2XKO Tier List Rankings – The Best Characters

In our 2XKO tier list, we cover the best characters of the Alpha Lab playtest.

We’ll explain the strengths and weaknesses of each character, and overall what makes them good.

Note that balance changes are guaranteed to happen before the full release, but this should give you a good idea of the current meta.

As always with our tier list, remember to prioritize your own unique playstyle preferences. If you want to get better on any character, you can!

S Tier (Overpowered)

Ekko

• Strengths: Mobility, mixups, projectiles, combo extensions
• Weaknesses: Mixups may become progressively weaker over time as players have longer access to the game

Ekko’s kit in the Alpha Lab was so dominant he truly deserves his own tier. Timewinder let’s Ekko control the neutral game with its multiple use variations and the sheer threat of being placed into a Time Slow Reaction. Simply mixing up jumpback Time Winder (Air) gives the opponent a very difficult time closing the gap.

On wakeup, Ekko’s mixup game is unparalleled. His high/low and side switch mixes are extremely fast and many of them are un-reactable and can only be blocked by guessing. Potentially the strongest Fuse, Freestyle, gets the most mileage from Ekko when combining his mixups with assists and Handshake Tags. The amount of offensive pressure simply overwhelms defenders who are unable to read their opponents attack patterns.

Double Down and 2x Assist can be just as strong for Ekko considering how both his (S1) and (S2) Supers can be used in conjunction with either of these Fuses to gain huge combo extensions.

Being the only champion to truly pair well with every other champ further increases the competitive viability of Ekko. Multiple Alpha tournaments featured Ekko mirrors in Finals and Grand Finals.

Ekko doesn’t have any notable weaknesses, but it’s his ability to open up his opponents and exploit their weaknesses make him feel totally broken.

A+ Tier (Very Strong but Not Broken)

Ahri

• Strengths: Best assist, air movement, OTGs, long combos, hit confirms, corner carry
• Weaknesses: Low HP, weaker as point champ

One hundred percent, hands down, Ahri’s Foxfire Rain Assist (←  (T) is the best assist action in 2XKO. The devs have addressed the bug which caused Foxfire Rain Assist not to scale down damage properly, but even when this gets addressed, Ahri will retain her spot as the best Assist champ.

Foxfire Rain Assist is an OTG that can add extremely long extensions to virtually any combo when using the 2x Assist Fuse. Watch any TOD combo video and you’ll see they all utilize Ahri’s assist to rack up such an immense amount of damage.

Unlike some characters in other tag fighters that are used picked solely for their assist, Ahri is still a powerful point champ. In neutral, her Foxfire Blast (S1) is an incredibly strong poke tool that leads to easy hit confirms to begin her long, very long, and very very long combos. She also has the best air movement manipulation capabilities, which makes catching her rather challenging.

The worst position to be in every fighting game is the corner. Even more so in 2XKO since you are unable to benefit from Retreating Guard when cornered. Ahri currently has the best corner carry and her opponents will constantly find themselves cornered because of it.

A low health pool is Ahri’s only real weakness. Besides her low health, Ahri is a well-rounded champ for such a strong projectile game. Whether you want her to enable your point champ, or you’d enjoy Ahri as the main event, we highly recommend adding her to your arsenal!

Darius

• Strengths: Ease of use, difficult to counter, long range pokes, armored attack, chip damage
• Weaknesses: Slow attacks, vulnerable to parry, gimmicky.

The Noob Stomper! Darius became the favorite of beginners due to his ease of use. He also remained lore accurate as the, “most feared and battle-hardened,” axe spammer. The huge range and damage of Darius’ buttons are extremely difficult to deal with. This is not just for new players; Darius’s attacks and block string are competitively viable at every level.

Many players make an argument for Darius as the strongest champ in the Alpha.  Between Apprehend (S1) and Decimate (S2), it can feel that there are no good defensive options against Darius. The slow speed and predictability of his attack strings do make Darius vulnerable to Parry, but properly spaced attacks still give Darius enough time to recover before being punished.

Moreover, Parry requiring at least 1 bar of available Ult meter means in Round 1, there is very little counterplay to Darius’ brute force shenanigans. Any time Darius’ opponents want to use up their ult meter, they have to give up the ability to parry once again. Parry itself is inherently very risky, so a good Darius player can adapt and bait out Parries as well.

Apprehend as both a Point attack and as an Assist, cannot be countered with Retreating Guard or Pushblock. Landing Apprehend is the only attack that forces the opponent into a true 50/50, making it an incredible assist ability as well.

Top all that power off with the armored Grievous Wheel (↓ (S2), and Darius can cover every option his enemies throw at him. Darius works equally well as the Point or Assist Champ, and is an excellent choice to build your team around, or to add to the strength of your primary champ choice.

A Tier (Strong and Flexible)

Yasuo

• Strengths: High damage, self DHC, side switch mixups, strong point offense
• Weaknesses: Weak Assists, no overhead, difficult execution, high commitment attacks, long startup animations, abilities locked behind stance.

As a solo champ, Yasuo has the highest possible damage without the aid of assists or Tags. Rise, With the Wind (S2 Super) into Last Breath (S1+S2 Ult) is Yasuo’s unique ability to DHC into himself and dump all of his resources into one massive damage combo.

Out of all the champs in 2XKO, Yasuo definitely places the highest demand on mechanical skill as all of his best combos require multiple (↓ (S1) Calm stance dash cancels and tight timing on execution. The same stance mechanics that make him difficult also give him incredible ground movement speed, and access to all of his side switch mixups.

The biggest weaknesses in Yasuo’s kit are a lack of overhead, high commitment attacks, slow startups, and being the worst Assist Champ.

Having no overhead means he is completely reliant on Calm stance mixups, to break through his opponents defense. Many of Yasuo’s Special moves have long recovery animations and can only be Calm canceled when they connect, which means on whiff he is extremely vulnerable to punishes.

Having half of his kit locked behind Calm effectively adds extra startup frames to all of those abilities, making them very slow attack options for Yasuo.

While he can excel as one of the best point champs, Yasuo’s assists are quite bad. Windwall (← (T) is almost completely useless, and Sweeping Blade’s (→ (T) strength of crossing the opponent is also its biggest weakness as Yasuo is vulnerable to counter attack for much longer than any of the champ on assist.

Braum

• Strengths: High damage, command grab, great assist, gains armor
• Weaknesses: Needs Unbreakable for best abilities, weak to retreating guard, poor mobility, big body.

Braum pairs well with every duo and with all of the main three Fuses. He has very high damage combos himself, and is great for setting up Tag Launcher and HST combo swaps. Once he has Unbreakable shield online, his true power shines as all his Specials get a buff and he gains a hit of armor on every attack. If Braum wants to Tag in and instantly get Unbreakable up, he is only able to from some Freestyle double HST combos, or if he’s able to Tag and use The Heart of The Freljord (S2 Super).

Fright, Mighty One (↓ (S1), command grab makes Braum’s offensive strike / throw mixups deadly. The threat of getting hit by his command throw combos gives Braum tons of offensive opportunities. He also has an incredible assist Battering Ram (→ (T), which becomes even more powerful if Braum Tags out with Unbreakable.

Braum’s primary weaknesses are being weak to retreating guards, extremely tall, and having poor mobility. Two-Step (↘ H (Hold) is the only tool Braum has available to catch opponents using Retreating Guard to escape his pressure. Dealing low damage and lacking combo follow ups doesn’t exactly deter his opponents from continuing to abuse Retreating Guard.

Being so tall just means Braums gets hit by just about anything on the screen, and can be placed in high / low mixups that short characters cannot be placed in. He does have the highest HP in the game to help make up for this however, but his poor mobility really holds him back from being as adaptable as the Top Tiers.

B Tier (Strong but Niche)

Illaoi

• Strengths: Steamroll potential, block pressure, command grab, good assists
• Weaknesses: Relies on activating Tentacles and their placement, doesn’t possess any extremely overpowered abilities

Technically Illaoi is the weakest champ, yes, but that does not mean she is weak or unusable. Illaoi can be very deadly, steamroll her opponents to death, and can be used as Point or Assist champ. The glaring weakness of Illaoi’s kit is her reliance on setting up tentacles. Without any tentacles in range of her opponent, she can struggle to level the playing field.

Once she can tentacles or lands her first knockdown, Illaoi can begin the snowball effect and send her opponent into a nonstop cycle of being smacked and grabbed by tentacles. The barrage of tentacles makes many moves that are normally unsafe on block, safe, allowing Illaoi to exert extreme pressure on blocking opponents.

The only champ with a long range command grab gives Illaoi unique mixups, and helps her to keep her offensive momentum. When she Tags out with a tentacle still on screen, Tentacle Smash Assist  (← (T), slams across the whole screen, juggles the opponent and deals nearly 200 damage on its own! In the Alpha Lab, Illaoi is a champ with good buttons, good damage, decent on Point, decent on Assist, but just doesn’t have anything super broken like the other champs do.

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