It’s that magical time of year when we open presents, drink hot cocoa, and cast judgment on the many holiday skins in Apex Legends.
Respawn has done a great job of giving us new festive re-imaginings of our favorite Legends time and time again, but some of those skins haven’t hit the mark as well as others. Without further adieu, here are the best and worst holiday skins in Apex, as ranked by the objective and unbiased Yours Truly.
The worst holiday skins in Apex
What better way to kick off the article than with some negativity? Sure, you could have a glass half full and say that we’re saving the best for last, but I’d rather save that sort of positive-thinking for the “best skins” section. This part of the article is a space for Grinches and Grinches only.
In all seriousness, Respawn has done a great job with its holiday skins, and it was genuinely difficult to come up with the the three worst (for two out of three, at least. One was VERY easy). Anyway, here are the three worst skins in Apex (and remember, this is objectively accurate).
The third worst holiday skin—Frost Ancient
Before you write off my opinions as invalid for putting this in the bottom tier of holiday skins, let me say that I think Frost Ancient Revenant is an absolutely awesome skin, and it was really difficult for me to place it this low. The reason I was able to justify this placement is two-fold:
- So many of the holiday skins are simply wonderful—it had to be somebody.
- On that note, this is a wonderful skin, but it doesn’t feel like a “holiday” skin.
Respawn could have released this skin in the summer, and I wouldn’t have really batted an eye. I love the skin, but I wouldn’t really attribute it to the holidays if I wasn’t explicitly told I should. While its a great design, this is an ice skin, not a holiday skin. I think some classic holiday cheesiness could have saved this skin from being placed in the bottom tier of my rankings. Revenant is such an edgelord all the time, and while I love him for that, it feels like a missed opportunity here to give him something silly and get away with it.
Worst skin runner up—Stay Frosty
Bangalore was almost able to skirt by making this list with how absolutely forgettable this skin is, and that’s why I ultimately decided to place it on this list. Most of the time, if you bust out a holiday skin, all your buddies in Discord comment on how jealous they are and how they wished they snagged it when it was available. While this skin is clearly holiday themed, the design is just not something that inspires skin envy.
Up top, we’re getting some nutcracker or King’s Guard vibes, then we have the evil snowman with a ridiculously placed carrot that I want to break off, and then there’s a Santa Claus skirt with some admittedly adorable wrapped smoke canisters. It feels like the team couldn’t decide which of the three potential design routes to follow, so they just followed all three. The result looks (to me) like what would happen if you asked an AI to generate a holiday skin.
The worst holiday skin in Apex—Crystalline Perfection
As a Loba enthusiast who mained her even when her Jumpdrive tanked her movement speed and her Black Market counted ammo towards the two item limit, I am both pained and stalwart in calling this the absolute worst holiday skin in Apex. In fact, I think only a couple of Loba’s Legendary Skins live up to the fashion-fluent and stylish persona she flaunts. The blue crayon eye-shadow with absolutely zero blending is an insult to makeup enthusiasts, and it’s quite literally canon that Loba should be incredible at doing her makeup.
Aside from the (in my humble opinion) horrible design choices on this skin, there isn’t anything holiday-centric about it, and there’s almost nothing that even associates it with winter or a sense of cold. Sure, cool-toned colors are used, but that’s not enough to make up for the complete lack of holiday-themed attire or imagery. The only thing I like about this skin is the ironic laugh I get from the fact that “perfection” is included in the name.
The best holiday skins in Apex
Now that we’ve gotten that nasty business squared away, let’s look at the pinnacle of campy festive designs. A lot of the Apex holiday skins have one key trait in common—they’re so cheesy that they border on being downright silly. If you ask me, this is exactly how a holiday skin should be. Popping one of these bad boys onto your Legend feels akin to wearing a Christmas onesie all day, and that’s exactly the way it should feel.
Settling on a top three was a long and arduous process, and one that wouldn’t feel complete without giving a nod to some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the pedestal. Those honorable mentions are:
- Whistling Winter Bloodhound
- What I love about this skin is its old fashioned pagan festival aesthetic. Remember folks, Christmas used to be about Krampus, and that guy was anything but Jolly.
- Brudda Bear Gibraltar
- Gibby in a polar bear fur-suit. No more needs to be said.
- Festive Presence Wraith
- I think Wraith gets too many awesome skins that should have been given to other Legends instead, and this is just another instance of that phenomenon in my opinion. However, I can’t deny that the skin just looks amazing.
The third best holiday skin—Dasher
Placing this skin at third place instead of first or second was difficult for me, because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it. From the name “Dasher” being a convenient pun, to the clear effort and complete overhaul of Octane’s appearance, it just works. You could never mistake this for anything other than a holiday skin, and the reindeer design feels continuously more appropriate for Octane the longer you think about it. The ridiculous googly eyes are the cherry on top for me.
One side note fake complaint that I’ll find—if he really is Dasher, he shouldn’t have a red nose. 0/10 literally unplayable until they patch this.
Best skin runner up—Claustic
I’m becoming a broken record, but it took a lot of grit to place this thing at number two instead of number one. The name “Claustic” is so perfect that I almost thought they forgot to give the skin a name, and the design is just beautiful. Somehow, Respawn managed to make Caustic look wholesome and intimidating at the same time, and just glancing at the skin makes it impossible not to imagine a whole Claustic factory where nefarious tinkering takes place en masse.
The muted red and green allows for a classy and sophisticated vibe that fits Caustic very well, and yet the skin looks festive and joyful at the same time. The attention to detail in his tiny little glasses that even cast a shadow really displays how much thought and time was put into this skin.
The best holiday skin in Apex—The Wisecracker
I went on and on about how hard it was to not give first place to Claustic or Dasher, but now that I’m looking at The Wisecracker again, the decision feels clear cut. This Mirage and nutcracker crossover is so perfect that I almost feel drawn to thinking that Respawn must have been planning this from day one when they started designing everyone’s favorite duplicitous dumbass.
What I especially love about this skin is how simple it is. So little needed to be done to make Mirage work as The Nutcracker, and Respawn allowed less to be more. Rather than a fully plastic or wooden face that could have made him look creepy, it just gave him adorable gaudy red blush. The jacket is simple and elegant, and the frame and overall composition of the skin is still clearly Mirage. Even the name “Wisecracker” is such a convenient coincidence that Respawn recognized the potential in. Truly, the stars aligned for this skin.
Mirage’s personality helps drive home my love for this skin as well. I look at this skin and imagine Mirage saying “choo-choo train” and getting defensive about it when he’s told that only babies say that, and my heart is just filled with holiday joy.
