New vs token rewards

Soo after doing about 10 matches a day or more give or take i get enough vs tokens to unlock some rewards. What i find funny is fact after grinding out vs tokens for special event and unlock a shard it is actually not unlocked. Riot then wants you to spend orange essences to even unlock your skin. While yes some of loads to spend some of us dont. This is a double grab in my eyes. Why are we forced to grind out vs tokens to then need another set of currency to even use the rewards? Why are they not being granted as a actual reward for participating in the event so many times and putting forth the effort? Just seems off to me.