Prestige PROJECT Irelia 2022 - Splash, Price & Details

First time I saw Prestige PROJECT: Irelia (2022) pop up in the shop rotation I had to double-take. Not gonna lie, I thought it was the original 2019 Prestige version at first glance. But no. Riot decided Irelia needed another golden PROJECT pass, this time with the 2022 Mythic Essence rework. The whole re-release caught a lot of people off guard, myself included. Played three ranked games that night just to see if anyone was running it. Nobody was.

How it actually looks in game

So the base PROJECT: Irelia skin already slaps. Cyberpunk Irelia with the holographic blades, the neon highlights, the whole futuristic assassin vibe. The Prestige variant takes that foundation and wraps it in white and gold. Think celestial tech warrior instead of dark cyber operative. Clean shift.

The VFX got a proper Prestige treatment. Her Q dashes leave trails of warm golden light. Feels like cutting through butter when you’re resetting on minions in lane. The W channel has this radiant shield effect that reads better than the base PROJECT purple, at least in my Diamond games where I need to quickly tell if she’s mid-channel or not. Could be wrong here but I think the hitbox visual actually matches better on this version.

Her E marks land with a softer particle set. Less aggressive than standard PROJECT but still readable. The ult is where things get interesting though. Prestige PROJECT: Irelia sends out that blade wall with a golden sheen that catches light differently depending on the map side. Played maybe 15 games on blue side and the ult particles pop way harder against the terrain there. Red side its still good but slightly washed out near river.

Recall animation stays custom from the PROJECT line. Irelia assembles her blades in that tech-pod sequence, except now everything glows white-gold. Short and clean. Voice lines stay base, no new VO on this one. Standard for Prestige skins honestly.

The PROJECT line and where this fits

PROJECT is one of Riot’s longest running skinlines at this point. Irelia joined the roster back in 2019 and the original Prestige PROJECT: Irelia was a battle pass exclusive that season. The 2022 re-release dropped April 1, 2022. Season 12 was in full swing. Riot was transitioning the old Prestige Point system into Mythic Essence and needed to re-release a bunch of older Prestige skins to fill out the rotating shop.

Xuning Cui and Kudos Production handled the splash art. They captured that elevated tech-goddess energy without making it look like a completely different champion. (Random aside: the splash has been my Discord banner for over a year now and nobody has ever commented on it.) The white and gold palette puts Prestige PROJECT: Irelia closer to something like a divine mech pilot than the gritty cyberpunk of standard PROJECT. Kinda feels like Riot wanted to split the difference between PROJECT and a Prestige skin’s usual luxury aesthetic.

Real talk though, the PROJECT skinline has gotten crowded. Irelia alone has the base PROJECT, original Prestige, and now this 2022 version. Three skins from one line on one champion. For Irelia mains who already owned the 2019 Prestige, this felt redundant. For everyone else who missed the original window, this was the second chance.

Getting your hands on it

This is a Mythic tier skin. Special pricing, meaning you couldnt just drop RP on it like a normal shop purchase. When it was available, you needed Mythic Essence from the rotating Mythic shop. Right now it sits in the vault. Vault rotation skin. Riot cycles these in and out so you might see it again, might not. No telling when.

No chromas on this one. Prestige skins almost never get chromas since the whole point is the single premium colorway. Zero chromas, zero variants. What you see is what you get.

Been maining Irelia with this skin off and on since it dropped and I keep coming back to it over Divine Sword and Mythmaker. Something about the golden Q resets in a teamfight just hits different. Last Thursday I had a game where I dove their backline at dragon, got a triple with Q resets, and the kill feed looked gorgeous in gold. My jungler pinged my skin in postgame lobby. Small things.

Should you chase it?

Verdict time. Prestige PROJECT: Irelia (2022) is a solid Mythic skin that doesn’t reinvent the wheel. If you already own the 2019 original Prestige, skip it. The differences are minimal enough that you’re paying Mythic Essence for what amounts to a slight VFX refresh and updated splash borders. Not worth the essence.

But if you missed the original and you play Irelia regularly, this is arguably the best golden variant she has. The PROJECT base does heavy lifting and the Prestige layer adds just enough polish. I think it edges out Mythmaker for second-best Irelia skin behind Sentinel, but thats a hot take and I know Divine Sword fans will disagree. Fair enough.

For one-tricks who want every Irelia skin in the collection, wait for the vault rotation and grab it then. For everyone else climbing ranked on other champions, your Mythic Essence is probably better spent elsewhere. Irelia has too many good skins already. This one is premium but not essential. Top pick for Irelia mains who missed 2019, easy skip for everyone else.