Getting Into Esports in 2026: A Guide for Fighting Game Players

At the start of the year, in January 2026, Riot Games officially released its 2v2 fighting game 2XKO. Featuring characters from the League of Legends universe, Riot’s game acted as a bridge that connected FGC to the other games and their esports.

Be it League of Legends, VALORANT, or Counter-Strike 2, for an FGC member, these titles are uncharted territories. While the games do have overlapping concepts, how does one get into the esports circuits of these titles?

In this guide, we help you bridge the gap and take the first steps in the broader world of esports. We will go through the games to follow, how the circuits work, and how to actually watch and follow tournaments.

The Games Worth Following First

One of the best things about the FGC is the community, and the esports title closest in terms of passion is Counter-Strike 2. The CS2 esports fans are passionate; they love their teams and the game. So, watching a CS2 tournament, especially live, will be similar to watching EVO.

CS2 is also one of the easiest games to start watching. Similar to fighting games, it rewards understanding of the game. Additionally, CS2 esports follows an event-by-event model similar to the FGC. The best time to get into, however, is during the biggest tournaments of the year, i.e., the Majors.

If characters and character understanding are more up your alley, VALORANT is the game you can get into. If CS2 rewards understanding, VALORANT ups the ante by introducing characters with unique abilities.

In VALORANT, mastering the character helps you win your games, similar to FGC, where you can master an out-of-meta character and still dominate games. (shoutout Panda mains). The VCT, VALORANT esports circuit, is one of the cleanest out there. With in-game integration in place to help you transition from playing the game to watching the esports live.

If you just want the biggest esport out there in terms of viewership, you can start League of Legends. Compared to our previous two titles, mastering League of Legends requires understanding the character, the game, and the map mechanics.

It can take months before you understand how every small decision affects the outcome of the game. But if you manage to get in, it is the most exciting, starting from champion draft (where players choose a character) until the Nexus falls, a League of Legends match keeps you hooked.

And Korea/LCK is where the best of League of Legends is played, with Faker, the GOAT of esports, leading the charge. Faker’s status in the League is similar to that of the Five Gods.

Of course, Riot Games, having the experience with VALORANT and League of Legends, will also grow the 2XKO esports. And with the understanding of fighting games and the FGC, you already have an entry point here.

How Esports Seasons Actually Work

Unlike FGC, most esports feature a centralised tournament circuit. Teams compete throughout the year to qualify and ultimately win the marquee tournament. This is the esport circuit’s most prestigious event, boasting the biggest prize pool and the best teams.

Counter-Strike 2 esports is the most comparable to the FGC in that multiple TOs organize tournaments at every level of competition. The key difference is that Valve, the game publisher, sets the rules and regulations for operating the tournaments and oversees two tournaments every year—the prestigious Majors.

What makes the Majors truly special is the in-game integration. Every team attending gets in-game stickers. The champions get special stickers and an in-game trophy to display on their accounts.

(credits: Valve/Reddit u/blasttvmajor)

The rest of the competitive year revolves around the Majors, dividing it into two competitive seasons with multiple tournaments. The teams play the tournaments to rise through the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) leaderboard, which helps them qualify for the Major.

In the case of League of Legends and VALORANT, Riot Games, the game publisher, manages the circuit. Only 10 teams per regional league play(mostly) the tier 1, and the rest of the teams/players play the tier 2 or challengers.

A typical year for the tier 1 of LoL and VALORANT esports starts with a regional kickoff event/inaugural tournament. This is followed by the first international event of the year—First Stand for LoL and Masters I for VALORANT—usually featuring the winner/runner-up(s) of the kickoff event.

The teams then play the first regional split to qualify for the second international event—MSI for LoL and Masters II for VALORANT.

The second and final split of the year is played to qualify for the marquee event of the individual esport—Worlds for LoL and Champions for VALORANT.

Just like FGC, the best way to get invested is to choose a team, hopefully your favorite FGC players’ organization, and watch their journey throughout the year. This helps you understand the circuit and the game without the information overload.

Now that you have chosen a team to follow, how do you actually watch the tournaments and follow their journey?

Where to Watch and Follow Results?

For starters, look up the team and the esport you intend to follow on Liquipedia. Here you can check for the upcoming tournaments, past results, the roster, and the history of the teams. Similar to the fighting game Liquipedia, there is a separate dedicated tab for every esport.

If you don’t want different tabs for different esports, use Strafe to track your favorite team across CS2, VALORANT, LoL, DOTA 2, and more. With Strafe, you can check the match calendar, live scores, upcoming fixtures, and the latest news for your favorite esport.

To catch a game live, you can tune into the official tournament broadcasts. Riot Games broadcasts LoL and VALORANT tournaments live on the official Twitch/YouTube channels. In the case of Counter-Strike 2 and DOTA 2, the TOs broadcast the tournaments.

Once you watch the game enough, you can also head to the dedicated subreddits for the games to discuss ideas and keep up with the community.

To keep up with the games and esports, you can follow the official channels of games on X. You can also follow the official pages of your favorite teams, popular community members, and analysts.

What FGC Knowledge Actually Transfers?

Being part of the FGC, all the skills directly translate to 2XKO. While there are new characters and mechanics introduced in Riot’s fighting game, they are easy to pick up for an FGC member.

The understanding of character moveset and interactions, and how to play it, translates well to VALORANT. In the game, you use your agent’s abilities to create advantageous scenarios for yourself and the team to win the round. This is exactly how fighting games play out: you use your character's moveset in the correct order to win rounds.

The metagame understanding in FGC also works similarly in CS2. In both games, the side that reads their opponents’ tendencies and comes up with counter-strategies effectively has the upper hand. Both games reward accurate reads, positioning, and timing, and test the mental aptitude of each side. Under immense pressure, you have to operate at 100% of your capacity, avoid tilting, and make the most logical decisions to win the match.

The FGC member would still need to understand the nitty-gritty of each esport, especially the maps, and how abilities interact with the map. While the concept is similar, these are still distinct games and need an investment to understand them.

But if you zoom out, esports and FGC are based on the same foundation — competition. With the tournaments starting at the grassroots level, and a community interested in watching players grind their way to the top, both scenes represent more than just gaming.

Conclusion

The release of 2XKO has been a blessing in disguise. For FGC, it became a door they can pass through to the broader world of esports. It has brought the two communities closer and will hopefully lead to more FGC members watching and appreciating games such as Counter-Strike 2, VALORANT, League of Legends, and more.

Whether you start with a title or team, you’d be hooked before you know it. The foundational skills already exist; it is only a matter of investing a little time, and you’d have another community to mesh with.