High Noon Yasuo

First skin Yasuo ever got and honestly it still holds up. High Noon Yasuo dropped December 13, 2013, barely two months after the champion launched, and Riot already knew what they were doing with the cowboy fantasy. Not gonna lie, I remember locking this in during season 4 and feeling like the coolest person on the Rift. Something about a wandering swordsman in a duster and cowboy hat just clicks.

The cowboy samurai thing actually works

For a 975 RP Standard tier skin, High Noon Yasuo punches above its weight. The model swap gives Yasuo a full western outfit: leather duster, wide-brim hat, spurred boots. His sword gets a redesign too, looking more like a cavalry saber than a katana. The color palette shifts from that steel-blue default to warm browns and golds.

VFX got updated which is rare at this price point. His Q tornado has a dusty wind trail, and the Steel Tempest stabs feel grittier. Wind Wall looks like a sandstorm barrier. Kinda feels like they put more effort into this one because it was his launch skin and they needed it to sell. The recall animation is new too, Yasuo does this quick-draw pose that fits the whole gunslinger-meets-samurai vibe perfectly.

Voice lines stay base though. No VO refresh. At 975 RP thats expected, but imagine if they had given him some cowboy drawl. Missed opportunity, even back in 2013.

Chromas, the splash, and High Noon as a skinline

Michal Ivan and Puppetworks Animation Studio handled the artwork. The splash captures this lone wanderer standing in a desert canyon at sunset. Good composition, holds up against newer splashes honestly.

High Noon as a skinline has grown into one of Riot’s biggest. Back when Yasuo got it, the line was small: just him, Twisted Fate, and a few others. Now theres like 30+ High Noon skins including Legendaries. Yasuo was basically the prototype and the line evolved way past what this skin represents. Still, being the OG High Noon Yasuo carries some weight in my Diamond games. People respect the vintage pick.

5 chromas total for this skin. Obsidian is the standout, goes full dark leather outlaw which reads way better than the base brown. Amethyst hits different if you want something flashier, the purple tones against the western theme create this weird but cool contrast. Sapphire is fine but I never see anyone running it. Shop has it permanently at 975 RP, no vault nonsense.

Should you buy High Noon Yasuo?

Real verdict: if you main Yasuo and you’re looking at his skin catalog, High Noon sits in a weird spot. It’s competing against Nightbringer, Spirit Blossom, True Damage, all skins with way more features. Been running this in ranked last week around midnight and a teammate literally asked why I wasnt using Nightbringer instead. Fair question.

But 975 RP feels fair for what you get. The VFX updates, the recall, the clean model swap. Could be wrong here but I think this is the best sub-1350 Yasuo skin by a mile. (Random aside: this was my phone wallpaper for like three months back in season 5, the splash is that good.) If you’re a Yasuo one-trick who already owns the Legendaries and wants variety, grab it. If you only want one Yasuo skin, look higher up the catalog. For everyone else spamming Yasuo in solo queue on a budget, High Noon is the pick. Simple change – huge impact on how the champion feels in lane.