In a media briefing on June 18, Riot Games officially unveiled the commemorative skins celebrating T1's victory at the 2025 LoL World Championship. The skin line, which honors the team's historic three-peat across Seoul, London, and Chengdu, features 'Ascended Warriors' as its core concept and consists of six skins: Seraphine (Keria), Miss Fortune and Nilah (Gumayusi), Galio (Faker), Xin Zhao (Oner), and Ambessa (Doran).

The briefing covered the development background, art concepts, and in-game implementation, followed by a 25-minute Q&A session. Attendees included Sarah Carmody (Senior Manager, Creative Direction), Yui Nguyen (Art Director), Jeffrey Chan (Lead Concept Artist), and Jesse Bandy (Product Manager), who shared behind-the-scenes stories regarding the production process, player requests, and color design.

In the Yu Nara skin, the weapon's prayer beads are represented by T1's mascot, 'Ahti'. The beads appear with different effects for each skill, including Q and W, as well as basic attacks. Since these are not standard spheres but Ahti models, it seems the difficulty of implementing these effects would have been quite high. Were there any challenges during the process?

" As you mentioned, it was indeed a tricky task. Fortunately, the mascot Ahti has a round shape, and the prayer beads on Yu Nara are also spherical, so they fit together well. Thanks to that, we were able to apply them naturally without significantly altering the base form. The difficulty wasn't as high as we had feared.

Q. Since Doran joined T1 in 2025, this must have been the development team's first collaboration with him on a championship skin. You mentioned some of Doran's requests during the Ambessa skin production; are there any other memorable anecdotes from the process?

" Collaborating with Doran was a truly enjoyable experience, and I could personally feel his immense passion for creating his first championship skin. While it was somewhat difficult to visualize his specific requirements, we gradually identified what he wanted through several rounds of sketching back and forth.

From the beginning, Doran clearly wanted a hairstyle reminiscent of a lion's mane. We refined the specific design of the outfit together as we progressed. He also requested a darker skin tone to give the character a more intense and edgy feel. These details combined to create the strong, fierce Ambessa we have today.

Q. It must be difficult to come up with a new concept every time a team wins three years in a row. What differentiators did you aim for while working on the last three T1 championship skins? I am also curious about how the design process itself has changed over time, especially compared to older skins like the 2015 SKT T1 Azir skin.

" It is a unique challenge and a fun creative task at the same time. Above all, it helped that the T1 players themselves knew this process wasn't easy. The players provided many useful ideas during the collaboration, which allowed us to discover new elements each time.

In terms of themes, we definitely attempted clear differentiation. The 2023 World Championship skins were motivated by Korean deities for a more elevated feel, while the 2024 skins pursued an intense, dark atmosphere like a 'Dark Knight.' This year, we established our visual direction based on the 'Ascended Warriors' theme. By changing the theme every year, we were able to create distinct skins.

Regarding the design process itself, the essence of any concept art remains the same. We start with a broad range of ideas and continue to develop them to reach the final result; there hasn't been a major change in this flow.

The development team's sense for detail really stood out in how the players' signature elements were revealed, such as Doran's Stoneback and Oner's jacket. I understand that you try to reflect all player requests when creating championship skins; were there any requests that you ultimately could not include in this process?

" I believe we reflected almost every request. If I had to pick one, it would be a part of Faker's request. He asked for the sky background to be made larger when Galio takes flight, as if he were floating in space. However, making it too large would have obstructed the in-game view. We had to find an appropriate size, so we couldn't include the massive sky background Faker wanted. Faker fully understood and accepted this for the sake of the gameplay experience.

Another instance occurred during the very early concept stage. Doran asked if we could make Ambessa look younger, but we couldn't accommodate that. The identity of a 'League of Legends' champion must be maintained. It is a principle not to change the inherent identity of each champion, such as their age or appearance.

Q. Compared to past skins, these seem to have a more complex color design. Is there a reason you chose multiple theme colors? Also, since there are already many T1 championship skins, were there any difficulties in selecting new theme colors?

"Regarding the complexity of the colors, all the players had a similar direction in terms of their general preferences. However, there were differences in their specific tastes—some preferred brighter tones, while others preferred darker ones.

We pondered how to maintain consistency while incorporating these different preferences into a single skin line. Ultimately, we were able to include them all, and we are quite satisfied with the result. By securing that flexibility, we were able to highlight each player's personality—such as using more white for Miss Fortune and more black for Ambessa—while ensuring they all harmonize as a single set when viewed together.

Sarah Carmody, you have been working on T1 championship skins for three years. Among those you have worked on, which one is the most memorable or your favorite, and why?

" I have participated in the championship skin work for the past two years, excluding 2023. My most memorable and favorite skins are definitely the MVP skin lines.

I especially liked Faker's Sylas skin from last year. It was my first time working on an MVP skin, and it was a very enjoyable experience because it was also my first time communicating directly with Faker and the T1 team.

This year, Gumayusi's Miss Fortune is also an MVP skin. I find it a very interesting creative challenge to find the balance where it contrasts with other skins while still feeling like part of the same line. That is why I am most attached to it.

Coach Tom's ward skin is interesting as it follows the Kkoma ward skin in featuring the coaching staff. However, while the Kkoma ward skin looked more like a human, Coach Tom's ward skin looks like a cat, perhaps motivated by Tom from 'Tom and Jerry.' Was this cat form a personal request, or an idea from the development team?

" First of all, the Kkoma ward skin wasn't strictly a human form either. At the time, we reflected the appearance of a cute hamster mascot, and this time, we carried on that spirit by creating a cat.

We didn't reference 'Tom and Jerry' at all; we wanted to create a cat that reflected our own Coach Tom. We completed the skin as a cat that resembles him by including his hairstyle and the fact that he wears headphones. For reference, this ward skin was created to commemorate Coach Tom, the hidden architect of decisive victories, and was reinterpreted with the concept of a 'magic cat and strategist.' The book the cat is holding contains an image of Dr. Mundo, which is an homage to the decisive moment when Coach Tom instructed Oner to pick Dr. Mundo. We hid these Easter eggs even in small elements like the ward.

Q. It feels like the scale of the Worlds championship skin work is growing every year. Are there any special aspects compared to regular skin production in terms of staff, time, or other factors?

" I'm very happy to hear that you feel the scale is growing every year. However, we actually maintain a standard number of staff every year.

This year, we included some additional elements because of the special significance of the team's historic three-peat, but in a typical year, we produce them with the same level of scope and investment. The biggest difference is the collaboration with the team. The fact that we communicate directly with the players and create them together is what makes Worlds championship skins special compared to regular skins.

Q. Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to the LCK fans, T1 fans, and esports fans who have been waiting for the release?

"As I mentioned earlier, we have hidden numerous Easter eggs in these skins that we discussed with the T1 players. The developers spent a lot of time on them, and since we are fans ourselves, we placed fun elements throughout. I hope you discover them one by one while playing.

One of the best ways to support your favorite team and players is by purchasing these skins. I am very excited to see how players react when they actually use them. These skins are special because we are developers and esports fans at the same time. Participating in something you are a fan of is a truly special experience. I would like to thank everyone for the great questions today, and I hope both fans and players look forward to these skins.