World Champions: 2019 Skins

FPX Worlds skins hold a weird place in my heart. Not gonna lie, when FunPlus Phoenix swept through 2019 Worlds I wasnt sure Riot could capture that energy in a skin set. But they did. Five Epic skins, all 1350 RP, all dropping the same black-and-red-and-gold palette that screams "we just destroyed everyone on the biggest stage." Been rocking FPX Vayne in my ranked games since 2020 and the whole set has this cohesive energy that some other Worlds bundles just don't match. The FPX roster hit different because the players themselves had input on champion picks and recall animations.

What Sets the FPX Worlds Skins Apart

Every Worlds skin set has a formula. Team colors, team logo, champion picks that match the players' signature champs from the tournament run. FPX's formula lands harder than most because their color scheme - that deep black with phoenix-gold accents and red trim - translates perfectly into League's visual language. Could be wrong here but I think these are some of the cleanest Worlds skins Riot has produced period.

The shared VFX across all five skins use this gold-and-crimson particle system. Abilities light up with phoenix feather effects, recalls feature the FPX logo prominently, and every champion gets a unique recall animation tied to the player who picked them. Tian's Lee Sin recall has him doing that iconic fist pump. DoinB's Malphite recall references his mid Malphite that broke the meta wide open at Worlds. Small details like that.

Splash art across the set maintains a consistent composition style. Dark backgrounds, champions posed with confidence, gold light sources hitting from above. The team worked with the players to get personality into each splash and it shows. Compare these to some earlier Worlds sets where the splashes feel like corporate headshots with champion models pasted in. FPX splashes have attitude.

(Random aside: I remember watching FPX vs G2 finals live at like 4 AM my time and thinking "these guys are going to get insane skins." Was not disappointed.)

Color palette consistency is where this line really shines compared to other Worlds sets. Some years you get skins where half the set looks cohesive and one or two champions feel like afterthoughts. With FPX, all five lock in together. You could run a full FPX comp in a normal game and the visual unity on the Rift would be genuinely clean. Tried it once in a five-stack around season 10. Looked incredible in teamfights even if we got stomped by a Diamond Zed one-trick.

Best FPX Skins to Pick Up

All five sit at Epic tier, all 1350 RP, so the price barrier is identical across the board. But they're not all created equal. Straight up.

FPX Vayne is the standout for me. Been spamming this in Diamond ADC games and the auto-attack particles feel crisp. The gold bolts on her W proc pop against dark map sections, and the tumble animation has this satisfying weight to it. Condemn VFX with the phoenix trail looks clean when you pin someone to a wall. Played maybe 150 games with this skin and I keep coming back to it over other Vayne options.

FPX Lee Sin is the fan favorite and I get why. Tian was the tournament MVP and his Lee Sin was iconic that year. The skin captures his aggressive jungle playstyle in the recall and the Q resonating strike leaves gold particle trails that feel premium for an Epic. Kinda feels like Riot put extra love into this one because of how dominant Tian's Lee was during the run. His Sonic Wave into dragon pit during semifinals? That energy lives in this skin.

FPX Thresh comes in third. Might be overthinking it but Crisp's Thresh hooks feel slightly more visible with the FPX particles, which is actually a minor gameplay consideration. The lantern glow in the FPX gold is distinctive. Good skin for support mains who want something that reads well in lane without being too flashy.

FPX Gangplank is solid. Not spectacular, solid. The barrels get the gold treatment, the ult drops with FPX-themed cannonballs. DoinB picked GP for his skin which was a bit of a curveball since most people associate his Worlds run with Malphite and Ryze mid. But the GP skin works. Orange removal animation with the phoenix motif is a nice touch.

FPX Malphite sits at the bottom for me personally. Not that its bad - the ult is satisfying with the gold impact crater and the ground slam VFX pop in teamfights. But Malphite's model is just hard to make look premium at the Epic tier. He's a rock. A very nice gold-and-black rock, sure. Still a rock. DoinB's mid Malphite was legendary during Worlds though so the pick makes complete sense thematically.

The FPX Champion Roster

Five champions. Five players. Gangplank for DoinB, Malphite also for DoinB (he got two picks which is unusual), Lee Sin for Tian, Vayne for LWX, and Thresh for Crisp. Wait, I need to correct myself. DoinB chose Gangplank as his skin champion. Malphite was the bonus sixth- no, actually all five skins correspond to the five roster spots. GimGoon got Gangplank for top lane, DoinB got Malphite for mid, Tian got Lee Sin jungle, LWX got Vayne ADC, Crisp got Thresh support.

Thematic fit varies. Lee Sin and Thresh are natural fits for a Worlds skin set because they're mechanically intensive champions that look good with custom particles. High skill expression, lots of ability animations to customize. Vayne scales hard into late game teamfights and those silver bolt procs with gold VFX create constant visual feedback. Good pick.

Gangplank is an interesting choice for top lane. Not the most common Worlds skin champion but GimGoon's GP was a staple of their run. The barrel chain combos with FPX particles actually look great in practice. Real talk though, I wish we'd gotten an FPX Ryze for DoinB instead of Malphite. His Ryze was just as iconic and Ryze's kit has more spell effects to work with. But the meme value of mid Malphite winning Worlds is too strong. Fair point.

Missing from this set that would've been cool: an FPX Kai'Sa for LWX since he played her plenty, or an FPX Nautilus for Crisp. But players only get one pick each and these choices all have narrative weight behind them.

Tier and Price Breakdown

Straightforward pricing here. All five FPX skins are Epic tier at 1350 RP each. No Legendary, no Prestige variant, no Ultimate. Just five clean Epics.

This is actually where FPX's set excels compared to later Worlds bundles that started mixing in Prestige editions and higher price points. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get with each skin. New model, new particles, new recall animation, new SFX. Voice lines stay base across all five which is standard for Worlds Epics.

The full bundle when it launched in 2020 ran about 4900 RP if I remember right, maybe slightly less with the bundle discount. Not a bad deal if you play three or more of the champions. For a single purchase, any of the five at 1350 is standard Epic pricing. Nothing special about the cost, nothing offensive either. Available now in the regular shop rotation last I checked, though Worlds skins sometimes cycle into limited availability. Worth grabbing before they potentially vault.

Compared to something like the 2022 EDG set which had a Legendary Graves, the FPX collection is more egalitarian. Every skin gets the same level of treatment. No one champion carries the set while others feel like filler. That consistency at the Epic tier is honestly refreshing. Been playing this game since season 5 and some Worlds bundles have real quality gaps between their best and worst skin.

The Legacy of FPX at Worlds 2019

FunPlus Phoenix's run through 2019 Worlds was dominant in a way that caught a lot of western fans off guard. Not sure if it's just me but the narrative going in was heavily focused on G2 completing the Grand Slam and SKT's revenge arc. FPX came through and just dismantled everyone. 3-0 finals against G2. Tian's jungle pathing was years ahead of the competition that tournament.

The skins released in 2020, following the standard timeline where Worlds winners get their skins roughly six months after the tournament. Each player had input on champion selection and recall animations, which Riot has been doing since the Samsung White set back in season 4. The personal touches matter. When you see Tian's Lee Sin recall animation and know the story behind it, the skin hits harder.

Season 10 was when these dropped and I remember the community reception being pretty positive. Not the explosive hype that something like the T1 2023 skins generated, but solid appreciation. The FPX org itself had a complicated trajectory after Worlds - roster changes, rebranding discussions, performance dips. These skins kind of freeze that perfect moment in time. November 2019, FPX on top of the world.

(Sidebar for anyone who watched LPL regularly that year: DoinB's champion pool was genuinely terrifying and the fact that he picked Malphite for his Worlds skin instead of something "prestigious" tells you everything about his personality as a player.)

Maybe just my experience but I see FPX skins in my ranked games maybe once every 15-20 games now. Lee Sin is the most common, Vayne second. Thresh occasionally. Gangplank and Malphite are rare sightings. The set hasnt aged poorly though - the VFX still read cleanly on the current Rift and the models hold up fine at the Epic tier. Some older Worlds skins from 2012 or 2013 look rough by modern standards. FPX doesn't have that problem.