Okay, guess I was wrong: Teamfight won’t save 2XKO

I recently said that 2XKO‘s latest fuse, Teamfight, would save the fighting game from dying in the next year or so. But it looks like I’m wrong.

Teamfight dropped today, and the pros aren’t feeling it. In fact, some feel it has destroyed the fighting game completely.

2XKO is a 2v2 fighter, technically. There are supposed to be two people on each side, both controlling a different champion. However, most people are playing it solo. This means that these players are controlling two champions.

Teamfight is the latest fuse. It allows both characters to come out at once, beating on the opponents together for four whole seconds. It sounded overpowered, but I felt it was a good way to inspire the FGC to finally play 2v2 as intended. It seemed like the only way to keep the game alive.

However, pros hate it. Well, some of them.

William “Leffen” Hjelte, Melee player turned 2XKO competitor, has been very vocal about his disdain for Teamfight. He called it the “worst balanced mechanic” he’s ever seen.

He added: “Genuinely baffling how they could release something so clearly unfinished with how great the patches have been recently. Even the visuals and sound effects clearly are nowhere near ready. It’s legit like six months to maybe even a year away from being ready, in my opinion.”

Steve “Supernoon” Carbajal even wanted it banned from Combo Breaker, Evo, and other upcoming FGC tournaments. He called it “broken” as it currently is.

“I don’t think this Teamfight fuse should be allowed at Combo Breaker / EVO. It is completely unbalanced and ruins every part of the game. I see a lot of similar sentiment from other pro players. We cannot let this rock at all,” he said.

On the other hand, Dominique “SonicFox” McLean is a huge fan of Teamfight. They explained that it’s a great way to shake up the meta and force players to choose other fuses. Give us a break from Freestyle. They also noted that there is two weeks to prepare for the upcoming tournament.

I think either side can be argued, sure. But I think the real issue is that the pros aren’t even considering going 2v2. They are frustrated with how Teamfight works in current solo brackets. It doesn’t seem like top players want 2v2 to happen.

And without 2v2, I’m not sure how 2XKO will survive. It’s just another overly complex fighting game at this point. It will always have a niche following, but Riot doesn’t want to support “niche” financially.