The final two remaining characters of 2026 have been unveiled at Evo and both of them are the characters I wanted, but not the ones I theorized in the initial post. Let's jump right in!
Boy howdy, the announcement at Evo became a quite a bombshell. I originally thought that we won't be able to get something special after 2XKO Top 8 at Evo Vegas, but we actually got something special. Anyway, let's get to the main meat and the knitty gritty of the final update regarding my theory of who will be the 2026 characters coming to 2XKO.
Now, on the previous post, I originally said Lucian is gonna be the fifth and penultimate character of 2026 and Katarina would be the final character of the year to make it synonymous to Spyro: A Realm Beyond. Well, guess what? It is officially none of them. Riot has posted a trailer revealing the remaining two characters of 2026. We're gonna watch the trailer and I'm gonna do a breakdown. Here's the trailer.
She looks peak and broken. Lux, the Lady of Luminosity, and Samira, the Desert Rose, are officially revealed as the final two 2XKO characters of 2026. Before I go over what things among these characters I'm excited for, let's talk about their lore and do a breakdown. We'll start with Lux.
Luxanna Crownguard is able to bend the light with her will. She grew up dreading discovery and exile and was forced to keep her power a secret. As you watched the trailer, Lux swings her two-sided baton, comes with a Demacia-themed stage and has an intro dialogue with Senna. For any eagle-eyed fans who are watching the trailer, the stage has statues of Galio and Kayle in the background. Looking at her short gameplay, Lux could be the Ingrid of 2XKO and this gets me very excited. Lux's full trailer is coming out in Fall 2026, meaning that her launch is a week after her full trailer drops, just in time for Evo France.
Samira was once a Shuriman during her childhood until her home was destroyed, prompting her to get her true calling in Noxus where she becomes a stylish daredevil with her black powder pistols and a custom-engineered blade. We didn't get to see much of Samira's gameplay since she is coming later this year, but we can assume that she is launching before Battle Coliseum.
Now let's go over the things on why am I excited for both characters. I have several reasons specifically for Lux and Samira.
Very First Demacia Character:
2XKO never had a Demacian character yet. League of Legends' commemoration of Demacia is going strong so far and the story is developing. I wanted a Demacian to be in the roster and it's working. Lux is the first Demacian to ever come to 2XKO, and it's a developing story to fit with League of Legends' Demacia season.
Fill in the Lines:
If you don't know what do I mean by this, if you scroll down on the League of Legends homepage, you'll see the Classes section of the homepage that says Choose Your Champion. As you click on a class symbol, it shows the character as an example of a certain class. Akali is an example of an Assassin character, Yasuo is an example of a Fighter character, Jinx is an example of a Marksman character, Thresh is an example of a Support character and Lux is an example of a Mage character. And when you click on a Tank symbol, it displays Leona as an example of a Tank character, suggesting that Leona could potentially come to 2XKO as the first ever Targon character. In fact, if the Radiant Dawn is the 18th character, all of the buzz for a Targon Champion would surge.
Design Update:
As the trailer unfolds, someone pops up and I was like, "Who is that teaming up with Senna?" It is clearly Lux in her 2XKO design. Notice that she is wearing her boots and her royal dress? This shows that Lux's design in 2XKO is completely different than her League of Legends design, and that's the point of this. Champions feature visual adjustments to better fit the fighting game environment.
Second Noxus Character:
As I have said, during her childhood, Samira was once a Shurima character until she hails to earn her true calling in Noxus to become a stylish daredevil with her stylish moves accompanied by her twin pistols and a blade, deeming her a Noxian. Darius won't be the only Noxian in the roster because we're getting the second Noxian being Samira. You know, I woudn't be shocked if we are eventually gettng a Shuriman turned Noxian daredevil. I mean, Samira was a Shuriman in her childhood.
A Dante-Like in 2XKO?:
When I was watching 2XKO Pools at Evo 2026, the commentators had a conversation about a female character in League of Legends that could be a Dante-like in 2XKO with her Jam Session-style combos and it's working. We are officially getting a Dante-like in 2XKO, so who is gonna have Dante's playbook in 2XKO? Samira. She is a stylish daredevil in Noxus, indicating that she will be a Dante-like, hence "stylish". This is the buzz that I have been hearing on social media and from the commentators.
Interestingly, Lux and Samira coming to 2XKO isn't the only thing I'm very excited for because there's another thing that I am also quite excited for. A new character beyond the first ten has been revealed at end of the Sakura Shinguji trailer for SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. That is Beat from Jet Set Radio.
Beat has been in development for quite some time as he is shown on the art. Celebrating Jet Set Radio's 26th Anniversary, our graffiti and rollerblading lad is gonna step up into the roster at launch while Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter is being completely reworked before he gets back into the roster with the confirmed 12th character likely a Capcom character. 4Cyde Studios is having their first ever gameplay livestream for SEGA vs. Capcom on July 9th. Be sure to catch the livestream if you're interested.
If you're eager to try out Demacia's luminous angel, well, I have good news for you. SEGA vs. Capcom is nearing its full-fledged release in July when Season 1 will launch. It is the perfect time and opportunity to play SEGA vs. Capcom in its full glory. It will hold us off until Lux comes out. Instead of ending this post empty-handed, to make us hyped about both SEGA vs. Capcom's Season 1 launch in July and Lux's launch in 2XKO in fall, let's take a look at where the placements of the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points will stand now that Lux and Samira are revealed at Evo. Again, this is just for creativity and imagination purposes, so please don't lawsuit me for defamation.
Characters so far:
Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Lux
Samira
Senna
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo
I'm gonna take the 17-character roster and divide it into the SEGA and Capcom sides across the board and state the key points this roster will come with. Since this year is seeing 17 characters, the Capcom side will be short by one character on the SEGA side until we get an 18th character. Let's divide the roster.
Samira is initially introduced, Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo remain. The SEGA side puts Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo.
Lux is initially introduced, Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Senna, Thresh and Warwick remain. That puts Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick on the Capcom side.
SEGA side:
Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo
Capcom side:
Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick
Key points:
Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Ekko on the SEGA side = Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Vi on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Yasuo on the SEGA side = Blood Will Tell: Tezuka Osamu's Dororo
Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round
Lux on the Capcom side = Street Fighter Alpha 3
Senna on the Capcom side = Devil May Cry
Thresh on the Capcom side = Ghosts n' Goblins
Warwick on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Now, with no fighting game goggles on, no bias. Looking at the info, it is really developing, all because of Lux and Samira are coming later this year.
And man, a Dante-like and an Ingrid-like coming to 2XKO. This is the best day for us in the FGC. That's how I feel when I was playing Escape from Ever After, especially on that part where the pigs simply called Tinder a lizard to anger her, when she is clearly a dragon. It is similar to Fang getting angered when they called her a monkey. This tells you that this trope never gets old.
It sucks that we will not get to see Katarina make it to the light of day this year, but thankfully, Samira is coming to 2XKO as the second Noxian though. Arucelli stated that she will be in a future roster while she submitted her concept art to the designers and it's exactly like that. Does this mean that our red-haired assassin will never make it to the light of day? Absolutely not. See, Katarina is still planned, so just have faith in Riot and keep believing in our red-haired assassin. Who knows? She might be shadow-dropped to coincide with Samira's launch like Thresh was.
It takes four updates, but we have reached the ends of my predictions on who will be the 2026 characters. I am planning to make educated guesses on who will be next year's upcoming characters, but I can't make any guarantees.
