Welcome to our competitive/ranked tier list for 2XKO. This tier list aims to reflect the current state of 2XKO's meta on the ranked ladder and in high-level tournament play. We also have separate rankings that focus on each champ's learning curve and skill floor.
As with all of our tier lists, we recommend starting with whichever champions and teams you personally gravitate towards and feel best suit your individual playstyle and preferences, then use these rankings when you want help optimizing your team.
Especially for a game early in its life cycle, 2XKO is balanced to the point that you can make every single character work. If you're also interested in finding out which champs the top players have been finding success with, and what makes them so strong, we explain the strengths of every champ below.
With that said, let's jump into the rankings and breakdowns!
The Best Characters in 2XKO
S (Top Tier)
S- (High Tier)
A (Mid Tier)
B (Low Tier)
S Tier Commentary (Top Tier)
Ekko
It should come as no surprise to see Ekko in the top tier. The 1.0 patch only handed Ekko relatively minor nerfs that he can easily play around. For extremely high-level players, the notorious burrito mix was removed now that Ekko can no longer Replay out of a failed throw attempt.
The nerfs were clearly not enough, as Ekko continues to shatter opponents like he shatters time. His mobility is incredible, his mixups are nearly impossible to read, and he has a strong projectile to round out his kit. Whether he’s on point or assist, he is equally deadly.
Ekko is truly the definition of a character who can do it all. Check any tournament Top 8 or scroll through Challenger-rank profiles, and you’ll see Ekko everywhere.
Ahri
When it comes to versatility and mobility, Ahri is unmatched. She has strong synergy with virtually every champ in the game and gains high value from all three main Fuses. Many of the best players in the world run Ahri paired with another top- or high-tier champion.
At mid-range, Ahri controls space with her projectiles and air movement. With an assist, she can convert even the smallest random hit into a massive damage combo. Even if you know the vulnerable gaps in her blockstrings, they are still difficult to punish. Parried projectiles do not generate blowback, so punish windows are tight and often unreliable.
She also received nerfs that were not very impactful to her overall power level. The most notable change is air Foxfire Blast no longer refreshes her air dash.
However, given how strong her air mobility still is—and with everyone affected by the universal backdash nerf—Ahri’s movement continues to gap much of the cast.
Yasuo
Out of the top three champions, Yasuo was hit with the heaviest nerfs. The backdash changes hurt his zoning and Wind Wall playstyle significantly, forcing players to adopt stance dashing to stay mobile.
Another major hit to his neutral game was the recovery nerf to his M Attacks. It is now much easier to whiff-punish Yasuo on reaction, so players must be more cautious when using M Attack as a poke tool.
That said, these nerfs were not enough to dethrone him. Yasuo still appears on many top teams and is piloted by elite players. He remains one of the best rushdown and mixup characters in the game, while also excelling at zoning and anti-zoning. His on-block mixups are virtually all safe thanks to stance cancels, and dealing with his high/low and crossup pressure is extremely difficult.
Caitlyn
The Sheriff of Piltover arrives as 2XKO’s newest champion. Although she has an extremely high skill floor and ceiling, the time and effort required to master her versatile kit are well worth it, as Caitlyn is an exceptionally strong character.
On point, her zoning is excellent for chipping down opponents’ health and baiting mistakes as they attempt to approach. She can also play offensively with her deployables, rolls, rifle pressure, and aerial crossups.
She excels at empowering her teammate to create game-winning interactions. Even from full screen, she can throw out Bola and cover her assist with rifle shots for sneaky HandshakeTag mixups.
The only drawback to Caitlyn right now is that she is both new and difficult, so players are still optimizing her strategy and combo routes. Expect to see more Caitlyn players placing well in tournaments as the months go by.
Warwick
The biggest help to Warwick in the Season 1 patch was that the bug granting his Bloodlust bite maximum hitstun was not fixed or removed. The developers made no mention of it in the bug fixes, so for now, his ability to extend combos remains extremely strong. Additionally, he received a surprising number of buffs that made his Bloodlust state even more powerful than before.
His biggest nerf was the increased recovery on his S1 Special overhead. At -8 on block, most characters can punish it unless it is properly spaced, or covered by an assist.
Warwick has only recently begun receiving serious optimization from top players. With his Bloodlust buffs, he thrives on momentum and snowballing opponents. While this is not a strategy you can always rely on in tournament play, winning the first interaction and building Bloodlust can realistically lead to winning the entire round.
S- Tier Commentary (High Tier)
Vi
For players who never want to take their foot off the gas, Vi's ground movement and pressure have proven overwhelming for many opponents. She is seeing strong tournament results, particularly in EU.
She received strong buffs to her footwork moves in the Season 1 patch. When landed as an interrupt, Footwork > L Attack now has the same hitstun as a fully charged Electric Hook. Charged Footwork > H Attack can now be canceled into her S1 Specials.
Speaking of S1 Specials, charged Vault Breaker (S1 Special) > HandshakeTag was always strong, but it is now even more valuable since projectiles can no longer be charged after tagging. Previously, this was a core element of neutral pressure for characters like Teemo. While those characters lost that utility, Vi retains the full power of her charged S1 Special to safely cover tags.
Vi’s primary weaknesses are her lack of a projectile and her relatively short melee range. However, her sway mechanic allows her to deal with projectile-based opponents effectively. Preventing Vi from getting in is nearly impossible, and once she’s on top of you, her strike/throw mixups—combined with baits, fakes, and punishes—often force literal guess-for-game situations.
Her back assist is also one of the best combo tools in the game. It features a massive hitbox and launches OTG opponents. Since many champs struggle to extend combos against OTG targets mid-string, adding Vi to a team often results in free extra damage.
Illaoi
Similar to Warwick, Illaoi is a champion who thrives on snowballing. Her neutral is serviceable, but she can struggle to open opponents due to a relatively weak mixup game.
Once she secures the corner and places Tentacle Super on top of the opponent, her pressure becomes extremely oppressive. Some teams run Illaoi as an assist alongside a strong point character like Ekko, who can mix effectively, carry to the corner, and then tag Illaoi in to start her ideal scenario.
She was net-buffed in the Season 1.0 patch, though most changes focused on damage values, quality-of-life improvements, and adjustments to optimal combo routes.
For teams that want to run 2X Assist, Illaoi is an excellent pick. Her back assist covers half the screen, and layering double assists with Tentacle Super creates pressure that is nearly impossible to escape.
Braum
Braum's slow speed, large hurtbox, and support-oriented kit help explain why he is currently underrepresented. At FlyQuest’s First Impact tournament, Braum + Ekko player Senshii eliminated K7 before losing to Hikari in the quarterfinals.
Braum truly shines once he secures the corner with Unbreakable. His corner pressure is one of the strongest win conditions in the game. With armor on his door attacks, a threatening command grab, and high-damage combos, Braum is terrifying when he has you trapped.
Braum also received numerous buffs this patch—too many to list in full. Notably, he now walks forward during his back assist, which more consistently blocks attacks on startup, and he gained multiple frame-advantage buffs to both normals and specials.
One notable weakness is that Braum relies on his teammate more than most champs to do some of the heavy lifting. However, his “Get Behind Me” ice shield remains one of the best moves in the game. His height and slow speed also mean he gets clipped frequently and is not suited for rushdown play.
With Frosty coming up this weekend, perhaps we shall see even more high-level Braum gameplay!
A Tier Commentary (Mid Tier)
Darius
While some players label Darius as a “noob stomper,” he has proven effective even at the highest levels of play. He boasts massive buttons for neutral, an S2 Special Super that travels nearly full screen and deletes projectiles, and Apprehend, which disables defensive tools even when used as a back assist.
Darius received many buffs this patch and only one very minor nerf. The most notable change is the ability to charge Apprehend. Previously, it often served as parry fodder unless an assist kept the opponent in blockstun. Now, it has become a legitimate offensive threat, as players are hesitant to parry and often allow themselves to be pulled into dangerous mixups.
His game plan may appear straightforward, but countering it is far more difficult than it seems. Across GM, Challenger, and tournament play, expect to see Darius frequently represented.
Jinx
Jinx is in a strange spot right now. She has unfavorable matchups against anti-zoners like Yasuo and Caitlyn, two of the strongest champions in the game. At the same time, her back-assist rocket is one of the best assist moves available, and she can convert full-screen hits into massive damage.
What holds her back most is her slow mobility and lack of explosive mix-ups. If her teammate is KO’d first, Jinx struggles to open opponents and pull off comebacks.
While her traps can be dangerous, deploying them leaves her vulnerable unless she has earned enough space to do so safely. Generally, she can only set them up with assist coverage or after a limit strike. Even so, Jinx remains a strong zoner, synergizes well with both 2X Assist and Double Down, and pairs effectively with many top-tier champions.
Teemo
More than any other champion, Teemo was affected by the system-wide changes to projectile rules. Any projectiles on screen (such as mushrooms and slingshot) are instantly destroyed when Teemo is hit, as well as when his point champ is hit while he is assisting.
Additionally, his M Attack and H Attack > H Attack Rekka received severe recovery nerfs. His M Attack is still one of his better neutral poke tools, but it is now -10 on block. This makes it very punishable and means Teemo can no longer safely end blockstrings with his frying pan.
While some players feel these nerfs were excessive, the Swift Scout is far from dead. Teemo just needs a bit of time for players to re-optimize his new playstyle and work out updated optimal combo routes, as much of his old tech no longer works.
His Dart Super with Double Down HandshakeTag is still a great neutral skip tool that is almost guaranteed to earn his team a free mix-up. Losing one dart on his S1 Special Super did little to reduce its effectiveness.
Getting past his mushrooms and slingshot is a challenging task, he remains capable in close-quarters combat as well, and he enables some extremely strong meter-dump combos.
B Tier Commentary (Low Tier)
Blitzcrank
First off, Blitzcrank's placement at the bottom of the list reflects 2XKO’s overall balance more than any indication that he is unplayable or unfairly weak. Unfortunately for grappler players, his massive body and slow movement make it difficult to consistently enter—and stay within—his optimal range.
He received meaningful buffs in the 1.0 launch patch, including eight buffs to his H attacks. While the gap between Blitzcrank and the rest of the roster has narrowed since early access, the nature of his design still places him slightly behind the cast.
That said, don’t write him off. Blitzcrank’s true strength lies in team utility rather than solo dominance. At high levels of play, he is often treated as a support character due to his ability to enable point champs.
His assists re-stand opponents, making him one of the best combo extenders in the game, and pulling opponents in on block enables relentless pressure. However, the long range of his assist moves combined with his slow movement speed means he often cannot HandshakeTag into combo conversions off assist.
