Eternal Sword Yi

First game I played with Eternal Sword Yi was somewhere around 2 AM on a Tuesday, queued into a Diamond 3 lobby, and I remember thinking the loading screen splash alone justified the purchase. Kelly Aleshire nailed the splash. The whole celestial warrior vibe hit different compared to every other Master Yi skin I’d cycled through that season. Not gonna lie, I locked it in expecting just another 1350 RP reskin and got way more than that.

What Eternal Sword Yi actually brings to the table

The model redesign turns Master Yi into this ethereal swordsman wrapped in flowing robes and golden armor. Think ancient Chinese immortal warrior aesthetic but pushed through Riot’s fantasy filter. The sword itself glows with this warm amber energy that pulses during autos, and the trail it leaves on Alpha Strike is clean. Really clean.

Q sends Yi phasing through targets with these golden slash marks that linger just long enough to look satisfying without cluttering the screen. Meditate gets a celestial circle beneath him with floating symbols. Kinda feels like the VFX team spent extra time on W because it actually reads well in teamfights when you’re trying to time the damage reduction against burst. Wuju Style activation wraps the blade in concentrated golden flame, and the autos during E proc with this sharp metallic ring that I think sounds better than base.

Highlander is where it really shines though. The movement trail goes full golden streak, Yi’s model gets this luminous outline, and the whole thing just screams “get out of the backline.” Been running this in ranked for months and the R activation still feels impactful every time. Voice lines stay base, no new VO, but honestly Master Yi’s base voice works fine with the theme.

The recall animation deserves a mention. Yi meditates mid-air, sword floating beside him, energy converging into a burst. Short and clean. No fifteen-second theatrical production. Just a solid recall that fits the skin’s identity.

Immortal Journey and the 2017 release window

Eternal Sword Yi dropped September 27, 2017. Late season 7 if I remember right. Part of the Immortal Journey skinline alongside Sacred Sword Janna and Eternal Sword Talon (sidebar: Talon’s version is called Enduring Sword, which always confused me). The Immortal Journey line pulls from wuxia and Chinese mythology, and Master Yi fits the theme better than almost any other champion in the roster. A swordsman who trained for decades on a mountain? Thats basically a xianxia protagonist already.

The Immortal Journey set has grown since then with more champions joining the line. Yi’s version still holds up visually against the newer entries. Kelly Aleshire handled the artwork and the composition is strong. Yi mid-leap with the sword trailing golden light behind him. Good stuff.

5 chromas available for this one. Obsidian is my go-to because the dark palette with gold accents reads like a fallen immortal vibe. Ruby runs the red and gold combo that looks festival-ready. Pearl shifts everything to this icy white-blue that honestly changes the skin’s entire mood. The other two are solid but those three carry the chroma set.

How it plays in actual games

Spammed this in Diamond for maybe 23 games in a row one weekend last season. The auto attack animations feel slightly different from base. Could be wrong here but the wind-up on autos during Wuju Style active seems smoother, or at least the VFX make it feel that way. Jungle clear with this skin just looks better. The golden Q explosions on raptors, the W glow while you wait for cooldowns at wolves.

One thing I noticed after a couple weeks: the golden VFX can occasionally blend into Summoner’s Rift terrain on the yellow-side jungle. Not a dealbreaker, not even close, but on blue side everything pops harder. (Random aside: my duo partner bought this skin purely because he saw it in my game and thought it was a Legendary. It’s not. It’s an Epic at 1350 RP, which honestly makes the value proposition kind of insane.)

Compared to PROJECT: Yi which goes full cyber, or Cosmic Blade which leans into the space aesthetic, Eternal Sword Yi sits in this sweet spot of elegant fantasy that doesnt try too hard. Spirit Blossom Master Yi came later and competes for the “best thematic Yi skin” slot, but Eternal Sword still wins for me on pure visual clarity.

Real verdict

Should you buy it? If you play Master Yi at all, this is a top pick. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX on every ability, solid recall, strong model, and a thematic identity that actually matches the champion’s lore. Shop has it permanently, no vault nonsense.

For Yi mains and one-tricks, this is arguably the best Master Yi skin if you want something that feels premium without dropping Legendary money. The chromas add longevity. Grab Obsidian at minimum. Been daily driving this since season 8 on and off and I keep coming back to it over newer options. S-tier Master Yi cosmetic, straight up. Maybe just my experience but every time I try to switch to another Yi skin I end up back here within a week.