Warring Kingdoms Garen

First time I saw Warring Kingdoms Garen load into my game I thought someone was playing a different champion entirely. The whole silhouette shifts when you slap traditional Chinese armor on a Demacian knight. Been running this skin on and off since it dropped in early 2017 and honestly it still holds up way better than some of the newer Epic releases.

What Warring Kingdoms actually changes on Garen

The model rework here is solid. Garen trades his usual blue-and-gold Demacian plate for deep red and jade armor with dynasty-era Chinese influences. The shoulder guards are massive, his sword becomes this ornate jade blade, and the whole color palette screams Lunar Revel. Not gonna lie, the in-game model reads cleaner than the splash in some ways.

VFX got a proper treatment for an Epic tier skin. His Q lights up with red energy trails when you charge at someone, and the E spin has these jade particles swirling around that look genuinely good in teamfights. Played maybe 40 games with this last month in Diamond and the spin VFX never got old. The R execution sword drops down with red and gold effects that feel heavier than base Garen’s blue beam.

The recall animation is where Riot put extra effort. Garen does this warrior salute pose with his blade, very Three Kingdoms energy. Short and clean. Could be wrong here but I think this was one of the first Lunar Revel skins to get custom recall particles alongside the animation.

Voice lines stay base. Standard for a 1350 RP skin from that era, and honestly Jamieson Price’s base Garen VO works fine with the theme. You dont lose anything there.

The Warring Kingdoms line and where Garen fits

Jojo So nailed the splash. The composition has Garen mid-swing with cherry blossoms in the background, and the lighting sells the whole dynasty warrior fantasy. One of the better splashes in the Lunar Revel: Warring Kingdoms lineup for sure.

Released January 19, 2017. Season 7 if I remember right. The Warring Kingdoms line was already established by then with Katarina, Jarvan IV, and a few others, so Garen joining made sense thematically. Big sword, heavy armor, honorable warrior archetype. Fits the skinline naturally.

Only 1 chroma available, the Golden variant. It shifts the red armor pieces to a bright gold finish. Kinda feels like it should have been the prestige version before prestige editions were a thing. The gold reads well against the Rift, especially in bot lane river fights where the lighting catches it. Wish they had done more chromas for this one though, a jade-heavy version would have been perfect.

Legacy vault skin, so you cant just grab it whenever. Comes back during Lunar New Year events typically. (Random aside: I actually got this from a reroll last Tuesday around 2 AM during a late night ranked session and thats what made me start using it again.)

Warring Kingdoms Garen vs the rest of his wardrobe

Garen has a stacked skin collection at this point. God-King is the obvious Legendary competitor, Mecha Kingdoms went a completely different direction, and Battle Academia exists for the anime crowd. Where does Warring Kingdoms land?

For 1350 RP this Epic delivers above average. The theme cohesion is strong, the VFX complement the model instead of clashing with it, and the splash is genuinely wallpaper-worthy. Real talk though, if you already own God-King Garen theres less reason to pick this up unless you specifically want the Chinese dynasty aesthetic.

In my Diamond games I see maybe one other Warring Kingdoms Garen per month. Most Garen mains either lock in God-King or the newer Mythmaker skin. That rarity is part of the appeal for me. When you load in with this skin people actually notice it because its not the default Garen pick anymore.

Should you buy Warring Kingdoms Garen?

Verdict time. Best Lunar Revel Garen skin you can get, and one of the stronger entries in his Epic tier lineup. The VFX on E and R alone justify 1350 RP for anyone who plays Garen regularly in ranked. The jade blade design is clean, the recall has personality, and the splash holds its own against skins released five years later.

Main downside is availability. Sits in the Legacy pool so you’re waiting for Lunar Revel events or getting lucky with Hextech crafting. If it shows up in Your Shop or during the seasonal event, grab it. Worth 1350 RP if you main Garen, especially if you’re tired of seeing the same God-King every game. Been spamming this in Diamond for the last two weeks and I keep coming back to it over his newer options. The skin just hits different when you’re splitpushing top and that jade spin catches a gank perfectly.