My 2 cents on the possible Pool Party Ahri skin

As someone who was looking forward to riot doing a Pool Party Ahri and hoping for the best, I just wanted to chime in on my guesses as to what it'll be like if they do it.

1. Not "just a bikini" Riot is on record of saying they didn't just want to do Ahri in a string bikini, though I'd prefer that option, I don't see it happening. So there's probably going to be some accessories at least. I'm also going to guess it'll be a 1350 skin with new particles for the W and R at least, maybe the E as well. Potential for a more watery orb if riot has an idea they can pull off.

My only question for this is criteria is what kind of accessories go with ahri? She can't have a nerf sword, water pistols, an octopus hat, a sunflower or an umbrella. IMO this is probably the biggest reason this skin hasn't been done yet and if the leak was a fake, why it was a fake. While a lot of her fans will probably be happy with just a bikini, I'm guessing riot wanted more which has held this skin back.

TBH Atlantean Ahri probably would have been easier to get inspiration for and pull of simply because of this criteria.

Could riot be going for a beach volley ball theme?

I'm going to say no, but only because riot doesn't like messing with her orb. It needs to be distinctive because of the passive. And floating volleyballs would be more of a syndra thing and she's not getting a PP skin.

2. History is against her showing a lot of skin While the Vastaya lore had a picture of a bathing Ahri (moar plz), other female pool party skins have been a little more conservative. Specifically Leona and MF going for a little more fabric vs Fiora going for a little less. While fully nude Ahri with some convenient censoring (hair, steam, or magical hearts in the way) would certainly be interesting and sell a lot, I doubt it'll happen. I mean, sure Taric and Graves showed some skin, and I'd be all for Gargas with a thong and a keg (top 10 skin for sure, top 5 if he has moob/belly jiggle), I'd say odds are against something like that for Ahri. So thong/sling bikini for her are probably out.

3. Are there any fan arts riot has taken inspiration from? Just did a image search and the most common things I saw were a darker one piece, a red one piece, and 2 piece bikini that was red with a gold pattern on it. The red gold one looks the best to me, but from point 2 it's probably the least likely if riot went from a fan inspiration.

4. Any hints in other riot art? Well, there's the jinx teaser, but it doesn't give a good look at ahri's outfit. As I said above, the Vastaya lore pic should be ruled out. A better splash would be the pool party ziggs splash. It has Ahri in a stylized purple one piece. It's a bit dated and it's possible riot has changed their mind since then, particularly since they haven't done that skin earlier, it's still the best preview in official riot art. The biggest strike against the PP ziggs splash is Ahri is in just a bikini. It'll be interesting to see if riot changes the ziggs splash later if it is different.

This is the biggest issue I have. The only riot art we have doesn't really go with what they've done for the other skins in the line.

5. It's gotta be something she could work. We have to assume it'll be a theme that'll suit Ahri. Also it's got to be a theme different that her current options. I mean take the Japanese school swimsuit (you anime viewers know exactly what I'm talking about). It's more conservative and hasn't been done in game, but it might be too close to academy ahri... so we can probably rule that out. The ziggs splash looks okay, but as "just a bikini" I doubt riot is going to do that now. Unless they are really pressed for money, in which case anything is on the table.

6. It's probably not going to be like any of the other PP/Ahri skins. One thing riot has done well is that except for almost everyone having sunglasses or goggles/snorkel , the PP skins are all relatively unique takes on the theme, with renekton and taric being the closest in theme. Sunglasses may work on her while the goggles/snorkel idea I hope was set on fire. While bikini top and shorts could have been an option, I think arcade ahri has shorts, so it's probably too close to do that on ahri.

So what Ahri skins have been done?

School girl ahri, kitty head phones console peasant ahri, cuddle-me ahri, Kpop Ahri, historical korean ahri, fiery samurai ahri, and then the bad one. Color schemes tend to be a lot of reds, pinks, or purples. I'm thinking that red/pink/purple is probably going to be the main color of her outfit this time around as well. Is it too much to ask for an Ahri skin that features a lot of another color? Like a black/white skin, or a blue skin, or a gothic dress skin, or a PC gaming Master race Ahri?

I can't think of any specifically asian bikini styles (that don't overlap academy) and I don't think a traditional style would work with ahri. Braum yes, ahri no. Also traditional styles probably aren't trendy.

7. Other factors? I can't think of too much here other than this will be post nerf (or nerfs) so depending on her win rate at the time the skins team will probably need to swing for the fences. In a way it kind of sucks for them that this skin is coming out after she's had one or more nerfs. Usually the nerf comes after the skin comes out. I feel like the anti-ahri fan base just cost the skin team 1 million dollars. Great. Because you all couldn't hold off on your nerf ahri threads until after the skin came out, someone is probably going to get fired.

Note, considering the fact that the skin is being leaked, riot is probably too far along in the pipeline to switch things up to something that'll sell more. There's also probably not a lot of time left to tweak it either. Someone's job is probably screwed. If I were that person, I'd blame the gameplay board.

Finally skins have to either have a strong world-wide appeal or a local flair that can really stand out. Riot could try a mermaid ahri if the stole Nami's rig for it, but that's definitely in the legendary ballpark and screw with her silhouette... riot could hint at it with a clam shell bikini top, but the bottom piece would still be an issue. Clam shells would be pretty distinctive, but I don't think the SJWs at riot would let that happen. Also an octopus butt would probably be the thing of nightmares.

Or hentai.

Let's rule obvious hentai ahri out and try not to think about it ever again.

Final Verdict My end of the day guess is probably something like Leona or MF, but red/purple. So a modified version of the ziggs splash seems the most reasonable guess. IDK how it is going to be accessorized with PP style items. The school swimsuit would be my second guess as it is pretty iconic for the gamer community and ahri would be one of the best champions for it, but it's more of a long shot.