Redeemed Star Guardian Rakan

First time I locked in Redeemed Star Guardian Rakan was around 3 AM after the patch dropped. Couldn’t sleep, loaded into a normal game, and just sat on the fountain spinning the model. Not gonna lie, this skin hit me different than I expected. The whole corrupted-to-redeemed arc Riot built across two seasons of Star Guardian finally pays off here, and Rakan wears that redemption well.

How the skin actually plays

This is a full Legendary. New voice lines, new VFX, new recall, new animations. Ronan Summers returns on the VO and the delivery is noticeably different from base Star Guardian Rakan. Less cocky, more grounded. There’s weight in the voice now. The interactions with Xayah specifically feel earned after the whole corruption storyline.

The Q heal has this soft golden light that radiates outward. Clean. The W Grand Entrance gets a burst of white and gold feathers on impact, and I think the hitbox reads slightly better than base SG because of how the particles spread. Could be wrong here but the engage feels crispier in teamfights. Your E dash trails these bright feather particles behind you and it actually helps your ADC track when the shield lands.

R is where they went hardest. The Quill Coat charm sends out this wave of purified Star Guardian energy. Massive golden wings spread during the channel. Played maybe 40 games with this skin in Diamond and I still catch myself watching the ult animation instead of tracking who I charmed. Thats a problem in ranked but honestly the VFX deserve the stare.

The recall animation tells a whole story. Rakan kneels, the Star Guardian light surrounds him, and he rises redeemed. Short version of the entire narrative arc in 8 seconds. Been using the recall to BM after good engages in lane. Works every time.

Star Guardian Season 4 and the redemption arc

Redeemed Star Guardian Rakan dropped October 11, 2023. Late into season 13. The Star Guardian Season 4 line wrapped up a storyline that started back in 2022 with the corrupted versions of Rakan and Xayah. Riot took their time with this one.

Ina Wong and West Studio handled the splash art. The composition puts Rakan center frame with golden wings fully spread, white and blue palette replacing the dark corruption from before. Check Ina Wong’s other Star Guardian work, they have a consistent eye for the magical girl aesthetic that translates perfectly to League splashes.

1820 RP for a Legendary. Standard pricing. No chromas available which I think is the right call here. The color story is specific to the redemption theme, white and gold replacing corrupted purple. Adding chromas would dilute that. (Random aside: the splash has been my Discord avatar since release and I’ve gotten more compliments on it than any profile pic I’ve ever used.)

The skin is a pair piece with Redeemed Star Guardian Xayah obviously. Running them together in bot lane with a duo is peak aesthetic. My duo partner picked up the Xayah skin week one and the shared recall interaction is clean. The peel feels thematic when you’re shielding your redeemed partner from a diving Kayn.

Comparing to other Rakan skins

Rakan has solid options. Cosmic Dawn was the previous go-to for a lot of mains, and Arcana Rakan brought that tarot energy. But Redeemed Star Guardian sits at the top for me. The new VO alone justifies the Legendary price. Base Star Guardian Rakan had the corrupted edge, which was cool for its time, but the redeemed version feels complete.

Real talk though. If you dont play Rakan regularly this is a hard sell at 1820 RP. The skin rewards you for understanding his kit because the VFX enhance ability clarity. The W engage particles, the E shield trail, the R charm wave. All of it reads better when you know what you’re looking for. Been spamming this in Diamond since about November 2023 and the skin still feels fresh six months later.

Elderwood Rakan is the budget alternative if you want something different from base. Broken Covenant has its fans too. But neither touches the production quality here. New voice, new effects, new animations. Full package.

The honest take

Redeemed Star Guardian Rakan is arguably the best Rakan skin. The narrative payoff from the Star Guardian storyline gives it emotional weight that pure cosmetic skins cant match. Kinda feels like Riot designed this as the definitive Rakan experience and everything else is just options.

Should you buy it? If Rakan is in your support rotation at all, yes. 1820 RP well spent for mains. The new voice lines from Ronan Summers carry this skin beyond just visual changes. Shop has it, permanent availability, no rush. But if you’re a Rakan one-trick who hasn’t picked this up yet I genuinely dont know what you’re waiting for. Locked this in for a late night ranked session last Tuesday and went on a five game win streak. Correlation isnt causation but the skin just puts you in the right headspace for those clutch engages. Best support skin of the Star Guardian Season 4 lineup, no question.