The annual VALORANT Champions bundle is always one of the most sought-after skin collections due to its special design and unique rarity, and Riot typically puts out a stellar package that brings in lots of money. But as good as the 2023 collection was, fans can’t help but be just a tad disappointed after seeing what they could have had.
This year’s Champions 2023 collection, with half the proceeds going to Riot while the other half is split between the 16 teams that attended the world championship tournament, featured a Vandal and Kunai knife melee skin, a player card, a gun buddy, and a spray that featured the beloved Wingman stealing the Champions trophy. Like with previous Champions bundles, the primary weapon skin featured a ton of potential upgrades like a Champion’s Aura and a stylized finisher that played the tournament anthem “Ticking Away.”
But given that regional rivalries were highlighted at Champions 2023 much more than previous events, fans are a little sad that regional variants weren’t included in the collection, even more so after seeing concept art from Riot senior concept artist Denis Lakhanov. Lakhanov’s concept art shows additional color variants for the Vandal representing each of the international regions: EMEA, Pacific, and Americas.
This was a theme used in the LOCK//IN collection at the beginning of the year, which gave players a player card and melee variant option for each region. Perhaps the Champions collection didn’t include regional variants due to China being more prominently featured at Champions than the region was at LOCK//IN and Riot opted not to make China feel left out. Or it could just be that the regional variants didn’t fit the design that the Riot creators had in mind.
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The concept art images were shared on various VALORANT influencer accounts and many fans expressed their disappointment that the regional variants were not included in the final product. Lakhanov’s concept art also showed off a couple of different variations of the Kunai knife melee, showing that the team considered a variety of different shapes.
