Tosay, we got some huge news for 2XKO in 2026 that I did not see coming. Riot Games has just released a roadmap of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026 and there are several things that come with a big holy crap. Let's jump right in.
I'm here with a new post that has some huge and crazy news for us 2XKO fans. Today, we have been given a glimpse of everything coming to 2XKO in 2026.
Riot Games has just posted a roadmap containing everything coming to 2XKO in 2026. I did not save the roadmap and put it on my files. Instead, I used Bandicam to screen capture the whole thing at a bigger size for better quality. I'm not gonna go over everything in the roadmap, but I'm gonna go over the things I screencapped that are big and exciting.
First off, the character roadmap. Here's a look at the first three characters in the character roadmap containing Caitlyn, Akali and Senna, our upcoming character. While it says that Senna is coming in 2026, we know for sure that looking at the Season 1 countdown, she is coming out on May 12 with the launch of Season 2. The first three characters revealed so far are all female and that's not a problem to me. I am excited for Senna and she's pretty darn dope like Akali is.
We know we have the last two unannounced characters on the roadmap. But something's not right. Why is the NEW! label on Character 4? Well, if we scroll right...
An extra sixth character has been added to the schedule.
There are now three unannounced characters on the character roadmap.
The character roadmap now contains a total of SIX new characters coming this year. That's right, six new characters. The first half contains Caitlyn, Akali and Senna, and the second half has three unannounced characters. This is due to learning how we play in Early Access, whereas each season will have two new characters, following MultiVersus' footsteps. Season 0 saw the introduction of Teemo and Warwick, and Caitlyn and Akali fell within Season 1. What this means is that Senna and Character 4 will fall within Season 2, and Characters 5 and 6 will fall within Season 3. This year will expand the roster to 17 characters. Having six new characters this year is perfect. This could actually work for 2027 and beyond.
Speaking of which, this brings me to my point. Back at Evo 2024, they dropped the MultiVersus Season 2 trailer featuring Samurai Jack and Beetlejuice before Mortal Kombat 1 Top 6, so in a spirit of things, I think we're gonna see the 2XKO Season 2 trailer featuring Senna and Character 4 to be announced at the end of the trailer drop before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan since Evo Japan is approaching and we're getting two new characters on each season. We know that they will announce something in regards to Ingrid for Street Fighter 6, the fifth Season 2 Pass character for Fatal Fury and the Kunimitsu trailer for Tekken 8 since she's coming in likely May, but it's likely that a Season 2 trailer may pop up before or after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Japan. As for the fifth and sixth characters, they are likely to be revealed at a future Weekly Warmup post.
And here's another point. Remember the part where they announced Vi before Evo 2025 started? I think there are two methods of revealing the fourth character of the year after Senna. It's either announcing Character 4 at the end of the Season 2 trailer or announcing Character 4 and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest of the things and characters at the Friday Showcase at Evo 2026.
Now, remember what I said that neither Kennen nor Miss Fortune are gonna come out in 2026? I have good news for you. Since we're getting an extra sixth character this year to fall with the fifth character in Season 3, I am coming to a conclusion to believe that Character 6 is either Kennen or Miss Fortune. However, since we already have Spirit Hills, an Ionia-themed stage and Akali, it leaves me to predict that Miss Fortune would be Character 6 to fall with Character 5 in Season 3 and that is because of the Brazen Hydra having wanted posters of Gangplank and Tahm Kench on the right side of the stage. My prediction of Katarina being Character 4 to fall with Senna within Season 2 remains unchanged.
Honorable mentions:
Gangplank
Ashe
Riven
Garen
I'm gonna take the four honorable mentions I went over on the last post where I stated which of the five characters I think could potentially launch in 2026, but the last one standing could potentially be Character 5. Since we already have a Noxus-themed stage and I am speculating that Miss Fortune can be Character 6 because of the Brazen Hydra having wanted posters of Gangplank and Tahm Kench, I'm scratching out Riven and Gangplank. That leaves Garen and Ashe remaining. Currently, we never had a Demacian character in 2XKO yet and Braum is currently the only Freljordian in the roster. These characters will come with a new stage in Season 3, but one of them is Character 5 while the other is scratched out. I am scratching Garen out for next year, so that leaves me to predict that Ashe is potentially Character 5 to come with a never-before-had Freljord-themed stage in Season 3.
That said, I'm going to postulate the character release schedule. Now, before I begin, here's the definition of the word.
The definition of postulate is something I need you to understand because the character release schedule and the characters I'm stating are hypothetical. Let's begin.
Caitlyn came out on January 20 with the launch of Season 1, Ferros Promenade and the console launch. Akali came out on April 7 within Season 1 with Caitlyn. Senna releases in May 12 along with Season 2 and a new stage, which what we know for sure. Katarina releases in July 14 within Season 2 with Senna. Ashe comes out September 1 with the launch of Season 3 and a Freljord-themed stage. And finally, Miss Fortune comes out November 17 within Season 3 with Ashe to round out 2026 and its 17-character roster.
Character roadmap:
Caitlyn + Ferros Promenade - January 20, 2026
Akali - April 7, 2026
Senna + new stage - May 12, 2026
Katarina - July 14, 2026
Ashe + new Freljord-themed stage - September 1, 2026
Miss Fortune - November 17, 2026
And I'm sorry that it had to be all female because Darius, Illaoi and Braum are the sole characters from certain regions in the roster and they are related to the characters I'm predicting, and we never have characters that wield a bow, dual pistols or dual knives in the roster; the following things that are classified as the current roster's missing aesthetics and fighting styles. Like, we know that Katarina and Miss Fortune will be a Rushdown like Ahri, Akali, Vi and Warwick, and Ashe will be a Zoner like Jinx and Caitlyn, but Senna's fighting archetype remains a mystery.
2026 character roster:
Ahri
Akali
Ashe
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo
Despite the fact that we're getting an odd-numbered character roster of 17 this year because of the extra sixth character coming this year, I'm still going to divide the hypothetical 2026 character roster into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points. The characters I'm predicting are written in bold for clarification. Since 2026 is seeing the odd-numbered character roster of 17 thanks to the extra sixth upcoming character, the Capcom side will be one character behind the number of characters in the SEGA side until the 18th character to launch next year in 2027. Let's get to dividing the roster. We'll start with the SEGA side.
Ahri remains, but Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Vi and Yasuo move and Ashe, Katarina and Senna go with Ahri, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Vi and Yasuo. The SEGA side has Ahri, Ashe, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Katarina, Senna, Vi and Yasuo.
Akali, Teemo and Warwick remain, but Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx move and Miss Fortune goes with Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Teemo, and Warwick. That puts Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Miss Fortune, Teemo and Warwick on the Capcom side.
SEGA side:
Ahri
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Katarina
Senna
Vi
Yasuo
Capcom side:
Akali
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Miss Fortune
Teemo
Warwick
Key points:
Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Illaoi on the SEGA side = Ooga Booga
Katarina on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Onimusha
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
So we now have nine characters on the SEGA side and eight characters on the Capcom side in 2026 and key points to highlight the following. I'm agreeing with Illaoi being on the SEGA side because of Ooga Booga, and Caitlyn on the Capcom side because of the Alien vs. Predator arcade game by Capcom.
I am aware that Katarina is the most ambitious character because she was cut during the earlier stage of development, but as I have said before, these are hypothetical. They don't confirm who they are or the order of the character releases. Please understand that.
Here's a look at the things that are coming in 2026. We got 14 things coming in 2026. And you were implying that the part I screencapped makes you think of the mission select screen in 007: Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough because of the placement and backgrounds. We know console launch, arcade skins, the launch celebration event, Ferros Promenade and local duos came out and we got the Spirit Blossom event coming tomorrow, so we can scratch them out.
Now, we're down to seven things on the docket for 2XKO in 2026.
We have two new stages coming out this year; the Blood Moon variant of Spirit Hills, which is coming out in the next patch, likely obtainable by purchasing the premium track of the Battle Pass, and a summer-themed stage that is likely direct-to-store.
We have a summer event coming to have returning summer skins from Alpha Lab 2 and new ones coming in June's patch along with a new summer-themed stage I have already told you about.
What is the Heimerdinger? Uhh, Heimerdinger? What is the humdinger? Well, here it is.
That's right. A new Fuse is coming next month. People are predicting what the new Fuse is gonna be, so I am going to predict what this new Fuse would be. But my prediction comes on two. The new Fuse is either a Fever Fuse or a Teamfight Fuse. The Fuses I'm predicting can provide an emphasis on playing as a duo since they are investing in Duo Play even more. That said, I want to state the similarities and the differences between the hypothetical Fever and Teamfight Fuses. We'll start with the similarities.
Both Fuses:
-An emphasis on playing as a duo
-The point and assist characters are on screen
-Also available to solos so that the solo player controls both characters simultaneously and holds the team button to focus on the point character
-Earning the double down trophy is easier
-Committing a 2XKO is easier and happens more often
-Tagging and assists are disabled
And that's it. These are the similarities between Fever and Teamfight. Now for the differences between these two hypothetical Fuses.
Fever Fuse:
-Makes the point and assist characters on screen right off the bat and for the whole match
-Break and Ultimates remain enabled
-Super gauge buildup remain enabled
-Provides the same level of bonanza as that of the Cross Fever game mode in SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level and the Assault Fever game mode in Street Fighter X Tekken when both teams choose this Fuse
Teamfight Fuse:
-Activated by pressing the L, M or H and T simultaneously
-Both teammates require one bar of super gauge
-Makes the point and assist characters on screen for a short time
-The effects rescind immediately when the defender lands their Ultimate on a point or an assist character
-Break and Ultimates are disabled
Then you have the Teamfight Fuse. While it makes both characters on screen and controllable simultaneously only on solos, the effects last for seven seconds and involves spending one bar of super gauge for each teammate with pressing the team and attack buttons simultaneously. But Break and Ultimates are disabled along with tagging and assists. It is similar to the Variable Cross feature in SEGA vs. Capcom.
And finally, the knockout punch as there is another humdinger coming to 2XKO along with a new Fuse...
A Duo Finder is also officially coming to 2XKO next month. This is something that we have been wanting since Alpha Lab 1 and it's finally coming into fruition along with a new Fuse. Of course, by "we," I mean myself and the players who got an invite to Alpha Lab 1. They said that they're going make duos much easier to find and form, so here it is; the upcoming gold standard of finding a partner to form a duo with, a Duo Finder. This will make duos much easier to find and form online, encouraging online duos more than online solos.
But I don't think that the Casual and Ranked lobbies are gonna have the same treatment as private lobbies, with readying up for solo and waiting for a partner to duo before readying up. I think that the Duo Finder gonna work similarly to the matchmaker, but will find you a duo outside of the lobby, so all you have to do is to select the plus button on the client, select Find a Duo and boom, it gives you an available partner to duo with.
The Duo Finder will be the gold standard of making duos much easier to find and form when you don't know which player to duo with. We're using it for not just for purposes of grinding missions that pertain to duos, but for fun also. Emphasis on "fun" because duos are more fun than solos, especially to duos-only tournaments and when the new Fuse can provide an emphasis on duos. Finally, we can no longer be forced to use rocks. This means we will no longer be pressured to send a partner invite to anyone in Casual or Ranked lobbies. A Duo Finder is coming to 2XKO for two reasons.
The first reason is to emphasize Duo Play with duos galore. What this means is that Causal and Ranked lobbies will see a lot of duos, living up to the fact that 2XKO is best played as a duo.
The second reason is to make it easier to complete the duo missions. After the next update, both new and existing players can find a duo with the Duo Finder and start grinding the First Steps mission pertaining to playing five matches as a duo future duo missions on weekly, daily and event missions.
We have two exciting new things coming in the next patch that are met with buzz and excitement. With these two new features, Duo Play is about to be taken to the next level.
Since the roadmap has almost everything planned for 2026, there are more details to be announced and they're ironing out and settling their upcoming patches for the rest of 2026. This means the rest of the things that are coming in the second half of 2026 will be revealed, so a follow-up to this post will be posted. And I believe that there is a conjunction to the method of revealing the fourth character at the Friday Showcase at Evo 2026. That is revealing the fourth character of the year and updating the roadmap to reveal the rest of the characters and details at the Friday Showcase at Evo.
There are more stuff to be revealed, so I decided to state several things that I want along with a new Fuse and a Duo Finder coming next month.
Custom Lobbies:
Currently, there are private lobbies and they are only for invited players and have a code for players to put in. But we can change that to custom lobbies. That way, they can be both public and private. A custom lobby being public is actually an open lobby, meaning that anyone can join without a code or an invite, especially when it comes to having a 2XKO Slapfest or someting.
Netcode Refactors:
I am sick and tired of seeing them not choosing their characters and stage because of netplay not being stable enough for some players. What can remedy that is online refactors. Notice that online stability has undergone improvements in Skullgirls? I have thought that 2XKO's netplay needs some refactors and improvements so that way, there would be little to no disconnection or network strain, especially on duos.
An In Game Pulse Indicator:
Alpha Lab 2 introduced Pulse Combos in replacement of the Pulse Fuse because they want to use Pulse while having a different Fuse. In the character select screen, you see the icon when Pulse is on. But I think an in game Pulse Combo indicator can make things easy to tell. When they have Pulse on, it can be either the text of the character name colored purple in game and in the versus screen or the Pulse Combo icon at the upper left hand corner of the in game character portrait. But I think the purple text of the character name would suffice for more clarity, like in BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma where the in game character name text is colored green to make it easy to tell if they're using the Stylish Layout, but colored yellow when they're not.
Bottom line, I love seeing those who use Pulse Combos get their chops busted by those who don't use Pulse Combos at all. Since a Duo Finder is coming next month, if it finds me a duo partner who uses Pulse, it's gonna be a one and done. Pulse Combos are indeed only for scrubs, like Modern Controls in Street Fighter 6, the Smart Style in Fatal Fury and the Special Style in Tekken 8. They involve performing auto combos with one button and one button specials with directional influence like in Smash. And not just Smash, but other platform fighters that have the same control scheme like Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl and Brawlhalla. That's why we need to use Classic Controls in Street Fighter 6 and the Arcade Style in Fatal Fury.
Not to throw shade at Smash, though because really, I do love Smash in general. But if there was a player who is using Pulse, they will get busted by those who don't use Pulse. However, the scrubs term doesn't just refer to players who use auto combos. It also refers to anyone using cake mix, brownie mix and cookie dough rather than starting from scratch and even players using Dokuro in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.
Duo Ultimates:
With the new Fuse that is either the Fever or the Teamfight Fuse and the Duo Finder coming next month to take Duo Play to the next level, I think this can take Duo Play to the max. Have you heard of tag team finishers? Well, here's something that 2XKO can answer with as part of investing in Duo Play even more; Duo Ultimates. They are team supers that allow both teammates to perform their combined Ultimates. They are performed with pressing S1, S2 and T simultaneously when both teammates' super gauge is at lv. 3 since Solo Ultimates are performed by pressing S1 and S2 simultaneously.
However, there is one caveat when it comes to Duo Ultimates. Since Duo Ultimates can spend all three bars of the super gauge for both the point and assist characters, instead of being a core feature, Duo Ultimates can be incorporated into the hypothetical Teamfight Fuse since choosing this Fuse grants the ability to make the assist character on screen with the point character and requires one bar of super for each teammate, hence Teamfight, so I'm gonna rename Duo Ultimates to Teamfight Ultimates and that's what they are gonna be called.
The Teamfight Fuse can grant you the ability to spend one bar of the super gauge on each teammate to activate Teamfight Assault and bring the Assist character on screen for seven seconds by pressing any attack button and the team button simultaneously and the ability to spend three bars of the super gauge on each teammate to perform a Teamfight Ultimate by pressing the S1, S2 and the team buttons simultaneously.
When we enter the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, the only 2v2 tag fighter that has team supers was Street Fighter X Tekken. Street Fighter X Tekken has team supers and they are performed with quarter circle towards and medium attack buttons and require three bars of the super gauge, but the assist character follows up with their super after the point character takes action and they share with one bar. It wouldn't make sense for Teamfight Ultimates to have the point character perform an unused move and the assist character follow up with their Ultimate.
There is something that can be done for Teamfight Ultimates in 2XKO. Much more cinematic kick and generic and unique Teamfight Ultimates. Instead of thinking Street Fighter X Tekken, let's think a little more in line with Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 introduced 2v2 tag battles and uses tag team ninjutsu that are performed when both teammates' ninjutsu gauge is full, both generic and unique to certain combinations of two certain characters. Both the point and assist characters each have their own ninjutsu gauge. So I think that the Teamfight Ultimates in 2XKO could definetely work similarly to Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2's tag team ninjutsu, but with more cinematic kick into them. Here are some examples of duos and their unique Teamfight Ultimates and a description of how would they unfold below. I may not describe them all, so here they are.
Vi and Caitlyn = Piltover's Finest - Caitlyn binds the opponent with multiple bolas, then Vi rushes in at the opponent.
Yasuo and Akali = Twilight of the Tempest - Akali shrouds the opponent with Twilight Shroud, then Yasuo creates a tornado, combining into a shadowy tornado against the opponent.
Ahri and Akali = Twilight Charm - Ahri places her Charm on her opponent, then Akali swoops in while producing Twilight Shroud.
Ekko and Jinx = Shock Therapy - Jinx fires her zap pistol, stunning the opponent, then Ekko brings out his Mega Timewinder and hits it at the opponent.
Jinx and Caitlyn = Bullet Barrage
Vi and Jinx = Sistership
Darius and Yasuo = Hemorhagging Wind
Ahri and Ekko = Foxfire Ball - Ahri charges and pitches her Orb of Deception, then Ekko swings his bat sword and hits the Orb of Deception at the opponent
Ahri and Yasuo = Foxfire of the Tempest - Ahri channels her foxfire on Yasuo's wind, then Yasuo flings the foxfire imbued tornado at the opponent.
Braum and Ashe = Frost Pressure
Senna and Lucian = Wrathful Vegeance
These are the examples of duos and their Duo Ultimates. The last two examples have characters that aren't not in the roster yet, but figured that I would list them for creativity and for the game's future, you know. Having these following duos provides unique Teamfight Ultimates as having two characters that don't have dialogues between them in a duo may have generic Teamfight Ultimates, but the Teamfight Fuse is required for them. Maybe the new Fuse can actually be the Teamfight Fuse instead of the Fever Fuse. Heck, we can even see Piltover's Finest together on screen. What a bonanza!
I know I said this before, but I'm gonna say it again. I think God that we didn't take an L like we did with MultiVersus because holy smokes, that would be darning. Talking about Harry Potter. I'm so glad that we have been rewarded for our diligence as fans of 2XKO for letting it thrive. They were waiting for Harry Potter and the game had to be shut down early.
2026 is set to be a huge year for 2XKO as they have a lot of things on the 2026 roadmap and I am already excited for it. We must not spare any of our energy if we don't want 2XKO to die early like MultiVersus did no matter how trash it is.
