League of Legends skins have always been one of the primary sources of income for Riot Games without breaking its free-to-play model on unfair gameplay enhancements. Skins have been around as long as League of Legends itself. This causes some skins to be extremely hard to find and unavailable for purchase in the LoL store. Some of League of Legends rarest skins can be acquired through specific methods which may prove to be difficult to do or cost quite a hefty amount of money. It’s time to learn which League of Legends skins are considered rare and why.
What makes a League of Legends skin rare?
While there are a lot of ways to get League of Legends skins. Not all League of Legends skins are considered rare just because you can’t buy it in the League of Legends store. With the Hextech Crafting system introduced Legacy Skins have been made accessible and fairly common to acquire. Even so, League of Legends rarest skins are a sight to behold, and getting them through the Hextech crafting system is like winning the League of Legends lottery system itself. So what are the criteria which make a League of Legends skin something rare?
- You can’t purchase it in the League of Legends store
- They have an extremely low drop chance in Hextech Chests
- They can only be purchased during a short duration seasonally
- The requirements to get these are extremely high/expensive
- They were only given as a reward for a small group of people
- They shouldn’t be anymore in existence
With those being said, we’ll be separating it into 3 rarity tiers with Tier 3 skins being the most common among the League of Legends rarest skin roster and Tier 1 being the most mythical and extremely difficult to find skins in League of Legends history. Even though you get to see some of these skins around, we can guarantee that there won’t be more than 20% of the League of Legends player base that’ll have these skins.
League of Legends Rarest Skins – Tier 3
In Tier 3, the League of Legends rarest skins roster includes actively purchasable LoL skins but are extremely difficult to do so. Most of these include bundles. Of course, only players who have the time, effort, and resources to farm these can acquire them which will categorize them among the fortunate 20% of League of Legends population who have these skins at their disposal.
Gemstone Skins
Gemstone skins are available through the Mythic Crafting menu by spending 10 Gemstones. If you didn’t know, Gemstones are an extremely rare currency which can only be acquired through Hextech Chests or as progression rewards. That means only those who really put time into playing this game get to really get these skins. The flagship of this roster as the rarest being Soulstealer Vayne as she is the least purchased in this set.
Prestige Edition Skins
Prestige Edition skins were only made available recently and, boy, do they cost a lot. We’re not talking about the base edition of these skins but the Prestige Edition which is like an upgrade or chroma version of the skin. You can only purchase prestige skins by acquiring Prestige Tokens which are purchased separately in stores or buying event passes to farm them. Either way, it cost a ridiculous amount and isn’t something everyone with a budget can get. The representative of this roster Blood Moon Aatrox Prestige Edition as nobody was really sure if they should buy it at the time considering the character is… well… Aatrox.
Urfwick
Urfwick was released as a 2010 skin and had it stayed that way this would be higher up in the list, However, with the introduction of the Essence Emporium, Urfwick was made available for purchase with a staggering price tag of 150,000 Blue Essence. Luckily, with the combination of its steep price and annual appearance, Urfwick remains a fairly rare skin and only players who have farmed up enough Blue Essence can have the honor of owning this skin.
Grey Warwick & Medieval Twitch
Grey Warwick and Medieval Twitch are skins which are already unavailable through any means aside from one. These skins come as a reward for players who have successfully reached Honor Level 5 by the end of the season. Considering how hard it is to reach Honor 5, these skins have become something only League of Legends saints have had the means to get. Being extremely nice in solo queue is almost impossible and so are the chances to get these skins.
League of Legends Rarest Skins – Tier 2
In Tier 2, skins are now off the market but a lucky percentage of League’s population were still fortunate enough to acquire these skins just in time. It is accounted that only 3% have these skins and are seen as a collector’s item in League of Legends. To fit in this criteria, players have had to be active in 2010 or later as most of these skins are only acquired as rewards for those who were pioneers in the game and have witnessed its legacy first-hand.
Victorious Jarvan IV
Victorious Jarvan IV is the very first skin in the Victorious series and was only available as an end of season reward in 2011 which was only 2 years after the game’s release. Needless to say, there is no way to get it now if you’re only starting out. You can still find a player occasionally sporting this skin as end of season rewards come even if you weren’t looking to getting it in the first place. To be fair, what person doesn’t have at least 1 victorious skin in their collection?
Championship Riven (2012)
Just to be clear, the Championship Riven skin was re-released in 2016 so you might think it’s not really that rare at all. However, the 2012 version has a significant difference from its 2016 version which can save its rarity. Riot Games decided that the vintage version of the skin will retain its tiara while the 2016 version will not feature it. Additionally, the vintage Riven’s ultimate features the sword glowing while the 2016 version remains dull.
UFO Corki
This skin was given out by Riot Games to players who have accounts that were registered before January 2010. Given that it was simply handed out, there are a lot of accounts out there that have the skin hanging around their inventory already. Again, only hardcore veterans of the game have the honor of having this skin. So, the next time someone questions you being a pioneer, simply flash that UFO Corki in their face and go your way.
PAX Skins
PAX Skins which featured Sivir, Jax, and Twisted Fate were only made available for players who attended the PAX Prime event in 2011. That means that it was mostly players from the NA who were able to get these skins aside from those who were dedicated enough to go to the event overseas. NEO PAX Sivir was recently made available but it still can’t beat the vintage version in both rarity and awesomeness.
League of Legends Rarest Skins – Tier 1
For our Tier 1 list, this features the skins which shouldn’t even be seen at all in today’s time. No one, and we mean no one, should see these skins in their lifetime at all since they were fragments of League of Legends’ birth and rise. Only players who became fans of the game before the game even came out has these skins (unless they were purchased in the League of Legends account black market, of course). These skins are so rare that an account containing these can go up to $500 or more in the Black Market.
Silver Kayle
Silver Kayle came as a bonus for players who purchased the League of Legends Collectors Edition game in 2009. Now, already you can already estimate the number of players who bought the box let alone if they were even interesting in playing the game. Luckily, for those that did buy the Collectors Edition, Silver Kayle will always stand as a reminder that they were the first among millions who played League of Legends and loved it.
Young Ryze
Young Ryze is also a Collectors Edition bonus and has received countless visual reworks alongside the countless reworks Ryze had throughout the years. Popularly known as Human Ryze, the skin has become quite the controversial and interesting topic as people question the need to rework as skin not in use. Little do they know that those who do have this skin are still lurking in the darkest shadows of Runeterra waiting to make an appearance.
Black Alistar
Black Alistar was also a Collector’s Edition bonus but is 100 times rarer than Young Ryze and Silver Kayle combined. This is because this skin was only made available if you purchased the Collector’s Edition in GameStop or Amazon, something you wouldn’t even bother to do in 2011. With the amount of players who have this skin, its easily the rarest collectors edition skin.
King Rammus
When it comes to League of Legends rarest skins, King Rammus is on top of the leaderboards. King Rammus was a reward for players who participated in the League of Legends closed beta. Knowing closed betas, you know how many players actually have this skin in their collection. Being modeled after a certain Super Mario iconic character, this skin is one that is coveted by a lot of League of Legends and Nintendo fans around the world even today.
Rusty Blitzcrank
And the award of League of Legends rarest skin goes to – Rusty Blitzcrank! This skin is literally so rare that it shouldn’t even be seen. The thing is, Rusty Blitzcrank was a controversial skin because players complained that it was so lazily made considering that the only difference it had with the original Blitzcrank was a few shades of “rust”. That being said, nobody wanted to buy so much so that Riot Games immediately removed it from the stores. Little did these players know, that the skin they hated so much would one day be considered as the rarest skin (which was partially thanks to them anyway). Ultimately, it just became one of many League of Legends memes in history today.
Why can’t I see these rare skins in the list of skins in my client?
The League of Legends client only reveals unlockable skins which most of these are not. That means there is no way you can get these skins even through the random drops of the Hextech Chests. If you plan on collecting all of the skins then you might just be out of luck as these skins, especially the Tier 1 list, are already inaccessible for players who have just recently started out.
Where can I buy accounts containing these skins?
Mostly, you can find accounts with these skins being sold in e-commerce stores like Amazon being sold for ridiculously high amounts of money. However, you’d be lucky to even get a glimpse of it as they’re probably sold out. Even we have no idea how to get these accounts considering they are such a hot and limited item to even be left to dry in online stores for more than 24 hours.
Can I transfer old skins to my new account?
No, you cannot. Unfortunately, if you are looking towards transferring your vintage skins to a new account, there is no way to do it. You’ll be forced either to give the account up or continue playing your old account for the sake of keeping the rare skins you have in the first place. Either way, the cost is high for having an account with such high rarity items.
Will Riot Games ever release these skins again in the future?
When it comes to League of Legends rarest skins, nothing says rarer than having it stowed away in the past where it belongs. While we can’t say for sure if they do plan to re-release some of these skins, what makes League of Legends rarest skins so rare is the fact that there is no way to get it. So re-releasing it would just depreciate its value anyway. Of course, anything can happen so don’t lose hope.