FunPlus Phoenix stamped their name into League of Legends history books at the 2019 World Championship after taking down Europe’s G2 Esports 3-0. The Chinese roster became the second team to win a Worlds title for China and will have their victory commemorated with a new set of esports skins later this year.
Riot Games makes a set of skins for all players of the Worlds-winning roster each year. Players on the team get to choose which skins they’d like to have—with a few exceptions, of course. In an AskRiot, the League of Legends developer laid out a few qualifications the champion must meet to be eligible for an esports skin: Players must have played the champion at least once during the Worlds Championship and the winning team cannot have a skin for the champion from a previous win.
Fans of the game can purchase these skins every year following their release, which is usually in the summer after Worlds. The skins are only available for a set amount of time and are then vaulted. Previous years’ skins become available for purchase again during every Worlds.
Teams who have won previous Worlds and received skins to commemorate their victories include Invictus Gaming, Samsung Galaxy, SK Telecom T1, Fnatic, Samsung Galaxy White, and Taipei Assassins.
What champions are receiving FPX skins?
Mid laner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang revealed on stream that he had chosen Malphite as his pick due to the champion’s low difficulty level. Doinb’s wife plays the champion, according to the mid laner, which helped pushed him towards the pick. Similarly, Doinb said he wanted the skin to be accessible by a large number of players, so he chose a relatively easy champion to play.
Doinb also revealed the rest of his team’s picks: Gangplank, Lee Sin, Vayne, and Thresh. Both top laner Kim “GimGoon” Han-Saem and jungler Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang played six games each on the Gangplank and Lee Sin, respectively, while Doinb played only a single game on the Malphite pick. The team’s AD carry, Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang, played Vayne only twice at Worlds while support Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song locked in Thresh four times and won every single game with the Chain Warden.
When will FPX get their Worlds skins?
Esports skins are typically released in the summer following the respective World Championship. Last year’s Invictus Gaming skins became available in April, while 2018’s Samsung Galaxy skins were first revealed in late June.
Although Riot has yet to announce a release date for the FPX skins, League of Legends fans can expect their release to follow a similar timeline. The skins could hit the shop as early as April or may release later in the summer.
This article will be updated when more information about FPX’s Worlds skins becomes available.
