2024 has been a turbulent year for League of Legends. On the plus side, the game’s balance is the best it’s been in years (unless you’re an ADC), fewer champion releases means there’s been less chaos, and a renewed focus on correcting older lore has made everything feel more cohesive. There are flickers of light at the end of what’s felt like a winding, confusing tunnel, but with those highs have come with some serious lows. The shuttering of Riot Forge, two rounds of layoffs, botting issues with Worlds tickets; for every win, it feels like there’s been a pretty ugly loss.
And then there’s Immortalized Legend Ahri, the MOBA’s first-ever Hall of Legends skin. Celebrating the legacy of T1’s ever-iconic Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok, for some players it was an absolute must-buy. Faker’s legacy is undeniable; he’s become the global face of League of Legends and by proxy the player that many aspire to emulate. Most of us probably wanted that skin, but when Riot unveiled its $300 price point, a lot of people went ‘thank you, next.’
Throughout 2024, Riot has consistently come under fire for its pivot towards uber-pricey League of Legends cosmetics. A trend that seemed to start in the game’s sister title, Valorant, it all began with Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin, the first $200 chroma. From there followed Breakout True Damage Ekko, and in 2024 alone we’ve seen six Mythic Variations – effectively one every two months.
In my interview with Riot Games back in June, game director Pu ‘PuPuLasers’ Liu told me that “these kind of products are designed for a very small percentage of our players to be able to purchase and flex,” but assured me that they will continue to be “a small minority.” While the $200 chromas largely cater to avid fans of the champion and cosmetic collectors, the Ahri skin had mass-market appeal. It was something lots of players genuinely wanted, but the price point pushed it out of their reach.
In all my games of League of Legends this year, I’ve only seen one player using the $430 Immortalized Legend Ahri skin. They were on the enemy team, and as we loaded into the game, both sides were quick to spit flames in the chat. As the match progressed the toxicity grew exponentially, perhaps the result of the Ahri’s lane opponent feeding their ass off, or her ability to consistently outplay them despite our jungler camping her lane. As a bystander it was a weird, harrowing thought experiment: players are literally bullying each other over a videogame cosmetic.
Back when the skin was revealed, players were quick to ban Ahri en-masse out of protest, meaning that those who owned it didn’t get that chance to flex. While that’s all ancient history, I’ve watched players be relentlessly bullied just for having the skin, and in many ways owning it appears to leave you as more of a laughing stock than anything else. But I’ve never experienced any of this hate directly; I don’t own the skin. So I talked to two players who do.
They are ‘Falcon’ and ‘Saint,’ two League of Legends players who I was able to verify own the Immortalized Legend Ahri skin. When I ask why they chose to purchase it, they had a pretty simple answer.
“I bought the skin because it’s like the ultimate celebration of a player I’ve seen play and grow for over a decade now,” says Saint. “It just felt like something that, if I could afford it, I should buy it.” Falcon echoes this: “I really respect Faker and everything he’s done; people can hate on him, but he has a legacy. Coming from football, there’s like Ronaldo or Messi – Faker is that kind of figure.”
But Falcon also tells me that he regretted not picking up the original $200 Jhin chroma, which encouraged him to grab Immortalized Legend Ahri. “It goes back to Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin,” he tells me. “With Jhin being one of my favorite champions in the game, I wanted to get it, but when I went to, I was convinced against it. Then it timed out. It was a regret for me.”
Ahri is another of Falcon’s favorites, and while initially he considered doing a giveaway with the skin, he eventually settled on keeping it. “I would tell my colleague ‘yo, this is pretty cool, it’s a rare, once-in-a-lifetime skin,’ and she was like ‘hell no.’ But it’s pretty simple: I bought the skin because, for me, it’s a thing I have that others don’t.”
Both agree, however, that the skin’s price was particularly exorbitant, with Saint noting that “the cost was definitely too high. I think it was definitely a lot and a bold decision on Riot’s part to make this the first big cosmetic item with a price tag like this. Additionally, because I see so much hate about the price, it ‘only’ cost a little bit more than $400. Riot released an RP bundle with the skin that made it so you got a bunch of bonus RP so it cost less.”
“I was going to spend that $500 on something else,” Falcon recalls. “I had to sacrifice something for the skin. That was the coping mechanism I had to go through.”
As I mentioned, owners of the skin were pretty much unable to use it for weeks as their peers protested Riot’s pricing on the Rift. As the months have gone on, there’s a feeling that owning the skin actually impacts you negatively. It feels like you’re immediately going to get a barrage of hate, or that using it will paint a target on your back, while simultaneously alienating your teammates.
I ask Falcon and Saint whether or not they’ve had negative experiences in-game. “Literally the first game I played the skin I got called a slur in chat,” Saint tells me. “I’ve since played the skin numerous times and pretty much every time the enemy team flames me the whole game. Heaven forbid you make a misplay when you bought a skin. I was even told I have no morals in an ARAM because I bought the skin.”
Falcon’s morality has been questioned too, as he recalls that “outside of the game, people were like ‘you’re supporting what [Riot]’s doing, and they’re just going to keep doing it because of people like you,’ which I feel is a dumb comment to make – me buying the skin doesn’t really matter to Riot.” He calls the ban Ahri campaign “scummy,” but notes that he “never received any negatives on [his] side of the team. There’ll be comments on the enemy team, but never anything particularly negative, just the cheesy ‘oh you bought the Ahri skin, imagine wasting your money.’”
In terms of gameplay, Saint’s experience is also somewhat negative. “People target me, a random plat guy playing Ahri support one in 50 games, like I’m some big-name streamer who needs to be killed so they can make it to clip channels on YouTube. It’s kind of pathetic on their part in my opinion.”
“When I play normals with a mix of ranks, people are more childish, but in ranked nobody cares,” Falcon explains. At higher ranks like Master and Grandmaster, he notes that “I’ve come across a lot of players who have the Ahri skin and no one cares. I feel like, when you’re playing competitively, you’re just playing the game to win; everyone’s just locked in.”
The ranked and normal disparity is perhaps unsurprising, given those who are really grinding the League of Legends ranks are most likely to be the game’s die-hard fans and esports enthusiasts. If you’re investing enough time into maintaining a Master or Grandmaster rank, I can understand why a $500 skin could feel ‘worth it.’
But is it, indeed, worth it? Taking into account the cost, other players’ somewhat variable responses to it, and all of the controversy, do Falcon and Saint have any regrets? And would they buy future iterations of the skin, even if the price point stayed the same?
“No regrets here. I enjoy the skin, and it’s been my profile banner since it was released. I already get enough flak from people for owning every skin; one more skin isn’t going to hurt that.” Falcon mirrors this, noting that “the skin has good value. It’s number one; the first of its kind – it has that perk to it.”
As for future purchasing decisions, both players say it depends on which champion we see added to the Hall of Legends next. “If I have the money and the champ is something I could see myself playing at some point, yes. If it’s a champ I don’t want to play or for a player I know nothing about then I might pass,” says Saint. “I enjoy League and it’s where I choose to spend my time and money, so I don’t mind spending on big skins like this.” “I feel like I’m mature enough to make my own reasonable choices,” Falcon shares. “It would really depend on the champion; it’d have to mean something to me.”
I’ve often wondered what would happen if the next Hall of Legends skin was for one of my favorite characters – Senna, Karma, Nami, for example. While I’d be reluctant to drop $300 or $500, the urge to have something unique is hard to resist. Falcon suggests that Riot creates a more expensive battle pass, inspired by the esports player and their journey. That’s a system I’d love to see.
For me, knowing you worked in-game to earn something makes it all the more special. I’d rather items were scarce due to the unlock criteria rather than their hefty price tag alone. Hopefully, Riot embraces that sentiment coming into 2025, otherwise I sense some disappointment on the horizon.