Blood Moon Katarina

First game I played with Blood Moon Katarina, I got a quadra kill at dragon pit around 1 AM on a Tuesday. Coincidence probably but the skin just felt right. The whole Blood Moon aesthetic fits Katarina so naturally that I’m surprised it took Riot until 2020 to make it happen. Locked this in the moment it hit the shop and honestly havent looked back since.

The ritual blades hit different

Blood Moon Katarina sits at the Epic tier and it earns that 1350 RP tag. New VFX across the board. Her Q dagger spins with this deep crimson trail that reads way cleaner than base in teamfights. The W drop zone gets the full Blood Moon treatment with oni mask patterns radiating outward. Gorgeous stuff.

Her E, the Shunpo, leaves behind a blood-red wisp effect. Not gonna lie, it actually helped me track my resets better in chaotic fights because the visual feedback is so distinct. Could be placebo but I swear my mechanics felt sharper. The R is where they really cooked though. Death Lotus channels with swirling crimson petals and demonic energy, and the sound design during ult is this low ritualistic hum that builds intensity. Hard to describe but you feel it.

New recall animation too. Katarina performs this ceremonial blade dance with the oni mask motif. Clean execution. Voice lines stay base, no new VO, but the skin doesnt need it. The visual package carries everything.

(Random aside: my duo partner is a Katarina one-trick and he refuses to use anything except this skin in ranked. Season 10 through now. Says the daggers “feel faster” which is objectively wrong but I get it.)

Blood Moon and the February 2020 drop

Released February 20, 2020. Right in the middle of season 10. Xiao Guang Sun and West Studio handled the artwork, and they absolutely nailed the splash. The composition with the oni mask floating behind Katarina while she’s mid-strike is one of the better Blood Moon splashes in the entire line.

Blood Moon is one of Riot’s most consistent skinlines. Been running since the early days with Shen and Akali, and most entries deliver. Blood Moon Katarina fits right in. The Japanese demon mythology paired with an assassin champion just works. No forced theme here.

7 chromas available for this one. Obsidian is my personal pick because the dark tones make Katarina look genuinely threatening on the Rift. Sapphire shifts the whole palette to blue which reads almost like a different skin entirely. Pearl goes for that clean white aesthetic but I think it clashes with the Blood Moon vibe. Might be overthinking it but the whole point of Blood Moon is the dark ritualistic energy and Pearl kind of undermines that.

Where Blood Moon ranks in the Katarina lineup

Katarina has a stacked skin catalog. Project, Death Sworn, Battle Queen, High Noon. Lots of competition. Blood Moon Katarina holds its own though. For 1350 RP you get meaningful VFX changes, a solid recall, and a theme that genuinely complements the champion’s identity as a blade-wielding assassin.

Still in the shop. Permanent availability so no rush.

Been spamming this in Diamond for multiple seasons now and I keep coming back to it over newer options. The VFX are readable in lane, the color palette doesn’t blend into the background during peel situations, and the daggers on the ground are easy to track when you’re looking for reset angles in the backline. That last point matters more than people think. Played maybe 40 games last month where dagger visibility during a dive was the difference between a reset and just dying.

Real talk though, if you main Katarina and you don’t own this, you’re missing out on one of her best executed skins. Not the flashiest option she has but the cleanest. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. The Blood Moon line rarely misses and this entry is no exception. Skip it only if you already have Battle Queen or High Noon and cant justify another Epic in the collection. For everyone else climbing with Katarina this season – top pick.