Infernal Shen

First time I saw Infernal Shen load in was a ranked game around midnight, season 9. My support locked Shen and I thought the splash was bugged because the colors were so aggressive compared to base. Played against it maybe twice that week. Not gonna lie, the fire theme on a ninja tank felt weird at first. Then I tried it myself.

What actually changes on Infernal Shen

The whole model gets this molten armor treatment. Shen goes from his usual calm ninja look to a cracked volcanic warrior with fire running through the plates. His spirit blade, the one that follows you around, burns bright orange instead of the default blue-white. Massive visual shift.

Q pulls the blade through with flame trails now. Feels heavier somehow, even though the hitbox is identical. The W zone, Spirit’s Refuge, swaps to a fire circle on the ground. Cleaner read in teamfights honestly, especially when you drop it during a chaotic dragon contest. Could be wrong here but I think the orange pops better against Summoner’s Rift terrain than the base blue does.

E, Shadow Dash, leaves a scorched trail behind Shen as he taunts through enemies. Good visual feedback for your ADC to know you just hit the engage. The R shield gets the fire treatment too, wrapping your ally in flames before you channel in. Played maybe 40 games with this skin and every time I ult bot lane my duo says the shield VFX looks cleaner than base.

Recall animation is new. Shen does this meditative pose with fire swirling around him. Short and clean. Voice lines stay base, no VO refresh on this one. Standard for a 1350 RP Epic tier skin. The VFX carry the whole package here.

The Infernal line and release context

Infernal Shen dropped September 5, 2019. Late into season 9, right around Worlds hype. West Studio handled the artwork, and they captured the contrast between Shen’s disciplined stance and the chaotic fire pretty well.

The Infernal skinline is one of Riot’s older thematic sets. Champions consumed by elemental fire, volcanic armor, the whole deal. Shen fits the Infernal fantasy better than you’d expect for a tank support. The ninja silhouette works with the cracked lava plates. (Random aside: my buddy who one-tricks Shen has this as his desktop wallpaper and wont change it.)

5 chromas total. Ruby deepens the red into a darker crimson that reads almost demonic. Pearl flips the palette to a white-blue frost fire look, which honestly feels like a different skin entirely. Peridot goes green, kinda gives off toxic fumes energy. The other two, Catseye and Rose Quartz, are fine but I keep coming back to Pearl. Something about the contrast against the Rift just hits different in lane.

Is Infernal Shen worth 1350 RP?

Real verdict: if you play Shen regularly in ranked, this is a strong pickup. Been running this in Diamond for a couple seasons now and the VFX clarity genuinely helps. Your team can see your W zone, your E trail reads clean, and the R shield is impossible to miss. That matters when you’re peeling for backline or ulting a splitpushing top laner across the map.

1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX on every ability, new recall, solid model redesign. No new voice lines but thats expected at this price point. Compared to PsyOps Shen or Pulsefire Shen, Infernal trades the tech aesthetic for raw elemental power. I think PsyOps has slightly better animations overall but Infernal has the more striking splash and in-game presence.

Shop has it permanently. Not a vault skin, not loot exclusive. If you main Shen or play him as a flex pick between top and support, Infernal Shen is arguably the best value in his skin catalog. Skip it if you already own Pulsefire though, unless you specifically want that fire theme. For everyone else climbing with Shen in their pool, this one earns its spot. Been my go-to Shen skin since last January and I dont see that changing soon.