EVO Japan 2026 presented by Revatech " was held at Tokyo Big Sight from May 1 (Fri.) to 3 (Sun.), 2026. The main tournament for all 12 titles was a great success and generated many emotions and stories. We interviewed Kyohei "MarlinPie" Lehr(@MarlinPie ), a former professional gamer who now works as a designer for Riot Games' 2XKO!
Interview with Kyohei "MarlinPie" Lehr, designer of "2XKO"!
- Please briefly introduce yourself.
Kyohei Lehr: I am a 2XKO champion.
My name is "MarlinPie" and I am a game designer and champion at 2XKO. My mother is Japanese, so I speak a little Japanese, but I went to the U.S. when I was very young. My favorite champion is Timo. 2XKO is my first game development, but I have played a lot of fighting games since I was a kid, starting with Street Fighter II, then the Guilty Gear series, the Smash Bros. series, and many others.
- I understand that you were also a professional player, but at the time while you were working?
Kyohei Lehr: I was a member of a pro team called Panda Global (@PandaGlobal ), but I was also a software engineer.
- Did you ever come to EVO Japan?
Kyohei Lehr: 3 times!
- You have been to other EVOs as well, right?
Kyohei Lehr: I used to be a player, so I still play in tournaments when I have time. I won EVO 2024 with GUILTY GEAR Xrd REV 2!
Saiga NAK- I'm still active. lol Do you feel there is a difference between EVO and EVO Japan?
Kyohei Lehr: Fighting games were born in Japan, and I really respect it. I also really enjoy the different atmosphere of the tournament. At EVO Japan, you get to see more cohesive play, and more advanced gameplay. In the U.S., I get the impression that the players are more "outspoken," or that they are showing their strengths in an ad-lib freestyle style. I'm really looking forward to seeing regions with different styles of play compete against each other.
- What kind of play are you looking forward to seeing in the tournament?
Kyohei Lehr: Personally, I'm a fan of duo players, and in Japan, I'm a fan of 2WINz (@2WINz25 ). I also support SonicFox (@SonicFox ) and Inzem (@INZEM2 ).
- What are the difficulties and attractions of duos?
Kyohei Lehr: 2XKO is not the first 2-player fighting game. It is really difficult to balance the strength of duos and solos. But I am very happy that people think there is not much difference between the two in 2XKO. I was originally quite worried about it, but I was surprised and happy to see that it was both fair and strong for duos when it came out.
- Frosty Faustings XVIII 2026 also gave me the impression that the champions used by the top players were well balanced.
Kyohei Lehr: I was happy to see so many different champions. I was a bit worried because in the previous patch, there were champions that were so strong and semi-fixed. I was really happy to see the variety of Ilaoi, Teemo, Yasuo, Vai, Warwick.... I was not so much involved in the balance, but I am grateful to the team.
Saiga NAK- Yasuo and Akari are inspired by Japan, aren't they?
Kyohei Lehr: I wasn't involved in the decision of what characters to bring, but I was surprised and personally happy because they are one of the few champions of Japanese descent in League of Legends. I don't know why I brought them, but... well, maybe because they are too cool, I don't know. (lol) I was happy to be able to design them.
- How do you choose your techniques?
Kyohei Lehr: When I choose the techniques, I take into consideration the feelings of both the player and the opponent. I am not an experienced League of Legends player, but I wanted to see how I could express each skill in a fighting game. At the beginning, I keep thinking about that, and when I have a better understanding of the champions, I start thinking about specific kits.
- So that people who came in from League of Legends would be accepted?
Kyohei Lehr: Yes, we really value the original fans. It would be a bit disappointing to find out that the game is completely different when you play it. I want to reduce that kind of disappointment, and I think that fans will be satisfied if I make characters while utilizing the skills that were originally used. I would be happy if such respect is conveyed to the fans.
- On the other hand, I think it is necessary to include expressions that are not found in League of Legends.
Kyohei Lehr: I realized how difficult it is to incorporate the gameplay of League of Legends into a 60fps fighting game with animations and effects. There are moves that move one frame at a time with effects and moves that take 5 or 4 frames to execute. The most difficult thing was to find the right balance with the art side.
Saiga NAK- I think it is important to have a good feeling when playing.
Kyohei Lehr: I think the feeling is different depending on the technique, but after I create a technique, I just keep working on it. I work on it until I am satisfied with it and feel good using it. For example, with Timo, I think the feeling varies depending on the technique, whether it is just throwing mushrooms or punching. There are no common rules. I make it up as I go along.
- Which champion did you find the most difficult to create?
Kyohei Lehr: Teemo (quick answer). The judging of hits and attacks was too different from other champions, so I had to adjust it to be fair while taking various things into consideration. We even put a feather on his hat to determine the hit (lol).
- What is your message for the future of 2XKO?
Kyohei Lehr: It has been 3 months since 2XKO was released. I have the impression that we have just finished introducing ourselves. I really care about the people who are still playing the game after that self-introduction. We want to make it an exciting game that will really please players who like team games. I see on the Internet that people are saying, "It's going to be 1v1" or "It's going to be easier," but I don't want that to be the case. I don't want that to happen, and I want to make it more exciting so as not to disappoint the current players.
Sorry, this article is only available in Japanese and 繁體中文. at the moment.
