Deadly Kennen

First time I saw Deadly Kennen was in a ranked game maybe season 3, and I remember thinking the guy running it was either a smurf or completely lost. Turns out it was both. Not gonna lie, this skin has a vibe that the default Kennen just doesnt carry. Something about the darker outfit reads more serious on the Rift, even if the actual changes are minimal.

What Deadly Kennen actually brings

So lets be real about what you’re getting here. This is a 520 RP Standard tier skin from 2010. No new VFX. Voice lines stay base. No updated recall animation. What changes is the model itself: Kennen swaps his usual purple ninja outfit for a darker, more muted color scheme. Think black and deep red tones instead of the bright electric purple.

The shuriken looks slightly different in hand. Played maybe 40 games with this skin back when I had it in rotation, and the auto attacks felt the same but the visual read in lane was cleaner against certain map skins. Could be wrong here but I think the darker palette actually makes Kennen harder to track in river fights, especially around dragon pit at night. Small edge.

Q still looks like base Q. W proc, same deal. E rushing through a minion wave, same lightning trail. The ult is where you notice zero difference, which for a Standard skin is expected. Been playing Kennen on and off since season 5, mostly as a counterpick into melee top laners, and honestly the gameplay feel between this and default is identical. You’re buying the outfit, not the effects.

Silver Age and the 2010 release window

Deadly Kennen dropped April 8, 2010. Early League. The Silver Age skinline is one of those old Riot thematic groups that doesnt get new entries anymore. Think comic book era references. Kennen fits the ninja assassin archetype they were going for.

No splash artist credited in the data, which tracks for skins from that era. Riot’s art pipeline was completely different back then. (Random aside: some of these early splashes have this weird painted quality that I actually prefer over the hyper-polished modern ones.) The splash itself shows Kennen in a more aggressive stance with the darker costume, and it holds up okay for its age.

Legacy vault skin, so you cant just grab it from the shop whenever. Need to roll it from chests or wait for a vault opening event. Hextech crafting is your best bet these days. No chromas available either, which makes sense given the price point and era.

Should you pick up Deadly Kennen?

Real verdict: 520 RP is cheap. Like, absurdly cheap by modern standards. The problem is availability. Sits in the vault, so you’re at the mercy of Hextech luck or Legacy sales. If it shows up in My Shop or you roll it from a chest, absolutely keep it. Especially if you play Kennen in top lane.

But I wouldn’t spend reroll tokens chasing it specifically. Not when Arctic Ops Kennen and Blood Moon Kennen exist with actual VFX changes. Last Tuesday I was watching a friend’s Diamond promos and his top laner locked in Kennen with this skin. Looked clean in the loading screen. Looked like base Kennen in game. That about sums it up.

For Kennen mains and one-tricks who want every skin in the collection, its a must-have just for completion. For everyone else climbing ranked, spend your RP on something with new particles. Kinda feels like this skin’s real value is nostalgia and rarity at this point. Seen maybe two of these in my games all season, and both times I had to double check the loading screen to confirm it wasnt default. Simple change – still cool to own.