16-year-old bleed wins 2XKO’s first 2026 Major

The 2026 competitive season of 2XKO kicked off in style this weekend at Frosty Faustings XVIII, the first Major of the official competitive circuit for Riot Games’ fighting game. Set in the League of Legends Runeterra universe, 2XKO is a 2v2 tag-based title and the latest release from the North American publisher, recently launched officially on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5. The tournament, held from January 29 to February 1 in Lombard, USA, near Chicago, saw American players dominate this first Major of the year, with the 16-year-old player "bleed" eventually claiming the trophy.

For his first event under the Gentle Mates banner, Marwan "Wawa" Berthe, winner of the 2XKO tournament at EVO France 2025, entered as the clear favorite (Seed #1) but was caught off guard. After three quick wins, the French player dropped into the loser bracket at the end of day one following a loss to American player Brandon "Crocs N' Socks" Suen. With only one chance left, Wawa secured two more victories before falling to DetonatioN FocusMe’s Japanese player Naoki "Ikoan" Izumi, finishing his first tournament of 2026 with a Top 33 result.

Advancing to the Top 8 through the winner bracket, bleed won this first Major of the year without dropping a match until the Grand Final. He did, however, lose a set in the final. His opponent, Evil Geniuses player Steve "Supernoon" Carbajal, took the first set 3-2 to force what is known as a bracket reset. In short, the player coming from the loser bracket, like Supernoon, must win two sets to take the title, while bleed, coming from the winner bracket, needed to win only one set. After losing the first set 2-3, bleed bounced back to win the decisive set 3-1 and lift the first major trophy of the year.

Notable in the Top 8 were Dominique "SonicFox" McLean and Lenwood "INZEM" Arnold, who competed together as a duo, made possible by 2XKO’s 2v2 tag-based format. The other duo in the competition, Japanese twins "Haru" and "Toshi" from ZETA DIVISION, finished in the Top 25 after a loss to SonicFox and INZEM.

The next official tournament on the 2XKO circuit, supported by Riot Games through its Competitive Series 2026, will be Genesis X3, taking place in San Jose, USA, from February 13 to 15. As this event is not a Major, it may see fewer international players in attendance, and fans will likely have to wait for the next large-scale tournament to see matchups between European, Japanese, and American players. That role should be filled by EVO Japan, scheduled for May 1 to 3, which is set to host the first-ever appearance of 2XKO at this legendary fighting game event.