Riot devs are LARPing as Thresh on X, and that's because he's surprise dropping into 2XKO

I’ll happily admit that I’m a Senna stan. I’ve been in love with the character ever since she released, with her gun-touting approach to the Support role offering something completely unique and, oftentimes, completely broken. But beyond just her kit and that High Noon skin, I’m obsessed with Senna’s lore. Once caged in Thresh’s infamous lantern, the Sentinels of Light event may have missed… every mark, but The Redeemer’s battle against the eerie, ghost-like Chain Warden will forever be one of my favorite chapters in League of Legends‘ history.

Safe to say I’m excited for her to finally make it into 2XKO, Riot’s League of Legends-inspired fighting game. The artwork is gorgeous, her Wraith Form mechanic is fun, and I’m a sucker for ranged characters generally. Riot also dropped a motion comic alongside her reveal however, aptly entitled ‘Senna Rising,’ which, while focusing on The Redeemer herself, does end with the ominous closer: “Thresh’s game has just begun.”

Senna herself is set to join the 2XKO roster on Tuesday, June 9, and as I started writing this, Riot then revealed that Thresh will drop alongside her. This comes after a collection of developers changed their entire X profiles to LARP as the Shadow Isles’ most malignant wraith: a marketing stunt that I’ll take my hat off to.

As beautifully showcased in this collage from X user Kiske, various Rioters – including 2XKO Game Director Shaun Rivera, Global Community Lead Julian ‘JulezJP’ Johnson, and Publishing Lead Mia Lewis – all changed their profile pictures to an eerie, cartoon version of Thresh’s face.

All of their X names were also been changed to ‘The Wretch,’ with a coordinated post going out across all of their accounts at 4pm PDT / 7PM EDT / 12am BST / 1am CEST on June 4 (June 5 for our UK and European readers). It simply reads “why don’t we make a deal Senna?” written in an ominous, spaced-out font.

This was all accompanied by a ten-hour stream of weird, ethereal noises that was simply entitled “Ten hours trapped in Thresh’s lantern,” captioned “call Senna for help.”

Riot has since confirmed that Thresh will arrive with Senna, writing that “dreadful agony awaits.” His model is absolutely huge, and he’ll utilize his chain to pull enemies in and slam them to the ground. It’s 2XKO’s take on his ultimate (The Box) that really made my jaw drop, though; it looks absolutely vicious.

Riot’s been doing some really interesting things with its marketing this year. It kicked off 2026 with ominous, Viper-related posts on the official Valorant X account, and a Twitch stream that was simply a live feed of a snake chilling. It all connected into the opening season’s cinematic (which was soundtracked by a cover of Toxic by Britney Spears), and it was a genuinely impressive campaign.

What its done here with 2XKO is equally as innovative, and generally really clever. Its no secret that the game hasn’t made the splash that the developer likely hoped, and this is a really great way to get new eyes on it – especially ahead of Senna and Thresh’s launch.

League of Legends feels like it’s in a transitional state ahead of League Next, whatever that may be. If Riot plays this type of marketing game ahead of that update launching, it’s going to be absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to see what it cooks up next.