League’s Battle Queen Katarina skin “pay-to-win” with new unstoppable exploit

Skins in League of Legends are purely meant to be a cosmetic thing, but sometimes one gets through the cracks with a game-breaking problem. This time, it’s Battle Queen Katarina, which has the ability to let the Sinister Blade break free from crowd control.

If you’re a Katarina main, it’s likely you’ve dished out the 1820 RP for the Battle Queen skin. The newly-released cosmetic, which is part of League’s latest in-game event, is one of the Noxian’s finest ⁠— even if the skin line itself has been controversial.

However, there’s more to Battle Queen Katarina than its killer looks. The skin is one of a handful in a new line of supposedly “pay-to-win” skins that players can actually gain a competitive advantage on.

Riot Games

Battle Queen Katarina (second from right) is proving to be problematic with a new crowd control removing exploit.

It’s more than just the smaller perceived hitboxes of skins of yesteryear, but an actual repeatable exploit players can abuse to escape crowd control.

League bug squasher ‘Vandiril’ shared a video on YouTube on January 6 outlining the exploit, which allows Katarina to break free of crowd control like stuns by spamming the toggle for her skin.

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The toggle should only allow her cosmetics to change, but it’s giving Katarina players a 15 dollar tool to gain an advantage.

This problem isn’t unique to Battle Queen Katarina. It’s been an issue on a lot of expensive skins, including DJ Sona. Basically any skin with a toggle has had this issue at one point or another.

This exploit is limited in its use, however, it hasn’t stopped players from labeling it “pay-to-win.” Plus, if it’s abused enough and Riot catches on, it’s likely players will be banned for doing so. They’ve not shied away from the ban hammer in other similar instances, like with ability exploits.

Riot is yet to comment on the exploit. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can either cough up the 15 dollars on live servers to pick up the suave Katarina skin, or jump on the PBE and test it for free. Either way, just be mindful of it if you see a Katarina in your games.