Victorious Maokai

Not gonna lie, when Riot announced Maokai as the Season 6 Victorious skin I remember the collective groan from the community. People wanted Victorious Viktor or Victorious Gangplank. But here we are, and after locking this in for a few hundred games I think the skin gets way more hate than it deserves. The blue and gold treatment works on the tree. Period.

How Victorious Maokai actually looks in game

The model swap gives Maokai this royal blue bark with gold trim running through his branches. Kinda feels like they turned him into a champion’s trophy, which is exactly the point of the Victorious line. His saplings get a blue-gold makeover too, and watching them waddle across the Rift with that color scheme is genuinely funny to me.

VFX got updated across the board. His Q slam sends out this blue shockwave that reads cleaner than base in teamfights. W root has gold particle trails when you dive onto someone. E saplings carry the blue theme, and honestly the brush-empowered ones look meaner than default. R is where it pops hardest – the wall of roots comes up in deep blue with gold highlights. Been using this in Diamond support games and the ult VFX actually helped my team react faster to engages. Could be wrong here but I think the contrast against Summoner’s Rift green makes it more visible than base.

Recall animation is new. Maokai plants himself and grows these golden leaves. Simple change – huge impact on the feel between fights. Voice lines stay base, no new VO, which is expected for a Standard tier skin.

The Victorious line and Season 6 context

Victorious Maokai dropped November 8, 2016. End of Season 6. Jojo So handled the artwork and they captured the regal vibe perfectly. The splash shows Maokai draped in that signature Victorious blue and gold, roots spreading across what looks like a throne room floor.

The Victorious skinline is Riot’s annual ranked reward for hitting Gold or above. You cant buy this one. No RP price tag, no shop listing. Its a vault skin now, meaning if you weren’t Gold+ in Season 6 you missed it. Loot eligible though, so theoretically you could roll it from Hextech chests. Seen maybe 2 of these in my games all season, and one was me.

(Random aside: Season 6 was the Courage of the Colossus meta and Maokai was genuinely pick-or-ban in ranked. The Victorious choice actually made sense at the time even if people didnt want to admit it.)

Should you care about Victorious Maokai?

Real verdict: if you have it, use it. The VFX updates carry weight for a free ranked reward. Played this skin last Thursday in a late night ranked session and the Q particles still hold up in 2026. No chromas to worry about, no premium price to justify. Just a clean reward skin that does its job.

Maokai mains who grinded to Gold back in season 6 know why this sits in rotation. The blue-gold palette reads well against every map skin. Not the flashiest Maokai option compared to Astronaut or Meowkai, but there’s something about rocking a skin that proves you were there. Top pick for Maokai mains who want to flex the ranked grind. If you missed Season 6 you’re stuck hoping for a lucky chest roll, and honestly thats part of what makes it feel special when you lock in Victorious Maokai in champ select and your team actually notices.