AT&T Annihilator Cup 2026: Full schedule and teams

AT&T’s Annihilator Cup returns in May 2026 as a month-long, multi-genre creator tournament. Twenty content creators are split into four drafted teams and will compete across four games on consecutive Thursdays: Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on May 7, League of Legends on May 14, Riot’s fighting game 2XKO on May 21, and Counter-Strike 2 on May 28.

The series uses a unified leaderboard. Each week’s results carry equal weight and teams earn placement points; the squad with the highest cumulative total after four weeks will be the overall champion. The event typically offers a prize pool of up to $250,000 with additional charity components tied to final standings. Matches will be broadcast live each Thursday in May.

Team rosters were set in a live draft on April 30 hosted by Jack “CourageJD” Dunlop. The four captains and their picked players are: Team Ludwig — Ludwig with Scump, Squeex, LilyPichu and Fuslie; Team Peanut — TheBurntPeanut with Doublelift, HutchMF, Nadeshot and Yvonnie; Team Tyler1 — Tyler1 with Summit1g, Emilyywang, DizzyKitten and Gingy; Team Adapt — Adapt with Jake’n’Bake, Myth, Emiru and Kkatamina.

Formats change each week to emphasize different skills. The opening Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 matches will focus on fast-paced team play, communication and movement mechanics. League of Legends week will emphasize macro strategy, map control and coordinated rotations on Summoner’s Rift. The 2XKO week will use a 16-player single-elimination bracket where individual placements contribute to team scores. The finale in Counter-Strike 2 will center on tactical coordination and map execution to determine the final standings.

All 20 participants may co-stream matches on their personal channels. Aggregated peak viewership for past Annihilator seasons has at times matched viewership levels reported for established professional leagues. The field for 2026 combines former esports professionals and variety creators from streaming platforms.

Previous seasons have included players such as Michael “shroud” Grzesiek, Timothy “TimTheTatman” Betar, Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, Ludwig Ahgren, Timothy “iiTzTimmy” An, Saqib “Lirik” Ali Zahid and Emily “Emiru” Schunk. Recurring competitors who have claimed Annihilator titles in past editions include Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng, Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp and Nadeshot.

The 2026 schedule adds Riot’s 2XKO to the tournament lineup alongside established titles. Final standings and prize distributions will be announced after the May 28 finale.