General

Axie Infinity Price Update: Champions Invitational 5,000 bAXS

Axie Classic's Champions Invitational offers 5,000 bAXS to top players. See how AXS and SLP prices affect the competition.

In a screenshot of the game Axie Classic during Round 1, various colorful monster-like creatures known as Axies are lined up on a desert-like battle arena, with large text overlaid announcing 'CHAMPIONS INVITATIONAL 5,000 BAXS' above their health bars and player cards at the bottom.
Elara Neuralink
By Elara Neuralink, News Host, Author, Gamer
Published on September 24, 2026 · 6 min read
$AXS+5.23%

On September 23, 2026, Axie Classic announced that its Champions Invitational will begin on September 27. It will feature eight competitors from Seasons 13–16 competing for a 5,000 bAXS prize pool. The event will be streamed live at 8 PM PHT / 8 AM EDT [1]. The announcement follows the studio’s recent rollout of Evolved Part Benefits in Terrariums on July 15. That rollout increased rewards for players based on evolved Axie parts and equipped accessories [2][3]. The Champions Invitational marks a structured competitive event after several seasons of Arena climbs and Season Championships.

This screenshot from Axie Classic shows a battle in progress during Round 2, featuring two teams of colorful creatures on an outdoor field while the player manages a hand of ability cards at the bottom of the screen.
This screenshot from Axie Classic shows a battle in progress during Round 2, featuring two teams of colorful creatures on an outdoor field while the player manages a hand of ability cards at the bottom of the screen.

Playful Cartoon Art Direction

Let’s take a look at the art style. Axie Classic runs on bright, cartoon 2D with clean, simplified shapes. The round, plush creatures with tiny horns and tails stand front and center in battle. The flat card icons keep the attack illustrations big and easy to read. The whole thing has a playful, sunny tone, similar to Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. Zombies Heroes uses oversized silhouettes and bright saturation for its card fights. It’s a style that knows exactly what it is and leans into it without clutter pretty solid, honestly.

Plush horned creatures shine amid sunlit ruins and floating droplets.

JRPG

In this screenshot from Axie Classic, two players face off in Round 4 of a turn-based battle, where small, round creatures called Axies attack each other on a desert-like arena while cards at the bottom display available abilities and stats.
In this screenshot from Axie Classic, two players face off in Round 4 of a turn-based battle, where small, round creatures called Axies attack each other on a desert-like arena while cards at the bottom display available abilities and stats.

Mixed Player Sentiment on Axie Infinity and Price

Now let’s see what players think. Despite all the love for the cute Axie designs and strategic card combat, though, the honeymoon phase is fading for many [4]. Reviewers gripe about persistent bugs like update loops and broken abilities that make the mobile version nearly unplayable [4]. Fans are divided on the game’s balance; some love its competitive depth while others say the meta feels stale and unfair [4]. Commenters note that top-tier Axie teams can cost thousands of dollars, leaving many players feeling locked out of competitive play [5].

Our shill detection shows that a few reviews exhibit generic hype language and lack gameplay details, typical of shilling. We also checked video comments and found most comments are genuine game discussions. But a few show repetitive phrasing, off-topic spam, engagement bait, or bot-like nonsense. [6]

They create unbalance meta and now shut up community … [4]

David Ngeow

In Axie Classic, the character screen displays Axie #5203729, a blue creature named Uranos at Level 1, alongside its health, speed, skill, and morale stats, as well as four ability cards: Chomp, Mystic Rush, Sticky Goo, and Allergic Reaction.
In Axie Classic, the character screen displays Axie #5203729, a blue creature named Uranos at Level 1, alongside its health, speed, skill, and morale stats, as well as four ability cards: Chomp, Mystic Rush, Sticky Goo, and Allergic Reaction.
Price History

Axie Infinity · USD chart

Axie Infinity daily USD price over the year up to publication on 2026-09-24.
Axie Infinity price data
DatePrice (USD)
2025-09-24$2.2070498
2025-10-24$1.56522749
2025-11-24$1.09718882
2025-12-24$0.85679068
2026-01-24$2.90265555
2026-02-24$1.23386484
2026-03-24$1.12380914
2026-04-24$1.13483398
2026-05-24$1.14288608
2026-06-24$1.01983801
2026-07-24$0.8824294
2026-08-24$0.97133179
2026-09-24$1.11748803

Let’s talk about the token’s performance, and honestly, it’s not looking great. Axie Infinity uses two tokens, but AXS is the main one for voting and stuff in the game universe. The game runs on Ronin, which is a sidechain made just for Axie that connects to Ethereum. Anyway, AXS had been climbing up but was still behind other gaming tokens kind of a miss, to be real.

  • Axie Infinity (AXS)
  • 30-day range: $0.8721 to $1.12
  • Past 90 days: +9.7% (vs. other gaming tokens: +23.7%)
  • Our wash-trading model finds some indicators, the second of its four risk bands for this token as of the 20th of September 2026, after we flagged it on 7 of the 29 days it scored [14]
  • Smooth Love Potion (SLP)
  • 30-day range: $0.0005719 to $0.0006847
  • Past 90 days: +43.1% (vs. other gaming tokens: +23.7%)
  • Our wash-trading model finds some indicators, the second of its four risk bands for this token as of the 20th of September 2026, after we flagged it on 7 of the 29 days it scored [14]
How much each one changed over each window, to the 24th of September 2026.
AXS vs. Gaming Index: data table
WindowAXSGaming Index
1 year-53.20%-74.22%
6 months-0.11%+19.36%
3 months+9.72%+23.72%
1 month+10.47%+10.97%
1 day+4.97%+1.27%

Champions Invitational Lineup And Bracket

With that performance in mind, here’s what got announced. The lineup includes Anzooo and Mitsuya from Season 16. It also includes Eshaz and JL from Season 15. Pau and Nerraw are from Season 14. Chan and Mark are from Season 13. [7] The opening bracket is already locked in: Anzooo faces Mark, JL takes on Pau, Mitsuya battles Chan, and Eshaz goes up against Nerraw [8]. That is a seriously stacked field, but take the hype with a grain of salt Axie Classic has a track record of announcements that don’t fully deliver on the ground.

The tournament runs a double elimination format. Each competitor submits ten Axies before the event, and they ban three of their opponent’s Axies before each match. Artifacts are allowed, and every match is best-of-five until the grand finals [9]. First place gets 2,100 bAXS. Second gets 1,200. Third gets 700. Fourth gets 400. Fifth and sixth get 200 each. Seventh and eighth get 100 each. [10] That’s some serious bAXS on the line, but color me skeptical the studio has made big promises before that didn’t quite pan out for the broader community.

People in the replies are hyped. One fan just said “Cool” [11], while another called it “Lezzgo” and cheered for a manager [12]. But not everyone is thrilled. Some players still remember the stress from earlier days, with one commenter saying they were “exploited with this game” [13]. Others report bugs that make the game unplayable, like an update loop or card glitches [4]. Even so, loyal fans stick around, calling the Axies adorable and the team’s vision huge [4]. The tournament is the biggest competitive moment in a while, but I’d keep expectations low until we see real results.

Axie Classic’s X followers are down by about 2,348 over the past month, to 885,298. Despite the drop, it still ranks 9th of 2,275 games we track by X followers.

Axie Infinity Token and User Metrics: Price Context

A 2022 research report describes Axie Infinity as having three other tokens of concern besides AXS. These are Smooth Love Potion (SLP), Axie NFTs, and Land NFTs. SLP is the in-game currency used to breed new Axies. The same report notes that the number of daily Unique Active Wallets for Axie Infinity dropped by 86% in Q3 compared to Q2.

A 2021 research report explains that in Axie Infinity, any two existing Axies can be bred to create a new one. Each Axie belongs to one of nine classes and has six body parts plus a body shape. That report states the game was mostly scholarship driven at the time and had surpassed 2 million daily active users.

References

  1. ↑ “Original announcement on X” X
  2. ↑ “X post by @AxieInfinity” (English) X Post
  3. ↑ “X post by @AxieInfinity” (English) X Post
  4. ↑ “Google Play review(s) of Axie Infinity” (English) Google Play Page
  5. ↑ “YouTube comment by @TheSteratul” (English) YouTube Comment
  6. ↑ “What shill detection is and how we identify it” (English) What is Shill Detection
  7. ↑ “X reply by @AxieInfinity” (English) X Reply
  8. ↑ “X reply by @AxieInfinity” (English) X Reply
  9. ↑ “X reply by @AxieInfinity” (English) X Reply
  10. ↑ “X reply by @AxieInfinity” (English) X Reply
  11. ↑ “X reply by @AntonioGranate8” (English) X Reply
  12. ↑ “YouTube comment by @johnmarquiapo5528” (English) YouTube Comment
  13. ↑ “YouTube comment by @no-x26” (English) YouTube Comment
  14. ↑ “What wash trading is and how we detect it” (English) What is Wash-Trading

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