Commando Xin Zhao Splash Art, Price & Skin Details

First time I loaded into a game as Commando Xin Zhao was season 10 – some Silver climb where my team drafted three carries and needed a frontline that could actually engage. Locked in Xin Zhao, scrolled the skin tab fast, saw this one at 520 RP and bought it mid-champ-select. Took maybe six seconds of deliberation. Military aesthetic, clean armor design. There’s no drama with this pick: no six-minute cinematic, no new VFX overhaul, no flashy ability rework. Just Xin Zhao in tactical commando gear ready to dive the backline and proc his Q.

What Commando Xin Zhao actually changes

Standard tier at 520 RP means the changes are model-level only. Commando Xin Zhao gets a full military remodel – camo-green outfit, grounded tactical armor, and a spear design that reads more military-issue than whatever the base skin was running. The color palette shifts from that red and gold default into olive and steel tones. In-game it reads clearly and distinctly from base. Clean lines. Nothing more.

Voice lines stay base. Same VO as default Xin Zhao, Richard Epcar’s performance intact and unchanged. Ability animations carry over identically – the Q three-hit proc looks the same, the E knockup reads identical, the ult circle and knockback is untouched. Not sure if it’s just me but on Xin Zhao this barely registers as a limitation. His animations are aggressive enough by default that the commando costume handles the job on its own.

The splash holds up reasonably well for a 2010 skin. Low bar, sure. But Xin in full commando gear mid-action is a solid composition. Not generic, not embarrassing. For a release from that era it’s one of the cleaner early Xin Zhao splashes.

The Commando line and when this dropped

Commando Xin Zhao released July 13, 2010, early in League’s lifespan when Riot was shipping themed skin sets across multiple champions at once. The Commando skinline pulled in Garen, Jarvan IV, Lux and a few others, all running that same military aesthetic. Simple concept applied across a roster. The line never got a major revival but the base designs have held up well enough that they’re still playable today without looking out of place on the Rift.

520 RP, permanent in the shop. No legacy vault, no loot-only restriction. (Sidebar: 520 RP in season 10 already felt like budget territory and it’s practically nothing now relative to 1350 Epic prices.) Regular shop availability, always accessible. No chromas on this one either, just the base skin and nothing else optional.

Is Commando Xin Zhao worth 520 RP?

Real verdict: for Xin Zhao mains looking for a clean alternate look at a budget price, Commando delivers. Dont expect VFX updates or anything that rewires how playing Xin Zhao actually feels. This Standard is a model swap. Military coat of paint over the same kit. For 520 RP that’s the right transaction – you get exactly what’s advertised and nothing more, nothing less.

Xin Zhao has stronger skins further down the catalog – Dragonslayer Xin Zhao, Cosmic Defender, Warring Kingdoms Xin Zhao all hit harder visually and cost more. If you’re grinding ranked and want a proper upgrade with new VFX, save toward those. But if you’re spamming Xin Zhao in solo queue and want something besides the default look without spending much, Commando Xin Zhao at 520 RP handles it cleanly. First choice for budget mains.