Weibo | Diaphone on 2XKO: “It has a very high skill ceiling compared to other games”

Tyler "Diaphone" Kusich covers many fighting games on his super popular YouTube channel — and 2XKO is a pretty big topic right now. Also, Diaphone actively competes in Riot's fighter, and he achieved top placements at early events.

The game has its Season 1 and console launch on Jan. 21. For this milestone, esports.gg asked Diaphone specifically about 2XKO. And we started with some general impressions.

"As a competitive fighting game player, this game appeals to me," said Diaphone. "It has a very, very high skill ceiling compared to other fighting games. I mean, there is a lot to explore about the game, and there's a lot to solve about the game."

He continued, "It's optimizing your combos, setups, and assist timing. It's a lot more technical. And I think people are drawn to that from the competitive side because it creates a unique experience. It feels like there's always something more to find in the game. Which is really cool. And it's something I can't really say about other games. 2XKO does it the best."

One of the 2XKO esports events Diaphone participated in during the game's early access was Midwest Mixfest '25. Diaphone teamed up with Kev "K7 Showoff" Hunt to win a Duos tournament. 

He talked about this unique aspect of the game as well.

"The other thing that I think separates this game is the fact that you can play as Duos. Obviously, it's free-to-play, and it has probably some of the best netcode. But the main thing that makes this game stand out to me is that I can play with a friend. No other fighting game can do that."

The very idea behind 2XKO carries a risk of imbalance. Riot Games should make it interesting and accessible for League of Legends and Arcane audiences. Also, 2XKO should appeal to the hardcore fighting game fans. 

"I think they do some good things for the casual side," elaborated Diaphone on this topic. "Just adding Duos is a benefit. They have certain fuses, like Juggernaut and Sidekick, which are more casual-friendly. But I also get the vibe from Riot that they're like 'all right, let's build this for the competitive audience and then eventually casuals get in.' Kind of like they do in League and VALORANT."

2XKO may lean towards competitive players in one more aspect. "It's pretty low on single-player casual content," said Diaphone.

One of the most obvious accessibility options for beginners to get in is simplified input for specials in 2XKO. Other games also have this feature, but titles such as Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising let players choose between a quarter-circle + attack and a simple direction + special.

Diaphone doesn't see the lack of motion inputs as a big deal.

Diaphone thinks that giving players a choice would still be a good option. "The best thing that you can do is what Marvel TOKON and Granblue do. They have both options available, and there's a slight benefit to doing the motion input."

The input scheme is not something that's gonna change in the game, so we just accept it or not. Something really flexible at this point of 2XKO's development is the battle balance. Riot explained what they want to achieve pretty clearly and promised regular patches for this.

Diaphone expressed his expectations for the 2XKO balance.

"There are a few different philosophies on how to balance a game. You can nerf characters, and it's easier to control power levels this way. The issue is that it's kind of boring. If you're playing a couple of characters and every single month a new tool gets taken away — it's like you're a kid, and you have 20 toys, and then the next month you have 18 toys."

The opposite may also not be super effective. "You can buff everyone. Some games have tried it, and it gets power creepy and bullsh*t really fast."

What's the best approach, then?

"The true solution is somewhere in the middle. It sounds like in the Season 1 patch, they are taking that middle ground approach. We'll see when the full patch notes are out. It's going in the right direction, even though sometimes I feel like they take some unnecessary detours."

Diaphone has an impressively vast experience in fighting games. Anime fighters feel like his main priority. As a competitive player, Diaphone was in the top 3 for Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising at BAM '15, in the top 8 for Guilty Gear Strive at Frosty Faustings XV, and in the top 3 for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle at CEO 2019. 2XKO should be a nice continuation for such a career.

"Anime games are dynamic in terms of movement and how neutral is played. You can skip neutral, or you can have really good neutral sequences that are hard to avoid. And then you can have a really good pressure and combos to win off that. That has a lot of carryover to 2XKO."

He continued, "Certain team games, like Dragon Ball FighterZ, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and Marvel vs. Capcom have the most carryover because the system mechanics are pretty similar."

At this early stage, the game unites people with different backgrounds. Diaphone pointed at the most dangerous opponents.

"DBFZ players are the strongest. Look at who the best players are right now: it's Wawa, SonicFox… I think DBFZ is a lot more competitive than other team games I played. A lot of my team experience comes from BB Tag, and I was a pretty good BB Tag player, but that scene wasn't nearly as competitive as Dragon Ball FighterZ."

One of the biggest announcements for 2XKO was the decision of Riot Games to support existing fighting games events. The alternative could be having dedicated circuits, as the company has for VALORANT and League of Legends.

This step was generally praised in the community. Diaphone suggested an addition to this formula.

"I think it's the right decision," he said. "It's sick that they're integrating into current events, and they're helping organizers. People would prefer that. But it doesn't really lead to anything. If they did a circuit with qualifications for the final tournament, that would be cool to see, as opposed to having a few pretty big tournaments throughout the year. There's no Capcom Cup equivalent for 2XKO right now."

Such official circuits with huge final events happen for all currently big fighting games. Capcom Cup concludes a yearly Street Fighter 6 competition. There are Arc World Tour Finals for Guilty Gear Strive and SNK World Championship Finals for FATAL FURY CotW. 2XKO takes a different path: five Majors throughout the year, which conclude in-game seasons.

To compete at a high level, players should find their characters — and teams for tag-team fighters. 2XKO still offers a limited choice, and new additions, such as Caitlyn, come to the game slowly. 

In his interview with esports.gg, Shamar "Nitro" Hinds named Jack-O' as an archetype example he would love to have in 2XKO. What about Diaphone?

"I want a really technical character that can do a lot. There are simple characters in this game, and I like a really technical one to combine that — it would be really fun."

He continued, "When I play games, I like it when characters are really mobile. Some examples are Bridget from Guilty Gear Strive and Blake from BB Tag. They have a lot of mobility options and can do a lot of different things at the cost of having lower health and lower damage. That kind of archetype doesn't really exist here."

The addition of new characters is pretty much certain for this game, as Riot is open about the intention to have a long-term project with 2XKO. That also means the game should evolve with its basics. What steps should be taken to make 2XKO one of the greatest fighting games?

“It's just a constant cycle of improvement. There are so many different small things that are keeping it from the highest level. For example, random glitches happen and impact your gameplay experience. Or, I'm trying to queue up for rank, and I have to sit in a lobby instead of being in training mode.

"There are a lot of different cool features you can add. Outside of 2v2, the game doesn't really have anything that separates it. I can't even queue for Duos, as it's only a solo queue.

"And it has only 11 characters, which is a really, really small roster for a team game. It needs more quality-of-life stuff. If they keep improving the game over time, then eventually it will get there.”

With this early state, it’s no surprise that many top players have another game they focus on competitively. For Diaphone, it’s FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves — which is going to have a new character each month during the first half of 2026. Can this marathon affect the tournament experience?

“Competitive players are always gonna adapt to the landscape. From a competition standpoint, I personally like it because it's more exciting. Going to tournaments and playing the same three top tiers: it's kind of boring. Such shake-ups appeal to me more.”

Some time ago, Diaphone announced a big step in his career: to become a full-time competitive player and content creator. That may sound exciting and somewhat scary at the same time, as not everyone can leave the regular income of a stable job behind.

“I definitely don't regret it,” confessed Diaphone. “I would regret staying at my job and not understanding what this is like. It's not all sunshine and rainbows I thought it'd be, but that's not regret. That's me learning.”

“I do enjoy being a full-time creator, and it’s my priority. Being self-employed is harder than I personally thought. A lot of your discipline is kind of forced by your job. Realizing how you have to structure your life to be more disciplined to get everything you need to get done is a lot harder than I thought.”

“In Q4 of 2025, I was like ‘oh, how do I do all this?’ And I feel like I'm finally on the upswing on finding a good workflow and focusing on key habits to make sure that I can succeed.”

For so many people in the fighting games community, Diaphone is an author of awesome YouTube videos and Twitch streams first of all. His tournament presence is supported by Weibo Gaming. This organization has a strong lineup in fighting games, including the Street Fighter legend Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena.

“I have different streams of income between Twitch, YouTube, coaching on Metafy, and other sponsorships. I'm sponsored currently by Weibo Gaming, and they've been awesome. So shout outs to them!”

The opportunity to see Diaphone playing FATAL FURY and 2XKO comes at the nearest big fighting games events.

“I'll be at Frosty Faustings XVIII. That’s in a couple weeks from now. And then, I don't know what my next event will be. It depends. How’s Season 2 of FATAL FURY — do I like it? How’s Season 1 of 2XKO — do I like it? Do I want to compete, or do I want to focus more on content? I'm kind of playing it month by month. I will be at LVL UP EXPO for sure. That's the end of April, and then we'll see from there.”

Frosty Faustings XVIII has a few top-tier tournaments that are part of official circuits. For 2XKO, it’s the first-ever Major, which should reflect the state of the game at the start of its Season 1. The event goes from Jan. 29 to Feb. 01.