Durian Defender Rammus

First time I saw this skin in the loading screen I thought someone on the art team lost a bet. A durian. They turned Rammus into a durian. Played maybe 30 games with it that first week in Diamond and honestly the novelty does not wear off. Every time I lock in Rammus with this equipped, someone in champ select types something about the smell. Worth 1350 RP for the lobby reactions alone.

What Durian Defender Rammus actually looks like in game

So the model is Rammus but spiked out like an actual durian fruit, greenish-yellow shell with those thick thorns sticking out everywhere. Not gonna lie, the silhouette reads surprisingly clean on the Rift considering how ridiculous the concept is. His Q powerball has him rolling as this spiky fruit and the new VFX lean into the food theme hard. Green juice particles on the W, splatter effects when you proc your passive on someone.

The E taunt animation got me. Rammus pulls out what I think is a durian slice and just waves it at the enemy. Thats the level of commitment Riot put into this. The recall animation is new too, he cracks open a durian and sits down to eat it like hes on break from defending the Rift. Base voice lines, no new VO, but honestly Rammus barely talks anyway so it doesnt matter much.

Been running this in ranked jungle and the R slam feels heavier with the green VFX explosion. Could be wrong here but the particles seem slightly bigger than base, or maybe the color contrast just makes it pop more against the standard Summoner’s Rift palette. Either way, in teamfights where I’m diving the backline the skin reads well. My ADC said last Thursday around midnight that the ult looked like someone dropped a fruit bomb. Fair description.

Food Fight and the splash details

Part of the Food Fight skinline, which is one of Riot’s goofier collections. Rammus fits naturally into it because his whole deal is being a ball. Durian is a ball. The math works.

Released April 3, 2024. Late season 14 stuff. Roanna Peroz and Kudos Productions handled the artwork, and they captured something genuinely funny without making it look cheap. The splash has Rammus mid-roll through what looks like a kitchen battlefield, other Food Fight skins in the background. Good energy.

8 chromas total. Obsidian turns the whole fruit dark which honestly looks menacing for a food skin. Tanzanite goes purple and gives off this rotten fruit vibe that I think is unintentional but hilarious. (Random aside: I set Tanzanite as my default because purple Rammus rolling at you in the jungle is genuinely intimidating for a fruit.) The rest cover your standard spread but I keep coming back to those two. Pearl exists if you want a clean white durian, which, sure.

Should you pick up Durian Defender?

Real verdict: this is a skin that does exactly what it promises. You want to be a rolling fruit in your Diamond promos? Here you go. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX on all abilities, new recall, solid model work. No new voice but again, Rammus says “ok” and “yeah” so there wasnt much to work with.

Kinda feels like this is a must-have for Rammus mains specifically because the champion has a limited pool of skins that actually change VFX. Full Metal is the other popular one but it’s a completely different vibe. Durian Defender is the fun pick. The one you lock in when you want your team to laugh in champ select instead of tilting over the Rammus jungle pick. Still in the shop, permanent availability.

Played this into a Kayn matchup two patches ago where I invaded his raptors at level 3 and killed him with the durian thorns passive proc. He typed “killed by a fruit” in all chat. Season 14 memories. If you play Rammus even occasionally and you like skins with personality over edge, Durian Defender Rammus is the pick. Skip it if you want something serious, but serious isnt really what Rammus is about anyway. Top pick for Rammus mains who dont take themselves too seriously.