Sultan Gangplank

First time I saw Sultan Gangplank loading in on the enemy team I had to double-take. The whole Ottoman palace vibe on a pirate champion is such a weird combo that it somehow works. Been running this skin on and off since maybe season 6 or 7, dont remember exactly, and it still catches people off guard in champ select. Not a skin you see often in Diamond lobbies. Maybe three times this entire season.

What Sultan Gangplank actually brings to the table

So the model swap is the main event here. Gangplank trades his usual pirate captain look for this rich sultan outfit with a turban and ornate robes. Gold trim everywhere. The sword gets a curved scimitar-style redesign that reads really well during Q pokes in lane. Honestly not gonna lie, the auto attack animations feel slightly different with the curved blade even though mechanically nothing changed.

For a 975 RP Standard tier skin, Riot gave this one more love than usual. New VFX on the barrels and the recall animation is clean. The barrel explosions have this golden-amber tint that pops against the Rift. When you land a good barrel chain on the backline in a teamfight, the visual feedback is satisfying. E chains specifically look crisp.

Voice lines stay base, so you still get Matthew Mercer’s Gangplank VO which honestly carries any Gangplank skin. The ult (R) keeps the standard cannonball rain but the slight color shift on the VFX makes it feel more thematic. Could be wrong here but I think the W orange even looks slightly different, though that might just be placebo from the skin’s color palette bleeding into my perception.

One thing that bugged me for a while: the model’s silhouette in fog of war reads a bit different from base Gangplank. Played maybe 40 games with it last month around ranked reset and I noticed enemies sometimes hesitate a split second longer before engaging. Probably means nothing at a competitive level but in solo queue every millisecond of confusion helps.

The Wonders of the World line and release context

Sultan Gangplank dropped November 13, 2013. Late season 3. Sperasoft Studio handled the splash and they captured the vibe perfectly. The splash shows Gangplank lounging on silk cushions with his scimitar, looking like he owns the entire port city behind him.

The Wonders of the World skinline is one of Riot’s smaller thematic sets. Not as popular as the big event lines but thats kind of why I like it. You dont see Sultan Gangplank in every other game like you see Pool Party or Captain. The Wonders of the World concept takes champions and drops them into historical cultural aesthetics. For Gangplank it works because the character already has that seafaring merchant-pirate energy.

No chromas on this one. Zero. What you see is what you get. Shop has it for 975 RP permanently so you can pick it up whenever. (Random aside: this is my go-to Gangplank skin when I want to tilt enemy laners with the BM recall animation after a solo kill top lane.)

Is Sultan Gangplank worth 975 RP?

Real verdict: for Gangplank mains this is a solid rotation skin. Not the flashiest option in his lineup. Captain Gangplank exists, Dreadnova exists, FPX exists. But Sultan fills a niche none of those cover. The aesthetic is unique. 975 RP feels fair for what you get, especially considering the new VFX and recall that Riot included.

I think if you’re a Gangplank one-trick climbing through ranked, you want variety in your skin rotation to keep the champion feeling fresh across hundreds of games. Sultan Gangplank earns a spot in that rotation. Played it in a promo series last Tuesday and the scimitar autos just hit different when you’re csing under pressure pre-6.

Skip it if you only play Gangplank occasionally and already own one skin for him. But if you main him and you’re looking for something outside the typical pirate fantasy, this Standard tier skin punches above its weight. The golden barrel VFX alone sold me on keeping it in rotation. Kinda feels like Riot tested some ideas here that they later refined for his more expensive skins.