Combo Breaker is back to host one of the fighting game community’s largest annual tournaments, this time running official brackets for 24 different games, along with dozens of side events for those attending this Memorial Day weekend.

From May 22 to 24, players from around the world will gather at the Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, IL to compete and, as the Combo Breaker team puts it, experience the “history, camaraderie, rivalry, and unforgettable passion of fighting game fans.” This includes several tournaments featured as part of official competitive circuits, community-hosted brackets, special events, and a full artist alley.

Whether you are looking to see top talent playing in Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 or, like me, are going to be glued to the classic Mystery Tournament event, there will be more than enough action for everyone. Though be prepared to jump around if you want to keep up with everything the midwest has to offer this weekend.

Combo Breaker 2026: Full tournament and watch guide

Combo Breaker has always been a tournament where the organizers and FGC at large get to stretch out and showcase a variety of games that might not make top billing at other major events. This year, that means putting on official tournaments for 24 different games and hosting an additional 30+ as part of the ALL IN TOGETHER community schedule.

Here is a full list of the games featured on Combo Breaker 2026’s main tournament lineup:

Street Fighter 6
Tekken 8
Guilty Gear -Strive-
2XKO
Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes]
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
Invincible VS
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
Mortal Kombat 1
Killer Instinct
BlazBlue: Central Fiction
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Vampire Savior
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code
Skullgirls 2nd Encore
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R
Melty Blood: Type Lumina
The King of Fighters XV
Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Ignition
Mystery Game Tournament

If you plan to watch any of the featured games, Combo Breaker and its community partners are teaming up to provide streams for the majority of each bracket, starting at 10am CT each day. These are the featured channels, which you can pair with the CB2026 schedule image to see which games are broadcasting on which channel, if the names don’t give that info away immediately.

image (11).png

For a full list of ALL IN TOGETHER community events, you can view the official Combo Breaker website for more information. IFC Yipes and Duel Kevin will be co-streaming those brackets on their Twitch channels throughout the weekend too.

image (12).png

What to watch for at Combo Breaker 2026

Hot off the heels of Evo Japan 2026, you can expect many of the best players to be in attendance for their respective games at Combo Breaker as the summer lineup of FGC events starts to heat up.

Top of the line for Street Fighter 6

While we won’t be seeing Yamaguchi right after his Evo Japan victory, his teammates Higuchi and Momochi will be ready to bring ZETA DIVISION another Street Fighter title.

Leshar won’t be present to defend his title, which means we should see a new champion crowned in SF6’s third year at CB. MenaRD, Duel Kevin, NuckleDu, NoahTheProdigy, and iDom are just a few notable names on the roster, alongside a massive list of players like Fuudo and Kawano making the trip from Japan. And you can’t overlook xiaohai, Micky, Kusanagi or the English duo of EndingWalker and Problem X either.

In total, there are more than 1,400 players gunning for the top spot, which includes a shiny new trophy and invites to both Capcom Cup 13 and the 2026 Esports World Cup.

Who will take TEKKEN 8?

With Mulgold looking to defend his Combo breaker title, he will have to fend off a hungry roster of 1,100 other players. That includes several coming out of Evo Japan’s top eight like Hafiz Tanveer, last year’s CB runner-up ATIF, Tetsu and CB2024 champ, AK. Both Knee and Ulsan are absent from the carryover attendees.

Notable among the field, Arslan Ash has yet to win a Combo Breaker title in TEKKEN 8, finishing second in 2024 and fifth in 2025. EDGE, Joey Fury, PINYA, Farzeen, and JeonDDing are among the other competitors who finished in the top eight in the previous two years.

The top three finishers at CB2026 will be invited to the 2026 Esports World Cup, and take home upwards of 300 TEKKEN World Tour ranking points.

America turns out in Guilty Gear -Strive-

Coming off of an Evo Japan lineup stacked with global talent, many of the bigger names competing in Guilty Gear -Strive- at Combo Breaker this year are from North America.

Entering the game’s fifth Combo Breaker appearance, UMISHO will be defending her title against 880 other players. Three-time CB champion TempestNYC won’t be in attendance, but his teammate NitroNY will be, along with other recent top finishers like Evo 2025 winner Kshuewhatdamoo and ARC World Tour champion Jack. The winner will also get an automatic invite to the ARC World Tour 2026-27 Finals.

Run it back in 2XKO

2XKO is going to be a who’s who of players from recent events, minus a few top names who didn’t make the trip from Japan and Europe, as the game makes its Combo breaker debut. This includes Hikari, who is fresh off of winning Evo Japan and LVL UP EXPO, with potential for an Evo Japan finals rematch against Supernoon.

Other notable names include the duo of SonicFox and INZEM, along with Leffen, WADE, Zane, and Globo.

Invincible VS gets its Season 1 debut

Following its release at the end of April, Invincible VS is making its major debut at Combo Breaker. This event will set the stage for the game heading into a massive lineup of summer tournaments, where many players are looking to pick it up as a secondary, or even primary, in its first year.

Because it is so new, most eyes will be on the big names headlining the Combo Breaker bracket, including SonicFox, A F0xy Grampa, NYChrisG, Zippy, and NerdJosh.

Will we see another Fatal Fury repeat?

Unlike several other games in the lineup, Xiaohai is coming right off his Evo Japan win to hunt for another trophy, while facing off against most of the top Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves players currently competing.

While we won’t see a repeat of those Evo Japan finals due to Laggia’s absence, mi2ha4, CientifiKOF, NYChrisG, POONGKO, ZJZ, and Nemo are all attending, rounding out the rest of that event’s top eight. Not to mention the likes of GO1, Tamago, Dany "El Maza", and more all looking to make a run.