The 70 wt.% (TiCxNy-TiB2)/Ni composites were fabricated successfully by the combustion synthesis and hot press consolidation of the Ni-Ti-Al-B4C-BN powder mixtures. The addition of Al to Ni-Ti-B4C-BN system significantly decreased the ignition difficulty of combustion synthesis, and improved the compression properties of (TixNy-TiB2)/Ni composites. The final products mainly consist of Ni, TWA and TiB2, and the ceramic particles distribute uniformly in the composites. With increasing Al content from 0 to 8 wt%, the average sizes of the TiCxNy and TiB2 particles decrease a little, while the hardness and the compression strength increase firstly and then decrease, and the fracture strain increases. The composite with optimal 5 wt.% Al possesses the best comprehensive properties: the highest hardness (1794 Hv), the superior compression strength (3.76 GPa), and the fracture strain (42%), resulting in an overall increase by similar to 15%, similar to 28%, and similar to 45%, compared with these of the composite without the Al addition, respectively. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.