Old God Malphite

First time I saw Old God Malphite load in, I thought someone modded the game. Not gonna lie. The dude looks like a cathedral that got possessed and started walking. Played against one in a Diamond ranked game around 2 AM last August and genuinely had to double-check what champion it was. Malphite has a bunch of skins but most of them just change his color and call it a day. This one actually transforms him into something that belongs in a horror game.

What the skin actually changes

Old God Malphite turns the rock boy into this massive eldritch deity covered in dark bark, antlers, and glowing runes. The model work here is serious. He looks like he crawled out of a cursed forest, which tracks because hes part of the Coven universe where ancient gods ruled before the witches took over.

VFX got a full rework for this one. His Q sends out this swirling dark energy projectile with vine-like tendrils trailing behind it. W ground slam has these root-like cracks spreading across the ground. Looks clean in teamfights when you proc it on three or four people. The E clap sends out a shockwave with that same corrupted nature aesthetic. Green and purple particles everywhere.

The R though. Unstoppable Force. When you ult into the backline with this skin the impact zone blooms with these massive thorny roots and dark energy. Been spamming this in ranked for a few weeks after I bought it and the ult VFX alone sold me. Every engage feels heavier. The recall animation has Malphite summoning some kind of dark ritual circle with antlers growing from the ground. Solid stuff.

Voice lines stay base, no new VO. Standard for an Epic tier skin at 1350 RP. Kinda feels like they could have added a voice filter at least, given how different the model looks. But the visual package carries it.

The Coven line and release context

Old God Malphite dropped August 12, 2021. Mid-season 11 if I remember right. Felipe Martini and West Studio handled the artwork, and they cooked. The splash has Malphite towering over a dark forest with that massive antlered silhouette. (Random aside: this splash would make a killer desktop wallpaper, the composition is that good.)

The Coven skinline is one of Riot’s better thematic universes. You got the witches on one side and these Old Gods on the other. Malphite fits the Old God fantasy perfectly because he’s already this ancient immovable force. Nocturne got an Old God skin too, and Mordekaiser later. But Malphite’s version might be the best executed of the set. The scale just works when your champion is literally a mountain.

9 chromas total for this one. Obsidian goes full dark mode and reads the cleanest in game, I think. Dark Ritual is the event-exclusive one with that deep teal and crimson combo that hits different from the rest. Tanzanite pulls the purple way harder than base, good if you want that cosmic horror look. The others are fine but those three stood out across maybe 40 games with this skin. Could be wrong here but I feel like Ruby is the weakest, it just looks like a regular Malphite with extra steps.

Is Old God Malphite worth 1350 RP?

Real verdict: if you play Malphite at all, this is the skin. Full stop. I’ve tried most of his catalog. Mecha is decent. Dark Star is cool but feels overdesigned. Old God Malphite hits the sweet spot where the theme matches the champion’s identity without trying too hard.

1350 RP feels fair for what you get. New model, full VFX overhaul, new recall. Shop has it, permanent availability, no vault nonsense. For Malphite mains climbing through ranked or anyone who likes dropping R on five people in a teamfight and watching the screen explode with eldritch VFX, this is first choice. Skip it only if you already own Prestige Dark Star and cant justify another Malphite skin. Otherwise lock it in.

Been my go-to Malphite skin since that late night game in season 11 where I ulted their Katarina mid-channel in dragon pit. Three kills, elder secured, and the Old God VFX made it look cinematic. That ranked game where my Kayn inted bot lane and I still carried teamfights with R engages on a 23 game winstreak one weekend – this was the skin for all of it. S-tier Malphite cosmetic.