Empyrean Malzahar

First game I loaded this up was a late night ranked session, maybe 1 AM on a Wednesday. Locked in Malzahar mid expecting the usual purple void prophet look and instead got hit with this neon cyber aesthetic that honestly caught me off guard. Empyrean Malzahar takes the whole void mage identity and runs it through some kind of digital dimension filter. Not sure if it’s just me but the skin reads way cleaner than I expected for an Epic tier at 1350 RP.

What Empyrean Malzahar actually brings to the table

The VFX rework here is solid. Q sends out these bright energy waves with a cybernetic pulse feel instead of the standard void silence. Looks sharper in lane, reads better in teamfights. The W voidlings get the Empyrean treatment too, and honestly thats one of the biggest upgrades because you’re staring at those little guys constantly during jungle clear and lane prio fights.

E is where it gets interesting. The space aids dot has this glowing circuit-trace pattern that crawls across targets. Played maybe 30 games with this skin the first two weeks after release and the E visual alone made me feel like I was tracking the dot better. Placebo? Probably. But it felt different.

R, the big ult channel, goes full Empyrean with the beam looking like concentrated digital energy pouring into whoever you’re suppressing. Trapped their Jinx in a dragon pit fight last season and the beam visuals with the Empyrean particles popping off around baron pit was genuinely clean. The recall animation is new too. Malzahar does this floating meditation thing with Empyrean energy swirling around him. Short, stylish, no complaints.

Voice lines stay base, no new VO. Standard for 1350 RP Epics so cant really dock points there. The base Malzahar voice still works fine with the aesthetic honestly.

The Empyrean line and where this fits

Released May 1, 2024. Season 14 drop. Pandart Studio nailed the splash, the composition puts Malzahar floating in this vast Empyrean dimension with the energy radiating outward. Real talk though, the Empyrean skinline has been one of Riot’s more ambitious thematic pushes. Started with the K’Sante and Jhin releases and has kept expanding. Malzahar fits the Empyrean vibe naturally because his whole identity is already about channeling otherworldly power.

9 chromas total for Empyrean Malzahar. Tanzanite is my pick, the deep purple callback to classic void Malzahar but with the Empyrean overlay hits different. Neon Facade does this red-green split that sounds ugly on paper but actually works in game. Pearl goes clean white and I’ve seen a couple Malzahar one-tricks in my Diamond games running it exclusively.

Shop has it. Permanent availability, 1350 RP. (Random aside: Malzahar has been getting skin love recently and its about time, the champion went years with mostly forgettable options.)

How it stacks against other Malzahar skins

Malzahar’s skin catalog is weird. You got the ancient 520 RP recolors like Vizier and Shadow Prince that barely change anything. Hextech Malzahar looks good but requires gemstones or Hextech crafting only. Battle Boss is fun but the arcade theme isnt for everyone. Snow Day is seasonal. Beezahar is a meme pick.

Empyrean Malzahar sits comfortably as the best modern option if you want something that looks premium without going novelty. Been maining Malzahar with this skin since it dropped and I keep coming back to it over Debonair and Worldbreaker. The VFX clarity in teamfights is genuinely better than base, and when you’re playing a champion whose whole kit revolves around positioning and hitting that R on the right backline target, clean visuals matter.

Could be wrong here but I think this is the Malzahar skin if you can only own one. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX on every ability, solid recall, 9 chromas for customization. Skip it if you already have Hextech and love that one, but for anyone climbing with Malzahar in ranked this season, Empyrean is the pick. Spammed this in Diamond for weeks after release and the skin just performs. Not flashy in a distracting way, just polished enough to feel like an upgrade every time you lock in.