Who Would the 2026 Characters Be for 2XKO

We're approaching the time when Riot is gonna announce the next 2XKO character at the Game Awards, and they don't have to just announce the next character, but also show us some sort of 2026 character roadmap or graphic that has five seasons each character will launch on like they did to announce the 2026 Competitive Series that uses a format of offering direct support to 20 offline tournaments divided by five seasons that are tied to 2XKO's in-game seasons, sporting four (1 major and 3 challenger) events on each season. Today, I'm gonna state which of the five characters potentially coming to 2XKO in 2026.

Before I begin, I want you to understand that this post does not have a firm information if these characters are actually coming to 2XKO in 2026. This is an educated guess on which of the five characters could be coming. But we have small pieces of information across the Internet that draw us closer to seeing who the characters will actually be in 2026. That said, here are the five characters that I think could come to 2XKO in 2026.

1. Katarina

As I have said, Katarina had to be Thanos snapped from the game's early stages of development because Riot had to go back to the drawing board after looking at the art style from League of Legends and changing the art style to something that fits well in a fighting game. But look at the game's Wikipedia page that is now updated to reflect when the game is launching on console, which is January 2026, a perfect date for the game's official launch, her name is on the list of confirmed characters with a [b] mark after her name representing that she is guaranteed to be announced at the Game Awards as the 12th character. And it's not just her name being listed in the game's Wikipedia page, but how Arucelli did her magic in working on a concept art for Katarina as well.

2. Caitlyn

The Piltover Sheriff and the noble member of the Kiramman family is known for wielding her Hextech rifle. You would know that Caitlyn is a Marksman character, so if she comes to 2XKO, her kit will be innovated into something that fits in the fighting game genre. Innovations would be swinging her rifle and having Hextech grenades in her arsenal along with her Yordle traps. There was one video on YouTube that talks about Warwick and Caitlyn being confirmed. I think that our rifle dudette of Piltover could potentially be confirmed to be in 2XKO as the guaranteed fifth character to come with an Arcane skin at launch. And I think it's also because she is Vi's best friend.

3. Kennen

If you watched the Teemo trailer, there is a Yordle in the background of Bandlewood Crossing. He is called the Heart of the Tempest, Kennen. Since Riot has stated that no character is deconfirmed, this indicates that Kennen is likely to have a guaranteed chance of making his debut with 2XKO. But since Kennen is a Mage character, he'll swing his lightning and maybe have a Sonic Spinball dash Teemo has, but with lightning imbued in it. And he'll be a decent and less annoying Yordle than Teemo would be. But I do believe what Teemo did is offering a shining light of hope to any Yordle fans out there.

If you have doubted that your favorite Yordle could never make their way into 2XKO, whether if you're a fan of Rumble, Poppy or Lulu, a precedent has been set that if Teemo can be well-adapted into 2XKO, then any other Yordle can be well-adapted into 2XKO. Does it really sting that we found out that Teemo, of all characters has confirmed to launch in 2XKO? I think it does. That includes that one Ionian Yordle in my wish list, Kennen, the Heart of the Tempest. But thankfully, Kennen is confirmed and he's gonna be a savage Yordle with lightning.

4. Akali

I have came across some fanart regarding what would Akali look like in a fighting game after Googling fanart of Akali in 2XKO. I think that Akali could have more a chance of coming to 2XKO, because of not just the fan art of her, but she banks on missing mechanics or aesthetics and has a unique matchup with Ahri in League of Legends in terms of builds. She may be hard to learn in terms of combos like Yasuo is. We can find out if she's gonna be easy or hard to learn. Either way, Akali would be peak and savage.

5. Miss Fortune

Well, I was gonna put in Gangplank as one of the five predicted 2026 characters, but since I heard Gangplank is not actually a pirate, I had to put in Miss Fortune as the predicted 2026 character instead. As I have said, Sarah Fortune will have an innovative kit and personality that fits in 2XKO since she's a Marksman character and have moderate mobility to deem her a rushdown character. And one stage being the Brazen Hydra is themed around a pirate ship and a tavern in Bilgewater. This could mean that our red-haired pirate lady can have a chance of coming to 2XKO as the 2026 chcracter and that is because of the Brazen Hydra being a tavern with a pirate ship attached to it.

2026 Champions:

Season 1 - Katarina
Season 2 - Caitlyn
Season 3 - Kennen
Season 4 - Akali
Season 5 - Miss Fortune

2026 character roster:

Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Kennen
Miss Fortune
Teemo
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

Again, this post does not provide a firm information on who would be the 2026 Champions for 2XKO. This is just an educated guess for what I believe on who they are and which Season that they will launch in. We do know that Katarina is coming in Season 1 guaranteed, but for the rest, it's unknown if these characters are actually coming in 2026 or not. And while I'm at it, I'm gonna continue imagining the left side as the SEGA side and the right side as the Capcom side on the character select screen.

Looking at the predicted list, Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Kennen, Teemo and Warwick will be on the SEGA side and Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Katarina, Miss Fortune, Vi and Yasuo will be on the Capcom side. Again, this is simply my imagination. This is not meant to defame anything, so don't take me for granted.

2025 is coming to a close as we're approaching the New Year and the Game Awards is fast approaching. Just to be honest, I watch the awards show for game announcements and that's what the show is known for. Once 2026 comes, we'll find out if my prediction is true or not. This month is gonna be a Cinderella story for both 2XKO and SEGA vs. Capcom when it comes to announcements.

And speaking of SEGA vs. Capcom, it can follow the footsteps of 2XKO and become a phenomenal game if it follows the things that 2XKO did that SEGA vs. Capcom can learn from besides that Alpha thing we seen on their X post with Sonic on the art. Here's the link to the post if you're interested.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2025/12/what-sega-vs-capcom-can-learn-from-2xko.html