League of Legends is a complicated game that is hard to understand at times. Couple that with hundreds of skins with different colors and effects and it can be easy to lose sight of what is actually happening. This can lead to frustrating moments that make the game feel unfair. But is League of Legends in any way pay-to-win?
Does League of Legends Have Any Pay-to-Win Mechanics?
Let’s get one thing out of the way first. League of Legends DOES NOT have any mechanics that offer gameplay advantages in exchange for money. Ever since the game first came out, Riot has said that the only microtransactions present in the game will be for cosmetics.
That being said, there are some champion skins that many players consider “essential” for playing said champions. Take, for instance, Muay Thai Lee Sin. One of the most popular skins in the game. It’s so good in fact, pro players like Broxah have publicly stated that playing Lee Sin without it feels like a completely different champion.
Here is a list of “pay-to-win” skins in League of Legends:
- Project Ashe
- Infernal Shen
- Dark Waters Vladimir
- Arctic Ops Gragas
- Arclight Varus
- Cosmic Lux
- iBlitzcrank
New to League? Here are the best keybinds to get you started on your way to Challenger.
Are Skins Pay-to-Win in League of Legends?
While you can make a case that some skins greatly improve or modernize animations of older characters, winning or losing games in LoL depends (almost) entirely on your performance and skill. Sure, there might be some “essential” skins like Project Ashe, Muay Thai Lee Sin, or Project Caitlyn, but this does not mean using these skins is a guaranteed win.
In fact, you can easily get used to the animations of base character models. Riot has done a great job to ensure all champions are fair to play for everyone who puts in the time. Regardless if they spend money or not.
One of the best examples of this is Faker. League’s greatest-ever player has never once in his life played with a skin in an official match. Even more so, he never uses skins while playing solo queue at home either. He even has his own skins and he does not use them.
League is a game with iconic cosmetics. It set the bar very high in the industry for what cosmetics in live-service games should be. However, Riot has never compromised gameplay integrity for money.
Do you know how many skins are in League of Legends? Probably not, right? We’ve written an entire article on how many skins are in League of Legends and the number is surprisingly high.
