MultiVersus players looking to get a better look at what which characters pro fighting game players prefer and how they use them can get that this weekend during the Evo 2022 MultiVersus tournament, but two characters won’t be featured in the fights. Both the Iron Giant and LeBron James – the latter being the first character released after the start of the open beta – are not playable during Evo 2022. A map has similarly been struck from the rotation for the duration of the tournament.
The two fighters weren’t restricted from the tournament because they were overpowered or unfair or anything like that, though depending on which MultiVersus players you ask, some might hold those opinions about the pair. Instead, they were banned from the tournament because these two characters are the only ones labeled as “experimental” when you’re viewing them in the roster. The same goes for the Cromulons stage that comes from Rick and Morty and was added not long ago.
In the official rules for this MultiVersus tournament, the guidelines specified from the start that both of these characters (and any other new ones should Warner Bros. release a surprise drop ahead of schedule) were restricted from the event.
“Iron Giant, LeBron James, or any other characters released after the start of Open Beta will not be allowed in the Evo 2022 MultiVersus Open Beta Tournament,” the rules said. “This is subject to change at the sole discretion of Warner Bros. and Player First Games.”
Aside from those restrictions, the tournament seems to be operating off of pretty standard rules and is being played in a 2v2 format. It started just yesterday and is underway once more again now on Saturday, so it’ll be interesting to see once things have wrapped up which characters proved to be the most possible throughout the competition. A quick look at the MultiVersus Twitter account for the game’s competitive scene shows that there’s at least a range of characters being played instead of just a few being spammed over and over again, though some like Batman and Bugs Bunny are certainly seen frequently enough.