline nails the "team identity" angle as well as SSG 2017. The white and royal blue palette runs through every single skin. Clean lines everywhere. No random color splashes that break the cohesion. When you see all six splash arts side by side, they read like one piece. That matters more than people realize.

The VFX work across the set is consistent without being lazy. Each champion gets blue-tinted particles on their abilities that match the SSG branding. Jarvan IV's flag and ult have that Samsung blue. Ezreal's Q and ult trail blue. Taliyah's worked ground and wall go icy blue-white. It ties the whole team together in a way that earlier Worlds skins (looking at you, SKT 2015) never quite managed.

Splash art direction deserves a mention here. The artists went for dynamic action poses across all six, and they share a background aesthetic. Not identical backgrounds, but similar enough that you can tell they belong together. Season 8 was when Riot started really investing in making Worlds skins feel premium, and SSG 2017 was the proof of concept. (Random aside: I had the Ezreal splash as my desktop background for like three months after release.)

Compare this to something like the SKT 2016 set or even the 2014 SSW skins. Night and day. The older Worlds skins look almost like chromas of the base skin with a team logo slapped on. SSG 2017 actually redesigns the champion silhouettes with unique armor pieces, team-branded accessories, and distinct recall animations. Every recall has the SSG logo appear somewhere. Small detail but it shows Riot was paying attention by this point.

The shared recall animation style is another thing. Each champion does their signature move and the Samsung Galaxy logo materializes. Feels like a celebration moment every time you back. In my Diamond games I'll purposely recall in vision just to flex it. Petty? Sure. Worth it.

Best SSG 2017 Skins

Real talk though, SSG Ezreal is probably the standout of the entire set. The model redesign is sharp. White and blue coat over his usual outfit, clean hair restyling, and the gauntlet gets that Samsung blue glow. His Q feels snappier visually with the blue trail, and the ult beam in blue-white is genuinely satisfying to land across the map. Been spamming this in ranked whenever I get ADC and it still feels premium for 1350 RP. Six years later.

SSG Xayah and SSG Rakan are the duo pick here and honestly they might be the best Worlds couple skins period. Their shared recall animation where they dance together with the SSG crest forming above them is one of the cleanest duo recalls in the game. Xayah's feathers in blue look gorgeous during teamfights, and Rakan's engage particles pop against the Rift's green tones. If you play bot lane duo with someone, locking in both of these is a statement.

Kinda feels like SSG Taliyah is the sleeper of the set. Taliyah doesn't have a massive skin catalog, so this one stands out even more. The worked ground texture changes to that Samsung blue-white, her W has clean displacement VFX, and the wall is this massive blue crystalline structure. Bdd picked Taliyah in the finals and it showed. The skin captures mid lane dominance.

SSG Gnar rounds out the top picks for me. Mini Gnar in the little Samsung jacket is adorable. Mega Gnar transforms into this blue-armored beast that looks intimidating enough for top lane. The boomerang trail in blue, the boulder in blue. Simple changes but they land. Not sure if it's just me but I think Gnar's transform animation feels slightly different with this skin. Might be placebo.

SSG Jarvan IV is solid but maybe the least exciting of the six. J4 has so many skins at this point that an Epic tier Worlds skin doesn't move the needle as hard. The flag-and-drag combo looks clean in blue, the ult arena has Samsung branding, and the model is well-done. Good skin. Just doesn't stand out against Darkforge or Warring Kingdoms in his catalog.

The Champion Roster and Who Fits

Six champions, six Epics. Samsung Galaxy's 2017 Worlds roster was Crown (Taliyah mid), Ambition (Jarvan IV jungle), CuVee (Gnar top), Ruler (Xayah ADC), and CoreJJ (Rakan support). Ezreal was Ruler's other signature pick. Every champion here earned their spot through actual tournament performance.

Taliyah fits the SSG aesthetic perfectly. Her rocky earth magic contrasts beautifully with the clean Samsung blue overlay. Feels like the skin was designed around her kit specifically. The wall in blue is iconic.

Gnar works because the dual-form gives the skin two personalities. Mini Gnar is cute team mascot energy. Mega Gnar is the teamfight presence. Both forms translate well into the white-blue scheme. CuVee was a monster on Gnar that tournament and the skin reflects it.

Rakan and Xayah were practically made for duo skins. Their base kits already have shared interactions, so giving them matching Worlds skins was the obvious call. CoreJJ's Rakan was disgusting to watch at Worlds. The engage angles he found were criminal. (Sidebar: CoreJJ went on to win with TL in NA and honestly his Rakan at 2017 Worlds was peak performance.)

Jarvan IV is the safe pick. J4 jungle was meta, Ambition played it, makes sense. Thematically he's fine in the Samsung outfit. Royal champion, team uniform, works well enough. Not the most creative choice but it reflects the actual games played.

Who's missing? Nobody, really. This is one of those rare Worlds sets where every skin choice feels justified by the tournament run. No filler picks, no "well they played one game on this champion" selections. Samsung swept Faker's SKT 3-0 in finals. These six champions were the core of that sweep.

Tier and Price Breakdown

All six skins sit at Epic tier, 1350 RP each. No Legendary in the set. No Prestige variants. Just six clean Epics at the same price point. Honestly thats how Worlds skins should be. Equal treatment across the roster, nobody gets the budget skin while one champion gets the Legendary upgrade.

For 1350 RP you're getting new models, new VFX on all abilities, new recall animations, and the SSG branding throughout. Base voice lines stay unchanged across all six. Standard for Epic tier Worlds skins. No new VO, which is expected.

Price-wise, 1350 each means the full set runs you 8100 RP if you want all six. There was a bundle at launch in July 2018 that discounted the package. If you missed that window, you're paying full price individually now. Shop has them permanently. Not Legacy, not vault. Available any time you want to pick them up.

Maybe just my experience but I think 1350 feels fair for every skin in this set. None of them are overpriced for what they deliver. The VFX work across all six is consistent quality, the models are clean, recalls are unique per champion. You're not getting robbed at Epic pricing here. Compare these to some 1350 RP skins from the same era that shipped with barely-changed particles and the SSG set looks premium.

No chromas exist for any of the six skins. Worlds skins generally dont get chroma treatment since the whole point is representing a specific team's colors. Makes sense. You wouldnt want a red SSG Ezreal. That defeats the purpose.

Legacy of Samsung Galaxy's 2017 Run

Fair warning, I'm gonna get slightly sentimental here. Worlds 2017 was special. Samsung Galaxy was the underdog narrative that actually paid off. They 3-0'd SKT in the finals. Nobody expected a sweep. The entire tournament was building toward another Faker coronation and Samsung said no. That context makes these skins carry weight beyond just looking nice.

Ambition's story arc specifically. Veteran player, switched from mid to jungle, finally won Worlds after years of coming close. His Jarvan IV skin represents that journey. When you lock in SSG J4 in ranked, there's history behind it. Season 7 was peak competitive League in a lot of ways and these skins are a snapshot of that era.

I remember watching the finals live at like 4 AM my time. When Samsung took game three and the sweep was confirmed, the energy was unreal. Ruler on Xayah just dismantling SKT's bot lane. CoreJJ's Rakan engages hitting every single time. Crown on Taliyah roaming like a possessed man. Those memories are baked into these skins for anyone who was there.

Not gonna lie, seeing an SSG skin in my games in 2026 still makes me respect that player's taste. It's a vintage pick at this point. Eight years old. Most people running newer flashier skins now. But when someone locks in SSG Ezreal or SSG Xayah in champion select, I know they either watched that tournament or they appreciate clean skin design. Either way, good sign for my ranked game.

The SSG 2017 set dropped in July 2018, about eight months after the tournament. Riot's turnaround on Worlds skins was getting faster by then. Earlier sets took even longer. The timing meant these skins arrived right in the middle of season 8, which was already a chaotic meta. Having fresh Worlds skins to grind with during that period was a nice distraction from the ADC-in-2018 memes.

Thing is, Samsung Galaxy disbanded after winning Worlds. The org became Gen.G. So these skins are genuinely the last SSG-branded anything in League. That gives them a collector's value beyond pure aesthetics. You cant get new SSG content. This is it. Six skins, one legendary tournament run, preserved in the shop forever.