Meowkai

First time I saw Meowkai load into my game I thought someone was trolling. A giant cat tree walking around the Rift throwing kittens at people. Took me maybe two seconds to realize this is one of the best joke skins Riot ever made. Been running this on Maokai since season 6 and honestly its the only skin that makes support Maokai feel like a good time even when your ADC is running it down.

What Meowkai actually changes

So the whole model is a cat tower. Not Maokai wearing a cat costume, not Maokai with cat ears slapped on. Full cat tree. Scratching posts for legs, platforms stacked up, little toys hanging off him. The saplings from his E? Kittens. Actual kittens that run at enemies and explode. Every single time I drop a brush sapling and watch a kitten sprint at their jungler during a gank I lose it. Six seasons later and it still gets me.

The Q slam has cat-themed VFX with yarn and paw prints. W root wraps them in what looks like a ball of yarn. Feels clean to play, the hitbox reads the same as base which matters more than people think. Could be wrong here but I think the R saplings are slightly more visible as kittens than the base saplings, which might actually be a minor competitive disadvantage in higher elo. Nobody in my Diamond games has complained though.

Recall animation is the highlight. Maokai sits down and cats climb all over him. Pure vibes. No new voice lines, kept the base VO, but honestly the base Maokai voice works fine with this. The deep tree voice coming out of a cat tower adds to the comedy. New VFX across the kit really sell the theme hard.

(Random aside: I set the Meowkai splash as my Discord avatar for three months and people kept asking if it was from some indie game.)

The Cats Versus Dogs line and release context

Meowkai dropped March 31, 2016. Part of the Cats Versus Dogs skinline, which also gave us stuff like Pretty Kitty Rengar and Woof and Lamb Kindred over the years. The whole line is Riot at their goofiest and Meowkai fits right in.

Alvin Lee nailed the splash. The composition with all the cats lounging around the tree while Maokai looks confused about his own existence is perfect. Check Alvin Lee’s portfolio, the detail on each individual cat in the splash is ridiculous for what’s essentially a meme skin.

8 chromas total. Tanzanite is my go-to because the deep purple cat tower looks weirdly elegant for a joke skin, and Citrine gives it this warm orange tabby energy that reads really well in game. Rose Quartz is cute but kinda washes out on Summoner’s Rift in my experience. Not gonna lie, having this many chromas on a comedy skin feels generous from Riot. Most people I see in ranked just run the base Meowkai colors though.

This is an Epic tier skin at 1350 RP. Shop has it permanently, no vault nonsense. For the amount of model work and VFX changes you get, 1350 feels fair for what you get.

Who should lock in Meowkai

Real verdict: this is the Maokai skin if you can only own one. Victorious exists but you had to earn that. Astronaut is solid. But Meowkai has something none of the serious skins have. Personality. Every teamfight where you flash W into their backline and a giant cat tower locks down their Katarina, thats comedy gold. Played this in maybe 300 games across six seasons and the novelty hasnt worn off.

Last week around midnight I ulted down river toward dragon pit and watching a wave of kittens chase their entire team into the wall was peak League. My duo was crying laughing on comms. That kind of moment doesnt happen with Charred Maokai.

Real talk though, if you’re a Maokai main who only plays him as a serious frontline engage tank and wants an intimidating look, skip this. Worldbreaker or Haunted are better for that vibe. But if you want to tilt the enemy team by killing them with a cat tree while peeling for your carries, Meowkai is unmatched. Been daily driving this since I started one-tricking Maokai in season 8 and I keep coming back to it over every other option. 1350 RP well spent for mains, and honestly even if you only play Maokai occasionally this skin makes you want to queue him up more.

S-tier Maokai cosmetic. Not even close.