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League of Legends has over a thousand skins to choose from for its many champions. In 2021, Riot Games added a total of 127 skins to the game. This year itself has already seen 106 skin releases including a number of additions to the Star Guardian, High Noon, Anima Squad and Eclipse skin lines. While some champions like Ezreal, Lux, Miss Fortune, and Ahri have over a dozen skins, others like Dr. Mundo, Udyr, and Zilean have to wait a long time to get new ones. Twitter user koachi noted that this is the third time in a row that Zilean has not received a skin for over 1000 days.
Another Twitter user noted that he did receive a Legends of Runeterra skin a few months ago called Zilean Wisewood.
However, it seems unlikely that Riot Games will reuse the same idea for a Zilean skin. After his initial release in April 2009, Zilean got roughly two new skins per year till 2011. After the release of Time Machine Zilean (which was a 520 RP classic skin) in April 2011, the champion didn’t get a skin till May 2015. After his latest skin, Sugar Rush Zilean which came out in December 2019, the Chronokeeper is yet to receive a skin for more than two years. As of now Zilean has a total of 6 skins (including those in the Legacy Vault). As a Reddit post noted, every champion has gotten a new skin either in 2020 or in 2021 with the only exception of Mundo and Udyr. While Mundo and Udyr have not gotten new skins for over a 1000 days, they both recently had major reworks where some of their skins were changed up to fit their new models.
Zilean is undoubtedly one of the harder champions to design a skin for while staying true to his theme and model. One of the visibly older champions in League of Legends, Zilean’s signature long white beard and giant clock give him a distinctive appearance. However, there is still a lot Riot can do with him. Given his Shuriman heritage, a Guardian of the Sands skin or a Young Zilean seems like an option worth considering. Perhaps Riot can lean into his Father Time aesthetic and create an Academy skin with him as a quirky headmaster.
The champion hasn’t received much love since a minor VFX and gameplay update in 2015. That may change with Zilean’s resurgence in pro play. The Chronokeeper gained traction in both LCS and LCK where he was seen in both the mid lane and support roles.
As of now, the developer has a lot on its plate with upcoming reworks for other champions like Skarner and Aurelion Sol. However, things seem optimistic for Zilean as Riot has recently started devoting more of its resources to updating older champions.
