Glacial Malphite

First time I saw Glacial Malphite load into my game was back in season 3, some random top laner on the enemy team. Thought it was just another recolor. Played against it, got ulted, and the ice particles on that R genuinely caught me off guard. Looked way cleaner than base Malphite. That was maybe 2013 or early 2014, dont remember exactly, but the skin stuck with me enough that I picked it up during a sale a few months later.

What Glacial Malphite actually brings

So this is an Epic skin at 1350 RP, and for a skin released July 11, 2012, it holds up better than you’d expect. The whole model gets reworked into this translucent ice golem look. Malphite’s body reads as frozen crystal with deep blue undertones, and in certain lighting on the Rift the edges of his armor catch light in a way that base Malphite never does. Clean effect.

The VFX are where it matters though. His Q sends out this icy shard projectile instead of the standard rock, and honestly the travel speed feels more readable to me. Could be wrong here but the particle seems slightly tighter, which helps when you’re poking in lane pre-6. His W ground slam has frost spreading outward on impact. Not the flashiest thing but it reads well in teamfights when you’re trying to peel for your ADC and need your team to see the slow zone.

The R is the selling point. Unstoppable Force with Glacial Malphite sends this wave of ice and frost on impact. Big freeze explosion. Been running this in Diamond ranked for a while and the ult VFX genuinely looks intimidating when you come flying out of fog of war into their backline. One game last Thursday I caught three people at dragon pit with it and my duo said the ice explosion looked “cinematic.” Fair enough.

Voice lines stay base. No new VO, which is standard for skins from this era. No new recall animation either. You get the model and VFX upgrades and thats the package. For 2012 standards that was plenty.

The Glacial line and release context

Glacial Malphite dropped July 11, 2012. Deep into season 2. The Glacial skinline is one of Riot’s smaller thematic lines, not as sprawling as something like PROJECT or Dark Star. Kinda feels like Riot explored the ice aesthetic early and then moved on to Blackfrost for the premium frozen skins later. But the Glacial line has a simplicity to it that works for Malphite specifically. He’s a rock. Making him an ice rock is the most natural thematic fit you could ask for.

(Random sidebar: Malphite mains know the struggle of having too many decent skins and not enough skin slots in your favorites. Glacial competes with Mecha and Dark Star for that top spot depending on your mood.)

No splash artist credited in the data for this one. The splash itself shows Malphite in full frozen form against a blizzard backdrop. Solid composition for the era. Not gonna lie, the splash has aged more than the in-game model has. Shop has it permanently, so no vault anxiety or loot gambling required.

Zero chromas on Glacial Malphite. What you see is what you get. The ice blue color palette is locked in.

Should you pick up Glacial Malphite for 1350 RP?

Real verdict: if you play Malphite regularly in ranked or even just spam him when you get filled top, Glacial is a strong pickup. 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. The VFX on Q and R are genuinely better than base, and the model transformation is more dramatic than some Epic skins released years after this one.

Where it falls short is the lack of recall and voice work. Malphite has skins like Mecha that go harder on the full package with new sounds and animations. Dark Star Malphite exists too and that one leans into the cosmic VFX territory. But if you want something that reads clean without being over the top, Glacial Malphite hits that spot. Been my go-to Malphite skin this season when I’m not feeling the mech fantasy.

Not sure if it’s just me but the ice theme on Malphite makes his engage feel more threatening visually than the base rock model. Something about a giant ice boulder flying at you at 1500 speed. Played maybe 40 games with it in the last two months and I keep coming back. Skip it if you already own Dark Star or Mecha and only want one Malphite skin in your collection. But if you’re building out the roster, Glacial earns its place. Worth 1350 if you main Malphite.