Jun 132014
World Cup 2010 Skins
The World Cup assembles players from all over the globe to compete and determine who the best team is. Fans come from all regions and, as champions couldn’t be an exception, we have a group that is embracing the spirit of football. Receive them with a big cheer because here they are!
All-Star Akali
 |
 |
| Category: | Legacy |
| Price: | 975 RP |
| Concept: | Akali dressed as an association football player. |
| Model: | New model for Akali and new texture for her kamas. |
| Particles: | No new particles. |
| Animations: | No new animations. |
| Sounds: | No new sounds. |
| Splash Art: | This is a very nice piece that uses both setting and posture to strengthen the football theme. The background is simple but adequate despite the blurriness; though it serves to magnify Akali’s speed. As a football player Akali is suitably dressed and while her clothes colours are too saturated they look good. Her stance is dynamic and reinforces not only the theme but also her kunoichi agility. Moreover, her hair flowing in the wind is nicely depicted and illuminated. It’s worth noting that her kamas are missing from the piece but their inclusion wouldn’t be sensible anyway. Consequently, this is a very good splash art that provides an appropriate portrayal of All-Star Akali. |
| Rating: |  |
| Conclusion: | As a legacy skin All-Star Akali shows two interesting facets: first, it’s an interestingly unusual look for Akali; second, it’s a simple change that relies on its rarity more than on its design to stand out. To put it another way, Akali does look nice in her football player apparel but the skin does little to set it apart from other skins, except being legacy. If you got All-Star Akali, you have a quite rare skin; however, if you didn’t get it you didn’t miss much. |
Red Card Katarina
 |
 |
| Category: | Legacy |
| Price: | 975 RP |
| Concept: | Katarina dressed as an association football referee. |
| Model: | Moderate model changes for Katarina. |
| Particles: | No new particles. |
| Animations: | No new animations. |
| Sounds: | No new sounds. |
| Splash Art: | This splash art is simple and straightforward: stadium on the background, Katarina on the foreground and work done. The background is simple with a minimal display of the stadium’s crowds and lights; most of it is a dark cloudy sky. Katarina looks nice and attractive in her referee clothes and while the red card makes sense the sword does not, at all. The quality of the drawing is very good but the composition is indeed simple. Overall, a nice splash art that does its job, with quality, but nothing more. |
| Rating: | |
| Conclusion: | In spite of how unfitting a referee is in the middle of a battlefield armed with a couple of swords, Katarina does look good. It can’t be denied that the clothes enhance her lean figure and do an excellent job at showing how attractive she is; maybe better than Kitty Cat Katarina does. Still, there isn’t anything striking about her look: it simply offers a clear view of her silhouette. On those grounds, it’s a nice skin but as far as concept and execution goes there isn’t much on offer. |
Goalkeeper Blitzcrank
 |
 |
| Category: | Legacy |
| Price: | 520 RP |
| Concept: | Blitzcrank dressed as an association football goalkeeper. |
| Model: | Moderate model changes for Blitzcrank. |
| Particles: | No new particles. |
| Animations: | No new animations. |
| Sounds: | No new sounds. |
| Splash Art: | As a splash art this piece has a certain sketchy look that doesn’t convince. In addition to this, the background is minimal: just a goal and the hint of a pitch. At least, the football adds some resemblance of a setting. Blitzcrank’s depiction is nothing groundbreaking either but it has some interesting traits: the puzzled expression is a nice touch, so to speak, and the wide pose allows a clear view of his aspect. Overall, it’s a piece that does a little more than just showing Blitzcrank but ultimately doesn’t seem to try much. |
| Rating: | |
| Conclusion: | Goalkeeper Blitzcrank is a great skin that manages to place him as a rather believable football player. The goalkeeper position is a clever choice for this champion so focused on using his large arms. Moreover, the shirt and snickers are not only fitting but they also make Blitzcrank adorable; despite the heavy logo use. The gloves are just a re-texture over simplified hands but they get the job done. All in all, Goalkeeper Blitzcrank is a very good product that fans of football or funny but well thought out looks will appreciate. |
Striker Ezreal
 |
 |
| Category: | Legacy |
| Price: | 520 RP |
| Concept: | Ezreal dressed as an association football player. |
| Model: | Moderate model changes for Ezreal. |
| Particles: | No new particles. |
| Animations: | No new animations. |
| Sounds: | No new sounds. |
| Splash Art: | This is a piece that hits most of the right notes as it gives Ezreal a good portrayal and setting. Although, the background is unnecessarily and inexplicable blurry it successfully recreates an association football stadium. Ezreal is quite well drawn: the shading shows the folds of his clothes as well as the tension on his legs’ muscles and the use of perspective is correct. The hair is a bit cartoony and the magic effects appear gratuitous but, on the whole, they mesh well with the piece. Besides, Ezreal’s magical glove is superbly delineated as well as the football. Overall, this is an excellent splash art that does its job with very few misses. |
| Rating: | |
| Conclusion: | The Fields of Justice have much in common with association football as they both are team activities. Regardless, a football player’s garments aren’t well suited for intense struggles and brushes with death. The model changes are well done and effective but they feel a bit plain nonetheless. It may be that this attire isn’t very exciting for a wielder of arcane magic. On that regard, the metal glove doesn’t fit with the football attire; they come from far too different sources to mesh well. In conclusion, Striker Ezreal is mostly a collector’s item but it’s also a charming and cheap skin for association football fans that don’t mind about appropriateness. |
Conclusion
As veterans of an old World Cup these football-inspired skins show their age. None of them offer anything beyond model changes and most aren’t even a full re-model. This means that the cheaper skins have the advantage which makes Goalkeeper Blitzcrank and Striker Ezreal the recommended skins: both provide reasonable changes for a low price.
The remaining options are All-Star Akali and Red Card Katarina. Both are appealing with their less fantastic styles but the changes are severely limited. This means that while a new look is provided the base is noticeable. In the end, they are better left for collectors or dedicated fans of Akali and Katarina.
14 Responses to “League of Legends: World Cup 2010 Skins’ Review”
Leave a Reply to yoyo97 Cancel reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Isn’t Blitzcranks Q technically a new texture/recolour too?
Because of the new textures for his hands, right? You could stretch it like that but it doesn’t feel like a significant enough change. Technically, it would be part of the model changes assuming that Rocket Grab reuses those assets, as it seems to, instead of having a new effect.
It’s certainly a grey area where either answer wouldn’t be optimal. We’d rather err on the side of caution and leave it as a model change instead of a particle change. If we find other evidence to point to a more elaborate or noticeable modification we’ll surely update the review.
Thanks for the notice.
I feel like skins such as Red Card Katarina mostly bank on their sex appeal rather than trying to deliver something really innovative or groundbreaking. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just my observation.
We completely agree though we think that a skin can be appealing while still offering something novel. Good examples of such skins are also Nurse Akali and Kitty Cat Katarina.
Hey Zero, when are the reviews of the new World Cup skins going to be posted?
As soon as possible but as they aren’t legacy skins and are quite a bunch we’ll take our time to do them right.
hey zero,
are you reviewing this years soccer skins? i cant seem to find them on your website :s
also is the new ward skin legacy or permanent?
We’ll review the new football skins as soon as possible but as they aren’t legacy and they are quite a few we prefer to take our time and make a good review. The ward skin seems like it’ll stay on the store as well. At least, that’s what we understand from the announcement.
“Zero” and others who help you… Huge respect for all of this work!
I don’t even remember, when i started reading those reviews… But. From the very first moment:(with “soul sacrifice voice”)
I…WaS in… LoVe. I… felt happiness… ^_^ ( Don’t know if you will get this “not so hidden” pun, but it was nice try ) But i knew…
ThaT…
WaS JusT a BeginNinG!
(cough, cough) To put it more directly:
They are serious(interesting), and when you can’t decide, it’s always a great help, instead of giving only your opinion, those reviews are mostly neutral. And instead off trying to kind off supress your opinion…These reviews are actually make your decision ability more sharper, working as a “good nutrition”. This is what i call: “Professionalism”.( Even some modern journalists are oblivious to that…)
Keep it up! ^_^
Thanks for the kind words.
Would you mind doing a review on the new mechs skins? Thanks so much!!!
We surely will, we’ll try to finish them as soon as possible. If nothing strange happens they should be ready by tomorrow.
Thanks!!!!
Not at all.