Several weeks ago, anyone with a League of Legends account was able to vote for one of three inspirations for a new skin. The chosen champion was Tristana, and it was the second time players were given such a choice. Back in 2017, the community voted to bring the Resistance Illaoi skin into existence. This time around, fans got to pick between Sugar Rush, Galactic Gunner, and Little Demon Tristana. Well, the votes are in, and Riot has announced the winner. “Little Demon Tristana” will be the game’s next big fan-voted skin. Riot went into detail with a post describing the creative process and exploring how over four million players voted. Let’s quickly recap what we’ve learned.
How players voted
The “Sugar Rush” skin, including a bubblegum machine gun and bright-colored clothing, received 30% of the votes. In the “Galactic Gunner” skin, which received 27% of the total votes, Tristana wields a laser gun and is dressed in futuristic space gear. “Little Demon” Tristana rose to the top of the bunch, however, receiving 43% of votes from players. Tristana will soon walk the rift with a devil’s tail, flaming hair, and a sinister skull-faced weapon.
Riot also included data on how players voted according to their familiarity with the champion. The data was split between players with 4-9 games on Tristana, 10-99 games, and over 100 games played. While the ratio of votes in each bracket reflected the overall votes, dedicated players with over 100 games showed an increased voting percentage for the Little Demon skin.
The creation of a demon
Although Riot steadily releases new champions and skins, the players don’t always get a glimpse behind the scenes. Riot Stellari, the product lead on the project, explains that they approached concept artist Jesse Li with an open mind. They asked for three designs: one “fun,” one “sci-fi”-inspired, and one other design that fit Tristana as a character. After the initial designs were made, they were finalized and the players were given the choice.
Once the fan vote concluded, Riot had three core aspects that they wanted to embrace during the creation of this skin. First, the skin had to be “adorable and demonic, not edgy.” Second, the skin had to somehow tie into the Little Devil Teemo skin, so that she might be the “right-hand yordle.” And third, they desired the skin to come off as “fiery and mischievous.” With these three pillars in place, the design team was now throwing suggestions on the table, exploring any and all ideas that fit the concept. Recall animations, champion interactions, and other small details could all be incorporated in the final product.
Bringing the concept to life
The final steps in making Little Demon Tristana a reality were to work on visual and sound effects to fit the character. This skin fits into a category with others, such as Little Devil Teemo and Demon Vi, so the final skin would have to complement them while still maintaining Tristana’s personality and character. Riot uploaded a video of early concepts for animations of Tristana’s skill set, showing different paths the skin could go.
Little Demon Tristana is set to release with the 9.11 patch, although the name of the skin may change before its official release. Further updates on the creation of the skin are coming shortly. These will focus on the addition of sound effects and the design of the skin’s splash artwork. We’ll inform you of any new updates that are released, so make sure to keep up on our League of Legends page.
Was Little Demon Tristana your choice for her newest skin? Was there another concept that you think should have been a choice? Who do you think should be the next champion with a fan-chosen skin? Let us know in the comments below!
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