On February 1st (Vietnam time), Riot released a series of new skins, including a trio of Thunderblade skins for champions Shen, Qiyana, and Kassadin. Additionally, there is the Celestial Phoenix Xayah skin which will be a limited-edition Prestige version, and the Firelight Ekko skin that makes this champion the next to receive a skin from Riot’s Arcane movie series, following Vi, Jinx, Jayce, and Caitlyn.
Being the main focus of this release, along with the fact that Firelight Ekko and Celestial Phoenix Xayah had been teased earlier, the Thunderblade skin line has completely captured the attention of the League of Legends community. In this Thunderblade skin line, it can be seen that Riot has made many changes compared to the previous Thunderblade Zed.
Firstly, the graphics are clearly more beautiful and sharper. This is completely understandable as Thunderblade Zed was released a long time ago, back in the early years of League of Legends when the graphics had not yet developed as they are today. Furthermore, the effects and animations of this skin line are much more impressive than those of the predecessor, Thunderblade Zed.
However, while Shen has received no negative feedback, and many even praise the Shen and Qiyana skins, Kassadin has sparked more controversy as many League of Legends fans feel that the Thunderblade skin for Kassadin looks too similar to some of his previous skins such as Techno Kassadin and Cosmic Thief Kassadin. Some fans even pointed out that the Thunderblade Kassadin skin seems to simply combine elements from both the Techno and Cosmic Thief skins. Others have likened his recall animation to Kakashi’s ultimate in the famous game Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm.
However, it cannot be denied that this new Thunderblade skin line is quite visually appealing and reflects the mystery and ethereal nature of ninjas and assassins in the shadows. And if nothing changes, this skin line might be released simultaneously with the new champion Renata Glasc in the future.