Workshop Nunu & Willump

Been playing Nunu on and off since season 2, and Workshop Nunu & Willump is one of those skins that just screams early League. Not gonna lie, the first time I saw this one in a loading screen I thought someone had modded their client. It looks like something Riot threw together during a lunch break back in 2009, and honestly that’s part of the charm. Rough around the edges. Pure nostalgia fuel.

What Workshop actually changes

So this is a Standard tier skin at 520 RP, which means you’re getting a model swap and not much else. Voice lines stay base. No new particles, no recall animation, nothing fancy. Willump gets this toy workshop aesthetic going on, kinda like he wandered out of Santa’s garage covered in wooden planks and gears. Nunu sits on top looking like a little elf mechanic. The color palette shifts to browns and reds, very holiday-craft-store energy.

The texture work is dated. Really dated. You can tell this was made when League champions had like 400 polygons total. But here’s the thing: after the Nunu rework hit, Riot actually updated the model to match the new kit, so it doesnt look completely ancient anymore. The Q chomp, the W snowball roll, the R channel – all use default VFX but the model itself holds up better than you’d expect for a skin from December 17, 2009.

Played maybe 30 games with this skin last month in Diamond and nobody once commented on it in chat. Not sure if it’s just me but I think most players dont even recognize what skin it is. Could be wrong here but I feel like thats actually a flex in its own way. Rocking something so rare that people just stare at the loading screen confused.

The Snowdown Showdown connection

Workshop sits in the Snowdown Showdown skinline, which is Riot’s holiday collection. Jennifer Wuestling handled the artwork, and for a 2009 splash it reads fine. Nothing mindblowing but it captures the festive workshop vibe they were going for. The Snowdown Showdown line has some gems in it across other champions, but Workshop Nunu specifically leans hard into the toy factory angle rather than straight Christmas theming.

Legacy vault skin. You cant just walk into the shop and grab this one. Hextech only these days unless Riot decides to crack open the vault during a holiday event (random aside: I’ve seen the vault open maybe twice in four years, both times around Snowdown). Zero chromas available, which tracks for a skin this old. Riot wasnt doing chromas back in 2009, and they never went back to add any for Workshop.

Released December 17, 2009. That’s pre-season 1. Before ranked even existed in the way we know it. Season 9 I think or 10 dont remember exactly when they stopped doing Snowdown events, but this skin is from a completely different era of League. Back when 520 RP skins were considered mid-range and not budget tier.

Should you pick up Workshop Nunu & Willump?

Real verdict: this is a collector’s skin. Pure and simple. If you main Nunu & Willump and want something nobody else runs in your games, Workshop delivers on that front. 520 RP feels fair for what you get, assuming you can even find it in a chest or reroll.

But if you’re looking for actual visual upgrades on Nunu & Willump, skip this. Space Groove exists. Nunu Beelump exists. Those skins have new VFX, new recalls, the whole package. Workshop is for the player who values rarity over flashiness. Had a ranked game last Tuesday around 2 AM where my jungle Nunu with this skin got three honors purely because people thought the skin was cool. Small sample size but still.

(Sidebar for Nunu mains specifically: the snowball on W with this skin looks identical to base, so if you’re used to reading the hitbox off the VFX, nothing changes here. No gameplay adjustment needed.)

Kinda feels like Riot forgot this skin exists, and that’s exactly why some of us keep it in rotation. Not every Nunu & Willump skin needs to be a spectacle. Sometimes you just want the workshop elf riding his janky wooden yeti into the enemy jungle at level 3 and ganking mid before they even finish their first cs wave. Standard pricing, above-average nostalgia. Keep it if you roll it.