It's Champions SZN, everybody! The second year of the VALORANT Champions Tournament will be happening in a few days. Sixteen teams across eight regions will be competing in Istanbul for a chance at achieving true glory. This is undoubtedly the biggest tournament of the year, and Riot Games is certainly making it feel like it.

Last year, the VCT came with an exclusive Champions bundle, which included a limited-edition Vandal skin and Karambit skin. These VALORANT skins were unique in the sense that they had a unique “aura” when you are on top of the leaderboard. If you're the “top fragger” for both teams, the 2021 Champions weapons would glow a bright yellow. The Vandal also came with an inspect animation that played music, and a finisher animation with three different styles.

At the time, fans already praised Riot for this incredible gun design. No one really knew how Riot could top one of their best creations in terms of skins. Of course… this year, the VALORANT team somehow topped their incredible design with another incredible design. Take a look at this sick new trailer for the Champions 2022 bundle.

There's a lot to unpack when it comes to this new Champions line. Let's take a look at some key information about these new skins, and then you can decide whether it's worth buying or not.

VALORANT Champions 2022 Bundle

What are the new effects?

Before we get into the new effects, let's start with what the Champions 2022 bundle shares with the Champions 2021 bundle. The biggest similarity, of course, is the “top frag” aura for both lines. That effect has become popular in the VALORANT community, as it's essentially a big flex for someone who is leading the lobby in kills.

However, there's quite a few changes for both guns. Let's start with the knife first. This time around, the knife is modeled like the Butterfly Knife/Balisong: a foldable knife. The animations are similar to the RGX Butterfly Knife released recently. However, as you saw in the trailer, there was a trophy-like thing on the right of the player's screen.

Based on the write-up on the VALORANT Esports website, it seems like this is the Easter egg animation that triggers when you top frag AND have twenty-five kills. Talk about a big flex.

The Champions 2022 gun model this time around is the trusty old Phantom. Unlike it's predecessor, though, there's quite a few changes to this version according to the website. For starters, it apparently has a custom model change AND a new firing sound for the gun. That was one of the main criticisms of the Champions Vandal, and it's great to see that Riot listened and made that change accordingly.

The second change, though, is a change to the “aura” effect that occurs when a player leads the lobby in kills. The Champions 2021 bundle had a static yellow glow that stood out to everyone. The 2022 version, though, is different, with the Aura “evolving” every five kills or so. The evolutions cap out at 25 kills.

When will this drop on the market?

The new Champions Bundle 2022 will be released on the market starting on August 24 up until September 22nd. As with the last Champions bundle, 50% of the proceeds will be distributed to the 16 teams participating. Also like the 2021 bundle, both the Phantom and the Butterfly Knife won't reappear on the Night Market or on the Daily Store.