If you’ve ever faced Ryze on the battleground or used him as your champion, you probably already know that he is an impossibly heavy burden to bear. The arcane power he holds within is out of this world. This champion right here isn’t your typical day to day Rune Mage; this mage is like no other. He has a wide array of skins to choose from, each one of them highlighting his unique character.
Some of the Ryze skins takes his image to epic extremes, while others appear to be as believable as possible. If Ryze is your main champion and you want to make him look true to his nature, there are many skins you can choose. Out of all the skins available, we feel that the Young Ryze skin is the one that is truly special.
In order for us to tell you exactly why the Young Ryze skin is so unique, we are going to introduce you to some of the Ryze skins so that you can see for yourself.
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Tribal Ryze Skin
Let’s take a look at the Tribal Ryze skin.
The scene of a meteor shower, or a volcanic area, is a mage protecting itself from the fire using a magical shield as enemies are moving in. Personally, I feel this setting doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It signifies that the extinction of dinosaurs is at hand, but why is Ryze even there? On top of all this, the setting itself is pretty barebone. There isn’t a whole lot there, except some rocks, ominous skin, and oh yeah, some dinosaurs.
The skin’s significant changes are the fur clothes, his tusk earrings, and the giant scroll. The chalk-white skin and the blue tattoos make for a new look, but they don’t exactly go well together. Although the skin makes him look different, you can still see the Classic Ryze; there are just some changed colors. When you add it all together, the changes don’t go well together.
The colors are a bit on the dim side to us, but the use of shadow and light has been well thought out. His lower body isn’t as great as his upper body. However, it’s still an eye-catching skin; we don’t feel it fits for Ryze – not as fitting as the Young Ryze skin, at least.
Uncle Ryze
With the Uncle Ryze skin, the changes are pretty good, but again, not as good as the Young Ryze (we’ll explain why in a bit). This is a bit more than just a simple costume – it includes a new model, a new splash image, and a unique texture. The skin bio and introduction are cute “Uncle Ryze wants YOU…to get on the rift!” This is a regular skin, so you can go to the in-game shop and purchase it at any time you like.
For those searching for a skin that is directly aimed at United States fans and Citizens, then the Uncle Ryze skin is where it’s at. Other people, however, won’t take much of a liking to it. I mean, the skin doesn’t look bad or anything; the designers did a great job at adapting Ryze to Uncle Sam. The colors of the flag are easy to tell, and the clothes are easy to recognize. Ryze has glowing eyes, which offer just the right hint of his magic.
Overall, it’s not that bad of a skin, and it shows us that some thought was put into making it. However, it doesn’t have that big of an appeal, considering it almost looks like a parody. It fails to connect with the true identity of Ryze, but it’s a good option if Uncle Sam’s skin is what you’re looking for.
Professor Ryze
The background’s big blur is questionable. Then, taking a look at his body, the colors are vibrant and sharp, making it easy for him to catch the eye. If you’re going for a conservative look, then this is it right here – Professor Ryze.
The suit he wears is simple, but the shoes he wears on his feet are classy. Combining all of this with a jacket, trousers, shirt, bowtie, and waistcoat, it’s evident that he is a professor with a cool-looking scarf. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget about his small round glasses and beard that has been cleanly trimmed.
Professor Ryze skin is the type of look you would expect from an individual that is self-composed. The blue skin, tattoos, and giant scroll roller, on the other hand, seem a bit strange. The roller is fitting, yes, and the book hanging from his waist is a stylish design for him, but we feel it is a bit too much when you add everything together.
Despite it all, Professor Ryze skin is attractive. If the skin has an objective, it accomplishes it. It changes how we look at this Rune Mage for sure.
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Why is the Young Ryze Skin so Special?
The Young Ryze skin is currently the only skin available that shows the famous rune mage in his human form. Those individuals who pre-ordered the League of Legends Retail Collectors’ Edition before the global release (before October 27, 2009) received this skin.
If you want to purchase this skin in the store, you’re out of luck because it has never popped up in the store, like the Black Alistar skin. This is why Young Ryze is one of the most expensive skins in League of Legends.
The skin does a great job at highlighting Ryze a thousand or so years before becoming the master magical we know him as today. In this skin, he looks as young as can be, but in a good way. His hairstyle is pretty cool – it’s a mohawk that is neatly tied in a man bun (you cannot go wrong with man bugs, they’re a new style in today’s world). Even though he is younger, he doesn’t let that stop him from carrying his giant iconic scroll around on his back.
Another reason why the Young Ryze skin is so special is because it is a super rare skin. After all, it was one of the first skins to be released in 2009, and it cannot be purchased in the store. It has been estimated that around 65,000 accounts received this skin. This means that under 1% of the LoL community owns this skin.
This is a unique skin that features a wide array of texture changes compared to the original skin. For example, his skin color has been changed from blue to a more natural-looking skin tone. Green tribal tattoos cover his body, and what’s neat is those tattoos match the symbols on his scroll that he has on his back.
Since this is one of the first skins Riot Games ever releases, you won’t have any special animations or sounds like you have with the other skins, but that is okay. I know this can be a let-down, but it’s consistent with the other skins that were bundled with the collector’s edition if you think about it. The Goth Annie is the only skin from that collection with new particles, but she still has the original animations and sounds.
While this skin was only obtained with pre-orders and has never been available in the Riot Store, this didn’t stop people from trading the skin online via auction websites (we’re sure you’ve heard of those before). If you missed your chance to get that digital copy, the only way for you to obtain the skin would be through a 3rd party, by purchasing an account that already has the skin on it. In the past, you could buy a code from a 3rd party, but Riot Games decided to disable the codes back in 2014.
Conclusion
Looking at the Young Ryze skin and comparing it to the other three skins I talked about in this posting, do you see why the Young Ryze skin is so special? Apart from the fact that it looks much better than the other three, this one can no longer be obtained.
