The best Overwatch Lunar New Year skins are those that fit the mood. With the start of the Year of the Pig event, Overwatch is once again decked out in festive red with fireworks bursting in the skies over Lijiang Tower. The heroes are all colorful and expressive, and their seasonal costumes should match. These are the best Overwatch Lunar New Year skins to equip when capturing that flag.
5. Wukong Winston
Perhaps the most famous monkey in mythology is Sun Wukong, the mischievous Monkey King and most well-known pilgrim from perennial Chinese novel Journey to the West. It's not a perfect fit for Winston; for one, he's a gorilla and a scientist, not a mythical celestial monkey.
For a second, Winston is far more mild-mannered and tempered than the hot-blooded Wukong. Still, the detailing is impressive, particularly the changes to Winston's Tesla Cannon to more closely resemble Wukong's signature staff, the Ruyi Jingu Bang.
4. Palanquin D.Va
The Lunar New Year is celebrated in many countries other than China. One of those is South Korea, home to pro gamer and MEKA pilot D.Va. Palanquin D.Va sees Song Hana dress up in the traditional hanbok garb of Korea's Joseon period.
Her mech is likewise tooled up to evoke the palanquins called gama ridden typically by royalty and aristocracy in the past. While D.Va isn't royalty herself, she's definitely a queen of sorts in her professional gaming career.
3. Lü Bu Reaper
The first skin revealed for the 2019 event's new additions, Gabriel "Reaper" Reyes dresses up as military general and warlord Lü Bu, immortalized in dramatic fashion by the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
A fairly villainous character notorious for his betrayal, Lü Bu is an excellent skin for Reaper who is similarly suspected of betraying Overwatch to join the shadowy Talon organization.
2. Sanzang Zenyatta
Tang Sanzang might be better-known to Western audiences by the name Tripitaka, the monk who must make the titular Journey to the West accompanied by powerful beings including the better-known Sun Wukong.
As a monk looking to attain enlightenment and ultimately transcends normal mortality, Zenyatta is a good match for Sanzang, although Zenyatta is much less on board with Sanzang's pacifism. Sanzang guiding his disciples is similarly matching with Zenyatta's own mentoring of Genji.
1. Baihu Genji
Bái Hǔ is the Chinese name for the White Tiger, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It represents the west and the autumn.
The tiger is further important in mythological symbolism as opposed yet complementary to the dragon; the tiger represents instinctive, raw strength while the dragon represents patient wisdom and a reserved power. Together, they are considered a harmonious balance between Ying and Yang.
For Genji, these themes are particularly resonant. In the autumn of his life after being rebuilt as a cyborg, and the impulsive and once-reckless younger brother to the wiser and more mature Hanzo, this skin is extremely appropriate. Add in the redesign of his sword into a Chinese jian, and his dragon replaced with a White Tiger during his ultimate, and this skin is fantastic.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
