Hoping to grab some free League of Legends skins this year? Check out some of the best legitimate ways to get free LoL skins without getting scammed or banned.
Everyone loves a glow-up as much as the next person. And what better way to start the new year than with a fantastic upgrade to your favorite champion’s visuals?
Unfortunately, this usually means you need to spend time and money to get the look you want.
Luckily, this isn’t the case with these 9 ways to get some awesome free League of Legend skins that we’ve listed below!
Whether you’re after the skins (like some awesome prestige skins) and the champions, or just the skins themselves – we’ll show you the best way to unlock each of the free skins available today in League of Legends.
Can You Get Free Skins In League Of Legends Legitimately?
If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet – you’re likely already battle-hardened when it comes to “free this or that” scams. And even though Riot has a pretty good handle on keeping its playerbase in the loop on any free cosmetics available, there are many sites out there claiming to offer free skins in exchange for one thing or another.
These sites tend to promise a variety of different skins from the Riot store. However, most are just scams!
At the time of writing, there are only 9 absolutely legitimate ways to get in-game LoL skins for free. Generally, this is done by interacting with the League of Legends community, inviting new friends, playing matches, and showing your die-hard loyalty to the game.
What Skins Can You Get For Free In LoL
Here’s a quick bird’s eye view of some of the free skins available in the game, as well as some of the top methods to deck out your champions.
Current List Of Free Skins In League:
- Riot Girl Tristana
- Unchained Alistar
- Sanguine Garen
- Grey Warwick
- Medieval Twitch
- Triumphant Ryze
- Season Reward Skins
- Certain Special Edition Skins
- Skin Shards & Hextech Crafting
Note: You can also experiment with skin changer programs, but we’ll talk more about that and why it’s a bad idea at the end of the article.
How To Get Free League Of Legends Skins This Year
Now that we’ve seen what Riot games has to offer in terms of free in-game skins – let’s talk about how you can pick up each skin for yourself.
Below, we’ll go through each available option and give you the best way to unlock it quickly and efficiently.
How To Obtain Riot Girl Tristana (Champion & Skin)
If you haven’t unlocked Riot Girl Tristana yet, getting her and the skin is pretty simple.
All you need to do is leave a “Like” on the official Riot Games Facebook page through the coupon app.
Here are the steps to get Riot Girl Tristana:
- Select your server link:
- Europe West
- Europe Nordic and East
- North America
- Russia
- Oceania
- Latin America North
- Latin America South
- Brazil
- Click “Like!” on the Facebook Page.
- Enter your Summoner Name
- Click “Get Riot Girl Tristana Girl”
- Enjoy your new skin!
How To Obtain Sanguine Garen (Champion & Skin)
To get Sanguine Garen and his skin for free, if you haven’t unlocked him yet, you’ll need to play the game until Level 5.
This skin replaced the previously offered Dreadknight Garen, where you’d have to follow the Riot games Twitter. However, since 2018, they’ve stopped doing that.
Reportedly – you used to be able to open a support ticket to prove that you followed the developer’s Twitter, but since, Riot has scrapped the practice in favor of a free Level 5 chest that awards you the Sanguine Garen skin.
While there are no special visual effects for Sanguine Garen, the skin allows you to play League of Legends with a pretty cool fiery red visual which is a nice change of pace from the otherwise bright and shiny Demacian.
Here are the steps to get Sanguine Garen:
- Play the game until you hit Level 5.
- Open the level-up reward chest.
- Enjoy your new skin!
How To Obtain Unchained Alistar (Skin & Champion)
Obtaining Alistar and his skin is not as simple as being a subscriber to League of Legend’s Youtube channel anymore. Luckily, there is still a free way to get him and the skin for free.
Here is the best way to get this skin in 2021:
- Go to the support page:
- Choose “I’m having technical issues”.
- Copy and paste the following text into the description field: “I was trying to use the link to redeem the Unchained Alistar only comes up with a blank page. I subscribed to the Youtube channel but I can’t figure out how to get the skin the normal way. Please see the attached screenshots that show I am signed in and subscribed to the RiotGamesInc Youtube channel as well as the second page where brings up a blank page. If Unchained Alistar is no longer available I understand and you can disregard this ticket. Please notify me if this is the case. Otherwise, can someone please show me how to fix this issue? Thank you, (enter your Summoner Name here)”
- Upload the screenshots you have made
- Click Submit
- The support team should respond in a few minutes with your free skin
How To Obtain The Grey Warwick Skin
This skin has been redone recently to make it look even better than before, including new animations and upgraded graphics.
The requirements for getting Grey Warwick have also changed but are still relatively easy to check off. All you’ll have to do is invite 3 players through the Refer-A-Friend program or create 3 accounts yourself.
Once all 3 accounts have reached level 10, the Grey Warwick skin will be available to you for free. The extra time of making 3 accounts by yourself and leveling them all up will be worth the extra effort and make getting this skin that much sweeter.
How To Get The Medieval Twitch Skin
Like Grey Warwick, this skin has also been updated with new ambient animations, skill animations, and graphic design.
The method to obtain this skin is also similar to that of getting Grey Warwick. The only difference being is that you need to invite 5 players through the Refer-A-Friend program. You can also create the 5 accounts yourself if you’d like to put in more effort.
Again, once all these accounts have reached level 10, the Medieval Twitch skin will be available to you for free.
Nothing quite beats that sense of achievement when you gain an awesome reward after spending the extra time and determination.
How To Get The Triumphant Ryze Skin
Getting a free skin for Triumphant Ryze isn’t the easiest. In fact, it’s probably one of the most difficult compared to the other skins we’ve covered so far.
So how do you get this one for free in LoL?
To cop Triumphant Ryze – you’ll need to win an official League of Legends tournament. Before you jump to conclusions, this doesn’t mean you have to shoot straight for the LCS or Worlds.
Winning any official Riot-sponsored tournament or even entering tournaments that are smaller with rookie teams will do the trick nicely.
Where Can You Participate In LoL Tournaments?
Curious as to where you can take part in some showdowns for a chance to get your own Triumphant Ryze?
Check out these 3 sites to find League of Legends tournaments:
Note: Not every tournament on these sites will make you eligible to win a Triumphant Ryze code – so it’s a good idea to clear that up with the organizers before you join.
Once you’ve got your victor’s spoils, you can get the skin by:
- Going to the Riot store.
- Clicking Account in the right top corner.
- Clicking “Redeem Codes” and pasting your skin code in.
League of Legends Season Rewards Skins
Riot gives out free skins to players for their achievement of obtaining a Gold rank or higher at the end of each and every season.
Here’s a list of Victorious seasonal skins to date:
- Season 1 – Victorious Jarvan IV & Judgement Kayle
- Season 2 – Victorious Janna
- Season 3 – Victorious Elise
- Season 4 – Victorious Morgana
- Season 5 – Victorious Sivir
- Season 6 – Victorious Maokai
- Season 7 – Victorious Graves
- Season 8 – Victorious Oriana
- Season 9 – Victorious Aatrox
- Season 10 – Victorious Lucian
Want to learn more? Check out the LoL Wiki page to get a detailed list of the Victorious skins and their Chromas available in League of Legends.
League Of Legends Special Edition Skins
Riot events and collector edition packs are typically the only way to get certain skins. They are not available via the crafting system nor via mystery gifts.
Here is the list of these rare skins:
- Young Ryze: Offered if you pre-ordered a copy of the game
- Silver Kayle: Offered if you bought a retail copy of the game
- Riot Squad Singed: Gifted at GamesCom 2010, PAX, and E3
- Riot K-9 Nasus: GamesCom 2011 & 2012, PAX Prime 2011, Buena Park Meet-Up
- Riot Graves: GamesCom 2012, PAX Prime 2012, and future events
- Riot Blitzcrank: GamesCom 2013, PAX Prime 2013, and future events
- Riot Kayle: GamesCom 2014, PAX Prime 2014, and future events
BONUS: Skin Shards & Hextech Crafting
One of the coolest recent additions to League of Legends was the massive Hextech crafting system that Riot worked into the game.
When you open chests, you’ll often notice skin shards dropping alongside champion shards. Combining these shards with orange essence (which you can get by disenchanting unneeded shards) allows you to craft the skin you’re after.
However, if you’re stocked full on Orange Essence, you can also re-roll 3 unwanted skin shards into 1 new random skin shard.
How To Get More Skin Shards In LoL
The most effective way to get more skin shards in League of Legends is by simply playing the game. Each time you get an S+ rating or level up in-game, you’ll be rewarded with a new chest, which has a high chance of dropping skin shards.
Should You Mess With Skin Changer Programs?
Making your own skin can be an exciting and fun use of your imagination. There are plenty of programs that allow you to deck-out your character any way you see fit.
But, there’s a catch!
While you can see yourself valiantly running into battle in your custom do-up, everyone else playing the game will only see you in with the default skin and animations equipped.
Essentially, you’re playing the game and doing the No Makeup Challenge in public.
But hey, what matters is what makes you enjoy the game you see in front of you, right?
Unfortunately, that’s not the only caveat…
Riot Games also has a pretty strict policy on third-party programs that modify or interact with the game in any way. This policy forbids the use of any cheats, scripts, and skin changes altogether.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully, this quick and easy tutorial on how to get some of the coolest free League of Legends skins and champions has helped make your gaming experience more enjoyable.
Whether you’ve gone on to grind skin shards, level up several accounts to level 10, or spamming likes to bolster Riot’s social media accounts – you’re well on your way to getting some awesome skins in LoL for absolutely free!
And even if you didn’t get some of the exclusive event skins on this list, Riot Games is always pumping out new ones every now and then to keep things fresh and exciting. So there are always plenty of opportunities to cop some sweet in-game visuals – just keep your eyes peeled.
With that, it’s our turn to hear from you, summoner. Which of these skins do you already have? Let us know in the comments below!