Turns Out Faker Was “Mocked” by Riot
As previously known, Faker is said to have switched his choice from Ahri to Orianna for the 2023 World Championship skin. Instead of the original plan, his concept was transformed into a Hall of Legends skin. Various conspiracy theories emerged, suggesting that Orianna was closely related to Faker’s female character or “Queen of the Void”, as the skin HoL was rumored to have hidden meanings. However, just recently, Riot acknowledged everything.
According to Riot, there were plans for Hall of Legends Ahri and Faker’s skin to be focused on either Orianna or Azir. However, when Faker came to discuss the skin design, Riot still allowed him to present all his ideas for Ahri and let him believe that it would be his World Championship skin.
“We didn’t directly talk to Faker about him presenting all his ideas for his Ahri skin. We definitely noted it. But we also had to balance with Orianna and Azir, asking ourselves how to honor him in the best way possible?” From there, we allowed Faker to showcase his concept for Orianna,” said Stephanie Leung, the lead skin designer at Riot.
However, according to Stephanie, after that, they decided to speak directly with Faker about the Hall of Legends skin. All of Faker’s ideas have been incorporated into this skin. The remaining time will be spent perfecting Orianna’s skin.
Not Just Faker, But Gumayusi is Also a “Victim”
It’s not just Faker, but “Thái tử” Gumayusi also faced Riot’s “mockery”. The publisher did not inform Gumayusi about the intention for Arcane 2 to be released at the end of the year, along with a new skin for Jinx, which is priced at several million VND, and still allowed Gumayusi to pitch his idea for Jinx’s World Championship skin.
“Since this is the first skin of the girl, and because it was so much anticipated, we decided to make the best possible Jinx World Championship skin. Choosing which champion to make a new skin for is a challenging task, and we were fortunate that we could get a lot of feedback right from the start,” Stephanie shared.
It can be said that Riot has had a “secret conversation” with members of T1 during the skin selection process. This is an ongoing trend to be understood, and after that, the League of Legends community, as well as the teams, may have the opportunity to access the skin concepts they suggest.
