Iron Galaxy at COMBO BREAKER 2025

Published by
Keenan Moralicz
on
June 5, 2025
Iron Galaxy at COMBO BREAKER 2025 blog header image

For the Fighting Game Community, Memorial Day Weekend is also COMBO BREAKER weekend. At Iron Galaxy, we never miss a chance to meet up brawlers when they gather in our own back yard. The Killer Instinct community has proudly competed at COMBO BREAKER for 10 years, as announced by KI’s irreplaceable announcer, Mike Willette, with no signs of slowing down. We sent out a handful of our developers to enjoy the talent of KI’s finest competitors. Some of us even competed in our favorite titles. Follow along as we detail the momentous weekend.

Friday, we spent time supporting Iron Galaxy QA Cert Specialist Mario "MightyMar" Gomez as he began 1 of 2 journeys through pools for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.

MightyMar competing in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves


Later that same day, Lead Designer Adam “Keits” Heart kicked off commentary for KI. The action started off in Pools.

COMBO BREAKER 2025: Killer Instinct Pools

The KI community playing matches
The KI community playing matches
The KI community playing matches
Bracket runners running KI Pools
📸: @HelloItsLi
Bracket Runners: @ovis.cool and @HiImKeith
ZipMasterFlex and ThrashHeavy posing for a picture behind acommentator's desk
Pools Commentators: @Thrash_Heavy and @ZipMasterFlex


Saturday morning, Mario competed in Vampire Savior, advancing to Top 8, to be played the next day.

COMBO BREAKER 2025: Vampire Savior Pools

MightyMar prepping to sit down and compete
📸: @tempusrob


Only a couple hours later, Adam took center stage for KI again as the remaining competitors were whittled down from the Top 24 to this year’s Combo Breaker champion. Top 8 featured Sabrewulf, Gargos, Arbiter, Kim Wu, TJ Combo, Eagle, and ARIA for an exciting display of character mastery. Experience the moment-to-moment recap on our X or Bluesky. It was nothing less than exhilarating, with a surprising Double K.O. during the final match of the Grand Finals, setting up a reset between Bass and extreme zomb1e. In the end, ARIA specialist extreme zomb1e claimed the title as COMBO BREAKER’s newest KI champion. Re-live the Ultras and the upsets on Team Spooky’s YouTube channel. Hear about extreme zomb1e's personal journey to winning in an interview by KI community member Sneerfulwater57.

COMBO BREAKER 2025: Killer Instinct Top 8

KI's top 3 competitor posing with their respective medals/trophy
📸: @tempusrob

🥇@extreme_zomb1e, 🥈@XiBassiX, 🥉@Thrash_Heavy, 🏅@DevilMayCare4, 🏅@WheelsFGC, 🏅@roman22gilbert, 🏅CyberWulf3409, 🏅@SonicDolphin117

COMBO BREAKER 2025: Killer Instinct Top 24

An image of two competitors on stage competing in Killer Instinct
ZipMasterFlex and Ovis commentating
📸: TheRogueCora
Top 24 Commentators: @ZipMasterFlex and @ovis.cool
Sajam and Keits commentating
📸: @tempusrob
Top 8 Commentators: @Sajam and @Keits

For a deeper dive on who makes up the KI community, visit COMBO BREAKER social channels to hear what makes this tournament so important to the Killer Instinct community.

The KI community pointing at this year's Combo Breaker champion


Associate Designer Kieran “TheNitoBurrito” Peasley, punched his way through Street Fighter 6 pools as Marisa. If you follow the Capcom Pro Tour, you may have spotted him on stream.

Day 2 - Combo Breaker - Capcom Pro Tour 2025

A picture of TheNitoBurrito competing on stage for Street Fighter 6


Sunday, Mario fought valiantly with his Anakaris and secured 3rd place in Vampire Savior at #CB2025. Wish him luck as he soon heads out to compete at Europe’s major Vampire Savior tournament, Vampire Street Battle.

Combo Breaker 2025 - Vampire Savior Top 24/Top 8

VSAVS's top 3 competitor posing with their respective medals/trophy
📸‍: @CarltonBeener

All weekend long, we watched, met with various artists, and played lots of indie fighting games. We of course made our way to the arcade machines too. All in all, we got to experience the fighting game community in its many forms.

Artists and FGC themed fan art
Artists: Wavechan, Cinamuffins, and Art of MAS
Iron Galaxy Devs playing indie games and arcade games
Games: Scramble Heart City, Hyperfight 2, Killer Instinct, and Bishi Bashi

Thanks again to Rick, the Event Director of COMBO BREAKER, and all the COMBO BREAKER crew. Congratulations on 10 years of COMBO BREAKER. #CB2026 is already on the horizon and we’re impatiently waiting to watch KI at Evo and CEO later this year. See you next year and don’t forget to #PLAYKI.

Iron Galaxy staff smiling for a picture
Iron Galaxy staff smiling for a picture
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