The League of Legends fighting game 2XKO has finally and officially welcomed Illaoi to the roster with the Kraken Priestess getting her gameplay debut this week. A top-lane bully in League of Legends with a unique playstyle compared to some other champions, Illaoi looks right at home in 2XKO where she swings her hefty idol around bashing opponents and spawning tentacles to provide pressure. With Illaoi’s gameplay now revealed, the Juggernaut champion lands as the fifth character in the 2XKO roster so far with plenty more to be revealed before the game gets released at some point next year.
Illaoi is of course not new to League players nor is she really new to 2XKO since we’ve known for awhile that she’d be part of the game, but this is the first time we’ve seen a gameplay breakdown like this one below to show what she’s capable of. Illaoi’s special abilities both spawn and use tentacles that can be commanded to attack enemies nearby them, but opponents still have some counterplay in that they can get rid of the tentacles by striking them. The tentacles even stick around whenever Illaoi is tagged out of a fight, too, so it sounds like just as it is in League, it’s best to safely get rid of these tentacles ASAP if they’re spawning.
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Aside from simply having the tentacles in as part of her kit, some of Illaoi’s moves also take direct inspiration from her more active League abilities, particularly her ultimate.
“Her S2 Super, Wrath of Nagakabouros, summons giant tentacles that smack the ground around them,” 2XKO director Caroline Montano said in the gameplay breakdown. “It also turns any tentacles that were already active into giant tentacles and leaves one behind after it ends. It can be an extremely oppressive move; but if Illaoi or her duo is hit at any point during the Super, her tentacles will disappear. So it’s safest to use against an opponent who’s knocked down. Finally, Illaoi’s Ultimate—Test of Spirit— sends her opponent’s soul to the depths, where they’ll come face to face with Nagakabouros. We love the idea of Illaoi smacking the spirit out of her opponent and beating it up as an homage to her kit in League.”
Illaoi is the first Bilgewater champion to be added to 2XKO. Others in the roster include Darius, Ekko, Ahri, and Yasuo, though considering how many champions League has right now, one can only imagine how far and in which ways the 2XKO roster will expand ahead of the game’s release.
There’ll be plenty of time for that to happen, too, since the game will still be in development quite awhile. Riot Games started talking more about 2XKO earlier in the year when it revealed the new name for the game which was formerly known as Project L. Riot said that Illaoi and other characters would be playable this year at EVO Japan, but considering how that’s not really accessible to people who aren’t attending, League players will be happy to hear that playtests will take place this year ahead of the game’s 2025 release.
