League Details

📣 Samurai Shodown League 2026 — Official Announcement & Ruleset

Introducing the Samurai Shodown League 2026 — a season‑long circuit designed to reward consistency, community engagement, and high‑level competition. Whether you’re a seasoned warrior or sharpening your blade for the first time, this league gives every player a path to the top. The journey runs February 2026 through December 2026, ending in a high‑stakes Round Robin Grand Finale where one champion will stand above all. Sharpen your blade. Steady your mind. Embrace Death. 🗓️ Season Structure League Starts on February 6, 2026 Weekly Lobbies Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays Except the first Friday of each month (Tournament Friday) Runs Feb 8 – Nov 30, 2026 Weekly lobbies are for grinding matchups, building community, and earning valuable league points. Monthly Tournaments Held on the first Friday of each month (Feb–Nov) Standardized point structure for all placements Open to all skill levels Special Tournaments TNS SamSho brackets – Date/Time TBA Follow TNS for announcements Final Points Event — The Donkey Soda Thanksgiving Weekend 2026 The largest event of the season 1.25× points multiplier The final chance to qualify for the Top 8 December Grand Finale — Top 8 Round Robin Top 8 point earners after Donkey Soda advance Full Round Robin format All sets FT5 3 points per win Champion crowned > standings determine winner – no bracket, no resets! — pure endurance, pure mastery! 🏆 Points System A. Monthly Tournament Points Placement Points 1st – 100 2nd – 75 3rd – 60 4th – 50 5th–6th – 40 7th–8th – 30 9th–12th – 20 13th–16th – 10 Participation – 5 B. Donkey Soda Multiplier All tournament points × 1.25 C. Weekly Lobby Points Attendance: 3 points (2 match minimum req) Hosting bonus: +1 (SS, WFW, CFF, others at TO discretion) Weekly cap: 10 lobby pts /week /player D. Season Bonuses Perfect Lobby Month: Attend all lobbies in a calendar month → +5 Tournament Streak: Enter 3 consecutive monthly tournaments → +10 Community Contribution: TO support → 1-5 pts (TO discretion) Offline Attendance: → 1-5 pts (TO discretion) (Tournament Points chart below)

Exceptions

ThrustyZol will appear on the public Leaderboard. To keep hosting and competition roles separate, any Lobby hosting points accumulated by ThrustyZol will be excluded from Final Championship qualification even if their point total would place them in the Top 8. This ensures fair competition while still recognizing community contributions.

Players residing in far regions will be recognized on the public Leaderboard but may not be eligible to participate in the Final Championship bracket. This rule may change if SNK reinstates the 120fps delay-based netcode and player has a good, stable, long-distance connection. Determined based on connection viability in public lobbies.

Tournaments and events may be added throughout the season.

The Samurai Shodown League is organized by Ke11y Ann and presented by ThrustyZol productions, in association with XBF. Xbox Series is where you’ll find weekly Samurai Shodown Lobbies and monthly Tournaments in America, with past events featuring every SWC Qualified Player in America. The XBF Discord is where you’ll find lead organizers and top players who travel across the world to attend SamSho at major FGC Tournaments. XBF is a pleasant Fighting Game Community with a dedicated channel to Samurai Shodown. The discord has proven invaluable to active players seeking games and insight, and provides a vast amount of Samurai Shodown information including discussions, matchmaking, upcoming events, live streams, open lobbies, etc, with no-nonsense. This League would also like to recognize ThrustyZol for seven years of non-stop dedication to the scene, and all the awesome things he’s done for the Samurai Shodown Community since its release. The Legion of the Samurai Club on Xbox was founded in 2019 by Thrust Jonson aka ThrustyZol, and he has been providing quality Samurai Shodown streams and weekly SamSho events (online and offline) to the public ever since.