Demacia Vice Garen

First time I saw Demacia Vice Garen load in, I thought someone modded the game. Neon pink and teal on Garen. The guy who spins in full plate armor now looks like he walked off a Miami Vice set. Not gonna lie, it shouldnt work. But it does. Locked this in for maybe 40 ranked games the week it dropped and never looked back.

What Demacia Vice Garen actually looks like in game

The whole model gets a complete overhaul. Garen’s wearing a leather jacket, shades, the works. His sword is this massive neon-lit blade that pulses between hot pink and electric blue. The color palette alone makes him pop on the Rift like nothing else in his lineup.

VFX got the full treatment here. His Q lights up with that retrowave glow, the spin on E leaves neon trails that actually look clean in teamfights. The ult is the real star though. Giant neon sword comes crashing down and the ground gets this synthwave grid effect for a second. Banger visual. Could be wrong here but I think this has some of the best E particles of any Garen skin period.

Recall animation is new too. Garen pulls out a keytar, shreds on it, explosions going off behind him. Pure 80s energy. Voice lines stay base, no new VO, but honestly the base Garen voice kinda fits the vibe anyway. That confident delivery works whether he’s in plate armor or a leather jacket.

(Random aside: I use the recall specifically to BM after winning a 1v2 top lane. The keytar just hits different when their jungler failed the gank.)

The Demacia Vice skinline and release context

Demacia Vice dropped July 18, 2019. Mid-season 9. Zeen Chin nailed the splash, the composition with Garen standing against that sunset skyline captures the whole aesthetic perfectly. The Demacia Vice line only has two skins total, Garen and Lucian, which makes it one of Riot’s smaller thematic sets.

Kinda feels like Riot tested the waters with just two champs and never came back to expand it. Shame, because the Demacia Vice theme has legs. Could see a Demacia Vice Jarvan or even a Demacia Vice Fiora working in that universe. But here we are, 2019 to now and still just the duo.

7 chromas available for this one. Neon Noir is my go-to, the dark purple and green combo reads like a villain version of the skin and I’m here for it. Obsidian goes full dark which loses some of the retrowave appeal if you ask me. Catseye throws in bright yellow accents that pop hard in lane. The rest are fine but those three stand out.

Permanent shop availability. 1350 RP, standard Epic pricing. Been sitting there since release, no vault rotation nonsense.

Who should pick up Demacia Vice Garen

Real verdict: this is a top three Garen skin. Maybe top two depending on how you feel about God-King. The neon aesthetic gives Garen a personality his other skins dont really touch. Steel Legion is cool but dated. Warring Kingdoms is solid but safe. Demacia Vice takes a swing and connects.

1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX on every ability, the recall animation with the keytar, and a model that actually looks distinct from across the map. Been spamming this in Diamond on Garen specifically when I need a comfort pick top lane, and the skin makes the champ feel fresh even after hundreds of games. Last Thursday I had a game where I was splitpushing bot and the enemy Katarina typed “nice skin” before I ulted her. Respect.

If you main Garen or even just play him as a counterpick into certain comps, this is the skin. Skip it if you already have God-King and only want one Garen skin in rotation, but honestly 1350 is low enough that owning both makes sense. The Demacia Vice line deserved more love from Riot. At least Garen got his moment. S-tier Garen cosmetic, straight up.