Inkshadow Aurelion Sol

First game I played with Inkshadow Aurelion Sol was a late night ranked session, maybe 1 AM on a Wednesday. Locked in Aurelion Sol mid against a Syndra, loaded into the Rift, and the ink brush aesthetic hit me immediately. Not sure if it’s just me but the whole vibe felt like someone painted a cosmic dragon onto rice paper and then animated it. The splash had me sold before I even saw the in-game model. Banger first impression.

The ink brush VFX carry this skin

So heres the thing about Inkshadow Aurelion Sol. The base model swap is clean but expected for an Epic tier skin. Dark ink tones replace the cosmic purple and gold, and Aurelion Sol looks like he crawled out of a calligraphy scroll. The horns and scales have this matte finish that reads well against the Rift’s green.

Where it actually matters is the VFX. Q sends out these ink splatter particles that dissolve mid-flight. W feels heavier, the stars trail dark brushstrokes behind them as they orbit. E flight leaves ink wisps in the air. The R execution beam looks like someone dragged a loaded brush across the screen in one confident stroke. Played maybe 40 games with this skin across two weeks in Diamond and the ability readability is solid. Never lost a teamfight because I couldnt track my own spells.

New recall animation too. Aurelion Sol does this meditative pose while ink swirls around him, forming patterns that dissolve into nothing. Short and stylish. Voice lines stay base, no VO refresh, which is fine because Neil Kaplan’s original delivery still holds up. The base voice pack has enough personality that you dont miss new lines.

(Random aside: the recall animation is genuinely one of the better Epic-tier recalls in the game, I’ve sat through it like 200 times and still appreciate it.)

Inkshadow line and release context

Inkshadow Aurelion Sol dropped May 3, 2023. Mid season 13. Lejia Chan and Kudos Productions handled the splash, and they captured this serene power fantasy that fits the Inkshadow theme perfectly.

The Inkshadow skinline pulls from East Asian ink wash painting. Aurelion Sol fits it naturally because the champion already has that mythical dragon energy. Compared to the other Inkshadow skins that launched alongside it, I think Aurelion Sol got the best treatment. Been saying this since the PBE preview and I stand by it two years later. The brushstroke motif works better on a dragon than on most of the other champions in the set.

9 chromas total. Obsidian is my personal pick, the dark-on-dark ink aesthetic goes hard and makes the VFX pop more against the model. Tanzanite hits a deep purple that feels almost like a callback to base Aurelion Sol but through the ink filter. The Inked chroma is the event-exclusive one and kinda feels like the “true” version of the skin with its muted teal accents. Could be wrong here but I think most Aurelion Sol mains gravitate toward either Obsidian or Inked. The rest are fine but those two stand above.

Is Inkshadow Aurelion Sol worth 1350 RP?

Real verdict: 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New VFX across the full kit, a quality recall, strong model changes. For an Epic skin this checks every box. Still in the shop, no vault rotation nonsense, grab it whenever.

Aurelion Sol doesn’t have a massive skin catalog. Storm Dragon exists at Legendary price and yeah it’s flashier, but Inkshadow competes on pure aesthetic cohesion. Might be overthinking it but there’s something about the restraint here that makes it age better than skins trying to do too much. Spammed this in Diamond for most of season 13 and kept coming back to it even after picking up Porcelain Protector later.

If you main Aurelion Sol and you want one skin that looks clean without the Legendary price tag, this is the one. Top pick for Aurelion Sol mains who appreciate the quieter flex over the loud one. That ranked game last season where my jungler complimented the skin in champ select, that sealed it for me. Real talk though, skip it if you already own Storm Dragon and only play Aurelion Sol occasionally. But for one-tricks? Easy buy.