COMBO BREAKER is proudly from the Midwest, with deep roots in the Chicagoland area. Since our first event at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois, Chicago’s own NetherRealm Studios has also been on-site to join us in expressing our regional pride. NRS’s official support of our debut in 2015 helped inspire players to attend en masse and saw Mortal Kombat X become CB’s first headlining game. In the decade plus since hometown hero Dizzy won that tournament, NRS’s games have had a permanent presence at CB. 

It’s fair to say that without Mortal Kombat there wouldn’t be a COMBO BREAKER. So as CB2026 kicks off our second decade of existence, and with NetherRealm Studios about to celebrate 15 years since the release of Mortal Kombat 9 on April 19 of this year, we wanted to bring the full catalogue of NRS’s games to this year’s show.

As part of All in Together: The Community Tournaments at CB2026, COMBO BREAKER Event Director thehadou, in collaboration with Mista Aquaman and DarthArma, will personally be hosting Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat 11, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Injustice 2 tournaments! Each game will be played on PC and each tournament will see its Top 8 streamed on-stage in the Schaumburg Ballroom. Tournament registration for our History of NRS lineup is available today at start.gg/ait2026!

Additionally, CB2026 is hosting Mortal Kombat 1 as part of its 24 game line-up. Join us for pools, Top 24, and Top 8 all on-stage in the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center. Get your CB2026 badge on start.gg today and join us May 22-24, 2026 for a weekend of Kombat in Schaumburg!

When CB first started hosting kommunity tournaments an out-of-reach goal was achieving a $1,000 pot bonus for any game we hosted. This year, NetherRealm Studios have graciously offered to help us achieve that ambition with $1,000 pot bonuses for every NRS title at CB2026! 

Compete across all 15 years of NRS games and be rewarded for proving your might! These old-school pot bonuses will be paid out to the Top 3 kompetitors in each game.

To continue with our celebration, Saturday night at CB2026 we will be hosting a special History of NetherRealm Studios’ exhibition featuring all 5 games from the ALL IN TOGETHER line-up. This single-elimination tournament will see players from across Mortal Kombat and Injustice’s long history test their might in 5 klassic games as they kompete alongside special guest kompetitors from NRS itself! The exhibition will be broadcast on Tampa Never Sleeps with commentary from Ketchup, Mustard, Mista Aquaman, and DarthArma. 

Featuring:

• A F0xy Grampa
• TEKKEN Master
• Rewind
• Scar
• Killer Xinok
• Forever King
• SoONEo
• DJT
• (Mystery kompetitor)

And special guests

• Dizzy
• Big D
• Heroic_Legacy

Join us Saturday night on the TNS stage and rally ‘round a campfire of blood, guts, and friendship!

Speaking of TNS, in May our friends at Tampa Never Sleeps will be hosting warm-up tournaments for Mortal Kombat and Injustice titles! 

TNS Tournament Schedule 

• Saturday, May 9 at 6pm CDT: Mortal Kombat X 
• Sunday, May 10 at 3pm CDT: Mortal Kombat 11
• Saturday, May 16 at 6pm CDT: Mortal Kombat 1
• Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 4pm CDT: Injustice 2

Follow tns.gg for more information.

Over the years NRS’s games have created community ties that I value greatly. Having an excuse to come together and highlight what has made them great, and what makes playing their games fun to this day, keeps me motivated to work on CB. Whether it’s one of you or hundreds of you that find your way into these brackets, thanks for keeping good times at the forefront this year.

Looking forward to seeing you at CB2026!