Malphite wouldn’t be the giant rock we all know and love without his suicide mission. Yasuo wouldn’t feed as quickly without his Hasagi. And Teemo wouldn’t be as universally hated without his death traps. But then there’s Sylas, a dude who yanks your more praised ability and uses it for himself. And if you already plan on going to the Rift and committing identity fraud, you might as well look good while doing it, to at least ease the pain. So here’s my ranking for all of Sylas’ skins that we’ve gotten so far.
4. Battle Wolf Sylas
Released: March 31st, 2022 Price: 1350 RP I just straight-up don’t like this skin. It’s the biggest identity crisis I’ve seen in a while with very few upsides to counter the negatives. First off, you take one look at that splash art and realize that it’s just Draven. The in-game model leaves you with the same realization but it’s slightly less daunting. Your chains look flimsy as all hell. And when coupled with the fact that your backing animation has you shooting lasers instead of punching stuff – really makes you question how this is Sylas at all. As far as ability animations are concerned, it’s mostly okay. The Q, W, and E (although kind of bland) do what they’re supposed to. And the passive proc animation is at least decent. The only true selling point that the skin does have is the ult. Not only is there a wolf howl sound effect but you even get a nifty little wolf mask. The skin would’ve almost been worth it had the mask been a toggle – but Riot can’t let us have nice things. And the chroma selection is fairly decent. Especially when you consider the fact that there are nine of them to choose from. That being said, none of them show off his chest – so does it really matter? Overall, the skin just made a lot of questionable decisions. I’m sure that there are people who’ll absolutely love it to death. But I’m not one of those people.
3. Lunar Wraith Sylas
Released: January 25th, 2019 Price: 1350 RP This was honestly one of the weirdest release skins I have ever seen. It’s like Riot put all this time into making a champion whose main theme is using the chains that bound him to beat people to death, and then they immediately gave you a skin that completely changes those chains. Now you just have some over the top bead bracelets around your arms, which according to your backing animation also possess energy and turn you into some type of werewolf. You would think I was making this stuff up. But take a look for yourself and see. This weird artistic choice kind of sucks, because I do like some of the new animations this skin brings to the table – but a passive proc that’s a bit easier on the eyes, and an ult animation that feels a bit more mythical would be better. That said, even the particles are pretty nice here. Overall, Lunar Wraith Sylas is the type of skin that doesn’t really make a lick of sense – but it does have some nice visual effects. So if you don’t care much for a skin’s theme and just want to be flashy, this could be a solid option to look into.
2. PROJECT: Sylas
Released: May 27th, 2021 Price: 1350 RP PROJECT: Sylas is sort of dope all-around. The character model has a really strong Genos vibe to it, with cybernetic arms and legs, white hair, and a set of abs that you can grate cheese on. The animations are also rather well made, with the Q being especially prominent and flashy, and a backing animation that has you play Subway Surfer in the middle of the Rift. The sound effects are of course all very mechanical, which gives that little bit of oomph to this skin’s impact. And you even get a voice changer to kind of tie everything together. It’s also worth mentioning that this skin does have a Prestige edition that surprisingly enough actually gives you more clothes to work with. I’m not a huge fan of the Prestige here, as it makes the passive procs a bit too flashy for my taste. But it is pretty cool that the Prestige design actually changes your appearance and not just your color scheme.
1. Freljord Sylas
Released: January 10th, 2020 Price: 1350 RP Something I never really liked about Sylas was the fact that he didn’t look like he belonged anywhere. There was nothing all that eye-catching in his character model design that made you think Demacia or Noxus. But Freljord Sylas fixes that rather nicely, now doesn’t it? The character model here is just amazing, with Sylas getting some extra clothes to show some personality, and a hood that makes you feel like you’re playing an Assassin’s Creed character. I also really like how your chains are now frozen. It gives off this vibe of a prisoner who was trapped in the mountains for decades. The animations and the particles expectedly revolve around ice, with your full combo now feeling and sounding like an icy storm blowing by. I will say that the new backing animation seems a bit random here. And in terms of chroma variety, this skin is the weakest of the bunch – but those are minor nitpicks. So as a whole, I crown this skin as the best that Sylas has to offer. Note: this content was created under Riot Games’ “Legal Jibber Jabber” policy using assets owned by Riot Games. Riot Games does not endorse or sponsor this project.
