Well there’s a familiar face. Characters like Vi and Yasuo are definitely popular, but when it comes to actual iconic characters from Riot Games’ League of Legends you don’t get much more recognizable than good ol’ Blitzcrank, the latest reveal for the League of Legends based fighting game 2XKO.
Now, Blitzcrank’s moveset in League isn’t exactly complex: he’s got a shield, an electro charged explosion, his iconic hook, and he’s kind of fat. This all lends itself to a great foundation to be adapted into a grappler character in a fighting game and that’s exactly what they did with him in 2XKO.
Obviously Blitzcrank’s pull is the most notable and infamous part of his kit. Pulls in fighting games aren’t exactly new Ed in Street Fighter, Joseph Joestar in Heritage for the Future, and of course Scorpion in Mortal Kombat all have pull moves that bring you to them and put you in a disadvantageous situation by continuing a combo or, more scarily, putting you in a mixup position. Something exacerbated by Blitzcrank’s command grabs as he is a grappler. The ability to just pull you in from mid or fullscreen, be in a plus frame situation, with the normal strike/throw and low/high mixups as well as crossups (this is a tag game, after all) AND command grabs on top of that makes for a very cheap but likely very fun character.
Blitzcrank’s moveset consists of his pull, both a grounded and anti-air version, and some command grabs as well: one that he can do right next to you, and an armored version that envelops him in a shield, giving him presumably 1 hit of armor and a slight delay before grabbing you.
After somewhat lukewarm reception to Vi’s trailer, it’s good to see that the latest addition to 2XKO’s small roster looks fun to play (and likely unfun to play against, but that’s every grappler).