Faker isn’t using his $450 Ahri skin, here’s why

Faker played Ahri in a pro match for the first time since his Hall of Legends skin became available, but he didn’t equip the skin during the game.

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok became the first inductee of Riot Games’ Hall of Legends. Along with that came the game’s most expensive skin collection to date. Fans expected the collection to be pricy, but the announcement left many dumbfounded by the high price. The collection costs 59.260 RP, which is almost $450, an eye-watering amount of money even for die-hard Faker fans. Thankfully, the collection has three tiers at different prices. Players can opt for the less expensive Risen Legend collection and still show support to their favorite League of Legends player.

Faker stirred the pot when he played Ahri for the first time but didn’t bother equipping the new, expensive skin. The pro player later explained why.

Faker explains why he doesn’t use his pricy Ahri skin

At the post-match interview, Faker explained that he was focusing on the game and didn’t think of using the $450 Ahri skin for the match.

Faker also explained that he had never used skin before and wasn’t used to it. Faker might be the best choice for the inaugural Hall of Legends inductee, but he doesn’t typically equip skins. From pro matches to solo queues, Faker is well known for avoiding any skins. There were only a handful of occasions when the pro-e-sports athlete used a skin, like the SKT Ryse skin, in the Worlds Grand Finals in 2016.

“Uhh, I was focusing on the game and I’ve never used a skin before, so I’m not used to it. That’s why I didn’t think of [using] it. I hope the fans will use it a lot,” said Faker according to fan translation.

As a professional, Faker is usually focused on winning the game. It makes sense that he would not think about using the skin. In the post-match interview, he also hoped that fans would use the skin. Of course, 30% of the proceeds generated by the skin collection will be shared with Faker.

Why doesn’t Faker use skins?

The exact reason Faker doesn’t regularly use League of Legends champion skins is unknown.

Some say he doesn’t use them because they don’t have any gameplay advantage. Some claim he comes from a low-income background and never had money to buy skins. An imaginative internet denizen explains that Faker is lazy and doesn’t like the extra effort it takes to equip a skin.

While Faker probably hopes fans will use the Ahri skin, it’s still unknown whether he’ll do the same the next time he plays Ahri.