- Primary Subject: 2XKO (Launch Version / Season 1)
- Key Update: With the global launch of 2XKO, a new set of beginner strategies focuses on efficient Champion Token usage and the risks of over-relying on "Pulse Combo" mechanics.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: January 22, 2026
- Quick Answer: Beginners should focus on simple "bread and butter" combos, test characters in free training mode before spending rare Champion Tokens, and practice with a duo.
If you're looking to get into 2XKO but are feeling too overwhelmed by the amount of work you seemingly have to put into to learn it, I've come up with some quick and friendly beginner tips to steer you in the right direction.
Learning a new fighting game from scratch is daunting, especially if it's your first time committing to one. In that case, congratulations! You've picked a good one. Even with all this talk of transferable skills, switching from things like Street Fighter or Tekken to a tag fighter can present its own set of challenges.
All that being said, let's break down some useful 2XKO beginner tips to help you get started on your journey to Challenger.
2XKO Beginner Tips
In short, what you need to focus on early on is learning simple-to-execute BNB combos, testing out all characters before committing resources, and trying to enjoy the learning process alongside a duo. Let's get into more details.
Don't Try To Practice TODs Early On
We all love the fancy stuff SonicFox can pull in a tag fighter as soon as it drops. A big reminder if you're new to the genre or 2XKO: you won't be able to do that on day one. Get that out of your head. Harsh reality check, but I had to say it.
Don't feel bad, very few people can pull it off. The rest of us mere mortals have to take it slow. Get a character you like and hop on the combo trials, use them as a nice, solid foundation to come up with your own small, easy BNBs that you can safely execute in a match. Don't even think about tag extensions, oki situations (refer to the fighting game glossary if you don't know what that means), corner pressure, or all the other fancy tricks veterans use to keep players locked down.
A good resource for this is hopping on X (formerly Twitter) and looking at character hashtags. Filter the fancy stuff and focus on users sharing basic BNBs to get you started.
Just ingrain into your memory the situation where if you land X or Y button, you can immediately hit confirm into a reliable combo. From there, you can start implementing new concepts into your gameplan. Rome wasn't built in a day, just as your TOD.
Try Out Characters Before You Make A Bad Choice
2XKO is a free-to-play game, but it isn't a cheap one. What they mean by "free-to-play" is that there is no barrier of entry, but if you want to get access to things such as more characters or stages, you'll have to pay a pretty penny, or go through the grueling process of grinding in-game currencies.
Early on, you'll get access to two free Champion Tokens. With these, you can skip the grind and unlock new Champions instantly. Before you commit to using them, please try out different characters. Do a bit of the combo trials, hop on training mode (you can test the characters here for free), and mash some buttons.
Do not use the Tokens willy-nilly, as the only way to get more is by spending money on very expensive bundles, the cheapest being $25 and giving four Champion Tokens (with no skins included).
Alternatively, the only other way to unlock characters is by spending 10k credits, the free currency of 2XKO, or 1k KO points, the premium currency. Earning credits via daily and weekly missions is extremely slow, so you'll be waiting for possible weeks to earn enough for a new Champion unless you pay for it.
So if you spend your Tokens on Champions you ultimately don't like, you're stuck between having to grind the game daily or forking out real cash to get the characters you want to actually practice.
Play And Enjoy The Process Learning With a Duo
2XKO is built upon the foundation of being a team game. Not just because it's a 2v2 tag fighter, but because duos are a core component of the experience. While there are fuses (more on those later) that will help you ease into the game, practicing with a duo is an absolute joy.
It makes the usual boring labbing process much more fun, and you can put your entire focus on a single Champion, as someone else will be piloting the second one. The stress of ranking up and getting better is shared, and your progress will be much more noticeable with someone else to bounce off of.
Don't Rely On Baby Mode Gimmicks And Auto Combos Too Much
The game features a ton of hand-holdy features that are intended to welcome newcomers, but that can turn into crutches if you rely on them too much. One of them is the Pulse Combo feature, in other words, an autocombo feature.
It is intended for beginners to get a sense of excitement by simply mashing a single button. It's fun for a while or if you have friends who simply want to mess around with the characters, but it will eventually lead you nowhere and stall your progress as a player.
Similarly, there are fuses (unique modifiers that allow your characters to do a variety of things) that will let you focus on just a single Champion. The Juggernaut fuse, for instance, only lets you use one Champion instead of two, with extra benefits and buffs. That's fine if you want to learn a single character without feeling overwhelmed, but it'll come to a point where you'll have to add a second to your repertoire (or a duo to help you carry the burden), otherwise you'll lose access to a ton of mechanics that make 2XKO fun, like tag combos, mixups, and get better pressure with assists.
And that's it. For more content, stick with us at Gfinityesports.com: your go-to source for all things 2XKO.