After being denied his “pretty” reward, League of Legends world champion sneaks his favorite character into his commemorative cosmetic

As well as the acclaim, the money, and the trophy, one of the best prizes available to the winner of League of Legends’ annual World Championships is the ability to become immortalized in the game with a bespoke skin. For one of the 2023 winners, however, that dream became a nightmare – until now.

When T1 support player Keria took the title along with his team back in November, he was quickly disappointed to learn that he couldn’t have the skin he wanted. Keria’s favorite champion is Lux, but the rules state that you have to have played a character during the tournament in order for them to be eligible for a Worlds skin. In a classic example of suffering from success, T1’s run through the tournament was so decisive that Keria didn’t have a chance to play the character, so he wasn’t able to pick her for his skin.

At the time, Keria said that he had “only thought about making a Lux skin,” and that he wanted something “pretty.” When Riot told him that he couldn’t have that skin, but it could try and make his alternative good-looking, it was pretty clear he didn’t believe them: “I just frowned.”

Now, many months later, Riot is finally able to show off the skins it’s cooked up for this year’s World Champs. And while Keria’s bespoke T1 Bard obviously isn’t the character he was hoping for, there are a couple of details woven in that offer a nod to his real pick. Lux’s portrait appears briefly in the animation of one of Bard’s skills, but the real symbolism is in the skin’s recall animation. That features a spectral version of Lux that Bard offers some comfort to, before the pair of them hold the Worlds trophy aloft together. It’s not quite the skin he might have designed himself, admittedly, but it’s probably the closest Keria could possibly get while abiding by Riot’s rules.

Earlier this summer, Keria’s teammate Faker got in some skin-themed hot water, as  players protested his $500 skin with a forced boycott, perma-banning Ahri to stop anyone using her new cosmetic.