League of Legends is ringing in the Lunar New Year with a feisty bunch of Firecracker Skins. The new skin collection will drop alongside Patch 12.2 on January 20, 2022, as well as other new skins this Season 12. Explosive outfits and animations will soon enliven the game for five champions: Diana, Sett, Teemo, Tristana, and Xin Zhao. Check out the splash art and special effects for all the new Firecracker Skins to see if the fiery, celebratory looks are worth buying.
League of Legends Patch 12.2: Firecracker Skins
Firecracker Diana
Firecracker Diana struts across the streets with bright lanterns, colorful fireworks, and of course the moon filling the backdrop. Given that the holiday is called Lunar New Year, it's a wonder that it took Riot this long to realize that it fit Diana's motif with her lore inherently tied to the moon. In this skin, the champion gets a fashionable makeover in radiant reds with patterns reminiscent of Eastern culture, with her moonblade tinged with brilliant jade.
In-game, the recall animation shows off a stand of lanterns with fireworks exploding from the center of the character model. Diana's Crescent Strike (Q) gets a bright yellow-orange tinge, with enemies marked by what looks like a golden gong pattern. Her W also shines a similar hue, changing the orbs into an ornamental pattern that is also seen overlayed in the shield itself. For her ultimate, golden light crashes down onto Diana, etching crescent and ornamental patterns on the ground as small sparks shoot upward.
Firecracker Sett
Sett's new skin has the champion performing the iconic lion dance that has been a mainstay tradition at Spring Festivals. The costume also carries blazing firecrackers ready to explode at any moment. The character model in game, however, looks less like the costume seen in the splash art and more like a posh winter coat. But when the recall animation starts, Sett spins and changes into the lion costume, somersaulting in the air and then brandishing a scroll with a Tiger painting—as 2022 is the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.
As Sett's original attack animations were already yellow, players will find that the color changes in the new skin are quite subtle, especially for the Q and E. The patterns etched on the ground for Sett's Haymaker did get slightly altered to match the theme of the skin, but the more significant change is the fiery discharge of little sparks, like tail-ends of a firecracker, as he lands the move. Sett's ultimate, meanwhile, combines the lion costume and somersaulting—as he's carrying the enemy champion through the air—with the firecracker explosions upon smashing into the ground.
Firecracker Teemo
Teemo's version of the Firecracker concept gives the champion a cat-like appearance, in reference to the Fortune Cat charm that supposedly attracts good luck and wealth. Teemo also appears to be wearing a headdress made of gold. The fortune symbolism also carries over to the skin's special effects and animations. When Teemo is recalling, tiny firecrackers explode around him, but the more unique aspect involves the champion hopping atop a cushion with gold coins showering all over him.
Aside from the fiery appearance when Teemo shoots his Q, the move also unleashes special, firecracker-inspired particles as it hits enemies. The best part about the skin? The shrooms transform into exploding dumplings—complete with a lit fuse like a bomb on the verge of detonating. (Side note: the large size also makes it look more like hot buns or siopao, but the upward pull of the fuse also gives off a dumpling-like appearance. Either way, it's Chinese cuisine.) And of course, those shrooms explode, setting off fireworks complete with sound effects from the explosion itself and from the firecrackers whistling through the sky.
Firecracker Tristana
Unsurprisingly, the new Tristana skin turns her Boomer into a huge firecracker, designed with a tiger face at the cannon's mouth. As for the character's appearance, she gets a similar feline makeover as Teemo, though Tristana looks more like a tigress. It's also her cannon-firecracker that becomes the star of her recall animation, launching itself and swooping around the character before setting off a bunch of fireworks.
When Tristana fires off her weapon, there isn't much to write home about, though players might appreciate the additional particle effects—a mix of golden specks and firework traces—surrounding the tiger cannon's mouth. Like with Sett's jumping and landing, Tristana's Rocket Jump now also activates an explosion of fireworks as she lands on the target. Her Buster Shot also comes with firecracker trails, though this time in horizontal direction to follow the movement of the original cannonball.
Fans might take a liking to the changes made to her E, which shows a feline face progressively getting angrier, ready to explode at any moment, as the bombs stack on the enemy champion or the turret. Also, players will enjoy stringing together move combos, like landing the ultimate on a target carrying the Explosive Charge bomb—effectively setting off the fireworks animations and sound effects one round after the other.
Firecracker Xin Zhao
For a champion whose name is very clearly Eastern/Chinese, Xin Zhao will soon be getting a culturally aligned skin, further highlighting his kingdom warrior lore. Like a hero stepping out from the history books, Firecracker Xin Zhao's splash art paints the character in a valiant light, masterfully using the brilliance of the fireworks blending in with the glowing edge of his spear.
Recalling showcases several particle effects as the champion spins his weapon, including fireworks ascending at the tail-end of the animation. Because Xin Zhao's kit revolves a lot around wielding his spear, this skin relies mostly on making the weapon glimmer as it pierces through opponents for his Q, W, and E, with a golden glow emanating across the teal spearhead.
Luckily, the color itself matches well with the motif of the champion, especially when he unleashes his ultimate. The golden tinge makes sweeping Crescent Guard appear more noble, if you will, with the armor or protection around Xin Zhao bearing resemblance to a tiger.
Besides the Firecracker skins, Patch 12.2 will also be bringing the Porcelain skin collection and the Crystal Rose and Withered Rose sets to League of Legends.
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