10. Desert Reaper
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
Not so much ‘rare’ as ‘rarely seen’, it would seem apparent that nobody wants their Reaper to look like he’s made of dirt. This epic skin dons a charming shade of greenish brown/tan. He’s not nearly as intimidating as he is when dressed all in black, nor as effective at playing flashlight tag in the middle of the night. So it’s a bit of a downer on all ends, really. Exit sandman.
9. Oni Genji & Officer D.Va
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
Trust Blizzard to figure out a way to boost flagging numbers in one of their lesser franchises by offering us neat stuff in another one. These awesome skins turned D.Va into a cop, and Genji into an Oni worthy of your greatest nightmares. Initially, the only way to receive them was by completing five games in Heroes of the Storm during Nexus Challenge 2.0, week 1 yielding Genji, followed by D.Va in week 2.
Keyword there is initially, because Blizzard later added both skins to loot boxes a few short months later, the cheeky minxes! As such, these skins were downgraded from super rare to sorta rare. Their prestige may have been tarnished, but at least now the plucky duo have a better hope of realizing their career goals of being an officer of the law and a scary demon cosplayer.
8. Kerrigan Widowmaker
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
How can a skin awarded to literally everyone who logged in over the duration of an entire month be rare? Give it a few months for new players to trickle in, or those who were on hiatus, and you’ll start to understand. Someday soon it’ll be declared rare Kerrigan – Rareigan, to some. But not most.
This skin (based on her design before she became all yucky) was in honor of StarCraft’s 20th anniversary, and all it took for you to nab it was to log onto Overwatch this past March, lightening Widowmaker’s shadowy complexion a few shades.
Fun fact: I initially type Windowmaker every single time. I have no idea why. I just like windows, I guess.
7. 2016 Summer Games
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
Hello, collective noun! Your role in this article is to act as one entry, despite actually representing 12 different skins. Anyone opposed to this knavery, just pretend that we limited it to… umm… Lucio. Yeah, he’ll do.
Originally corresponding with the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, these nationalistic numbers returned into service in the following year’s summer event – lessening their street cred in the process – but the limited opportunities to acquire them still make them a hot item. If they really wanted to be realistic, Zarya should have been banned from play. You can’t tell me she’s not on the juice.
6. Breast Cancer Mercy
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
One of the few times in gaming where a developer used microtransactions in a way that benefitted the world, and Blizzard truly deserve a tip of the hat for their efforts here. Taking place just last month, this all-pink skin for Mercy cost players $15, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
A minimum $250,000 donation was promised, but that target was obliterated, approaching close to $10 million. It’s a feel-good story, and if you were one of the ones who contributed, your pink attire will be a constant reminder that you’ve done a good thing. Kudos!
5. Blizzcon 2017 Winston
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
Rare can be a relative term, of course. Following the collective shrug garnered by Bastion’s exclusive attire in 2016 (more on him later), Blizzard went back to the well the next year and came out with a more popular character. Because of this, Blizzcon Winstons pop up every now and then, but in the same vein as Kerrigan Widowmaker, each passing month will lead us one step closer to the venerable HTF territory (short for ‘hard to find’. It’s a term you see a lot when you look up old Beanie Babies).
4. Overwatch League
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
Want to support your favorite team in the Overwatch League, but just can’t quite work out the best way to do it? The solution is simple – get yourself a skin that adorns your main in their garb, and you’ll be doing them a great honor! Unless you happen to really suck, in which case you should stop wearing their colors, you’re tarnishing their reputation.
The methodology of acquiring one of these skins was a little different from the norm, requiring you to purchase League Tokens that would then go towards supporting that team fiscally. It was a neat incentive that helped to bridge the gap between the OWL players and their fans.
3. Noire Widowmaker
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
Hey, you know that cool game that will consume your soul and make you want to collect every bit of in-game content? No, of course you don’t, because it doesn’t exist yet, and you’ll just have to go out on a limb here and assume you’re going to love it.
Congratulations for your foresight, kipper, because preordering Overwatch before its launch netted you this stunning getup for everyone’s favorite French assassin. You just didn’t know she was your favorite at this point. You get the idea.
2. Blizzcon 2016 Bastion
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
When this perk for purchasing the 2016 Blizzcon virtual ticket was revealed, the response was a distinct mixture of ‘wow that looks cool’ and ‘eww it’s Bastion who cares?’ Fast forward a few years, and it still looks cool, while now having the distinction that many people care: those who initially turned their noses up now seething with jealousy as the virtuous bot struts about in its sleek blue and silver aesthetic.
It is known through most circles as being the rarest of all of the Overwatch skins, but it does at least pop up on servers now and then. The same cannot be said for the final entry on this list…
1. Faceless (and Possibly Soulless) D.Va
Top 10 Rarest Overwatch Skins
A skin even rarer than the Blizzconiest of Bastions, you simply won’t see this grim countenance staring out at you anymore, because it was the result of a simple (yet horrifying) glitch. When the Black Cat legendary skin was first added into the game, there was a short period of time where D.Va’s face was devoid of textures, making her look like some sort of eerie doll peering from within her mech suit.
For the myriad of people who wanted to use this outfit because it was totes adorbs, they were briefly totes nope nope nope nope nope instead. Alas, we may never again see the pro gamer from South Korea striking quite so fierce a visage as she did in this time, but the image will be forever burned into our memories. Especially while we sleep. That’s when she comes to visit.
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