Mecha Malphite

First time I saw Mecha Malphite load in, season 4 ranked, I thought someone modded the game. Malphite turning into a full Gundam-style mech was not something I expected from Riot back in 2014. Been maining Malphite on and off since season 3 and this skin changed how I felt about picking him into comps where I needed to be the engage. Something about piloting a giant robot into the backline just hits different than a rock.

What Mecha Malphite actually brings

The model is a complete overhaul. Malphite goes from stone golem to walking transformer with jet engines, armored plating, and a cockpit visor where his face used to be. Not gonna lie, the silhouette reads way more threatening in lane. Your opponents know whats coming when they see this thing lumbering toward them.

VFX got a full rework for this Epic tier skin. Q shoots a mechanical projectile with exhaust trails instead of the usual rock shard. W’s ground slam has industrial sparks and metallic impact effects. E sends out shockwaves with that blue energy pulse. The R though. Unstoppable Force turns Malphite into a literal missile. He transforms mid-flight, jets firing, and the impact zone gets this massive mechanical explosion. Played maybe 150 games with this skin and the ult animation still feels clean every single time.

The recall is solid too. Malphite transforms into a jet and flies off the Rift. Short, sweet, no filler. (Random aside: I’ve used this recall to BM after diving their ADC under tower more times than I should admit.) Voice lines stay base, no new VO, but honestly the sound effects on abilities carry the audio side hard enough.

One thing that caught me off guard last Thursday in a Diamond game – the Q projectile is slightly harder to track against certain map skins. Could be wrong here but I think the blue energy blends into river better than the default rock. Small edge, probably doesnt matter, but I notice it when I’m poking pre-6 in top lane specifically.

The Mecha line and release context

Mecha Malphite dropped July 23, 2014. Deep into season 4. The Mecha skinline was one of Riot’s earlier thematic experiments and Malphite fit the concept naturally. Giant rock creature becoming a giant robot is about as clean a translation as you can get.

Alex ‘alexplank’ Flores nailed the splash. The composition puts Mecha Malphite mid-transformation with city destruction in the background. Feels like a movie poster for a Pacific Rim spinoff. Credit where it’s due, the splash alone sold me on buying this back in 2014.

8 chromas total for this skin. Obsidian is my go-to, the dark gunmetal look makes the mech feel military-grade and serious. Sapphire pushes the blue energy theme harder than base which I think works better for the VFX color matching. Citrine gives it an orange-gold construction equipment vibe that I’ve seen maybe 3 times in my games all season. Rest are fine but those three stand out. Pearl looks clean too if you want something lighter but I keep coming back to Obsidian.

Is Mecha Malphite worth 1350 RP?

Straight talk: for 1350 RP this is one of the stronger Epic skins in Malphite’s catalog. New VFX across all abilities, the transformation ult, solid recall animation. Shop has it permanently so no rush. Kinda feels like Riot slightly overdelivered on this one compared to other Epics from the same era.

The competition in Malphite’s skin pool is real though. Dark Star exists. Odyssey exists. But Mecha offers something none of the others do – that transformer fantasy. If you play Malphite as your engage tank in teamfights and you want your R to feel like launching a cruise missile, this is the skin. Been running this in ranked for seasons and I still dont switch off it for weeks at a time.

Skip it if you only play Malphite as a counterpick once every 30 games. But for anyone who locks in the rock regularly, 1350 RP feels fair for what you get. Top pick for Malphite mains who want the mech fantasy over the cosmic or eldritch alternatives. Real talk though, try Obsidian chroma if you grab it. Base colors are good but the dark version is S-tier.